The Last Castle

Synopsis: When three star General Irwin is transferred to a maximum security military prison, its warden, Colonel Winter, can't hide his admiration towards the highly decorated and experienced soldier. Irwin has been stripped of his rank for disobedience in a mission, but not of fame. Colonel Winter, who runs the prison with an iron fist, deeply admires the General, but works with completely different methods in order to keep up discipline. After a short while, Irwin can feel Winter's unjust treatment of the inmates. He decides to teach Winter a lesson by taking over command of the facility and thus depriving him of his smug attitude. When Winter decides to participate in what he still thinks of as a game, it may already be too late to win.
Director(s): Rod Lurie
Production: DreamWorks SKG
  1 win & 4 nominations.
 
IMDB:
6.9
Metacritic:
43
Rotten Tomatoes:
52%
R
Year:
2001
131 min
$17,924,798
Website
1,199 Views


[Man] Take a look

at a castle, any castle.

Now break down the key elements

that make it a castle.

They haven't changed

in a thousand years.

One, location. A site on high ground

that commands the territory...

as far as the eye can see.

Two, protection:
big walls.

Walls strong enough

to with stand a frontal attack.

Three, a garrison.

Men who are trained and willing to kill.

Four, a flag.

You tell your men,

"You're soldiers

and that's our flag."

You tell them nobody

takes our flag.

[Man]

One step forward. Forward!

And you raise that flag so it flies high

where everyone can see it.

Now you've got yourself

a castle.

The only difference between

this castle and all the rest,

is that they were built

to keep people out.

This castle is built

to keep people in.

[Shouting]

- [Men Chattering]

- [Man On P.A., Indistinct]

[Rapping, Indistinct]

Ohh!

Come on. Give me the ball.

Give me the ball, man.

- Come on. Give me the f***ing ball.

- F*** you!

- [Knock On Door]

- [Softly] Sir?

[Louder]

Sir? A movement order just came in.

Give it to Captain Peretz.

- I'll take that, Sheila.

- It's a Category A transfer.

- Let me see it.

- [Arguing]

- [Man] Fallout! Fallout! Fallout!

- Play ball, man. Come on.

- [Classical]

- [Peretz] 1700 hours?

N-No, no, we're prepared.

Well, it's just

really fast. Okay.

Mm-hmm.

All right. You're sure

you're positive about this.

Okay. Thank you.

Sir?

Sir?

[Exhales]

It's the real deal.

He is coming in

at 1700 hours.

Seventeen hundred hours today?

That's what they said, sir.

I don't understand.

The trial began today.

Apparently, he pled guilty

and got ten years.

They're expediting

his transfer as a courtesy.

Oh, as a courtesy?

They should be naming a base

after the man. Not sending him here.

My God, Eugene Irwin.

Well, we have verdict.

We have a sentence.

We have a prisoner.

We do our job...

whether we like it or not.

Puts us on our toes,

though, doesn't it?

[Man On P.A.] Escort detail

report to Gate 18 prisoner.

Escort detail meet

the prisoner on Gate A.

[Gate Buzzes]

[Inmate]

I give him a week.

- 'Til what?

- 'Til he "scrags" himself.

The court-martial didn't

put him over the edge,

- I guarantee you the shithouse will.

- A week?

- Six bundles.

- Six? Let's make it ten.

- All right. Make it ten then.

- [Man] Ah, there we go.

Ten bundles, Mr. Dellwo.

Very specific man.

- Anybody else?

- You have absolutely no idea

what you're talking about.

Come on.

We'll make it like the final four.

Ten bundles a square. Who's in?

I'm not going to bet on whether or not

a man's going to kill himself.

That's some creepy sh*t, pilot.

Besides, look at him. One week?

He's tougher than that.

[Inmate] How much tougher,

eight, ten, what?

- [Inmate] Eight.

- [Inmate #2] Anyone else?

- You're an ice-cold motherf***er, Yates.

- Hey, I'm not betting...

he's going to off himself,

I'm just playing the books.

- What about you, Cutbush?

I know you're in.

- Put me in for a week and a half.

- A week and a half?.

- Wallace?

- Go ahead.

- I have the transfer A

to the P.R.U. now.

- Copy that. P.R.U.

- [Woman] One wallet. Leather.

- Family photos?

- [Irwin] My daughter.

- Grandson.

- Would you like to keep these?

Um, that's an authorized item.

I'd appreciate that.

One set of keys. Glasses.

I'm going to need your ring.

Thank you.

Oh. Actually, you can keep that.

Academy rings are authorized.

Three stars, two sets.

Looks like that's everything.

- So, uh--

- [Knocking On Door]

- Sir? Prisoner Irwin is outside.

- Five minutes.

Five minutes.

You can put that down if you want.

- You talking to me?

- Yes.

I know what you're thinking.

Do I salute you, or do you salute me?

Well, the answer is neither.

My men salute me, of course,

and each other according to rank.

But there is no saluting

by the general prison population.

Well, first things first.

Are you hungry?

- No.

- Are you sure? Mondays are

our Salisbury steak night.

- Always a cause for celebration.

- Indeed.

Indeed. May I

offer you some lemonade?

- Thank you.

- Just be a minute, sir.

- Prisoner Aguilar--

- If you'll step over here, I'll give you...

a basic layout

of the facility.

The building we're in now

is the administration building.

That building there

houses the tiers.

That's where you

and the other inmates will live.

The building next to it is the laundry,

where I've had you assigned.

Oh, that is

the old blockhouse wall.

It's all that's left of

the original prison from the 1870s.

I could've removed it, but I thought

it was important to keep a sense of history,

so I asked the men

to rebuild it.

- They seem to enjoy it.

It's a matter of some pride now.

- [Knock On Door]

- Sir?

- Yes? Please, on the table there.

Please.

[Peretz]

Come on. Let's go.

I personally meet with

every new inmate here at the prison.

Usually downstairs.

And I ask them a question.

What do you expect from

your time here at the castle?

Nothing.

Just to do my time and go home.

Perfect.

That is the perfect answer.

And now I have what may seem

under the circumstances,

a bizarre request.

I have a collection of most

of the seminal books on warfare,

including The Burden of Command.

And I was wondering if you would

do me the honor of signing it?

- Certainly.

- Thank you.

- Captain Peretz.

- Yes, sir?

Two minutes.

- That's impressive.

- Yeah. It's a great collection, isn't it?

Yeah, sure.

That's a minie ball

from Shiloh, used in battle.

Grant lost 13,000 men

at Shiloh.

Suppose this got one of'em?

Never know. Do you?

I mean, do you

collect anything?

[Irwin]

No.

Just a few coins from some of

the countries I've traveled to.

My father didn't care

for military collections.

I guess it stuck with me.

Any man with a collection like this

is a man who's never set foot

on a battlefield.

To him, a minie ball from

Shiloh is just an artifact.

And to a combat vet,

it's a hunk of metal...

that caused some poor bastard

a world of pain.

I must have misshelved it...

your book.

We'll do it another time.

No, please, please. Allow me.

Sir, lights out in five.

Do I hold the lock?

No. No. We are--

We're through here.

Prisoner Aguilar, what are you doing?

You do not salute this man.

This man has no rank.

Saluting amongst prisoners is prohibited.

Y-Yes, sir.

Bu-But I was saluting you.

- Take the prisoners

to their cells, Captain.

- Yes, sir.

Thank you for

your hospitality, Colonel.

You're welcome.

[Man On P.A.] Inmates,

one step to the rear... halt!

[Man]

Shut the doors!

You're gonna be in cell 345.

- You get to shower every other day.

- [Prisoners Chattering]

- Okay, hold up.

- You f***! I'm going to kill you!

- [Guard] Shut up, Beaupre.

- [Shouting Continues]

[Peretz] Do not cross

the yellow line while in formation.

During the day you're free to be in

this area we're walking in right now.

- Showers on both sides.

- Those stars don'tmean

Rate this script:3.0 / 2 votes

David Scarpa

David Scarpa is an American screenwriter. He was born in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and raised in Tennessee and Connecticut before attending New York University's Film Program. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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