Taps

Rating:
Summary: An Amazingly Prescient Movie
Review: Saw this movie on cable a few years after it came out. I didn't think too much of it back then--but what a difference 20 years makes! Taps is, without a doubt, one of the best teen angst movies ever made. The unique twist here is that teens are (literally) fighting for increasingly anachronistic ideals: duty, honor, and country. Partly due to their methods & partly due to their militaristic demeanor, the society outside the school gates (good symbolism here) spurns their cause. In the time since 1981, the trend has been to tolerate, defend, and even reward, abberrant behavior. As a result, the film gets high marks for correctly predicting that these kids are on the wrong side of history. The casting was also extraordinary with outstanding performance all around. Cruise's performance was especially strong--perhaps the best he's ever done. I also find it uncanny that this film was able to cast two of today's top stars (Penn & Cruise) as leads. These factors have actually helped Taps improve with age--an extremely rare achievement.

Rating:
Summary: An Amazingly Prescient Movie
Review: Saw this movie on cable a few years after it came out. I didn't think too much of it back then--but what a difference 20 years makes! Taps is, without a doubt, one of the best teen angst movies ever made. The unique twist here is that teens are (literally) fighting for increasingly anachronistic ideals: duty, honor, and country. Partly due to their methods & partly due to their militaristic demeanor, the society outside the school gates (good symbolism here) spurns their cause. In the time since 1981, the trend has been to tolerate, defend, and even reward, abberrant behavior. As a result, the film gets high marks for correctly predicting that these kids are on the wrong side of history. The casting was also extraordinary with outstanding performance all around. Cruise's performance was especially strong--perhaps the best he's ever done. I also find it uncanny that this film was able to cast two of today's top stars (Penn & Cruise) as leads. These factors have actually helped Taps improve with age--an extremely rare achievement.

Rating:
Summary: A must -see for young leaders!
Review: Taps is a powerful reminder of how youthful passions can lead to disastrous results if misguided or led out of context. Very good acting by Tim Hutton and George C. Scott. Also a glimse of young Tom Cruise.

Rating:
Summary: All Star and All Good
Review: The cast is 100% all star and the movie is excellent about young men with one goal but different values about what they would do to achieve that goal. A great hit movie!

Rating:
Summary: TAPS - WORKS AGAINST ITSELF
Review: The movie TAPS works against itself.

It portrays the kids as villians, yet also as heroes.

Do you cheer for these kids, boo them, or what?

If you want the kids to be heroic, make them heroes. If you want the kids to be villianous, make them villians.

You cannot have it both way.

Rating:
Summary: An all star cast
Review: This movie made me not want to go to military school. Some young punks take over their school when the general dies of a heart attack and the Liberals want to shut the school down. A battle occurs with the National Guard and all hell breaks loose. The cool part is that Sean Penn Dies. oops.