Movies like Birdman of Alcatraz

If you like "Birdman of Alcatraz" you are looking for atmospheric, serious and captivating movies about / with prison, bird, redemption, life sentence, warden, alcatraz and prison escape themes of Biography, Crime and Drama genre shot in USA.
Find your next favorite and similar movies in two steps: 1. Identify all themes of interest from this film (block below). 2. Look for them in the presented list.
Birdman of Alcatraz (1962)
 7.8
 19K
Birdman of Alcatraz (1962)
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 147 min.
Story: After killing a prison guard, convict Robert Stroud faces life imprisonment in solitary confinement. Driven nearly mad by loneliness and despair, Stroud's life gains new meaning when he happens upon a helpless baby sparrow in the exercise yard and nurses it back to health. Despite having only a third grade education, Stroud goes on to become a renowned ornithologist and achieves a greater sense of freedom and purpose behind bars than most people find in the outside world.
Style: atmospheric, serious, captivating, realistic, black and white, retro, thought provoking, crime thriller, sincere, uplifting ...
Plot: prison, bird, redemption, life sentence, warden, alcatraz, prison escape, biopic, rebel, self discovery, human spirit, isolation, rehabilitation, defiant, punishment, obstacle, justice, jail, misfit, protest, solitary, murder, lawyer, time travel, nazi ...
Time: 20th century, year 1962, 1920s, 1910s, 50s, 1940s, 1930s ...
Place: san francisco, bay area, kansas, usa
Keyword: twilight, gangsters

Movie in categories

Most similar movies to Birdman of Alcatraz

The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out realistic, serious, suspense and bleak films with plots about prison, biopic, murder, confined, lawyer, jail and prison life mostly in Drama, Crime and Biography genres. Some movies like Birdman of Alcatraz: Brubaker (1980), Papillon (1973), Escape from Alcatraz (1979), Cool Hand Luke (1967), Dead Man Walking (1995). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
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 7.1
 19K
Brubaker (1980)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 131 min.
Story: The new warden of a small prison farm in Arkansas tries to clean it up of corruption after initially posing as an inmate.
Style: realistic, factual, suspense, harsh, serious ...
Audience: family friendly
Plot: prison, corruption, prison warden, prison escape, abuse of power, undercover, brutality, fighting the system, abuse, justice, liberal, murder ...
Time: 20th century, 80s, 60s
Place: louisiana, arkansas, southern usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 8.0
 138K
Papillon (1973)
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: France, USA
Duration: 151 min.
Story: A man befriends a fellow criminal as the two of them begin serving their sentence on a dreadful prison island, which inspires the man to plot his escape.
Style: inspirational, psychological, grim, realistic, depressing ...
Plot: prison escape, prison, escape, life philosophy, runaway, human spirit, prisoner, escape attempt, brutality, prison break, prison life, criminal heroes ...
Time: year 1973, 1940s, 20th century, 1930s
Place: persia, latin america, atlantic ocean
⇓ similarity ⇓
50%
Escape from Alcatraz (1979)
Genre: Action, Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min.
Story: Escape from Alcatraz tells the story of the only three men ever to escape from the infamous maximum security prison at Alcatraz. In 29 years, the seemingly impenetrable federal penitentiary, which housed Al Capone and "Birdman" Robert ...
Style: suspense, atmospheric, suspenseful, realistic, exciting ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: prison, prison escape, alcatraz, escape, island, prison life, freedom, prison warden, harassment, jail, convict, prison guard ...
Time: 20th century, 60s, year 1979, year 1960, year 1962 ...
Place: san francisco, bay area, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
35%
 8.1
 188K
Cool Hand Luke (1967)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 127 min.
Story: When petty criminal Luke Jackson is sentenced to two years in a Florida prison farm, he doesn't play by the rules of either the sadistic warden or the yard's resident heavy, Dragline, who ends up admiring the new guy's unbreakable ...
Style: realistic, atmospheric, serious, rough, intense ...
Audience: manly, adult
Plot: prison, escape, freedom, prison break, rebelliousness, death, prison escape, dignity, escape attempt, prison life, fugitive, prisoner ...
Time: 20th century, 1950s, year 1967, 60s
Place: florida, southern usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
31%
Movie in collections
biopic movies
2553
rebel movies
775
Dead Man Walking (1995)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 122 min.
Story: A justice drama based on a true story about a man on death row who in his last days forms a strong relationship with a nun who teaches him forgiveness and gives him spirituality as she accompanies him to his execution.
Style: touching, thought provoking, sad, emotional, atmospheric ...
Plot: prison, death row, death penalty, nun, rape, court, death sentence, murder, confession, lethal injection, execution, justice ...
Time: 20th century, year 1995, 90s
Place: louisiana, new orleans, united kingdom, southern usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
30%
 6.4
 539
Convicts 4 (1962)
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min.
Story: This movie is about the progression of John Resko's (Ben Gazzara) character as he is commuted from the death sentence for killing a man to life in prison. Not only is he transferred to a new facility, but his guard (Stuart Whitman), who ...
Style: black and white, independent film, semi serious, realistic, psychotronic ...
Plot: prison, death row, prisoner, transformation, journalism, prison life, murder, biopic, redemption, confined, hopes, going straight ...
Time: 1940s, 60s, 1930s
Place: new york, new york state
⇓ similarity ⇓
28%
Killer: A Journal of Murder (1995)
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min.
Story: Carl Panzram is sent to Leavenworth Prison for burglary. While there, he is brutally beaten by a guard. Neophyte guard Henry Lesser feels sympathy for Panzram, befriends him, and gets him to write his life story. Lesser learns that Panzram's ...
Style: disturbing, serious, realistic, rough, bleak ...
Plot: serial killer, death row, prison rape, prison, murder, killer, true crime, drinking, prisoner, corruption, chase, brutality ...
Time: 1930s, 1920s, 20th century
Place: rhode island, minnesota
⇓ similarity ⇓
27%
Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story (2004)
Genre: Drama, Crime
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min.
Story: Redemption tells the story of Stan "Tookie" Williams, founder of the Crips L.A. street gang. Story follows his fall into gang-banging, his prison term, and his work writing children's novels encouraging peace and anti-violence ...
Style: uplifting, realistic, serious, emotional, bleak ...
Plot: prison, violence, justice, adaptation, brutality, hopes, human spirit, death row, redemption, life is a bitch, journalism, murder ...
Time: 20th century
⇓ similarity ⇓
27%
Movie in collections
Midnight Express (1978)
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 121 min.
Story: Billy Hayes is caught attempting to smuggle drugs out of Turkey. The Turkish courts decide to make an example of him, sentencing him to more than 30 years in prison. Hayes has two opportunities for release: the appeals made by his lawyer, his ...
Style: disturbing, realistic, suspense, depressing, psychological ...
Plot: prison, torture, brutality, injustice, lawyer, escape, drug, court, escape attempt, trial, prison break, jail ...
Time: 70s, 20th century, year 1978, year 1972, year 1975 ...
Place: turkey, istanbul turkey, brooklyn new york city, greece
⇓ similarity ⇓
26%
In the Name of the Father (1993)
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: Ireland, UK
Duration: 133 min.
Story: A small time thief from Belfast, Gerry Conlon, is falsely implicated in the IRA bombing of a pub that kills several people while he is in London. He and his four friends are coerced by British police into confessing their guilt. Gerry's father ...
Style: political, sentimental, inspirational, dramatic, factual ...
Plot: prison, terrorist, lawyer, father son relationship, courtroom, terrorism, trial, biopic, legal, justice, politics, courtroom drama ...
Time: 20th century, 90s, year 1993, 80s, 70s
Place: ireland, northern ireland, england, britain, nepal ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
25%
 7.3
 2K
Guilty (2011)
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: France, Belgium
Duration: 102 min.
Story: Investigates the corrupt judicial system under which Alain Mar'caux and his wife Edith were arrested on accusations of pedophilia horrific acts they never committed- and the years he spent fighting to get out of prison, clear his name and keep ...
Style: thought provoking, disturbing, touching, realistic, serious ...
Plot: lawyer, prison, legal, courtroom, false accusation, broken family, imprisonment, police brutality, injustice, judge, life turned upside down, courtroom drama ...
Time: 2000s, 21st century
Place: france, europe, flanders
⇓ similarity ⇓
25%
 7.0
 18K
Infamous (2006)
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min.
Story: While researching his book In Cold Blood, writer Truman Capote develops a close relationship with convicted murderers Dick Hickock and Perry Smith.
Style: emotional, tense, sincere, serious, captivating ...
Plot: journalism, writers, gay, obsession, murder, biopic, friendship, writer's life, gossip and rumors, manipulation, justice, police investigation ...
Time: 60s, 1950s, year 2006, 50s, 20th century
Place: kansas, manhattan new york city, usa, new york, mexico
⇓ similarity ⇓
24%
The Executioner's Song (1982)
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 135 min.
Story: In this fact-based film, Gary Gilmore, an Indiana man who just finished serving a lengthy stay in prison, tries to start anew by moving to Utah. Before long, Gary begins an ill-advised romance with the troubled Nicole Baker, a teenage single mother. ...
Style: thought provoking, realistic, serious, rough, bleak ...
Plot: murder, death sentence, death row, prison, courtroom drama, price of justice, confined, legal, journalism, going straight, true crime, biopic ...
Time: year 1976
Place: utah, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
24%
 7.2
 46K
Conviction (2010)
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: Switzerland, UK, USA
Duration: 107 min.
Story: When Betty Anne Waters' older brother Kenny is arrested for murder and sentenced to life in 1983, Betty Anne, a Massachusetts wife and mother of two, dedicates her life to overturning the murder conviction. Convinced that her brother is ...
Style: emotional, sincere, touching, inspirational, sad ...
Audience: family friendly, adult
Plot: lawyer, legal, courtroom drama, trial, fighting the system, prison, injustice, false accusation, court, strong female character, freedom, hopes ...
Time: 20th century, 90s, year 1995, year 1992, year 2001 ...
Place: massachusetts, rhode island, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
23%
 7.6
 102K
The Hurricane (1999)
Genre: Biography, Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 146 min.
Story: The story of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, a boxer wrongly imprisoned for murder, and the people who aided in his fight to prove his innocence.
Style: thought provoking, touching, inspirational, factual, motivational ...
Plot: prison, boxing, racism, courtroom, prison life, legal, death penalty, injustice, justice, biopic, african american, discrimination ...
Time: 20th century, 60s, 70s, 80s, 1940s ...
Place: new jersey, africa, toronto ontario canada, canada
⇓ similarity ⇓
23%
 7.5
 3K
Longford (2006)
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 93 min.
Story: A portrait of Lord Longford, a tireless British campaigner whose controversial beliefs often resulted in furious political debate and personal conflict.
Style: realistic, serious, talky, political, tense ...
Plot: prison, serial killer, lawyer, politician, judge, cruelty, family relations, trial, friendship, civil rights, notoriety, social activist ...
Time: 60s, 70s, 80s, 20th century
Place: england, europe, yorkshire, manchester
⇓ similarity ⇓
22%
 7.6
 22K
Carandiru (2003)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: Brazil, Argentina, Italy
Duration: 145 min.
Story: Carandiru, a story based on real facts and on the book written by the doctor Drauzio Varella, starts when he decides to carry out an AIDS prevention program inside Latin America’s largest prison: the Casa de Detenção de São Paulo, Carandiru, ...
Style: bleak, compassionate, captivating, touching, rough ...
Plot: prison, aids, doctor, prison life, fighting the system, gay, life is a bitch, fighting illness, protest, regret, lgbt, solitary ...
Time: 20th century, year 2003, 90s
Place: brazil, latin america, sao paulo, brazil, sao paulo brazil
⇓ similarity ⇓
22%
 7.1
 41K
Chopper (2000)
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: Australia
Duration: 94 min.
Story: The true and intense story of Mark 'Chopper' Read, a legendary criminal who wrote his autobiography while serving a jail sentence in prison.
Style: disturbing, dark comedy, cynical, rough, cult classic ...
Audience: manly
Plot: prison, brutality, jail, gangster, character study, murder, eccentricity, judge, self destructing, criminal heroes, prison life, notoriety ...
Time: year 2000, 80s, 70s, 20th century, year 1986 ...
Place: australia, melbourne, oceania
⇓ similarity ⇓
22%
Movie in collections
 7.1
 10K
American Me (1992)
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 125 min.
Story: Edward J. Olmos made his directorial bow with the powerhouse crime saga American Me. Olmos stars as street-gang leader Santana, who during his 18 years in Folsom Prison rules over all the drug-and-murder activities behind bars. Upon his release, ...
Style: disturbing, realistic, talky, intense, emotional ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: prison, prison gang, gang, sexual abuse, racism, jail, mafia, rape, gangster, violence, juvenile delinquency, justice ...
Time: 1940s, 20th century, 70s, year 1992, 50s ...
Place: los angeles, california, usa, san francisco
⇓ similarity ⇓
22%
 7.9
 29K
In Cold Blood (1967)
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 134 min.
Story: A 1967 film based on Truman Capote's book of the same name. After a botched robbery results in the brutal murder of a rural family, two drifters elude police, in the end coming to terms with their own mortality and the repercussions of their ...
Style: black and white, disturbing, suspense, neo noir, bleak ...
Plot: serial killer, murder, true crime, killer, execution, death row, death penalty, courtroom drama, lawyer, investigation, justice, jazz ...
Time: 50s, year 1967, year 1965, 20th century, 1950s ...
Place: kansas, america, usa, missouri, texas ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
22%
 7.3
 140K
Capote (2005)
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, History
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 114 min.
Story: A biopic of the writer, Truman Capote and his assignment for The New Yorker to write the non-fiction book, 'In Cold Blood'.
Style: captivating, dramatic, dark, talky, psychological ...
Plot: writers, prison, biopic, literature, journalism, murder, moral dilemma, murderer, investigation, eccentricity, manipulation, friendship ...
Time: 60s, 50s, year 1960, 1950s, 20th century ...
Place: kansas, usa, new york, europe, new orleans ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
22%
Murder in the First (1995)
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, France
Duration: 122 min.
Story: Inspired by a true story. A petty criminal sent to Alcatraz in the 1930s is caught attempting to make an escape. As punishment he is put in solitary confinement. The maximum stay is supposed to be 19 days, but Henri spends years alone, cold and in ...
Style: dramatic, suspense, emotional, depressing, period piece ...
Plot: prison, courtroom, alcatraz, lawyer, courtroom drama, court, legal, justice, murder, escape attempt, prisoner, politics ...
Time: 1940s, 1930s, 20th century, year 1941, year 1938
Place: san francisco, bay area, california, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
21%
 6.6
 11K
Rosewater (2014)
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min.
Story: In 2009, Iranian Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari was covering Iran's volatile elections for Newsweek. One of the few reporters living in the country with access to US media, he made an appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, in a taped ...
Style: suspense, brutal, suspenseful, surreal, tense ...
Plot: prison, journalism, reporter, torture, brutality, investigation, captivity, macabre, twists and turns, false accusation, life is a bitch, danger ...
Time: 2010s, 21st century
Place: iran
⇓ similarity ⇓
20%
Movie in collections
 6.7
 2K
McVicar (1980)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 112 min.
Story: John McVicar was a London Bad Boy. he graduated to armed bank robbery and was Britain's "Public Enemy No. 1". He was captured and put into a high security prison. Will even the highest security prison be able to hold him? This is the ...
Style: serious, realistic, rough, independent film
Plot: prison, prison escape, jail, prison life, angry, football hooligan, skinhead, shipwreck, gang, imprisonment, criminal, gay interest ...
Time: year 1980, 60s
Place: england, london, europe
⇓ similarity ⇓
20%
 7.6
 75K
Just Mercy (2019)
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 137 min.
Story: The powerful true story of Harvard-educated lawyer Bryan Stevenson, who goes to Alabama to defend the disenfranchised and wrongly condemned — including Walter McMillian, a man sentenced to death despite evidence proving his innocence. Bryan fights ...
Style: tense, suspense, disturbing, suspenseful, touching ...
Audience: family friendly
Plot: lawyer, courtroom, death penalty, injustice, false accusation of murder, defense attorney, african american, perjury, prison, murder, innocence, death row ...
Time: year 1987, 2010s, 80s, year 2019, year 1993 ...
Place: alabama
⇓ similarity ⇓
20%
Crown Heights (2017)
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min.
Story: When Colin Warner was wrongfully convicted of murder, his best friend Carl King devoted his life to proving his innocence.
Style: realistic, intense, suspense, thought provoking, serious ...
Plot: prison, miscarriage of justice, wrongful conviction, friendship, false accusation, husband wife relationship, african american, injustice, lie, fighting the system, black, freedom ...
Time: year 2017
Place: new york, brooklyn new york city
⇓ similarity ⇓
20%
 8.6
 1.4M
The Green Mile (1999)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 189 min.
Story: A supernatural tale set on death row in a Southern prison, where gentle giant John Coffey possesses the mysterious power to heal people's ailments. When the cellblock's head guard, Paul Edgecomb, recognizes Coffey's miraculous gift, ...
Style: touching, emotional, sentimental, heartbreaking, sad ...
Audience: girls' night, chick flick, date night, family friendly, adult
Plot: prison, death penalty, stephen king, death row, magic realism, supernatural, convict, false accusation, electric chair, life & death, life philosophy, psychic ...
Time: 1930s, 20th century, 90s, year 1999, year 1935
Place: usa, southern usa, louisiana, america, persia
⇓ similarity ⇓
50%
 5.9
 6K
Blue Caprice (2013)
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min.
Story: A narrative feature film inspired by the events known as the Beltway sniper attacks.
Style: realistic, psychological, disturbing, captivating, educational ...
Plot: serial killer, on the run, violence spree, partner, on the road, killer, sniper, lawyer, murderer, small town, african american, black ...
Time: 2000s, 21st century
Place: usa, maryland
⇓ similarity ⇓
19%
 6.3
 73K
True Story (2015)
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, History, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min.
Story: A drama centered around the relationship between journalist Michael Finkel and Christian Longo, an FBI Most Wanted List murderer who for years lived outside the U.S. under Finkel's name.
Style: suspense, surprise ending, psychological, captivating, serious ...
Audience: teens
Plot: journalist, journalism, courtroom, prison, murder mystery, plot twist, courtroom drama, prisoner, justice, twists and turns, prison visit, uncover truth ...
Time: year 2015, 21st century
Place: new york, usa, oregon, montana, mexico
⇓ similarity ⇓
19%
The Burning Bed (1984)
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min.
Story: An abused battered wife has had enough of husband beating up on her. Everywhere she turns for help, there's not much anyone will do. After he rapes her one night, she sets the bed on fire with him in it asleep.
Style: disturbing, non fiction, crime drama, psychological, thought provoking ...
Audience: chick flick
Plot: abusive relationship, domestic violence, junior high school, abusive husband, marital rape, feminist, domestic abuse, courtroom drama, sexual abuse, mental health, lawyer, mother ...
Time: 80s, 70s
Place: michigan, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
19%
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