Alcatraz Island in popular culture

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Depictions of Alcatraz Island in popular culture can be found in many different popular culture media.

  • Birdman of Alcatraz - starring Burt Lancaster
  • Escape from Alcatraz - starring Clint Eastwood
  • Point Blank (1967) - starring Lee Marvin and Angie Dickinson. This was the first major motion picture to be filmed on location at Alcatraz Island after the closure of the Federal prison in 1963.
  • The Enforcer - third installment in the Dirty Harry series where terrorists use Alcatraz after the Mayor of San Francisco is kidnapped.
  • Murder in the First - starring Kevin Bacon, Christian Slater and Gary Oldman
  • The Rock - movie that used Alcatraz as the base of hostage situation, starring Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage, with Ed Harris as a renegade general controlling the location of the rockets and renegades.
  • Lupin III: Alcatraz Connection - In the 2001 installment of the Lupin III anime movie series, Alcatraz is a central location utilized by a villainous sect. Also, Alcatraz is a setting in the first episode of the 1984 Lupin III TV series, Lupin III Part III.
  • Lost - There is a small, off-shore island (often referred to as Hydra Island by fans, due to the location of that particular station) that Ben Linus refers to as Alcatraz Island.
  • Al Capone Does My Shirts, a novel about a boy and his autistic sister living on Alcatraz Island
  • Alcatraz, a follow-up to the computer game Hostages was released in 1992 for Amiga, Atari ST and DOS. It was a side-scrolling shoot-em-up with some first-person indoor sequences. The plot involved US Navy SEALS rescuing hostages from a terrorist-occupied Alcatraz.
  • Alcatraz is a playable level in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 and has many features of the real Alcatraz, but has been adapted for gameplay purposes.
  • There are two chapters (five levels) that take place in Alcatraz in Hulk where the Hulk must investigate gamma-powered soldiers underground Alcatraz.
  • X-Men: The Last Stand features Alcatraz as the development center for a controversial "cure" for mutants. It is here the final battle between Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants and Professor Xavier's X-Men takes place.
  • A view of Alcatraz is often used in an establishing shot of films and television shows set in San Francisco. It plays a more-direct role in a many movies, books, and video games
  • In DC Comics continuity, Alcatraz is an active metahuman prison (Teen Titans vol. 3 #1).
  • In World of Warcraft, there is an island known as Alcaz Island, off the coast of Dustwallow Marsh in Kalimdor, that was used to hold an important political figure. In the expansion, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, there is a dungeon known as the Arcatraz, a satellite structure above the dimensional fortress of Tempest Keep. The Arcatraz was also used as a prison, and is accessible only by flying mount.
  • Was the main plot for The Power of Two, an episode of the popular WB series, Charmed
  • In the video game Shadow Hearts: From the New World, the party travels to Alcatraz in order to save Al Capone.
  • In the game Yuri's Revenge, the first mission for both factions involves you destroying a superweapon made by Yuri on Alcatraz Island.
  • In a version of the popular video game San Francisco Rush, Alcatraz is the main setting
  • In the game Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3, you have to rescue several hostages from Alcatraz Prison.
  • In the 1993 Mike Myers movie So I Married an Axe Murderer, Myers' character Charlie and his friend tour Alcatraz. Phil Hartman plays the tour guide.
  • The video for the Scorpions song "No One Like You" was recorded at - and features footage of - Alcatraz. [1]
  • In Yugioh Duel Monsters, the Battle City Finals are held at Alcatraz Island.
  • Illusionist David Copperfield famously escaped from the confines of a cell in Alcatraz during a 1988 TV Special.
  • Roddy Piper stayed in Alcatraz to get tough enough to beat Hulk Hogan at a World Championship Wrestling (WCW) pay-per-view.
  • In the video game Battletanx: Global Assault, you play on the final level of the campaign mode of the game on Alcatraz Island to defeat the final boss, Cassandra.
  • In All Dogs Go to Heaven 2 the main villain Red uses Alcatraz Island as he base of operations.
  • Alcatraz makes an appearance as an Alliance-controlled property in the Sierra game Manhunter 2: San Francisco.
  • In the music video game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock for PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360, one of the fictional venues where you and your band are playing is called "Shanker's Island", which bears a very strong resemblance to the prison of Alcatraz.
  • In Tibia (computer game) Tibia Dwacatra, the prison island deep below Kazordoon, is an allusion to the Alcatraz prison isle in San Francisco, which is now a recreation area.
  • In the video game Destroy All Humans 2, there is an area of the "Bay City" level called The Rock, which bears a resemblance to Alcatraz.
  • Alcatraz can be seen in the San Francisco stage of Godzilla unleashed.
  • In the 1990s PBS game show Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? Vic the Slick stole Alcatraz.
  • In the Spongebob Squarepants episode Inmates of Summer, Spongebob and Patrick Star accidentally board a prisoner ship headed to an island prison that resembles Alcatraz.
  • The arcade game San Francisco Rush: The Rock: Alcatraz Edition features the island as an unlockable track. The video game Rush 2: Extreme Racing USA features the island as a default track with slightly different details, such as it being less lush and brighter than it's Alcatraz Edition counterpart.
  • Alcatraz is the main setting in the movie Half Past Dead.
  • Terra Zartacla (Alcatraz spelled backwards) is a Cyclonian prison featured in the episode Escape! on Storm Hawks.
  • According to the book Bronson's Loose by Paul Talbot, in the 1980's, Gail Morgan Hickman penned a screenplay called Four Horsemen for Cannon which would have featured terrorists taking over Alcatraz. Producer Menahem Golan considering using this script as the basis for Death Wish V, but the budget of that film shrank too much to accommodate it.
  • An episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender, "The Boiling Rock," features an "escape-proof" prison situated on an island in the middle of a boiling volcanic lake.