[.ca] Taps (Widescreen)

Amazon.com essential video:
Memorable mostly as the film that introduced filmgoers to Tom Cruise and Sean Penn, both of whom nearly steal the film from its nominal star, Timothy Hutton. Hutton, fresh from his Oscar for Ordinary People, plays the top cadet at a private military school run by George C. Scott. When the announcement is made that the school will be closed, the inmates take over the asylum with military precision. Hutton is caught among his sense of duty to mentor Scott, the rabid militarism of cadet Cruise, and the rational arguments of Penn, as Hutton's best friend. Then a cadet kills one of the cops responding to the crisis, and suddenly this game of playing soldiers takes on a warlike atmosphere. But director Harold Becker can't hold it together; Hutton isn't up to carrying the film, and the tension rapidly drains from the Darryl Ponicsan script. --Marshall Fine

Taps is worth watching.:
If you are a military buff, or a fan of Tom Cruise, Sean Penn, or George C. Scott, then this is the movie for you. Very interesting plot, (honor, duty, country) patriotic, some action, but seems to drag along at times. Great movie to watch if you have nothing to do.

TAPS - WORKS AGAINST ITSELF:
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.

Big Tom Cruise fan:
I am a big Tom Cruise fan and have seen all of his movies. This is the first one that showed his potential as an actor to be reconed with. He has chosen his roles very well in all of the movies he has starred in.

An Amazingly Prescient Movie:
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.

A Tragic Proof That Hutton Is As Good As Actors Come:
Given the other reviews, plot summary in this one would be superfluous, yet I feel compelled to say "Taps" is a deeply moving tragedy. The characters are very real, the situation is very believable. The film has its share of comic relief, but the story is so sad and the acting so very good (even Cruise, whom I generally loathe, was perfectly cast) that if you are given to tears you may prefer to watch it alone, but whether you are or whether you're not, you definitely should watch it.