Lee Haze has his sights set on escape. Even though he's only seven months deep into a twenty-year sentence at Heartlock Correctional Facility, he can already feel the outside world leaving him behind. As he plots his break out, Lee realizes his best shot at freedom is to master the art of "ducking," a specialized form of prison manipulation in which an inmate befriends a flawed guard whose improprieties can eventually be used as blackmail. Lee comes to learn that ducking is how drugs slip into prisons and, on occasion, how inmates slip out, leading him to seek out the only man who can teach him this dark craft, Continental, a convict who kills as easily as he smiles. Carving out his place in Continental's crooked labyrinth of curried favors and blood, Lee sets his sights on Tera Sharpe, a rookie guard whose tough skin hides an underlying vulnerability. All Lee needs to do now is exploit it. However, as his machinations escalate, Lee begins to fall for Tera, jeopardizing his original plan. Will he betray the woman he loves to be free, or will he find freedom in love?

Lucas Jackson（保罗·纽曼 Paul Newman 饰），一个越战的退伍兵，在一个喝醉酒的夜里拆掉了镇上的停车计时器而被判两年的监禁。一开始，他就挑战监狱里的领袖人物Dragline（乔治·肯尼迪 George Kennedy 饰）。Dragline个头比Lucas大得多，把Lucas打得毫无还手之力，但Lucas却一直拒绝屈服，因此赢得了Dragline的尊重。而在监狱的扑克比赛中，Lucas屡屡取胜，得名Cool Hand Luke。Lucas的母亲和侄子的来访让他备受鼓舞，虽然他在监狱里要忍受许多恶劣的环境和非人的待遇，但他依旧对前途充满了希望。然而母亲的逝世却让他陷入了深深的痛苦。他比之前更想要逃狱，然而一次次的失败，和监狱长的无情，让他的路越来越难走。

上海解放前夕，发电厂工人地下党员张少华（张辉饰）奉命打入黄色工会，维护贫苦工人的切身利益。当时，全国大部分地区已经解放，苟延残喘的反动当局加紧了对进步力量的迫害。党组织为配合解放军解放上海，各行业都发起募捐活动，发电厂也不例外。资方和工会诱逼张少华阻止募捐，都被他巧妙拒绝。敌人恼羞成怒，唆使工贼姜阿六（于冲饰）破坏发电机组，企图嫁祸张少华，并罗织罪名将张少华逮捕。在狱中，张少华受尽各种酷刑，始终宁死不屈。狱中地下党负责人就义前留下的豪言壮语更加激励了张少华与其斗争的决心。

梁宇前世被校花妻子谭琳琳与王宏斌害死，重生回大三后认清校花真面目，不再追求谭琳琳，与真心对他的林静相恋，同时打脸校花谭琳琳二人。谭、王二人失败后走上犯罪路，被梁宇识破并搜集证据送入监狱，最终梁宇与林静收获幸福与爱情。

以六个监狱为背景，讲述监狱背后的故事。