America's Greatest Prison Breaks

Dec 27, 2015

1h 46m

★ 6.0

How did they do it?

Overview

A look at the prison breakout of Richard Matt and David Sweat from Clinton Correctional facility, as well as a look back at some of the most daring and ingenious prison breaks in American history.

Genres

Documentary

Production Companies

Peacock Productions

America's Greatest Prison Breaks Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

Herself

Jolene Babyak

Himself

Jolene Babyak

Daren Donofrio

David Sweat

Daren Donofrio

Richard Lee McNair

Jason Faust

Himself

John Martini

Richard Matt

Charlie Sara

Narrator

Jon Seltzer

Himself

Clint Van Zandt

A portrait of the life and career of the infamous American execution device designer Fred A. Leuchter, Jr. Mr. Leuchter was an engineer who became an expert on execution devices and was later hired by holocaust revisionist historian Ernst Zundel to "prove" that there were no gas chambers at Auschwitz. Leuchter published a controversial report confirming Zundel's position, which ultimately ruined his own career. Most of the footage is of Leuchter, working in and around execution facilities or chipping away at the walls of Auschwitz, but Morris also interviews various historians, associates, and neighbors.

8.0

Daughters

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Four young girls prepare for a special Daddy Daughter Dance with their incarcerated fathers, as part of a unique fatherhood program in a Washington, D.C., jail.

6.0

Great Escape

Nov 16, 2004

The real Great Escape didn't feature Steve McQueen racing through the Third Reich on a motorcycle like in the 1963 movie, but the big breakout was still thrilling in every way. This program sheds new light on the audacious escape of 76 Allied airmen from a Nazi POW camp during World War II.

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0.0

The Devil and the Death Penalty

Jun 23, 2012

This documentary recounts the dysfunctional state of the death penalty in the state of California by revisiting the crimes, arrest, trials and appeals of Lawrence Bittaker, a convicted serial killer who has been on death row at San Quentin since 1981.

0.0

Preschool to Prison

Jul 15, 2023

Preschool to Prison is a compelling examination of how the United States public school system is built and operated like prisons. Zero-tolerance policies are used to justify suspension and arrests that set up a pathway to send children of color and children with special needs from school to prison. Children are being suspended, restrained, dragged, physically manhandled, and subsequently arrested for minor offenses such as throwing candy on a school bus. These personal accounts from people affected by the school-to-prison pipeline give riveting tales about the generational impact on society.

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8.0

Hard Time: The Making of Prison

Feb 10, 2013

Retrospective documentary on the making of the low-budget horror film Prison (1987)

6.7

The Big One

Sep 6, 1997

The Big One is an investigative documentary from director Michael Moore who goes around the country asking why big American corporations produce their product abroad where labor is cheaper while so many Americans are unemployed, losing their jobs, and would happily be hired by such companies as Nike.

0.0

Georgie

Oct 4, 2024

An ex mobster reflects on love and loss after spending 32 years in prison.

7.0

Death and the Judge

May 9, 2018

The documentary, " Death and the Judge", revolves around Iran's most famous criminal judge, Azizmohammadi. He served as a criminal judge for 45 years and issued about 4500 death sentences; a record in not only Iran, but also the world. This documentary looks into his personal and professional life as he is followed within his home with his family, in the court of law, and in his retirement days. The ultimate purpose of the documentary is to deduce the role of death in the judge's life as he either takes life away from criminals or death comes to his loved ones. During his retirement, he is once again given the choice between the life and death of a person, despite no longer being a judge.

7.3

The Iceman and the Psychiatrist

Jun 1, 2004

For the third time, HBO cameras go inside Trenton State Maximum Security Prison--and inside the mind of one of the most prolific killers in U.S. history--in this gripping documentary. Mafia hit man Richard Kuklinski freely admits to killing more than 100 people, but in this special, he speaks with top psychiatrist Dr. Park Dietz in an effort to face the truth about his condition. Filled with more never-before-revealed confessions, it's the most chillingly candid Iceman special yet as it combines often-confrontational interview footage between Kuklinski and Dietz with photos, crime reenactments and home movies that add new layers to this evolving and fascinating story.

6.0

Out of Mind, Out of Sight

Apr 27, 2014

Four-time Emmy winner John Kastner was granted unprecedented access to the Brockville facility for 18 months, allowing 46 patients and 75 staff to share their experiences with stunning frankness. The result is two remarkable documentaries: the first, NCR: Not Criminally Responsible, premiered at Hot Docs in the spring of 2013 and follows the story of a violent patient released into the community. The second film, Out of Mind, Out of Sight, returns to the Brockville Mental Health Centre to profile four patients, two men and two women, as they struggle to gain control over their lives so they can return to a society that often fears and demonizes them.

6.8

Standard Operating Procedure

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Errol Morris examines the incidents of abuse and torture of suspected terrorists at the hands of U.S. forces at the Abu Ghraib prison.

6.0

Prisoners of the War on Drugs

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From its beginning during the Reagan years through current times, the War on Drugs has left many victims stranded in the prison system. PRISONERS OF THE WAR ON DRUGS reveals life behind bars in the nation’s prisons. Each prisoner has his or her own story, but for most, the story is predictably similar; they have been criminalized for drugs or drug related offenses, locked up with easy access to substances, and given little opportunity for rehabilitation. This film provides an inside look at the prison system, its prisoners and a war on drugs we do not seem to be winning.

6.9

My Life Inside

Jan 16, 2007

Rosa is a Mexican woman who, at the age of 17, migrated illegally to Austin, Texas. Some years later, she was jailed under suspicion of murder and then taken to trial. This film demonstrates how the judicial process, the verdict, the separation from her family, and the helplessness of being imprisoned in a foreign country make Rosa’s story an example of the hard life of Mexican migrants in the United States.

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6.8

Løsladt - Henrik tur/retur

Jan 1, 1997

No overview available.

No Image Available

0.0

A Hero's Death

Aug 8, 2001

It was the biggest escape in the history of the Berlin Wall: in one historic night of October 1964, 57 East-Berliners try their luck through a tunnel into West Berlin. Just before the last few reach the other side, the East German border guards notice the escape and open fire. Remarkably, all the refugees and their escape agents make it out of the tunnel unscathed, but one border guard is dead: 21-year-old officer Egon Schultz.

0.0

The Art of Incarceration

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Narrated by Uncle Jack Charles and seen through the eyes of Indigenous prisoners at Victoria’s Fulham Correctional Centre, this documentary explores how art and culture can empower Australia's First Nations people to transcend their unjust cycles of imprisonment.

5.5

Cruel and Unusual

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Five transgender women share their prison experiences. Interviews with attorneys, doctors, and other experts are also included.

0.0

The Shocking History of the Death Penalty

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Do humans have the right to judge and kill other humans? This program includes a history of capital punishment around the world through documentary footage and commentary. The electric chair, firing squad, hanging, poison gas, beating to death, slow execution, crotch-splitting, iron maiden, guillotine, execution by running, and beheading... It features a military execution in a South American country, obtained from a former prison officer. It also includes footage of the reality of life in Japanese prisons, death row inmates facing death, the parents of death row inmates, the families of their victims, and the gallows.

6.0

The Devil's Island: Journey Into Jungle Alcatraz

Aug 15, 2001

Imagine the prison of Alcatraz, only 10 times worse, built on tropical, hellish and deadly islands, lost to the rest of the world. Three tiny castaway islands rise away from the coast of French Guyana, in South America: The Devil's Islands. Now buried under an impenetrable jungle, lay the lost remains of what had been for a hundred years the most storied convict prison in history. There, while most of the prisoners faded into oblivion, a few became legends. Some because they were innocent, as in the scandalous Dreyfus Affair, some because they somehow escaped the islands of nightmare, as did the "butterfly", Henry Charrière, immortalized by Steve McQueen in Papillon. Now 50 years after the prison doors slammed shut for the last time, we explore what's left of the Devil's Islands' unbelievably dark and oppressive realm.

Cast

Herself

Jolene Babyak

Himself

Jolene Babyak

Daren Donofrio

David Sweat

Daren Donofrio

Richard Lee McNair

Jason Faust

Himself

John Martini

Richard Matt

Charlie Sara

Narrator

Jon Seltzer

Himself

America's Greatest Prison Breaks

Overview

Genres

Production Companies

America's Greatest Prison Breaks Trailers

Cast

Jolene Babyak

Jolene Babyak

Daren Donofrio

Daren Donofrio

Jason Faust

John Martini

Charlie Sara

Jon Seltzer

Clint Van Zandt

You may also like

Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr.

Daughters

Great Escape

The Devil and the Death Penalty

Preschool to Prison

Hard Time: The Making of Prison

The Big One

Georgie

Death and the Judge

The Iceman and the Psychiatrist

Out of Mind, Out of Sight

Standard Operating Procedure

Prisoners of the War on Drugs

My Life Inside

Løsladt - Henrik tur/retur

A Hero's Death

The Art of Incarceration

Cruel and Unusual

The Shocking History of the Death Penalty

The Devil's Island: Journey Into Jungle Alcatraz

America's Greatest Prison Breaks Trailers

Cast

Jolene Babyak

Jolene Babyak

Daren Donofrio

Daren Donofrio

Jason Faust

John Martini

Charlie Sara

Jon Seltzer

Clint Van Zandt

You may also like

Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr.

Daughters

Great Escape

The Devil and the Death Penalty

Preschool to Prison

Hard Time: The Making of Prison

The Big One

Georgie

Death and the Judge

The Iceman and the Psychiatrist

Out of Mind, Out of Sight

Standard Operating Procedure

Prisoners of the War on Drugs

My Life Inside

Løsladt - Henrik tur/retur

A Hero's Death

The Art of Incarceration

Cruel and Unusual

The Shocking History of the Death Penalty

The Devil's Island: Journey Into Jungle Alcatraz