Are you a big fan of prison movies? Then Cool Hand Luke will serve as the greatest source of inspiration for you. Want to know how this classic film of the 1960s ends? Find everything about the characters, storyline, and conclusion of Cool Hand Luke here in this post. But before we begin, here’s a bit about the classic American film Cool Hand Luke.
Directed by Stuart Rosenberg in the year 1967, Cool Hand Luke has always been one of the evergreen and highly acclaimed movies that received huge fame all around the world. The movie revolves around a war veteran Lucas who gets jailed for beheading the parking meters. Once he gets into the prison in Florida, his life starts taking shocking twists, which devastate his life. However, he never gives up and conquers every difficulty that comes his way.
So, what happens to Lucas and the other prisoners? How does he endure prison violence, and does Lucas’ story has a happy ending or not? If you have many such questions about Cool Hand Luke, then we have got you covered. Moreover, this post contains major spoilers about Cool Hand Luke, so if you haven’t watched the movie and you are reasonable with the spoilers, then continue reading.
Cool Hand Luke: Plot
Cool Hand Luke takes you to the era of the 1950s, where Lucas, a sergeant, and a World War II veteran, beheads the parking meters while in a drunken state. Because of the crime that he committed, he gets sentenced to 2 years and gets incarcerated in Florida Prison. Once he arrives, he gets introduced to a whole new world of jail, his colleagues, police, and prison authorities, which create a significant impact on Lucas’ life.
In prison, he discovers that there are grueling and violative established orders by the prison authorities that every prisoner needs to follow. Prisoners need to perform different kinds of tasks and serve the authorities if they want to happily want to spend their sentence in jail without the “Night In The Box” punishment that the authorities invented. Although every one of the prisoners follows the orders, Lucas does not endure the injustice rather, he fights against it.
Soon, Lucas becomes an inspirational figure in prison once he fights the prisoner’s leader Dragline and wins the poker game. What the prisoners like the most about him is he never gives up even though how grueling any task might be.
Dragline loves his ability to not give up in any situation and starts calling him “Cool Hand Luke”. As he also wins the egg-eating competition in the prison, Lucas soon becomes an idol for every prisoner and even for the prisoner’s leader Dragline.
Before starting his journey toward leaving the prison, Lucas meets with his mother for the last time. They discuss their lives, and he gets to know that his mother is sick. Lucas regrets how his life has drastically changed at his hands of him when he remembers that once he had a loving family and a good occupation. However, he finds himself responsible for destroying his and his loved ones’ happiness.
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Lucas’ Fight For Liberty
After winning the egg-eating competition, Lucas gets the devastating news about his mother’s death. To restrict him from running away and reaching his mother’s funeral, the prison authorities decide to confine him in a box where they usually punish other prisoners for not performing their tasks well, and the punishment is called “A Night In The Box.” This punishment makes Lucas more determined to seek liberty from the wicked prison authorities.
Once he goes out of the box, he makes his attempt to run away from prison. While in the room where he stays with other prisoners, he carves out the wooden floor and manages to escape underground. Even though he feels that he has successfully run away, the police manage to catch him and incarcerate him again in prison.
This time, he gets fitted with the iron chains so that he would not run away ever again. However, he is a Cool Hand Luke, right? He tends not to give up, so he attempts to break out the jail again.
Even this time, Lucas successfully escapes and then sends a Photoshop magazine of him to the prison camp to envy his prison friends by showing how much he is enjoying his life outside of the prison. His mistake costs him his life because the police recapture him and brings him back, beaten to death.
When the prisoners question him about the magazine, he tells them the truth, which ultimately leads to decreased trust among the prisoners about Lucas. The prisoners soon boycott him and start bullying him.
The prison authorities, especially the captain, begin giving grueling tasks to Lucas, which include digging a big hole, refilling it, and digging it again. Finally, Lucas gives up and kneels in front of the captain; he asks for mercy and accepts to do anything that he wants, even if it comes to becoming his slave. The captain, who oppresses his power over Lucas, makes him his assistant and asks him to accompany him in every job that he does.
Does Cool Hand Luke Have a Happy Ending?
Buckle up! Because the third escape of Lucas is going to be the rollercoaster ride for you. Even though he kneeled in front of the authorities, this Cool Hand Luke has something else going on in his mind. While serving the captain and doing their errands, Lucas finally decides to implement his plan of the third escape. He steals the captain’s truck, and Dragline soon joins him to escape from the prison.
Lucas stops at the church and has a hearty talk with god. He blames god for not giving him the good life that he deserved. Soon, the police arrive at the church with Dragline. Dragline asks Lucas to surrender if he wants the police to spare his life. Lucas, who wants nothing but liberty, decides not to go to prison ever again, no matter what the police do to him. Cool-hand Luke then makes an alternate plan to achieve what he wants.
When the captain delivers a speech to get Lucas out of the church, Lucas mocks him, that enrages the captain. Captain shoots Lucas to death. While dying, Lucas finally achieves what he wants, and after loading his dying body in the captain’s car, Lucas smirks and counts his last breaths.
The ending of the movie perfectly depicts why Lucas is called a “Cool Hand Luke” because he did not give up on achieving what he wanted even though it cost his life. Cool Hand Luke’s ending is quite happy for Lucas. He finally succeeds in his mission, but it is sad for the fans because they have to endure the death of their favorite prison movie character.
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