Paul Calderon

Lieutenant General Eugene Irwin (Robert Redford) is brought to a maximum-security military prison to begin a ten-year sentence for his decision (in violation of a presidential order) to send U.S. troops on a mission in Burundi, resulting in the deaths of eight soldiers. Irwin walks about how castles have not changed in 1000 years in their role on the battlefield. They sit on high ground and command a territory as far as the eye can see, they have big walls for protection and strong enough to withstand a frontal attack and has a garrison of men who are trained and willing to kill. Finally, a castle has a flag, and that flag belongs to the soldiers of the castle. Nobody takes the flag, but the garrison of the castle. When the flag flies high, the castle is complete. Irwin compares the prison to a castle that is designed to keep people in. Colonel Winter (James Gandolfini), the prison's commandant, is a great admirer of the general but is offended by a comment by Irwin that he overhears. Irwin criticizes Winter's much-prized military artifacts collection, saying that the used bullets from the Civil War it includes is something no combat veteran - such as Irwin - would ever have. Colonel Winter, who has never seen combat in his career, quickly resents what he perceives as Irwin's attempt to change the attitude of the prisoners, and his admiration and respect of Irwin fades fast. A tenet of Winter's methods for running the prison is that the prisoners are no longer soldiers and therefore should not follow military customs and courtesies. Irwin notices that Winter instructs his guards not to intervene when a fight breaks out in the common outside area among inmates. Then, non-lethal force is used in the form of rubber bullets to bring the inmates under control. Irwin is assigned to laundry duty. There are specific gangs of inmates who protect their own turf. A "white" gang works on the prison wall and doesn't allow anyone to touch it. The inmates complain to Irwin that Winter instigates violence, uses extreme force and then only provide basic medical treatment. There have been 13 critical injuries in the last 11 months. Twice inmates have been hit in the head with rubber bullets and killed. Irwin is only ever visited by his daughter Rosalie (Robin Wright). On one occasion, Irwin is punished harshly after stopping a guard from clubbing a prisoner, Corporal Ramon Aguilar (Clifton Collins Jr.), who had made the mistake of saluting Irwin in the prison yard. Continuing to observe acts of cruelty, Irwin attempts to unify the prisoners by building a "castle wall" of stone and mortar at the facility, which in many ways resembles a medieval castle. Envying the respect Irwin is clearly receiving, Winter orders his guards to destroy the wall. Aguilar, directly involved in the building of the wall, takes a stand before the bulldozer. Winter orders a sharpshooter to fire a normally non-lethal rubber bullet directly at Aguilar's head, killing him. After the wall is destroyed, Irwin and the inmates pay final respects to Aguilar in formation. Colonel Winter later tries to make amends with Irwin, but Irwin calls him a disgrace to the uniform and demands his resignation. The prisoners begin to behave like soldiers around Irwin, using code words and gestures, infuriating the commandant. Winter reaches out to an anti-social prisoner named Yates (Mark Ruffalo), a former officer and Apache pilot convicted of running a drug smuggling ring, bribing him to inform about Irwin's plans in exchange for a reduced sentence. Irwin organizes a plot to throw the prison into chaos. His intent is to show a friend, Brigadier General Wheeler (Delroy Lindo), the commandant's superior officer, that the commandant is unfit and should be removed from command under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. During a visit by General Wheeler to the prison, Winter receives a letter threatening the kidnapping of Wheeler by the prisoners. After ordering his men into action, Winter discovers that the kidnap scheme was a fake. Irwin orchestrated it as a way to detect how prison guards would react during an actual uprising. Wheeler offers to transfer Irwin to another prison but Winter declines. Yates tells Winter that Irwin intends to take over the prison, then raise the flag upside down to signal distress. Yates becomes the key to their plan, tasked with stealing a U.S. flag from the warden's office, revealing that he is on Irwin's side and seizing a Bell UH-1 helicopter used by guards. Winter orders all the prisoners to the yard in an attempt to prevent their plot, but Irwin anticipated this and a prisoner uprising commences. Using improvised weapons (some resembling medieval ones) and the tactics of a military unit, the prisoners capture an armored vehicle and the helicopter. The prisoners place a call to Wheeler's headquarters and inform him of the riot. Winter has little time to regain control before Wheeler can arrive to see the prison under siege. He orders the use of live ammunition against the prisoners. He also knows from Yates that Irwin's ultimate goal is to raise the American flag upside down, a classic signal of distress. Irwin's men create havoc but ultimately are confronted with overwhelming numbers of guards, all armed with live ammunition in their weapons. Knowing further resistance would only mean a massacre, Irwin orders the prisoners to stand down. Despite Winter having successfully halted the uprising with the threat of overwhelming force, Irwin elects to hoist the flag personally. Winter then tells Irwin to return his flag but Irwin replies "It's not your flag". Irwin begins walking toward the flagpole to raise it. An increasingly unsettled Winter tells Irwin, "You will not raise that flag upside down," but Irwin continues walking toward the flagpole. Colonel Winter orders his men to open fire on Irwin, but they refuse to do so on the orders of Winter's second-in-command, Captain Peretz (Steve Burton). The colonel cannot persuade anyone else to follow his command, so he proceeds to shoot Irwin fatally himself. Peretz places the commandant under arrest. The prisoners salute the flag, and Winter now sees that Irwin has actually raised the U.S. flag in the correct manner, meaning he shot Irwin for no reason. It flies above the prison's walls as Brigadier General Wheeler arrives and Colonel Winter is led away in handcuffs. The story ends with the inmates building a new wall as memorial to their fallen comrades. Aguilar's and Irwin's names are among those carved onto the castle wall.

A detective investigating a series of murders becomes involved with a woman who may be the culprit. Frank Keller is a New York detective investigating a case of a serial killer who finds the victims through the lonely hearts column in newspapers. Keller falls in love with Helen, the main suspect in the case. —Sami Al-Taher <staher2000@yahoo.com> In Manhattan, Detective Frank Keller is an efficient and veteran cop with twenty years on the force, who is lonely and misses his ex-wife Denise. She left him to live with his colleague from the same precinct Gruber. When a killer kills his victim with a shot on the neck and leaves a single playing "Sea of Love", Frank is in charge of the investigation. Detective Sherman, from a district outside Manhattan, joins Frank when a second victim is killed in the same MO. They find that both victims have written poetry in the lonely hearts column of the single magazine "New York Weekly". When there is a third case, Frank convinces his chief to write for the magazine and work undercover investigating the women that reply the advertisement. Frank falls in love for the prime suspect, the manager of a shoe store Helen Cruger, jeopardizing his investigation. —Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Seen-it-all New York detective Frank Keller is unsettled - he has done twenty years on the force and could retire, and he hasn't come to terms with his wife leaving him for a colleague. Joining up with an officer from another part of town to investigate a series of murders linked by the lonely hearts columns he finds he is getting seriously and possibly dangerously involved with Helen, one of the main suspects. —Jeremy Perkins {J-26}

Five young teenage criminals are arrested in and around Miami, Florida, and sent to Youth Hall to serve their sentences. They make up of two rival gang leaders, Ruben Pacecho (Michael Carmine), the Hispanic leader of the Home Boys serving a three-year sentence for aggravated assault and armed robbery; Moss Roosevelt (Leon Robinson), the African-American leader of the 27th Avenue Players also serving a three-year sentence for assault and armed robbery; Carlos Aragon (Danny Quinn), a suave drug trafficker serving a four-year sentence after being arrested in a police sting; James Lee "J.L." McEwen (John Cameron Mitchell), a violent punk serving a 10-year sentence for manslaughter of his abusive and alcoholic father and various arson charges, and finally Dorcey Jon Bridger (Al Shannon), a car thief serving three-plus years for various auto theft and over 15 escape attempts from various juvenile halls. At the juvenile prison, Ruben, J.L., Carlos, Moss and Dorcey taunt each other as they are transferred and released in the middle of the Everglades, where a group leader named 'Indian Joe' Tigre (Stephen Lang) makes them fend for themselves until the following morning. When Joe returns, he starts a fire, and shares some of the fish he caught. The five inmates demand to know what is happening. Joe informs them that the law has decided to treat them as adults because of their criminal records and the seriousness of their crimes, but the juveniles refuse to learn survival skills. Later, as rain drenches the group, Moss Roosevelt attacks Joe, but fails to take him hostage. Joe teaches the teenagers to use citronella oil to prevent mosquito bites, and how to build a bed from reeds growing in the swamp. Moss steals Dorcey's bed, but later Dorcey sets a trap that leaves Moss hanging upside down. Back in town, Carlos Aragon's girlfriend, Nikki (Lauren Holly), visits drug lord Nestor Quintana (James Remar) to ask if he knows where to find Carlos. Nestor assures Nikki that he will locate Carlos in exchange for sexual favors. As Nestor inhales cocaine, he orders Nikki to take off her clothes in his bedroom. Back in the Everglades, Joe and the group scavenge for food, and soon, a wild boar chases after them. They climb trees to avoid being attacked, and Joe stabs the boar with a spear. They surround and kill the animal, roast it over an open fire, and eat the meat for dinner. Afterward, Joe announces it is exam time. He gives them a map with a destination, and a compass, then leaves. The next day the group sets off in a boat Joe has left them. Moss and Ruben Pacheco get into a fistfight after Ruben drops the compass in the swamp. Dorcey urges them to stop wasting time, and work together. Later, on land, when Moss falls in dense brush, Ruben helps him. After another day and evening in the swamp, they think they are lost, until they hear music. The sound leads them to an outdoor party with people, food, and drink. They see Joe, and he tells them that they are the first group to ever survive the rigors of the Everglades, and announces that their program continues in Miami. Joe and the five teen criminals move into an abandoned halfway house in "Little Havana" that Joe purchased from the city for one dollar. In the process, they evict junkies occupying the property, but allow Haitian squatters to remain. Soon, a drug lord named Cream (Laurence Fishburne) drives by the house in a white Rolls Royce convertible to see the reason for the commotion on his turf. Later, Carlos finds Nikki living in an expensive apartment. She claims that a friend lent her the place, but when Carlos does not believe her, she reveals she is working for Nestor. He accuses her of sleeping with Nestor and leaves. Nikki follows him to the apartment building lobby, and Nestor appears. He orders Nikki to his side, and tells Carlos to get lost. Back at the group house, Moss and Ruben prevent their respective former gangs from beating each other, then persuade the local Cubans to help paint the property. One day, Joe and the group are playing basketball when Cream arrives and accuses Joe of muscling in on his turf. Joe pretends to surrender, then overpowers Cream and presses his face against the sidewalk. On Joe's command, Cream's men relinquish their weapons. As the group collects the firearms, Cream vows revenge and leaves with his entourage. Later, the teenagers cannot resist playing with Cream's arsenal and pretending to be big shots. Joe warns them that guns are not toys. He reveals that previous members of his program returned to the streets and fell to drugs and guns. He wants to clean up the neighborhood, and break Cream's dominance. He says it is his mission alone, but his charges agree to help. Joe teaches them teamwork and combat technique. At a meeting, Cream assures Nestor he will destroy the halfway house. Nestor is not convinced, and threatens Cream so that he will carry out his plan. Back at the halfway house, Carlos tells Joe he is leaving in order to reunite with Nikki. Later, Nikki tells Carlos she has saved $10,000, and convinces him to leave Miami. While they are driving, Nikki tells Carlos that she overheard Cream's plan to destroy the halfway house. Carlos turns the car around and heads to Little Havana. Outside the halfway house, a gun battle rages between Joe, the youths, and Cream's gang. As the gunfight winds down, both Cream and Joe are killed. The group realizes that Nestor is the man behind Joe's death, and vow to destroy him. Nestor is busy building three new cocaine-manufacturing plants in Miami, but gives his associate the order to kill Nikki. He does not see Joe's youths as a threat. Carlos, J. L., Ruben, Moss, and Dorcey follow Nestor's men to a compound in the Everglades. The youths devise a plan to blow up Nestor's heavily guarded warehouse. First, they distract guard dogs with a female dog in heat. Dorcey sets off a bomb made with gopher gas, while the others attack. A climatic gun battle commences between the teenagers and Nestor's guards, while a mini-gun turret on the roof sprays machine-gun fire. When Nestor sees Nikki hiding in the shadows, he throws down his gun, and walks toward her. When he reaches for her gun, she shoots him dead. Elsewhere, Dorcey explodes a series of bombs that destroy Nestor's operation. As they drive away, Ruben comments that Joe should have been there in their moment of victory. When their car is stopped at a police checkpoint, they play dumb, and ask what is going on. The officer says he does not know, and after a few questions, he tells them to go easy on the beer, and lets them continue their journey. The five person group, now known as the 'Band of the Hand'; Ruben, Moss, J.L., Carlos, and Dorcey, along with Nikki, drive away into the night to an unknown future.