Matcollis This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Hulkeasexo it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.

Roman Sampson One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

DeuceWild_77 This film was always a personal favorite of mine growing up in the 80's and still is now that i'm in my 40's. Saying that, "Taps" is an accomplished and fascinating military school drama, featuring a great cast of future stars, splendidly directed with style & class by Harold Becker and based on the 1979 novel "Father Sky" by Devery Freeman. It was Timothy Hutton's first leading role after he won the Academy Award for his breakthrough performance in Robert Redford's "Ordinary People" and his authoritative performance here as Cadet Major Brian Moreland, full of inner strength and dignity, is only overshadowed by the brilliant turns of the veteran George C. Scott, which never disappoints, playing an old school General Harlan Bache who rules the Military School with a code of honour and a sense of moral & values that seems out of place in the modern Era and Tom Cruise, in his first prominent part, as the reckless Cadet Captain David Shawn, well aware & committed on his performance, stealing every scene he's in. Scott's role may be too small, but his spiritual presence is felt everywhere in the movie by the other characters' actions & decisions and he's the main focus of the plot hence his deserved top billing despite less than 15 minutes on-screen. "Taps" also features Sean Penn, in his debut role, playing the prudent, but loyal Cadet Captain Alex Dwyer; Giancarlo Esposito & Evan Handler, also in their first appearances on-screen and a solid performance by character actor Ronny Cox as Colonel Kerby, the head of the National Guard. Besides those mentioned and with the exception of Brendan Ward, playing the ill-fated child cadet Charlie Auden, the other characters are underdeveloped, appearing more like extras which wasn't a good decision, giving more speaking parts and relevance to the story could had enriched the whole. Reviewed today, the plot of "Taps" may be considered dated for the actual state of the world, the millennials took over and code of honour / military life became somewhat of an "out of fashion" motto / way of life, but this captivating film, a tale of misdirected honour and courage among the youth, deserves to be rediscovered as a great piece of filmmaking which also scores high in the entertainment level.

Clayreodactyl I spent many years trying to get a copy of this film and finally it appears on my Netflix account a few weeks ago to my utter joy! I was only two when this film came out but it's long sat on my list of must-see movies, and finally at 34yrs old I have watched it and was very glad to say the wait was worthwhile.The film tells us how the changing times are going to take away this military school, an institution loved by those who attend and run it, in it's place condominiums. As usual capitalism is the underlying theme driving the change. These military boys want to take a stand and with these things the situation get wildly out of hand, not helped by the adults who won't sit down and talk which ultimately is all they have been asked for from the get-go.What struck me from the beginning is how the people acting most like adults through the whole situation were the children, the adults who could very easily taken control of the situation, by giving credit where credit was due and showing some respect to the boys, instead opted for throwing their weight around and yes, in the end they won, but was the cost too high?This film teaches a great lesson in how we tackle potentially volatile situations in life. Sometimes with a bit of thought and consideration an alternative route may be more or just as successful with less destruction and force.I will be recommending this film to others.

Desertman84 Taps is a 1981 movie that stars the late George C.Scott,Timothy Hutton,Ronny Cox and introduced future Hollywood superstars,Sean Penn and Tom Cruise.The story was about how military cadets revolted to the announcement that their school,Bunker Hill Military Academy, a military school institution, is to be torn down and replaced with commercial condominiums.This sets off the young cadets led by their commander General Harlan Bache,who unfortunately passed away during an incident.With the passing of General Bache,the students continued their revolt under the command of a student cadet major,Cadet Major Brian Moreland.Eventaully,the cadets seize the campus, refuse entry of the construction crews and ultimately confront the real military led by Colonel Kerby.Aside from that,the story also presented two interesting characters in Cadet Captain Alex Dwyer and Cadet Captain David Shawn.The film's theme was about military idealism and how the cadets have yet to realize what the real world is all about.It was a great to see how twisted ideas and priorities can help the cadets realize their immaturity and gain knowledge on what the real world is all about.

tieman64 "It's beautiful man! It's beautiful!" – Tom Cruise ("Taps")"Taps" is a confused but entertaining military drama about a group of young military school cadets (led by a kid called Brian Moreland) who take over their military school in order to save it from closing. "Father Sky", the novel upon which the film was based, was a light satire which used its central siege to examine the herd mentality of the military and to poke fun at the way anti-war protesters are often just as crazy and militant as those they rally against.This film is too timid to bash either the military or the ultra-left, however, and instead paints Brian Moreland as a young and confused Colonel Kurtz figure who hijacks a military school because he wants to "preserve military traditions". As the military school is being shut down, Moreland feels as though he is being "denied honour" and "prestige". He thus starts a little war - which all the other cadets join in on - and justifies his actions by saying that he's honourably trying to "preserve the traditions of the school" and "prevent it from being closed", when in reality he simply wants to glorify himself with a little combat. The film thus examines the naive appeal of war, what separates "glory hounds" from "real soldiers", and points out how ridiculously dishonourable it is to start a war solely for the purposes of "finding honour". Abstract this further, and you have a comment on the Vietnam war: a government starting a war to "preserve the honour of democracy" when in reality it seeks only to install its own power.7.9/10 – Sean Penn, Tom Cruise, George C Scott and Timothy Hutton make up for director Harold Becker's flat direction. The film is famous for a pre-Scientology Tom Cruise playing a psycho soldier who yells "It's beautiful man!" whilst gunning down his fellow Americans. Xenu would not be proud.Worth one viewing.