Taps

An enthralling military movie that showcased Tom Cruise and Sean Penn, along with Timothy Hutton on their rise to stardom and superstardom (in the case of Tom Cruise). The ending was quite tragic and I think The Simpsons did a parody of this scene. In New Zealand the movie was pronounced "Tups" and in South Africa it was pronounced "Teps".

As another reviewer pointed out, the whole story is contrived, with students at a military school having weaponry a real military school wouldn't have, the real military outside the school trying to end the situation not doing as it would have done in real life, and so forth. The idea wasn't even intended to be real-life anyway; it was meant to show how idealistic students go crazy with the idea of honor and end up confronting the outside world. The film is most notable for its cast of then-young actors such as Sean Penn and Timothy Hutton who would go on to bigger careers later on. More of a time capsule than a realistic drama.

'Taps' is an uneven film, burdened somewhat by its ponderousness and pathological seriousness. But what a time capsule! Of all of the young actors here, only Timothy Hutton was already a star, having become the youngest actor ever to win an Oscar for his role in Robert Redford's 'Ordinary People.' Ironically, among the suporting actors in 'Taps' are Tom Cruise and Sean Penn, one of whom has become the biggest box office draw of his generation and the other its most respected acting talent. Also featured are Evan Handler, best-known as Harry Goldenblatt (Charlotte's divorce lawyer and second husband) on TV's 'Sex and the City,' and Spike Lee favorite Giancarlo Esposito, whose credits include 'The Usual Suspects' and the much-underappreciated TV series 'Homicide: Life on the Streets.' Even if you find 'Taps' a little overblown and pretentious, it's worth watching to see these accomplished actors back in their baby-faced teens.

Harold Becker directed this interesting film that stars George C. Scott as General Harlan Bache, head of the Bunker Hill Military Academy who is proud of its tradition, but is dismayed by the times he lives in, and when the board of trustees votes to shut the Academy down for the redevelopment of Condos, he and the cadets(led by Timothy Hutton, Tom Cruise, and Sean Penn) are dismayed. After a civilian is accidentally shot by the General, and he suffers a stroke himself, the cadets decide to seize control of the Academy by force, stopping the bulldozers coming in, but the situation quickly becomes more complicated than they had anticipated... Fine character study with solid direction and performances; well worth a look.

The biggest kick I got was seeing Hutton, Cruise, and Penn as teenagers turning out amazing performances at such a younger age. I guess some actors are just destined to rise to the top. George C. Scott also turned in a great, believable performance as an old wartime General. However I find it interesting, after seeing this movie over 20 years later, how it's context has changed for me personally. While in '81, the story was perhaps designed to generate sympathy for the General and his plight, I look at his situation today and feel nothing but pity for him, as I would for any Shakespearean tragic hero, who because of their narrow-sightedness, could not see the bigger picture. And in this case, their consequences caused a chain of events that took on an uncontrollable life of their own. Funny how the years can sometimes dictate understanding and perspective. The previous review mentioned for this flick is 100% bang on.

Continuing my plan to watch every Tom Cruise movie in order, I come to his second movie, Taps (1981) Plot In A Paragraph: Military cadets take extreme measures to insure the future of their academy when its existence is threatened by local condo developers. I really enjoyed this movie. It's one I had to buy for this marathon, and despite the cast, (Cruise, George C. Scott, Timothy Hutton, Sean Penn and Ronny Cox) I'm surprised I'd never heard of it before, and nobody I have spoke to remembers it. Cruise has a fairly substantial role as a hot headed cadet. It's a really tense, engrossing, well acted and well directed movie that deserves to be seen. Taps grossed $35 million at the domestic box office, to end the year the 16th highest grossing movie of 1981.