The Last Castle
The Last Castle is a 2001 American action drama film directed by Rod Lurie, starring Robert Redford, James Gandolfini, Mark Ruffalo and Delroy Lindo. The film portrays a struggle between inmates and the warden of a military prison, based on the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth.[2] A highly decorated U.S. Army Lieutenant General, court martialed and sentenced for insubordination, challenges the prison commandant, a colonel, over his treatment of the prisoners. After mobilizing the inmates, the former general leads an uprising aiming to seize control of the prison.
This article is about the 2001 film. For the Jack Vance novella, see The Last Castle (novella). For the Fables comics, see Fables (comics)#Story arcs.The Last Castle
David Scarpa
- Michael Jablow
- Kevin Stitt
- October 19, 2001
131 minutes
United States
English
$72 million[1]
$27.6 million[1]
The film was released in the United States on October 19, 2001. It received mixed reviews from critics and was a financial disappointment, grossing just $27 million against its $72 million budget.
Plot[edit]
Lieutenant General Eugene Irwin is to complete a 10-year sentence in a maximum security military prison for sending his troops on a mission in Burundi, violating a presidential order and resulting in eight soldiers' deaths.
Prison commandant Colonel Winter greatly admires Irwin, until Irwin calls Winter's much-prized military artifacts collection something no true battlefield veteran would ever have. An offended Winter, who has never seen combat, resents the remark. He then opposes what he perceives as Irwin's attempt to change the attitudes of the prisoners, causing his admiration for Irwin to dissipate.
On one occasion, Irwin is reprimanded for stopping a guard from clubbing prisoner Corporal Ramon Aguilar, who had saluted Irwin in the prison yard. A tenet of Winter's methods for running the prison is that the prisoners are no longer soldiers and therefore should not follow military customs and courtesies.
Continuing to observe cruelty, Irwin attempts to unify the prisoners by building a "castle wall" of stone and mortar at the facility, which resembles a medieval castle in many ways. Envying the respect Irwin is clearly receiving, Winter orders his guards to destroy the wall. When Aguilar, an integral leader in the wall's construction, blocks the bulldozer, Winter orders sadistic sharpshooter Cpl. Zamorro to fire a normally non-lethal rubber bullet directly at his head, killing him.
After the wall is destroyed, Irwin and the inmates pay final respects to Aguilar in formation. Winter later offers some small concessions which are rejected as insufficient. Irwin calls him a disgrace to the uniform, demanding his resignation.
The prisoners begin to behave like soldiers around Irwin, using code words and gestures. Irwin organizes a plot to throw the prison into chaos. His intent is to show a friend, Brigadier General Wheeler, Winter's superior, that Winter is unfit and should be removed from command under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. During a visit, Winter receives a letter demanding his resignation, or the prisoners will kidnap Wheeler.
After ordering his men into action, Winter discovers that the scheme was just a bluff. Irwin uses the event to gain intelligence on how the prison guards would react during an actual uprising. Wheeler, who has made it clear that he hates Winter, nevertheless respects his argument that Wheeler has no idea how to run a military prison; he offers to transfer Irwin to another prison upon Winter's request, but Winter declines.
An infuriated Winter reaches out to Yates, an anti-social prisoner, former officer and Apache helicopter pilot convicted of running a drug-smuggling ring. Bribed with a reduced sentence to inform about Irwin's plans, Yates tells Winter that Irwin intends to take over the prison, then raise the U.S. flag upside down to signal distress.
Yates discreetly steals a U.S. flag from the warden's office during one of his visits, revealing he is on Irwin's side; Winter orders all the prisoners to the yard in an attempt to prevent their plot, but this was part of their plan as well, and the riot commences.
Using improvised weapons, the prisoners capture an armored vehicle and the prison helicopter, which Yates uses to kill Zamorro. The prisoners call Wheeler's headquarters and inform him of the riot. Winter has little time to regain control before Wheeler arrives to see the prison under siege, so he orders the use of live ammunition against the prisoners.
Winter knows from Yates that Irwin ultimately plans to raise the American flag upside down, signaling distress. Irwin's men create havoc, but ultimately are confronted by overwhelming numbers of guards armed with live ammunition. Winter orders the men to lie down, but they refuse. He orders them again, warning them that the sharpshooters positioned above them will fire if they do not obey. Just before he gives the order, Irwin orders his fellow prisoners to lie down. Winter then tells Irwin to return his flag, but Irwin replies, "It's not your flag", before he turns and begins walking toward the flagpole to raise it.
An increasingly unsettled Winter tells Irwin, "You will not raise that flag upside down," but Irwin continues walking, despite the orders to cease and desist. Seeing that Irwin is ignoring him, Winter orders the shooters to fire on him, but they refuse. He orders them repeatedly but, as absolutely all of his men refuse to kill Irwin, Winter fatally shoots him in the back. As his life ebbs away, Irwin continues to raise the flag.
Peretz places Winter under arrest for shooting Irwin. The prisoners, now standing again, begin to salute the flag. Astonishingly, Winter notices that Irwin has actually raised the flag right-side-up, meaning that he had shot Irwin for no reason. The flag flies above the prison's walls as General Wheeler arrives. Colonel Winter is led away in handcuffs. The inmates build a new wall as a memorial to their fallen comrades. Aguilar and Irwin's names are among those carved onto the castle wall.