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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
Released to mixed reviews in 1969, Castle Keep now qualifies as a potent allegory for the insanity of the Vietnam War. In that respect it belongs in the same category as better-known anti-war films of the period including Little Big Man and The Wild Bunch, and director Sydney Pollack (who scored his breakthrough hit later that year with They Shoot Horses, Don't They?) deftly straddles a stylistic line between old-school Hollywood and the emerging counterculture epitomized by Easy Rider. He also gets a memorably off-kilter performance from Burt Lancaster (who had been instrumental in launching Pollack's directorial career), the young-looking Tony Bill (who later became a successful producer-director), and especially Peter Falk, who would soon gain TV fame as Columbo. As American soldiers occupying a richly-appointed medieval castle in the Ardennes Forest near the end of World War II, they're a M*A*S*H-like bunch of military misfits (including Bruce Dern as a conscientious objector) engaged in a microcosm of occupational warfare as German troops draw closer. The ending is uncompromisingly bleak, reflecting the futility of Vietnam with long-lasting resonance. From a latter-day perspective, Castle Keep is a bold hybrid of large-scale WWII action and political statement, which may explain why such high-profile filmmakers as Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese campaigned for this glorious widescreen DVD after the earlier release of an inferior full-screen version. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Castle Keep
Fantastic eurpean back drop. Amazing glamorous casle. Slow build up at first. Energetic but short action ending.
Rating: - A character herein asks of another, "Did you hear a scream, maybe a wild bird or an eagle?" I'd add, "Or perhaps, nothing?"
"We don't believe in fighting," a soldier tells Peter Falk's character in the middle of the night on an otherwise quiet street. "Oh," Falk responds, "who believes in fighting?" The soldier, who a moment before had been leading a handful of soldiers singing for redemption, responds that "We believe in God. That frightens you doesn't it? All you believe in is fornication and killing. We're conscientious objectors," the soldier (played by Bruce Dern) tells Falk, in conclusion. Patrick O'Neil's ... Read More
Rating:  - Avant-garde World War II flick full of pretentious blather (2.5 Stars)
Two World War II flicks involving a European castle came out in 1968, "Where Eagles Dare" and "Castle Keep." If you're a fan of war films you've no doubt heard of "Where Eagles Dare," which is one of the greatest war action/adventure films ever made; but I wouldn't be too surprised if you've never heard of "Castle Keep" or only vaguely heard of it. There's good reason for this.
THE PLOT: The Germans are marching on a Belgium village in the Ardennes where a small group of American soldiers ... Read More
Rating: - I'm not sure what to think of this film.
Castle Keep is not exactley a normal war film infact I thought it was realy wierd and some parts just didn't fit in and didn't make any sense. The film plays out like a slow paced drama where some of the soldiers are talking about philisophical stuff and the meaning of life and blah blah ect, things don't get interesting untill the second half when the germans try to infiltrate the fortified castle the cast includes Peter Faulk, Burt Lancaster, Patrick O'Neal and some others. A group of American soldiers ... Read More
Rating:  - Not even as a night-light....
And I thought `Catch-22' was the worst WWII movie ever made.
At least the source of that one - Joseph Heller's best selling novel - is funny and brilliant. Maybe William Eastlake's CASTLE KEEP is a great novel, too. I'll never know, and after watching director Sydney Pollack's take on it I'm none to anxious to hunt it down. A group of American soldiers, led by eye patched Major Abraham Falconer (Burt Lancaster) decamp in a medieval castle that stands between the advancing Germans and Bastogne. ... Read More
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