Aaron Amos

How good of a DVD is this movie? Special Features etc? How good of a plot does it have?Worth a purchase?

Your thoughts?

Hendrik

...don't know about the DVD, but this review makes the movie sound as close to awful as makes no difference...

-> -> -> ! ! ! S P O I L E R S ! ! ! <- <- <-

http://www.mrcranky.com/movies/lastcastle.html

(...and, yes!, I own and have watched the DVDs of those wildly and inexplicably (to me! to me!) overrated movies The Shawshank Redemption and The Contender!...)

. . . . . .

Blade

I didn't see the Contender, though I did see Shawshank. I just watched the Last Castle on DVD last night.

I think Shawshank is a great movie because it does a great job of showing the resiliency of the human spirit. While the guards were corrupt, you didn't get the feeling that they were completely unfair, nor did I think the past histories of the prisoners were quite as glossed over as they were in Last Castle.

But my main problem with the Last Castle, is how one sided it all felt. You never really feel as if the outcome is ever in doubt nor is the question of who is the "better man."

Generally, you understand that the filmmakers have complete control over the story and any conclusions reached are the ones they want reached, but this just seemed like the director and writer were hitting you over the head with their point, or just trying to show themselves how right they were.

It had its moments (especially the prison takeover scene) but utimately, I would put this pretty low on a "to rent" list, and have trouble recommending it as a buy unless you were a fan of the Contender.

The video transfer looked very good (again, I don't have an HD setup, so I can't get too specific as to the quality) as you would expect a modern film to look.

The DVD does boast a DTS audio transfer (and DD 5.1 and surround, but I didn't listen to those). Unfortunately, this is a kind of loud movie and I wasn't able to have volume up very high last night so I can't really comment on that. The dialogue seemed a bit quiet compared to the music and sound effects though.

The extras include a commentary by the director (which I didn't listen to), a featurette, the trailer deleted scenes and cast & crew.

There are about 12 minutes of deleted scenes. Some of them were worth watching, and over all, I would say that they were more worthwhile than your average batch of deleted scenes. With the movie clocking in at a somewhat overlong 2hrs 15 minutes, I wouldn't want any of them put back in, but they did humanize some of the guards. There's also an optional commentary on the deleted scenes.

Overall, a decently put together DVD, but a lackluster movie.

Here's a link to DVDTalk's formal review of the movie for a more technical look at the video and audio transfers. http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=3491

-David

Static Cling

Why didn't you ask about nudity? Robert Redford and James Gandolfini don't give you the hot?

JonTurner

lol - from a mod nonetheless... Static, don't think he ever checks back after he starts these threads, so you won't get a response

Aaron Amos

Sorry I forgot!Is there any nudity in this movie?

Robert

Yeah, all the prisoners run around naked.

Ripper

Short & simple; horrible movie! Over-the-top patriotic theme & just couldn't buy Robert Redford's character as a 3-star general.

Ripper

Iron_Giant

Same problem I had. I never believed he was this great General that everyone honored. But, the movie was a good rental (one viewing is enough).