History Film / TheLastCastle

* AFatherToHisMen: Irwin very QUICKLY becomes this to all the men (although he was already revered by most of them anyway). He was this to his men while they were all POW’s in Hanoi although he tells Yates who’s father served under the General and who greatly revered him until his death that he didn’t do anything motivating as he mentions he was the one who actually broke first during torture and prayed for death every night but the only reason why he didn’t was because of the men and their will and determination to stay alive.

* EveryoneHasStandards:
* Yates is clearly an asshole who cares only about himself and feels that the General’s “crusade” will only end in disaster but Winter’s pointless and cold-hearted murder of Aguilar was a bridge too far even for him as he finally ends up siding with the General.

* EveryoneHasStandards: The designated marksmen who are ordered by Winter to open fire on the General for trying to raise the flag upside down disobeys the order due to it being an unlawful order as the General was unarmed and really wasn’t a threat.

* HeelFaceTurn: Although not really a villain but just a weaselly coward but Yates ends up joining the General and the other inmates during the uprising as Winter’s disgusting power trip proves to be too much even for him.

* AFatherToHisMen: Irwin very QUICKLY becomes this to all the men (although he was already revered by most of them anyway) He was this to his men in while they were all POW’s in Hanoi although he tells Yates that he didn’t do anything special as he was the one who actually broke first during torture and prayed for death every night but the only reason why he didn’t was because of the men and their will and determination to stay alive. Among one of those men was Yates’s father who continued to revere the General until his death.

* AFatherToHisMen: Irwin becomes this to the men. He was this to his men in while they were all POW’s in Hanoi although he tells Yates that he didn’t do anything special as he was the one who actually broke and prayed for death the whole time but the only reason why he didn’t was because of the men. Among one of those men was Yates’s father who continued to revere the General until his death.

* EveryoneHasStandards: The designated marksman who are ordered by Winter to open fire on the General for trying to raise the flag upside down disobeys the order due to it being an unlawful order as the General was unarmed and really wasn’t a threat.

* StrangeSalute: Since the prisoners have all been court-martialed and discharged, they are no longer serving members in any branch of the United State military and, as such, saluting one another is forbidden. The prisoners pay respect to each other by holding their hands up near their temple and then brushing the hand back through their hair to differentiate it from a proper military salute. They also devise alternate forms of address, based on common forms of address like "boss," to use in place of previous ranks.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Winter tries to justify his actions and methods to the General by mentioning that under the former warden in his last two years that there was 12 attacks on officers and NCO’s with one being killed and that there was seven escape attempts and since he took over none of the two has happened and that he has to be firm due to the fact that the prisoners vastly outnumber the Colonel and his men.

* {{Jerkass}}: Winter TO A TEE.

* TheMole: [[spoiler:Yates]]

* SplitDiopter

* DisproportionateRetribution: Winter’s “punishment” methods are rather extreme to say the least. Two of them both target Aguliar. First one is having him stand in the rain all night and to the the middle of the afternoon the next day just for learning to salute from Irwin and the second one is having him murdered for standing defiantly against the new wall ( which the prisoners built) being destroyed.

* AssholeVictim: Zamorro won’t be missed considering he coldly murdered Aguliar and took joy in it.

''The Last Castle'' is a 2001 action-drama film directed by Rod Lurie (the guy that did ''Film/TheContender''), starring Creator/RobertRedford and Creator/JamesGandolfini.

* HellholePrison: The castle was this under the former Warden as Winter mentions that in his final two years there was seven escape attempts and 12 attacks on officers and NCO’s with one of them being killed.

* HellishPrison: The castle was this under the former Warden as Winter mentions that in his final two years there was seven escape attempts and 12 attacks on officers and NCO’s with one of them being killed.

* {{Jerkass}}: Beaupre, who later evolves into a JerkWithAHeartOfGold when he starts to respect Irwin.

** Irwin pulls off one final gambit [[spoiler: before his death. Knowing that Winter is likely to shoot him should he attempt to raise the American flag upside down, Irwin instead opts to raise it the correct way up believing that Winter, in his rage, won't notice. He doesn't, and Winter does shoot Irwin, and by the time he realises he just killed Irwin for no reason, it's already too late and Winter is arrested for murder.]]

The film was shot at 103-year-old former Tennessee State Prison in Nashville, the same prison ''Film/TheGreenMile'' was filmed at. Critical reception was mixed; while the acting and stuntwork are generally praised, an examination of the plot reveals PlotHoles and FridgeLogic.

* ReverseMole: [[spoiler:Yates]]

* TheNeidermeyer: Winter, stated by Irwin to Peretz. As far as he's concerned, no actual battlefield veteran would ever have a much-prized military artifacts collection, a comment Winter feels personally insulted by. Zamorro, one of the military guards, is considered to be this too.

''The Last Castle'' is a 2001 action-drama film directed by Rod Lurie (the guy that did ''Film/TheContender''), starring Creator/RobertRedford and James Gandolfini.

Eugene Irwin (Redford), a highly decorated U.S. Army Lieutenant General, is court martialed. He is sent to a maximum security military prison, run by iron-fisted warden Colonel Winter (Gandolfini). Should one of the prisoners piss Winter off, say by saluting a prisoner who is of a higher rank than them (which is not allowed), he subjects them to abusive treatment, such as shooting them in the head with a rubber bullet. This has resulted in the deaths of several of the prisoners. Eugene is disgusted and the other prisoners are aware of Eugene's legendary prowess and look up to him with significant reverence, so he organizes the prisoners into a makeshift army. They plan to wrest the prison from Winter's control from within so that he will be removed as warden...

* BatmanGambit: Irwin deliberately triggers several false alarms to learn the prison's basic procedures to handle riots, and turns those procedures against them such as [[spoiler:threatening an impending riot, causing Winter to move the prisoners into the yard while he has his guards sweep the prison cells for weapons. This allows Irwin to lock the majority of the guards inside the cell block and the prisoners easily overpower the few remaining guards outside.]]

* FatalFamilyPhoto: [[spoiler:You just knew Irwin was gonna die when he took the photo of his grandkid into his pocket]].

* {{Jerkass}}: Beaupre, who later evolved into a JerkWithAHeartOfGold when he starts to respect Irwin.
** Zamorro seems to be this among the guards. He [[spoiler:followed Winters' instructions to kill Aguilar without hesitation, even singing while aiming at him.]]

* TheNeidermeyer: Winter, as stated by Irwin to Peretz, that no actual battlefield veteran would ever have a much-prized military artifacts collection, which however, cause Winter to feel insulted by that comment that from this point on, Winter and Irwin have become enemies. Zamorro, one of the military guards, is considered to be this too.

* StrangeSalute: Since the prisoners have all been court-martialed and discharged, they are no longer serving members in any branch of the United State military and, as such, saluting one another is forbidden. The prisoners pay respect to each other by holding their hand up near their temple and then brushing the hand back through their hair to differentiate it from a proper military salute. They also devise alternate forms of address, based on common forms of address like "boss," to use in place of previous ranks.