Taps (film)

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Taps
Taps movie.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Harold Becker
Screenplay by
Adaptation byJames Lineberger
Based onFather Sky
1979 novel
by Devery Freeman
Produced by
Starring
Cinematography Owen Roizman
Edited by Maury Winetrobe
Music by Maurice Jarre
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date
  • December 18, 1981 (1981-12-18)
Running time
126 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$14 million [1]
Box office$35.8 million

Taps is a 1981 American thriller drama film starring George C. Scott and Timothy Hutton, with Ronny Cox, Tom Cruise, Sean Penn, Giancarlo Esposito and Evan Handler in supporting roles. Hutton was nominated for a Golden Globe award in 1982. The film was directed by Harold Becker from a screenplay by Robert Mark Kamen, James Lineberger, [2] and Darryl Ponicsan based on Devery Freeman's 1979 novel Father Sky. The original music score was composed by Maurice Jarre. It was filmed at Valley Forge Military Academy and College. [3]

Contents

The film follows a group of military school students who decide to take over their school to save it from closing. It was Penn's first film role, and Cruise's second and his first major role following a brief appearance in Endless Love a few months earlier.

Plot

Bunker Hill Military Academy commander General Harlan Bache promotes cadet Brian Moreland to Cadet Major, the highest cadet rank. A day later Bache announces the school's board of trustees is selling the school to real estate developers, keeping the school open for one more year so seniors can graduate while the underclassmen find other schools. Bache and the cadets are hopeful they can save the school from closing permanently.

When the academy hosts a dance, local teenagers start a brawl outside with some of the cadets. Bache intervenes and one of the boys seizes his service pistol, firing it accidentally and killing another boy. Bache is arrested, suffers a heart attack, and is hospitalized in critical condition. The board decides to close the school immediately.

Moreland and the cadet officers unanimously decide to take control of the campus. When the dean of students arrives with the local sheriff to empty the armory, they're confronted by an armed cadre of cadets led by Major Moreland. He demands to meet with Bache and negotiate with the board of trustees to keep the school open. The dean and sheriff are escorted off the academy, and armed cadets secure the perimeter.

A group of cadets restocks provisions from a local food supply warehouse but one of their trucks breaks down. As Cadet Captain Dwyer attempts to fix the engine, local boys confront them and hotheaded Cadet Captain David Shawn fires his M16 into the air. The locals scatter, and the cadets flee in a second truck, ramming a sheriff's car in the escape.

The police surround the campus and a delegation of parents led by Moreland's father attempt to negotiate. To demonstrate no one is being held against their will, Moreland assembles the cadets in the open and offers them a chance to leave. All of them choose to stay and tensions rise when National Guard troops arrive with armored personnel carriers and tanks. Colonel Kerby, their commander, is respectful and empathetic toward the cadets, but negotiations continue to fail.

At next morning's muster, the cadet officers report some cadets have fled the campus. Moreland assembles the entire battalion and again offers cadets the opportunity to leave. Led by Moreland's friend, Lieutenant Edward West, at least half the remaining cadets drop their weapons and leave. After their electricity and water are cut off, Cadet Captain J.C. Pierce is severely burned attempting to restart the school's gasoline-powered generator. They permit an ambulance to evacuate him to hospital. Moreland offers to stand down if the order comes from General Bache. Kerby replies that Bache had died the previous night. The cadets hold a memorial service and the Guardsmen also salute.

An M48 Patton tank rolls up to the main gate the next night and one of the younger cadets on sentry duty panics. He drops his weapon on the ground while running to surrender, and it fires. The National Guard shoot back, killing another cadet. Moreland's resolve is shaken by the death and he musters the remaining cadets to order them to surrender. The rebellious Shawn opens fire on the Guardsmen, hitting Kerby, and the campus is overrun by the authorities in the ensuing firefight. Moreland enters Shawn's room to stop him, and they are both killed by automatic fire, ending the siege. The film ends with a flashback to the year's commencement ceremony, a reminder of the school's proud past.

Cast

Reception

Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 68% of the 25 sampled critics gave the film a positive review and that it got an average score of 6.2/10. [4] Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film 3 stars (out of four), comparing the film to the classic novel Lord of the Flies (1954). [5]

The film earned North American rentals of $20.5 million. [6]

Home media

The film was released on DVD on March 5, 2002, and also was released on Blu-ray on May 3, 2011.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Aubrey Solomon, Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History, Scarecrow Press, 1989. p. 259.
  2. ↑ Canby, Vincent (1981-12-09). "SCOTT AS GENERAL IN 'TAPS' (Published 1981)". The New York Times. Retrieved 2025-09-22.
  3. ↑ Grosvenor, Jr., Charles R. (2012). "Eighties Movie Locations That Really Exist, Movies Beginning with T". In the 80s. Retrieved 2021-07-26. 'Taps' [...] was filmed at Valley Forge Military School and Junior Collage in Wayne, Pennsylvania.
  4. ↑ "Taps (1981)". Rotten Tomatoes . Flixster . Retrieved June 27, 2011.
  5. ↑ Ebert, Roger (January 1, 1981). "Taps review". Chicago Sun-Times . Archived from the original on October 12, 2012. Retrieved June 27, 2011.
  6. ↑ Solomon p 235.
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