| Taps | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
|
| Directed by | Harold Becker |
| Produced by | Howard B. Jaffe Stanley R. Jaffe |
| Written by | Robert Mark Kamen James Lineberger Darryl Ponicsan |
| Based on | Father Sky by Devery Freeman |
| Starring | George C. Scott Timothy Hutton Ronny Cox Sean Penn Tom Cruise |
| Music by | Maurice Jarre |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date(s) | December 18, 1981 |
| Running time | 126 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $35,856,053 |
Taps is a 1981 drama film starring George C. Scott, Timothy Hutton, Ronny Cox, as well as then up-and-comers Tom Cruise and Sean Penn. Hutton was nominated for a Golden Globe award in 1982 for his role in the film. The film was directed by Harold Becker. The screenplay by Robert Mark Kamen, James Lineberger and Darryl Ponicsan is based on the novel Father Sky by Devery Freeman. The original music score is composed by Maurice Jarre.
The film follows a group of military school students who decide to take over their school in order to save it from closing.
Contents |
The story takes place at Bunker Hill, a highly prestigious military academy with a proud tradition of training young men for college and military service. A rising senior at Bunker Hill, Brian Moreland (Timothy Hutton), is meeting privately with the academy commander, Brigadier General Harlan Bache (George C. Scott), who promotes him to Cadet Major, the highest cadet rank. The next day, at a parade, General Bache announces that the school's board of trustees has decided to sell the school and build condominiums in its place. The board allows the school to operate for one more year, giving many at Bunker Hill hope that the school can be saved.
A dance is held at the academy after commencement. As the cadets’ dates arrive, a group of local teenagers stand outside the gate, verbally harassing the cadets. A brawl breaks out when Moreland arrives to take control of the situation. General Bache arrives shortly after and, during his attempts to break up the fight, his service pistol is seized by a local teenager and goes off, killing one of the townies. Bache is arrested, seemingly to be charged with manslaughter. The cadets find out later that Bache has suffered a heart attack and is in critical condition in a local hospital.
News soon arrives that Bunker Hill will be closed immediately. Cadet Major Moreland meets with his officers and they unanimously decide to take control of the campus. They remove all weapons and ammunition from the armory. When the Dean of Students arrives with the local sheriff to empty the armory, they are met by Moreland, who issues the cadets' demands: that Bunker Hill remain open, that they be allowed to meet with General Bache, and that they be allowed to meet with the board of trustees for negotiations. The school staff and local sheriff are arrested and soon sent out in a bus, since Moreland refuses to hold them as hostages.
Simultaneously, a detachment of cadets have gone to a local food supply warehouse to obtain provisions for the academy. On their way back one of their trucks breaks down at a traffic light. As Cadet Captain Dwyer (Sean Penn) attempts to fix the engine, a group of locals provoke a fight with the cadets. Another cadet, the hotheaded David Shawn (Tom Cruise), opens fire with his M16, shooting several bursts in the air. Abandoning the inoperable truck, the cadets flee the scene in the second truck, ramming a police car in the process.
The cadets conduct themselves in a highly militaristic fashion, and initially morale is high. A delegation of parents arrives, led by Moreland's father, an Army Master Sergeant. The two soon argue, and after being slapped by his father, Moreland orders the delegation removed from the campus. Attempting to show that no one is being held against their will- as the police are claiming- Moreland assembles the cadets and offers them a chance to walk out. All of them choose to stay.
The siege of the campus grows more tense when the National Guard arrives. The commander, Colonel Kerby (Ronny Cox), negotiates with Cadet Major Moreland with greater diplomacy and patience than his father had, but with no more success. Although Kerby admits to Moreland he admires an institution like Bunker Hill, he explains that he is accountable to the state legislature, which has been inundated with complaints and fears from locals and parents.
During the morning muster several officers report that a total of 11 cadets have climbed over the walls in the night to return home. Moreland assembles the entire battalion and allows any cadets who wish the opportunity to leave the campus. At least half of the remaining cadets drop their weapons and walk out, including one of Moreland’s most trusted officers.
As the siege continues over a period of days, the cadets begin to run out of food, and the water is turned off. When the electricity is turned off next, they attempt to restart the campus' old and unused generator. The gasoline they use as fuel is ignited and one of the cadets is severely burned. A truce of sorts allows a crossing of the lines so that the seriously injured boy can be taken out by ambulance and transported to a hospital for treatment. Soon afterwards, Moreland offers to order his cadets to stand down if the order comes from General Bache. Kerby replies that Bache had died the previous night. The cadets, deeply hurt by Bache's death, hold a military memorial service in his honor.
One night, an M48 Patton tank rolls up to the main gate and scans the immediate area. In a forward position, one young cadet panics and runs out to surrender. He drops his weapon, which fires upon hitting the ground. Nervous National Guard soldiers open fire, killing the cadet's companion, Charlie Auden, who had tried to go after him.
Charlie's death weakens Moreland’s resolve considerably and, after conferring with Dwyer, he decides to end the occupation. He calls all the cadets out and orders them to surrender. Cadet Captain David Shawn opens fire, prompting a firefight between the two sides. Dwyer and Moreland run to Shawn's room, hoping to stop Shawn, as police and National Guard invade the campus. Shawn and Moreland are killed by suppressing fire from a Patton tank. Colonel Kerby arrives soon after. Accompanied by a saddened Colonel Kerby and two other soldiers, Dwyer carries Moreland's body out of the campus. The rest of the surviving cadets, along with the National Guardsmen, other Army personnel, and local law enforcement, follow. Then a flashback is shown of prouder times at Bunker Hill when General Bache was reviewing a parade of cadets.
This film was filmed on location at Valley Forge Military Academy and College (VFMAC) in Wayne, Pennsylvania VFMAC is also known as the Military College of Pennsylvania. Most of the filming took place at Wheeler Hall and the now demolished Clothier Hall. The uniforms shown in the movie were accurate VFMAC uniforms of that period, with modifications. The film was originally going to be filmed at Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville, Georgia. Producers changed their minds after a tour of the campus and deciding that it "didn't have enough walls." RMA officials countered by saying that allowing production would have caused too much disruption of the cadets' daily lives. The second proposal of filming locations was at Culver Military Academy in Culver, Indiana. The school denied the request upon hearing the ending of the story. The third proposal of filming locations was at Hargrave Military Academy (HMA) in Chatham, Virginia. Again, school officials turned down the request after learning of the film's plot and after discovering that producers wanted to erect a wall around the front of the campus.
Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 80% of the 15 sampled critics gave the film a positive review and that it got an average score of 6.1 out of 10.[1] Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film 3 stars (out of four), comparing the film to the classic novel Lord of the Flies (1954).[2]
|
||||||||||||||