The Last Castle

"A castle can only have one king."

2001 2h 11m EN

👍

7.2

SOLID

★7.2TMDB · 1,498

ActionDramaThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A court-martialed general rallies together 1200 inmates to rise against the system that put him away.

“A castle can only have one king.”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

Amazon VideoRent

Apple TV StoreRent

Google Play MoviesRent

YouTubeRent

Fandango At HomeRent

Spectrum On DemandRent

Amazon VideoBuy

Apple TV StoreBuy

Google Play MoviesBuy

YouTubeBuy

Fandango At HomeBuy

Cast

Robert Redford
Lt. Gen. Eugene Irwin
James Gandolfini
Col. Winter
Mark Ruffalo
Yates
Delroy Lindo
Gen. Wheeler
Clifton Collins Jr.
Cp. Ramov Aguilar
Kristen Shaw
Clerk (Staff Sgt.)
Paul Calderon
Dellwo
Brian Goodman
Beaupre

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Rod Lurie
Writers: David Scarpa, Graham Yost, David Scarpa
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $72M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 38% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

25 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Rod Lurie, shot by Shelly Johnson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Original score by Jerry Goldsmith. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Kevin Stitt shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Robert Redford and James Gandolfini and Mark Ruffalo carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "A castle can only have one king.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Rod Lurie directs. Shelly Johnson behind the camera. Jerry Goldsmith scores. Kevin Stitt cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Mid-budget at $72M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
2Earned back only 38% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
325 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
4Directed by Rod Lurie, shot by Shelly Johnson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Jerry Goldsmith. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Kevin Stitt shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Robert Redford and James Gandolfini and Mark Ruffalo carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "A castle can only have one king.".
9IMDB entry: tt0272020 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Released under 14 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Shelly Johnson
Original score: Jerry Goldsmith
Editing: Kevin Stitt
Production design: Kirk M. Petruccelli
Costume design: Ha Nguyen
Stunt coordinator: Mic Rodgers
Runtime: 131 min · 2h 11m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $72,000,000
Box office: $27,642,707
Return: 38% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Last Castle (2001)

Also by

Rod Lurie

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2022-07-10
★ 6/10
Robert Redford is "Irwin", a disgraced general sent to a military prison after his court-martial for disobeying orders during an operation in Africa that led to the death of eight under his command. Almost immediately he and the commandant "Winter" (James Gandolfini) take against each other and what now ensues is a gradual positioning of both men for a contretemps. The former man, initially, just wants to do his time - but as he sees the arbitrary and sometimes lethal fashion in which the place is run, he is soon working with the 1200 other inmates to create an effective unit than can resist, perhaps even overthrow, the regime. The first half hour of this is quite well developed, battle lines are drawn as the two men play a game of intellectual chess. Sadly, though, that momentum descends quite quickly into a rather far-fetched drama that featuresd a plot riddled with holes, some totally implausible incidents and in the end, a denouement that has something of the pantomime to it. Redford adopts a less is more approach to his role which he carries off adequately with little dialogue - indeed, pretty much little of anything. Gandolfini is, however, completely unconvincing as a senior officer who appears to have little humanity or grasp on the reality of the scenarios presented to us by Rod Lurie. Clifton Collins Jr offers the best effort from amongst the cast with his portrayal of the troubled "Aguilar", but I couldn't quite make out just what the role of the duplicitous "Yates" (Mark Ruffalo) was meant to represent - maybe I had just given up by then. I reckon this might have made for a decent read; allowing us to inject character traits into what personalities are on offer here using our own imagination. As a piece of cinema, however, it is little more than a vehicle for a star who is nowhere near his best working with a story that stretched my imagination just a bit too far for far too long.

Production companies