[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lock-up-poster_8033.jpg]]

''Lock Up'' is a 1989 prison film directed by John Flynn, starring Creator/SylvesterStallone and Creator/DonaldSutherland.

Frank Leone (Stallone) is a convicted criminal who is nearing the end of his sentence for model behavior. One day he is sent to the maximum security Gateway Prison on trumped-up grounds by the vindictive, brutal Warden Drumgoole (Sutherland). Drumgoole still has a bone to pick with Leone over humiliating him by escaping one of his prisons years ago, and wants nothing more than to see Leone rot in prison for the rest of his life. As Leone tries to sit out the remainder of his sentence, Drumgoole resorts to increasingly evil means to make sure Leone's stay will be a living hell.

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!!This film provides examples of:

* AwardBaitSong: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pOw3Mx1gW8 Ever Since the World Began]]", by the late Music/{{Survivor|Band}} vocalist Jimi Jamison.
* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: Something that Dallas decides to do upon learning he will be RewardedAsATraitorDeserves, he takes the first opportunity to save Frank from Manly but at the cost of his own life.
* BigBad: Warden Drumgoole causes the conflict by endlessly hounding Frank for the purposes of petty revenge.
* BreakTheCutie: Frank is one of the nicest convicts you could find, and the entire purpose of Drumgoole's mission is to completely break his spirit and [[spoiler: comes very close to that goal.]]
* {{Bowdlerize}}: Chink Weber's name gets censored in syndicated airings.
* CoolCar: A newly rebuilt 1965 Ford Mustang repainted from white to red christened Maybelline, courtesy of Eclipse; too bad it gets destroyed.
* DeadMansSwitch: In the climax, Frank takes Drumgoole hostage and throws him into the reactivated electric chair in the prison's defunct death row section. Then he ties his hands to the switch, so he can make his speech about all the bad things the Warden did to the guards while they're unable to shoot him. [[spoiler:Frank was bluffing. The chair was never active.]]
* DespairEventHorizon: Frank Leone gets this when Chink's goons bust up the car; at least, the former was more brave than them.
* DidntThinkThisThrough: Drumgoole never seems to realize that his revenge scheme would lead to his own downfall not one bit throughout the film.
* DisproportionateRetribution: Prisoner escapes in his last two weeks at Treadmore to visit his dying friend and exposes your misconduct? And he gets another five years? If you're Warden Drumgoole, that's obviously not enough; the answer is to get the prisoner randomly transferred to a HellholePrison, repeatedly attacked, stabbed, hassled, and tortured, [[spoiler:murder his best friend to provoke him into lashing out, and lure him into a trap to extend his sentence by threatening to have his wife raped]].
* TheDragon: Chink Weber serves as one for Warden Drumgoole in place of Meissner, the chief guard, who is simply not willing to go along with outright illegal orders. As a result, Drumgoole has to hire out to the leader of the local prison gang to be his hitman.
* DrivenToSuicide: At least Dallas [[TakingYouWithMe took Manly with him]] via an [[ElectrifiedBathtub Electrified Water Pit]]
* ForcedToWatch: After convincing First Base to stop the escape attempt, Drumgoole orders the car to be destroyed by Chink's gang in front of many inmates, including Frank.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Frank, after bemusedly listening to Dallas' escape plan, points out all the things that are wrong with it, leaving a frustrated Dallas to dispose of the copy of the prison blueprints that he had swiped down the cistern pipe leading to the prison's sewer works... Frank gives said pipe a long, meaningful look before leaving the area. [[spoiler:Subverted when Frank doesn't even bother escaping the prison at all, but leaves hints that that's how he went out.]]
* FromBadToWorse: The Mustang's destruction was the tip of the iceberg.
* HateSink: There are plenty of hateable characters here, but Drumgoole, Chink and Manly are all lacking in any redeeming features and thus stand out, [[spoiler: making it all the better when they face their comeuppance]].
* HellholePrison: Gateway Prison. It already had a reputation as this ''before'' [[WardensAreEvil Drumgoole]] came along.
* ILied: Drumgoole promises one of Frank's friends, Dallas a reduced sentence if he'll betray him at the right moment. When he does, he declares that they "don't make deals with prisoners", and has him thrown back into genpop.
* ImprovisedWeapon: To kill First Base, Chink's gang uses a stacked barbell to break his neck by dropping it on him; almost happens to Chink himself as a result.
* IWillShowYouX: In the climax:
-->'''Leone:''' ''[to Drumgoole]'' You're gonna give me a guided tour through hell? I'll SHOW you hell!\\
And later:\\
'''Drumgoole:''' You're scum, Frank.\\
'''Leone:''' [[ShutUpHannibal Shut up!]] I'll show you scum.
* KarmicDeath: Defied not just because Chink doesn't die but because doing so would increase Frank's sentence.
* LaserGuidedKarma: At least Drumgoole gets his and may apply to Chink's gang and some guards after the movie ends.
* ManBitesMan: During Frank's fight in the yard with Chink Weber (the thuggish convict played by Sonny Landham), he bites the man's arm when he nearly drives his shiv through Frank's neck.
* NiceGuy: Frank is an upbeat, positive kind hearted guy who makes friends fairly easily with the kinder convicts. 
* OhCrap: Frank has one when he realizes that Dallas lured him into a trap with several guards lead by Drumgoole in an attempt to increase the former's sentence.
* PoliceAreUseless: Leone inflicted a RestrainedRevenge on the men who beat up his mentor because the cops wouldn't do anything about it, which landed him in prison.
* PoliceBrutality: Only Meissner and Braden draw the line into averting this at Gateway.
* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: The threat of his girlfriend being raped is what sets off Frank to escape; see TrickedIntoEscaping
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: The Captain of the Guard, Meissner is a much more reasonable figure than the sadistic Warden, willing to follow orders and treat the prisoners as roughly as he thinks is necessary but doesn't believe in punishing someone beyond their sentence. [[spoiler:When Frank ultimately takes Drumgoole hostage and exposes his corruption, he orders his men to arrest the Warden and makes sure Frank will be able to sit out the rest of his sentence in peace.]]
* ReassignedToAntarctica: Being made the Warden of Gateway Prison is this for Drumgoole; he absolutely hates the prison for its bad reputation.
* RestrainedRevenge: Frank Leone's style. He refuses to kill a murderer, settling for beating him up in front of the whole yard. Frank is aware that Drumgoole will see to it that his sentence is extended if he murders another convict. [[spoiler:Even Drumgoole himself, despite everything awful he did, is simply humiliated and forced to incriminate himself instead of ''actually'' getting electrocuted by Frank.]]
* RevengeMyopia: Drumgoole wants to destroy Frank's life for humiliating him at Treadmore and getting the Warden transferred to the hellish Gateway Prison. When Frank points out that he partly did it to expose the Warden's corruption and brutality at Treadmore, Drumgoole dismisses it.
* SinisterShiv: The gang that is trying to hassle Frank can usually be seen with these; after defeating their leader, Chink Weber in a fight, [[spoiler:Leone is suddenly stabbed by another prisoner and spends several weeks in the infirmary.]]
* SwordOverHead: A variation is used, since swords aren't exactly common in prison: after winning a football game against gang leader Chink Weber, who made it personal by [[spoiler:killing First Base]], Frank places him on a bench press and holds the weights over his head, ready to drop it. Despite much prompting from the prisoners and even a distant Warden who's looking on from his office window, Frank realizes that killing the man will put him away for life and relents. [[spoiler:He gets shivved for his troubles.]]
* TautologicalTemplar: The Warden is determined to destroy Frank's life. He'll go to any means to assure this, because he seems to think that as the Warden, he's always the hero and as the prisoner, Frank is always the bad guy. This goes to the point of justifying [[spoiler:murder of Frank's friend First Base]] as another means to provoke Frank into getting himself "the punishment he deserves".
* ThisIsForEmphasisBitch: The line that gets Frank to play the football game.
-->'''Chink:''' When are you going to paint your nails and answer the name bitch?
* {{Token Good Cop}}s: Most of the prison guards are sadistic authoritarians who will follow [[WardensAreEvil Warden Drumgoole's]] orders to turn peaceful prisoners' lives into nightmares over an old vendetta, but Captain Messner is tough but fair and Ernie is surprisingly soft-hearted.
* TrickedIntoEscaping: Frank is told that his girlfriend is in danger and he accepts help in escaping prison so that he can save her; however, it's [[spoiler:all a trick by the Warden Drumgoole, who has a grudge against Frank and knows that the escape attempt will cause Frank's prison term (which is nearly up) to be extended.]]
* UnnecessaryRoughness: The muddy football game Frank gets coerced into.
* VerbThis: "Rape this..."
* WardensAreEvil: Warden Drumgoole (played with [[LargeHam gleeful]] [[SmugSnake smugness]] by Creator/DonaldSutherland) has a grudge against Stallone's character Frank Leone for getting him demoted by successfully escaping a previous prison he was responsible for ([[KickTheDog because he refused Leone the chance to see his dying friend, even with armed escort]]). Frank just wants to sit out his remaining time and reunite with his girlfriend after his release, but the warden would like nothing better than to see him in prison for life or on the electric chair. He tries to provoke Frank throughout the entire film so that he'll lash out and turn himself into a lifer, even [[spoiler:murdering Frank's best friend, First Base and pulling a BatmanGambit on Leone to make him try to escape, involving threatening his girlfriend with rape]].
* WhatAreYouInFor: Leone inflicted a RestrainedRevenge on the men who beat up his mentor Galetti; First Base's cohort died in a botched robbery, leaving him with [[LongerThanLifeSentence a double life sentence, eligible for parole in 400 years.]]
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