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Visitors Review

bsinc 2013-04-19 06:43:06

Now I know why this movie went by unnoticed

I really know many movie titles, I mean movies I haven't even seen andI'm still able to have a discussion about them with someone. So I justhad the strangest, yet kind of familiar feeling that not knowing thismovie at all (and Mr. Redford's in it!) won't be promising. Boy do Ikeep asking myself why Robert Redford made this movie. He just doesn'tseem to fit with the other cast, everything has a television moviefeel, a B-movie at best, and he just comes off as ackward and miscast.Actually I said that wrong, the movie itself is what's the mishap here.It's premise is fairly ridiculous and predictable (which is NEVER agood sign) so what we are left is Robert Redford. Had it not been forhim this ship would have sunk even deeper than it did, where the 60million dollars went into I honestly don't know.Definitely worth a miss. Very American, very patriotic, very muchtrying to be a sort of "Bridge On The River Kwai" thing, but hey, itjust isn't.Recommend - to maybe pick the DVD box in your local videoclub, look atit for a second or two, and then just put it back and forget it everhappened. That's what I'll try to do.4/10

2013-04-18 17:18:15

Great movie

This review is from: The Last Castle (DVD) This movie was sent quickly and in great shape. I am very satisfied with the product and would order form this distributor in the future.

2013-04-16 07:43:52

Leadership, Strategy, and Morality

This review is from: The Last Castle (DVD) While this movies suffices for "just entertainment" because of the ability of the actors, any viewer who takes the time to delve into the nuances presented is likely to find it thought-provoking and worthy of discussion. We enjoy this movie on a personal level -- and watch it at least once a year -- but have also used it in management training classes. It deserves viewing with an analytical eye and thoughtful mind. Check beneath the surface and think about the issues and the dynamics of the group/organization/leaders/players/etc.

Casey Machula 2013-04-15 20:09:57

Utter cornball nonsense

The penultimate scene in this movie, which I don't mind divulging becausethe film is worthless anyway, is about as cheesy and corny as they get: thewounded and dying general (Robert Redford), imprisoned in a militarystockade for disobeying orders (he did so with the best of intentions,naturally, so we're all supposed to sympathize with him!), uses every ounceof his dying strength to raise the American flag up a flagpole. As thisdrama unfolds, the prison inmates stand at attention, their chests flushwith red-blooded patriotic pride, their butt-cheeks puckered tight, salutingthe flag, as solemn and serious as a heart attack. It's the last act in theridiculously contrived struggle between the dishonored general and thecorrupt, power-hungry prison warden (James Gandolfini), whose motto issomething like `my way or the eternal dirt nap.' What I don't understandis, Who gets paid to write this stuff?

mitch carnes 2013-04-10 18:39:25

A terrible film, in my opinion...

I don't think they could have packed any more clichés into this movie ifthey tried. The actors did a fine job, but the script was just weak. Theonly reason I could understand such a high score is the sudden tide ofpatriotism after Sept. 11. Give it a couple of years, and see if it standsup then.

Anicha B 2013-04-10 14:33:41

The Ending Doesn't Have to Be Real

I thought the story of this movie (and having a worthy story is what great movies are all about)was very inspiring. This movie illustrates the role, that honor, dignity and respect can play for us, even in the most decrepid conditions (a prison). Robert Redford's brilliant acting shows us that even criminals deserve basic rights and human dignity.I loved it.And for all those who think that the ending wasn't realistic: ah, yeah: IT'S A MOVIE!!Cheers.

William Barnum 2013-04-09 15:24:56

Morally schizophrenic

The acting in this movie was so good that I almost want to recommend itbased on that alone. Unfortunately, the plot suffers from a sort of moralschizophrenia. The director manages to tapdance around the fact that thegood guys perpetrate more injustices in a day than the bad guys have in alifetime. While technically the good guys win, one leaves the theaterrealizing that everyone would have been better off if they hadn?t. Its worthseeing just to try and puzzle over what message the screenwriter wasactually trying to get across.

cubs2001 2013-04-09 01:00:02

The Last Castle is no Shawshank Redemption!

This movie is no Shawshank Redemption or The Green Mile. I was notevengoing to type a review on The Last Castle until one Friday night at workmade me want to review this movie out of spite. Unfortunately I work atBlockbuster Video in Nashville, so there is nothing else better to do inTennessee except rent movies and torture the poor and hard working cashier.I rented The Last Castle when it first came out for rental and I thought itwas just okay. My main selling point to customers is that it was filmed inTennessee. On this Friday night I had a customer ask me what I thoughtaboutthe Last Castle and I told her what I thought about it. I thought it wasfull of cliches, corny, predictable, and over long. One could say this didnot please her to say the least. So she made some kind of pithy comment andthis is an actually quote "Well maybe I like all that stuff." I had enoughwith this customer so I said "well that is your problem." Once again shewasnot pleased and stormed off with her movie. She asked for my opinion and Igave her my opinion. I guess she wanted the b.s. answer. Enough with theranting and venting, even thou most of these customers would not know agoodmovie if it swam up and bit them on the ass. Finally here is my review ofthe said movie The Last Castle, it is all of the things that I typed. Italso has little character development, but the actors do a good job withwhat they had to work with, and the movie is entertaining and at leastrenting once. So if you want to waste two entertaining hours this is themovie to do that. Besides that there are worse prison movies and there bothStallone movies: Lock Up and Tango and Cash. I have learned something fromthis experience and that is if you really don't ones opinion on anything donot ask even if you are just being polite and friendly. What happens in theend is that both of you go away p***ed off. I give this movie two out offour stars or a C grade. Thank you for your time and attention!

2013-04-04 02:11:46

Very Good

This review is from: The Last Castle (DVD) This is an Excellent movie,from start to finish, this one you will want in your movie collection,didn't get much play in the movies or TV, but it is excellent,you won't regret purchasing it

cherry_daze 2013-04-03 13:51:50

Designed to mind-wash the young..

*sigh* Does anyone remember that "Simpsons" episode where Bart became aboyband member? And it turned out that the song "Yvan eht nioj", was asubliminal message? Yes, well, this film felt like a more grown upversion of that song. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to find out thatthe US military financed this.To explain, this movie's main goal, or so it seems to me, is to presentthe American soldier as a man of integrity, who will always fight forGood, with a capital G. (This despite the fact that the movie is set ina maximum security prison, these inmate, well, BY GOD, they will beMORAL).This, alongside the artificial sense of heightened drama, and thesaccharine directing, made the movie one of the worst I've seen.Put frankly, those are TWO AND A HALF HOURS that I will NEVER get back.Who know? Maybe this will appeal to brainless teen boys, but for thosesearching for some Redford magic...prepare to be disappointed..

Spanner-2 2013-04-02 04:56:52

Excellent

This film has Robert Redford as a famous military general who has wound upbeing court martialed and sent to prison. Once in prison he winds upleadinga revolt against the evil warden (James Gandolfini). Good performances andasolid script keep you involved. Definitely a good effort that has a verypatriotic theme, despite the subject matter. GRADE: A-

2013-04-01 08:35:40

we all have a castle

when i was watching the film,the last castle,i realised that we all need a castle inside of us,and we already have a castle,everyone dose.the story happened in a military prison,everyone prisoner in this place who was a soldier,in fact they still a soldier,but the Jail manager try to Destroys the last part of confindence of every of them.they do not even allowed to Salutes.think about it,the soldier in the jail,and the last Honorable thing has been taken.you can hear their suffering in their heart.Tears Flowing their blood.but in fact, we all need a castle inside of us,defence the power which trying to hurt us.things are have two side,in another hand the castle keeps us in,onec you have it,its hard to make a step out of it.thats way people always say:if you bulid a wall inside of you,keep others out of your mind,you never gonna communicate others.finally we need to walk out,even its hard to make it,this is something you might not make it whole your life,but never give to try,the thing we should bulid is confinence,not a wall.

johnmcc150 2013-03-29 19:53:08

Amusing tripe

It starts as if it is going to be a remake of the Shawshank Redemption,however this governor isn't shown to be that bad. Eventually it didn'tseem to be too far from the norm for a military prison, so the cause ofthe rebellion isn't shown to be all that strong.By halfway through it seemed at that it could be a remake of theexcellent Mackenzie Break. In much the same way in this film I wasintrigued whether Redford was supposed to be a hero or a recklessegomaniac. For this ambiguity it deserves a few points even though Inow realise that this ambiguity was probably unintentional.The ambiguity is then destroyed in the final scenes. Redford isrevealed as an all-American hero, and the film becomes just anothergung-ho movie in the John Wayne mould. You could then laugh at thesudden appearance of a fully-trained and equipped army from among theprisoners. There were also some good stunts.I suppose to American audiences it seems to be yet another patrioticmovie. It is about a bunch of hardened criminals who are so full ofguilt about letting down the US Marine Corps, that they will allre-unite into a crack unit with minimal persuasion by someone they knowhad needlessly sacrificed his men. They really loved the army, theyjust needed another chance. They will even shed a tear for the US flagwhen it is raised.To non-US audiences the whole plot is more likely to seem bothconfusing and hilarious. It seems more likely that an officer as aninmate in a military prison would in reality have a hard time and woulddo well to gain any respect, let alone instant adoration. Yet Redford'scharacter is able to lead the prisoners in a futile attempt to takeover the jail causing many innocent casualties on both sides - somehero. Somehow the American flag is invoked to make it seem justifiable.I half expected Mel Brooks or Leslie Nielsen to make an appearance andthe film to be eventually revealed as a parody. Amazingly the US canstill make corny films like this with a straight face.

2013-03-29 06:48:01

The Last Castle

This review is from: The Last Castle (DVD) This movie is a classic and my husband, son and I just loved it. Robert Redford and James Gandolfini play tremondous parts. I would recomend it to anyone. It took me awhile to get it, as it was out of stock for awhile. But with persistense we were able to order it and we were glad we did. Thank You for providing good service.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU 2013-03-29 15:05:45

Once a man, forever a man

It is probably not a masterpiece but it is a film that is extremelystrong and universal. It is dealing with justice for military personneland soldiers. No one will question the justness of a court-martial butwhat happens to a soldier, what's more a three star general, if he iscourt-martialed to serve some time in a military prison. The prisonersin that prison have been humiliated and broken down into some wildanimals because a colonel only decided to see the crimes of these menand not the good potential that was and always will be in them assoldiers, and probably as men. They were trained soldiers and they havemade a mistake that they have to pay for, but they are no animals. Theyare human and they remain human, they are military and they remainmilitary with some strong powerful values they still are ready to diefor provided they find a good leadership. The colonel who is abusinghis power as the boss of this military prison does not understand anyother language than repression and force and killing those who do notobey. It can only work when the mass of the prisoners are divided andhostile to one another. Bring one high ranking officer among them whowill know how to rebuild their self-pride and their sense of honor andthey will follow him to regain their military humanity. The best partin the film is that it demonstrates how easy it is to organize atake-over in such a prison if you are imaginative and you have thesense of command and the sanity to respect the best in each man. What'smore the soldiers on the side of the colonel will also recognize in theprisoners and their fight the high human and military values theybelieve in. These soldiers will decide to isolate the colonel and evenarrest him for having lost control of his "fortress" by his own effortsand lack of moral humanism. The film is probably slightly optimistic onthat point but it can go through because the flag of the fortress,which is also the flag of the USA but could be the flag of any country,is in the hands of the main rebel and he is going to hoist up on itsflagpole. That very act, though the three star general prisoner will beshot while doing that by the defeated colonel, just before his owncaptain arrests him, creates a reaction among all the soldiers,prisoners or not that leads them to salute the flag and find anepiphany in that act. No matter what the colonel used to say, beforebeing court-martialed in his turn, these men may have done somethingwrong but they remain human beings and soldiers. Once a corporal,always a corporal. You cannot have and have been, because once you havebecome you will always be.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne, UniversityParis 8 Saint Denis, University Paris 12 Créteil, CEGID

rbverhoef 2013-03-28 17:47:39

Strong performances but that's about it

‘The Last Castle' is a very predictable film with a kind of ‘The A-Team' or‘MacGyver' ending. Nothing can go wrong. You think the plot has a nicetwist, but it turns back to predictable in a second. It is too bad becauseRobert Redford as the prisoner and especially James Gandolfini as the wardenare very good. It is not a normal prison, it is a prison with people whofought in combat and Robert Redford used to be (and actually still is) avery respectable general. Gandolfini is a colonel, at first very impressedby the general but when Redford says something wrong we see the real warden.The prisoners start to resist.The movie was enjoyable, but it was not good. A little silly sometimes andlike I said too predictable. The ending has some nice things in it, but itis not enough to save the movie. I was not bored but I can not recommendthis film.

Shep 2013-03-27 07:23:36

Not too realistic, but pretty good

Robert Redford's character seems unhuman- he's just too perfect. JamesGandolfini's character shines, and you just love to hate him. He's theenvious worm that always tried to sabatoge you in school. The movie is atypical Hollywood drama crowd pleaser, but is pretty good.B-, 7/10

mrdonleone 2013-03-26 22:18:30

fabulous

I've seen a lot of jail movies in my life, and I can tell you this is thebest I've seen. More entertainment then THE SHAWSHANK, and much betterdialogues then ANIMAL FARM... Simply, this is THE BEST!!! Robert Redfordmaybe an old actor (BUTCH CASSIDY & THE SUNDANCE KID), he's still the best!Soif you want to rent (or buy) a great jail movie, don't forget this one!Yes,I know THE ROCK is a better movie, but I recommend this movie. I didn'twantto rent it in the store. I thought it was going to be another stupid jailmovie... AGAIN. But when I saw it, I loved it! This is a MUST for everyonewho conscidderes him/herself as a filmfreak!

tgumiran 2013-03-25 07:54:00

Not bad.....

I cannot believe the negative reviews that I am reading. What everhappenedto just enjoying yourself and escaping for two (2) hours? People havecomplained about this movie being unrealistic (well, you know what....it'samovie).It was good to see Robert Redford act instead of being a director. I'mafraid his directorial talents are exactly box office smashes but they arehis choices. Personally I don't like them....but as an actor, he has honedhis craft well. It was also good to see "Tony Soprano" in a differentsetting. All I have to say is: just sit back and enjoy thefilm.

thiu 2013-03-24 20:54:10

one of the good movies *spoilers*

i just saw this movie because there was nothing else to do. i was howeververy surprised to find that it was good. it presented intense charactersthat have different feelings and agendas. the movie has an interesting plot with robert redford wanting to change asystem he sees to be unjust. Prisoners immediately cling to him because hepresents them with hope and for them to feel pride again.one thing that bothers me though is was the system that dysfunctional? wasit worth lives? hmmm... have to wonder really. all of them after all willget out of that prison after some time. But then i think if you ask each oneof those prisoners if they could have done it differently none of them wouldsay yes. it was a chance for them to do something great.although i wish that aguilar didn't die. somewhat should have just wrestledhim to the ground