The Last Castle (2001)

One of my all time favorites.

Admirable film.

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Robert Redford in prison? Oh no! In The Last Castle, he's a decorated soldier sent to prison for disobeying an order, and he clashes immediately with the strict prison warden, James Gandolfini. While some have compared this movie to The Shawshank Redemption, I'd recommend you put the iconic classic out of your mind while watching this one. There are a couple of similar themes, but they're really not the same movie.I'm not really a James Gandolfini fan; he always seems like he's about to break character and start laughing. In a very tense drama, it's not optimal for the bad guy to always appear to be on the verge of cracking up. But, Robert Redford is the lead, and he makes up for it. He's always trustworthy and likable, so the audience immediately sides with him as he adjusts to prison life and sticks up for the poor treatment of his fellow prisoners.The prison brutality is a little upsetting, but it's pretty tame compared to other films in its genre. Mostly, you're going to cringe and whine because you don't want to see Robert Redford get punished. If the cast was different, the movie wouldn't be nearly as suspenseful. And, while I didn't like the ending, it's not the worst movie you could sit through, especially if you want to see a young Mark Ruffalo.

A military prison run by a heavy-handed warden (James Gandolfini) is the setting for this action drama.A disgraced three star military General (Robert Redford) is sent here to serve a sentence for a miscalculation that led to the deaths of a few of his troops.Things tick along okay for a while, but soon Redford and Gandolfini cross paths and the rest is history. Military history.Redford leads a rebellion against the warden, and soon wins the respect of the other men. This leads to one of the most fun finales that I've ever seen in a film - where the prisoners fully rise up and take on the guards.Things start out a little slow, which might put off fans who are looking for pure action, but as we reach the second half of the film things begin to pick up.There's also a subplot where Delroy Lindo plays one of Redford's colleagues, and the two men still have a good companionship. As Gandolfini's nefarious antics hit a fever pitch a lot of the film focuses on getting the audience hopes up that Lindo will arrive in time to help save the day.The cast here is great and, in another world, The Last Castle could easily have been a classic - however it falls short, hence my 7/10 rating. Some films have that 'wow' factor that can't be predicted or can't be measured, and The Last Castle doesn't quite have that.

A court-martialed general rallies together 1200 inmates to rise against the corrupt system that put him away. The Last Castle is a 2001 Action, Drama, Thriller starring Robert Redford, James Gandolfini and Mark Ruffalo. I'm very glad that i own this movie because it's truly very good and moving it's basically a film about a court martial who goes in jail and he gets screwed in there because the system of the whole prison is corrupted and the main bad guy is played by the amazing James Gandolfini as for our hero his name is Lt. Gen. Eugene Irwin played by the great Robert Redford as for Ruffalo he plays Yates an ex pilot the last 20 to 30 minutes of the movie has the inmates going against the guards and Col. Winter and a big battle starts but unfortunately the movie ends in a very touching way with Eugene getting shot for trying to hang the American flag upside down although that wasn't what he was trying to do he actually puts the flag in the right position in a way of respect and he dies by his wounds. The Last Castle is sure not for everyone but anyone who loves great war movies or drama or just pure action in Jail you will probably love it or have a good time.

This movie is an affront to the military by a leftist who hates the military and the USA. A 4 star US Army General allowing soldiers to murder civilians! really? As a veteran of the US Army this movie is a joke. There is no way that a US 4 star General would allow something like that to happen! oh and the prisoners are innocents abused by the guard! silly and so predictable! not worth the time. No wonder Redfords movies fail at the box office. All his movies are themed towards his bias' and have a communist leftist spin. Avoid this movie!Oh and the Prison Commandant, A Colonel allows abuse and murder to occur. No officer in the military who risk his life, career and reputation to abuse anyone under his charge!