Taps is a 1981 dramatic film, starring Timothy Hutton, Ronny Cox, George C. Scott, and 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 received a score of 77% on the website RottenTomatoes.com and 3 stars (out of four) from film critic Roger Ebert, who compared it to the classic novel Lord of the Flies (1954).
The film follows a group of military school students who decide to take over their school in order to save it from closing.
Plot summary
The story takes place at Bunker Hill, a fictional military academy with a long-standing tradition of training young men of middle school and high school ages for military service. When the story opens, a young cadet, Brian Moreland (Timothy Hutton), is meeting privately with the academy commander, General Harlan Bache (George C. Scott), where he is formally granted the rank of major and chief cadet officer for his upcoming senior year, the ultimate achievement for Moreland following years of competition. However, the typically warm personal meeting between General Bache and Cadet Major Moreland as his rising chief cadet officer is spoiled as Bache receives devastating news: the land where Bunker Hill stands is very valuable to local land developers and will be sold and replaced by condominiums. It appears likely that there will be no subsequent school term, depriving Moreland of all he has worked for, as well as the schools' traditions. However, while Moreland is contemplating the ramifications of this development, no public announcement has yet been made when an unfortunate incident occurs which begins a rapidly escalating chain of events.
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 himself arrives to take control of the situation. 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 a young boy. 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 nearby hospital.
The next morning, the Dean of Students and his staff are taking inventory in the academy’s well-equipped armory which is stocked with various firearms — including M16 rifles. Moreland overhears them talking about the distrust in the local community toward Bunker Hill and how the death of the young local has only exacerbated the community’s opinion. Moreland also hears that the academy will be closed immediately due to the shooting incident and that summer session will be canceled.
In the absence of General Bache, there appears to be a vacuum of adult supervision. Moreland meets with his officers and they unanimously decide to take command of the campus by force. They remove all weapons and ammunition from the armory. When the Dean of Students arrives with the local police to confiscate all the munitions, they are met by Moreland who issues the cadets' demands: the most important being that the academy will remain open.
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 provokes 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, crashing into a police car in the process.
The cadets begin their occupation of the academy. Despite pleas from their parents which are broadcast over loudspeakers, they conduct themselves as a strict military operation. Moreland meets with his father, an Army Master Sergeant, who berates him for his actions. During the heated argument, the elder Moreland slaps his son. Brian then orders his father and his companions to be escorted off the campus.
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 also to no end. Although Kerby admits to Moreland he admires an institute 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 about the unease of the occupation.
Moreland and his officers also face a new and growing problem; desertion. During the morning muster several officers report that a total of 11 cadets have climbed over the walls in the night to return home. Cadet Stephen Miller (played by local born actor, Joe Corcoran) didn't desert. After hearing his mother begging him to come home, he strongly considered it, then decided to stay the course. 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; shortly after, their water supply is turned off. When the electricity is turned off next, they attempt to become resourceful and overcome the situation by restarting 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.
As this occurs, Moreland demands to meet with Bache, telling Colonel Kerby that if General Bache orders them to stand down, the cadets will cease and desist this occupation. Colonel Kerby informs Moreland that Bache had died the night before.
One night, a tank rolls up to the main gate and scans the immediate area. In a forward position, two of the youngest cadets talk about their fear and how they miss their families. Overcome, one of them runs toward the gate, dropping his rifle, which goes off. The soldiers outside the gate open fire, killing the boy’s companion who tries to go after him. When Kerby arrives to take the dead boy out, he gravely informs Moreland that he and his unit will invade the campus the next morning. Moreland stubbornly refuses to surrender.
The shooting of the young cadet 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. However, Cadet Captain Shawn (Cruise), in a bunker set up in one of the dormitories, fires a non-fatal shot at Kerby, prompting the National Guard to return fire. Shawn empties his M16 and opens fire with an M60. Dwyer and Moreland run into the building to stop Shawn, just as a tank breaks down the main gate and lays in heavy fire on Shawn's room. Both he and Shawn are killed when Moreland rushes into the room to stop him. The film ends with Kerby and two other soldiers finding Dwyer weeping over Moreland. Accompanied by a saddened Colonel Kerby and two other soldiers, Dwyer carries Moreland's dead 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.
Production
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 Cleaner Hall. The uniforms shown in the movie are accurate VFMAC uniforms and they are still worn to this day. 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 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.
Cast
See also
External links
