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The Last CastleRating:
Release Date: 04 March, 2003 Retail Price: $9.99 OUR Price: $9.99 You SAVE: $0.00! Cast: Complete Cast (15 total) |
The Last Castle Reviews
**THIS REVIEW IS ONLY FOR THE DVD**
The extras on this DVD are great, im very sad this hasnt gotten more attention for a better DVD release, but it is all good right now. The extras include all:
*Deleted Scenes with commentary by: Rod Lurie
*HBO Special: Inside the Castle Walls
*Commentary By Rod Lurie
*Theatrical Trailer
*Production Notes
*Cast and Filmaker Bios
redford/gandolfini cannot save terrible script
Redford is a 3 star general sentenced to 10 years, for what we later learn is sending men to die in a mission contradicting a presidential order. Gandolfini is the brutal military prison warden, who orders the death of a soldier/prisoner, inciting Redford to lead the men in revolt.
The problem is both men are cut from the same cloth, as the script poorly distinguishes them. This complexity is useful, but not when neither character is worth rooting for. The most telling scene is when a reluctant follower asks the ex-General if leading men is just moving pieces on a chessboard to him. Redford answers it is, and we infer this is 'the burden of command,' his book on warfare, i.e. the ends justify the means in battle. It is hard to become a pawn for the great military machine, when the cause is unjust or not worth the price. Here, the men can just follow the severe code versus revolt. While Gandolfini's warden goes too far, his justification of needing order is reasonable.
He tries to get Redford shipped out on mental issues, delusions of taking command. The problem is, Redford really does what the Warden says shows mental infirmity. As if he cant adjust to not commanding thousands, he invents a battle. The battle seems as much about the General's need to command troops and teach the Warden a lesson as anything else. No real reason was given as to why his personal connections could not have fixed the prison problems, and they were already going that way as Redford met with the Warden's superior, who 'put him on notice.'
In addition to poor character development, taking one step back the whole basis and execution of conflict in a prison yard is laughable. Last, the ending is so insipid, everyone who sees it will think of 5 ways it could have ended more intelligently. The film instead tries to make a tearjerker when no such ending was needed or justified.
A great film of the evil nature of man's institutions is One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. A great war film for moral ambiguity is Platoon. Last Castle is a must miss.
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