The Last Castle (2001)

A court-martialed General rallies together twelve hundred inmates to rise against the corrupt system that put him away.

Director:

Rod Lurie

Writers:

David Scarpa (story), David Scarpa (screenplay)

Stars:

Robert Redford, James Gandolfini, Mark Ruffalo

1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Redford	...	General Irwin
James Gandolfini	...	Col. Winter
Mark Ruffalo	...	Yates
Steve Burton	...	Capt. Peretz
Delroy Lindo	...	Gen. Wheeler
Paul Calderon	...	Dellwo
Sam Ball	...	Duffy (as Samuel Ball)
Jeremy Childs	...	Cutbush
Clifton Collins Jr.	...	Aguilar
George W. Scott	...	Thumper
Brian Goodman	...	Beaupre
Michael Irby	...	Enriquez
Frank Military	...	Doc
Maurice Bullard	...	Sgt. McLaren
Nick Kokich	...	Pvt. Niebolt

Storyline

Robert Redford stars in this action drama as General Irwin, a respected three-star tactician whose career ends in disgrace when he's court-martialed and sent to The Castle, a maximum security military prison. Irwin quickly butts heads with the facility's autocratic warden, Colonel Winter (James Gandolfini), who runs his command with an iron fist, even killing prisoners when he deems it necessary. Irwin rallies his fellow convicts into a rag-tag army and leads them in a revolt against Winter, an action that the warden is ready to repel by violent means.

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Plot Keywords:

general | prison | colonel | military | three star general | 

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Taglines:

A castle can only have one king

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and violence

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 October 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Castle

Filming Locations:

Nashville, Tennessee, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$72,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$7,088,213, 21 October 2001, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$18,208,078, 16 December 2001

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$27,642,707, 31 December 2001

Company Credits

Production Co:

DreamWorks,Robert Lawrence Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

131 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The main score of the movie, composed by Jerry Goldsmith, was named "September 11th 2001", because it was recorded on that day. Also, the movie's posters were changed after 9/11, because they showed an American flag flying upside-down (which is a signal for distress). A new poster was put up featuring faces of the cast.

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Goofs

When General Irwin and Winter are talking about the battle of Shiloh, Irwin says that Grant lost 13.000 men. That number however includes men killed, wounded, captured or missing in battle. The real number of men that Grant lost (as in dead men) is 1,754.

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Quotes

Winter: [while in his office, to captain Pertz] , Do you see how easy it is to manipulate men?

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Connections

Referenced in Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010)

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Soundtracks

Sonata in B Flat Major
Written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performed by Michael Lang

User Reviews

Redford has the ability to fade

Redford's ability to fade into a character is profound. Sometimes an actor who has been in the business a very long time will become larger than any role he plays... John Wayne for example (with a couple of exceptions). He becomes Eugene Irwin in this movie. This movie isn't about Redford's character, just like "The Legend of Bagger Vance" isn't really about Bagger Vance. The Last Castle is about honor to one's self and honor among soldiers, even if they are prisoners. James Gandolfini's portrayal of a colonel who knows nothing of this honor or brotherhood is excellent. He makes you despise his character. Colonel Winters is a deeply disturbing study of corrupt power and jealousy of others' glory. A fine ensemble cast of characters make this movie well worth watching.