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Castle Keep

Play trailer Poster for Castle Keep R 1969 1h 46m War Play Trailer Watchlist
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44% Tomatometer 9 Reviews 48% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
A one-eyed World War II Army major (Burt Lancaster) and his men occupy a Belgian count's (Jean-Pierre Aumont) castle open to a German attack.
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Castle Keep

Critics Reviews

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Variety Staff Variety 05/26/2008
Apparent efforts to insert a fresh side of war by concentrating on some of its grim humor act more as a deterrent than a booster to interest. Go to Full Review
Time Out 02/09/2006
Pollack's folly remains an intriguing curio in spite of its pretensions. Go to Full Review
Vincent Canby New York Times 05/09/2005
2.5/5
It's a sometimes funny and entertaining movie that accomplishes the dubious feat of being both anti and pro war at the same time. Go to Full Review
Matt Brunson Film Frenzy 05/14/2024
1.5/4
Burt Lancaster has starred in several good war flicks, but Castle Keep isn’t one of them. Go to Full Review
Richard Schickel LIFE 07/18/2023
Well worth seeing, not because perfection has been achieved, but because a good serious film response has been made to a good serious book. Go to Full Review
Penelope Houston The Spectator 07/10/2018
As though a marriage had been arranged between Catch 22 and A Long Day's Dying, and neither party felt much confidence in the outcome. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Raymond P Jan 23 This is one of the best films from an incredible career, Burt Lancaster, This film shows the horror and comedy of war in a way never seen before. The film reveals how there are humans on both sids of the guns, and why incredible sacrifice can seem just sad and pointless. I was 21 when I first saw this film and it still has an incredible effect on me to this day. See more stanley b 06/28/2024 Unusual to say the least war film. Surreal and thought provoking. Burt kicks ass. See more Steve D 04/17/2024 Amusing for a while but unravels. See more david s 11/22/2023 I've loved this movie since it came out in 1969.Surreal,thought provoking,surreal. See more Red T 07/13/2023 It's a Mess but entertaining toward the end. The music is pretty generic and forgettable. The is ok with Flak & Lancaster standing out with decent performances but the rest just all blend in and are very generic and forgettable. The editing is ok enough and the pacing is a tolerable mess. This overcompensates for 60% of the runtime basically sitting around talking in riddles and proverbs about art and why the castle should/shouldn't be protected and it feels like it never goes anywhere, never contributes to meaningful character development, or builds suspense. Than the final 40% is nothing but straight action. The cinematography is decent and the best part of this. The castle is a memorable setting and its shot well but the scenes don't really have anything going on besides talking about religion, art meaning, and philosophical expose that goes in circles. The action is the best part and is surprisingly good with very well done practical effects overall including some awesome destruction shots like the church and castle burning. That being said I didn't really care for anyone in it much and it did become a bit mindless in the fighting at times. Honestly unless your a super die hard Lancaster fan skip this. See more deke p 07/26/2022 What A SNOOZE-FEST! More like a BORE movie than a war movie. It is said that war is long periods of boredom, punctuated by moments of killing. This movie concentrates on the boredom. Can't believe I've never seen this 1969 movie until now on tv 7.26.2022, tho I've heard of it since it came out and thot by the title that I was really missing something. A small group of US army soldiers being bored, and having sex with wanton Euro women, while occupying a very rich man's castle. Finally gets soe action near the end, but not enuf to save it. Bruce DERN is in it as a crazy Christian pacifist. See more Read all reviews
Castle Keep

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Movie Info

Synopsis A one-eyed World War II Army major (Burt Lancaster) and his men occupy a Belgian count's (Jean-Pierre Aumont) castle open to a German attack.
Director
Sydney Pollack
Producer
Martin Ransohoff, John Calley
Screenwriter
Daniel Taradash, David Rayfiel
Production Co
Avala Film, Filmways Pictures
Rating
R
Genre
War
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jul 23, 1969, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 1, 2012
Runtime
1h 46m
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