Taps (film)
Encyclopedia
Taps is a 1981 drama film starring George C. Scott
, Timothy Hutton
, Ronny Cox
, as well as 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 follows a group of military school students who decide to take over their school in order to save it from closing.
), is meeting privately with the academy commander, Brigadier General Harlan Bache (George C. Scott
), who promotes him to Cadet Major, the highest cadet rank. The next day, at a parade, General Bache announces that the school's board of trustees has decided to sell the school and build condominiums in its place. The board allows the school to operate for one more year, giving many at Bunker Hill hope that the school can be saved.
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 arrives to take control of the situation. General 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 one of the townies. 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 local hospital.
News soon arrives that Bunker Hill will be closed immediately. Cadet Major Moreland meets with his officers and they unanimously decide to take control of the campus. They remove all weapons and ammunition from the armory
. When the Dean of Students arrives with the local sheriff to empty the armory, they are met by Moreland, who issues the cadets' demands: that Bunker Hill remain open, that they be allowed to meet with General Bache, and that they be allowed to meet with the board of trustees for negotiations. The school staff and local sheriff are arrested and soon sent out in a bus, since Moreland refuses to hold them as hostages.
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 provoke 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, ramming a police car in the process.
The cadets conduct themselves in a highly militaristic fashion, and initially morale is high. A delegation of parents arrives, led by Moreland's father, an Army Master Sergeant. The two soon argue, and after being slapped by his father, Moreland orders the delegation removed from the campus. Attempting to show that no one is being held against their will- as the police are claiming- Moreland assembles the cadets and offers them a chance to walk out. All of them choose to stay.
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 with no more success. Although Kerby admits to Moreland he admires an institution 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.
During the morning muster several officers report that a total of 11 cadets have climbed over the walls in the night to return home. 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, and the water is turned off. When the electricity is turned off next, they attempt to restart 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. Soon afterwards, Moreland offers to order his cadets to stand down if the order comes from General Bache. Kerby replies that Bache had died the previous night. The cadets, deeply hurt by Bache's death, hold a military memorial service in his honor.
One night, an M48 Patton
tank rolls up to the main gate and scans the immediate area. In a forward position, one young cadet panics and runs out to surrender. He drops his weapon, which fires upon hitting the ground. Nervous National Guard soldiers open fire, killing the cadet's companion, Charlie Auden, who had tried to go after him.
Charlie's death 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. Cadet Captain David Shawn opens fire, prompting a firefight between the two sides. Dwyer and Moreland run to Shawn's room, hoping to stop Shawn, as police and National Guard invade the campus. Shawn and Moreland are killed by suppressing fire from a Patton tank. Colonel Kerby arrives soon after.
Accompanied by a saddened Colonel Kerby and two other soldiers, Dwyer carries Moreland's 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.
VFMAC is also known as the Military College of Pennsylvania. Most of the filming took place at Wheeler Hall and the now demolished Clothier Hall. The uniforms shown in the movie were accurate VFMAC uniforms of that period, with modifications. 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
(HMA) 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.
reported that 80% of the 15 sampled critics gave the film a positive review and that it got an average score of 6.1 out of 10. Film critic Roger Ebert
gave the film 3 stars (out of four), comparing the film to the classic novel Lord of the Flies
(1954).
George C. Scott
George Campbell Scott was an American stage and film actor, director and producer. He was best known for his stage work, as well as his portrayal of General George S. Patton in the film Patton, and as General Buck Turgidson in Stanley Kubrick's Dr...
, Timothy Hutton
Timothy Hutton
Timothy Tarquin Hutton is an American actor. He is the youngest actor to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, which he won at the age of 20 for his performance as Conrad Jarrett in Ordinary People . He currently stars as Nathan "Nate" Ford on the TNT series Leverage.-Early life:Timothy...
, Ronny Cox
Ronny Cox
Daniel Ronald "Ronny" Cox is an American character actor, singer-songwriter and guitarist.-Personal life:Cox, the third of five children, was born in Cloudcroft, New Mexico, the son of Lounette and Bob P. Cox, a carpenter who also worked at a dairy. He grew up in Portales, New Mexico...
, as well as then up-and-comers Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
and Sean Penn
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...
. Hutton was nominated for a Golden Globe award in 1982 for his role in the film. The film was directed by Harold Becker
Harold Becker
Harold Becker is American film director and producer from New York.-Biography:After studying art and photography at the Pratt Institute, Becker began his career as a still photographer, but later tried his hand at directing television commercials, short films and documentaries...
. The screenplay by Robert Mark Kamen
Robert Mark Kamen
Robert Mark Kamen is a screenwriter who has been writing major motion pictures for over twenty-five years. He is best known as creator and co-creator of the Karate Kid and Transporter franchises, as well as the 2009 action thriller Taken....
, James Lineberger and Darryl Ponicsan
Darryl Ponicsan
Darryl Ponicsan is an American writer. He is best known as the author of the 1971 novel The Last Detail, which was adapted into a 1973 movie starring Jack Nicholson; and for the 1973 novel and screenplay Cinderella Liberty, starring James Caan...
is based on the novel Father Sky by Devery Freeman. The original music score is composed by Maurice Jarre
Maurice Jarre
Maurice-Alexis Jarre was a French composer and conductor.Although he composed several concert works, he is best known for his film scores, and is particularly known for his collaborations with film director David Lean. Jarre composed the scores to all of Lean's films since Lawrence of Arabia...
.
The film follows a group of military school students who decide to take over their school in order to save it from closing.
Plot
The story takes place at Bunker Hill, a highly prestigious military academy with a proud tradition of training young men for college and military service. A rising senior at Bunker Hill, Brian Moreland (Timothy HuttonTimothy Hutton
Timothy Tarquin Hutton is an American actor. He is the youngest actor to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, which he won at the age of 20 for his performance as Conrad Jarrett in Ordinary People . He currently stars as Nathan "Nate" Ford on the TNT series Leverage.-Early life:Timothy...
), is meeting privately with the academy commander, Brigadier General Harlan Bache (George C. Scott
George C. Scott
George Campbell Scott was an American stage and film actor, director and producer. He was best known for his stage work, as well as his portrayal of General George S. Patton in the film Patton, and as General Buck Turgidson in Stanley Kubrick's Dr...
), who promotes him to Cadet Major, the highest cadet rank. The next day, at a parade, General Bache announces that the school's board of trustees has decided to sell the school and build condominiums in its place. The board allows the school to operate for one more year, giving many at Bunker Hill hope that the school can be saved.
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 arrives to take control of the situation. General 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 one of the townies. 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 local hospital.
News soon arrives that Bunker Hill will be closed immediately. Cadet Major Moreland meets with his officers and they unanimously decide to take control of the campus. They remove all weapons and ammunition from the armory
Armory (military)
An armory or armoury is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, issued to authorized users, or any combination of those...
. When the Dean of Students arrives with the local sheriff to empty the armory, they are met by Moreland, who issues the cadets' demands: that Bunker Hill remain open, that they be allowed to meet with General Bache, and that they be allowed to meet with the board of trustees for negotiations. The school staff and local sheriff are arrested and soon sent out in a bus, since Moreland refuses to hold them as hostages.
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
M35 2-1/2 ton cargo truck
The M35 family of trucks is a long-lived vehicle initially deployed by the United States Army, and subsequently utilized by many nations around the world. A truck in the 2½ ton weight class, it was one of many vehicles in U.S...
breaks down at a traffic light. As Cadet Captain Dwyer (Sean Penn
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...
) attempts to fix the engine, a group of locals provoke a fight with the cadets. Another cadet, the hotheaded David Shawn (Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
), opens fire with his M16
M16 rifle
The M16 is the United States military designation for the AR-15 rifle adapted for both semi-automatic and full-automatic fire. Colt purchased the rights to the AR-15 from ArmaLite, and currently uses that designation only for semi-automatic versions of the rifle. The M16 fires the 5.56×45mm NATO...
, shooting several bursts in the air. Abandoning the inoperable truck, the cadets flee the scene in the second truck, ramming a police car in the process.
The cadets conduct themselves in a highly militaristic fashion, and initially morale is high. A delegation of parents arrives, led by Moreland's father, an Army Master Sergeant. The two soon argue, and after being slapped by his father, Moreland orders the delegation removed from the campus. Attempting to show that no one is being held against their will- as the police are claiming- Moreland assembles the cadets and offers them a chance to walk out. All of them choose to stay.
The siege of the campus grows more tense when the National Guard arrives. The commander, Colonel Kerby (Ronny Cox
Ronny Cox
Daniel Ronald "Ronny" Cox is an American character actor, singer-songwriter and guitarist.-Personal life:Cox, the third of five children, was born in Cloudcroft, New Mexico, the son of Lounette and Bob P. Cox, a carpenter who also worked at a dairy. He grew up in Portales, New Mexico...
), negotiates with Cadet Major Moreland with greater diplomacy and patience than his father had, but with no more success. Although Kerby admits to Moreland he admires an institution 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.
During the morning muster several officers report that a total of 11 cadets have climbed over the walls in the night to return home. 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, and the water is turned off. When the electricity is turned off next, they attempt to restart 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. Soon afterwards, Moreland offers to order his cadets to stand down if the order comes from General Bache. Kerby replies that Bache had died the previous night. The cadets, deeply hurt by Bache's death, hold a military memorial service in his honor.
One night, an M48 Patton
M48 Patton
The M48 Patton is a medium tank that was designed in the United States. It was the third and final tank to be officially named after General George S. Patton, commander of the U.S. Third Army during World War II and one of the earliest American advocates for the use of tanks in battle It was a...
tank rolls up to the main gate and scans the immediate area. In a forward position, one young cadet panics and runs out to surrender. He drops his weapon, which fires upon hitting the ground. Nervous National Guard soldiers open fire, killing the cadet's companion, Charlie Auden, who had tried to go after him.
Charlie's death 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. Cadet Captain David Shawn opens fire, prompting a firefight between the two sides. Dwyer and Moreland run to Shawn's room, hoping to stop Shawn, as police and National Guard invade the campus. Shawn and Moreland are killed by suppressing fire from a Patton tank. Colonel Kerby arrives soon after.
Accompanied by a saddened Colonel Kerby and two other soldiers, Dwyer carries Moreland's 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
Flashback (narrative)
Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...
is shown of prouder times at Bunker Hill when General Bache was reviewing a parade of cadets.
Cast
- George C. ScottGeorge C. ScottGeorge Campbell Scott was an American stage and film actor, director and producer. He was best known for his stage work, as well as his portrayal of General George S. Patton in the film Patton, and as General Buck Turgidson in Stanley Kubrick's Dr...
as Brigadier General Harlan Bache - Timothy HuttonTimothy HuttonTimothy Tarquin Hutton is an American actor. He is the youngest actor to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, which he won at the age of 20 for his performance as Conrad Jarrett in Ordinary People . He currently stars as Nathan "Nate" Ford on the TNT series Leverage.-Early life:Timothy...
as Cadet Major Brian Moreland - Ronny CoxRonny CoxDaniel Ronald "Ronny" Cox is an American character actor, singer-songwriter and guitarist.-Personal life:Cox, the third of five children, was born in Cloudcroft, New Mexico, the son of Lounette and Bob P. Cox, a carpenter who also worked at a dairy. He grew up in Portales, New Mexico...
as Colonel Kerby - Sean PennSean PennSean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...
as Cadet Captain Alex Dwyer - Tom CruiseTom CruiseThomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
as Cadet Captain David Shawn - Brendan Ward as Cadet Plebe Charlie Auden
- Evan HandlerEvan HandlerEvan Handler is an American actor who is best known for playing Harry Goldenblatt, Charlotte's divorce attorney and later husband, on Sex and the City, and Charlie Runkle, Hank's comically bumbling friend and agent, on Californication.-Early life:Handler was born in New York City, the son of Enid...
as Cadet Lieutenant Edward West - John P. Navin, Jr. as Cadet Plebe Derek
- Billy Van ZandtBilly Van ZandtWilliam "Billy" Van Zandt is an American playwright and actor.-Personal life:Van Zandt was born in Red Bank, New Jersey, the son of Mary H. Lento and William Brewster Van Zandt. He is of Italian and Dutch descent...
as Cadet Bug - Giancarlo EspositoGiancarlo EspositoGiancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito is a Danish-born American film and television actor and director.-Early life:Esposito was born in Copenhagen, Denmark to an Italian father and African-American mother. His mother was an opera and nightclub singer from Alabama, who once appeared on the same...
as Cadet Captain J.C. Pierce - Wayne TippitWayne TippitWayne Tippit was an American television and stage character actor. He was best known to television audiences for playing Ted Adamson on the 1970s and 1980s CBS soap opera, Search for Tomorrow, for five years...
as Master Sergeant Kevin Moreland - Earl HindmanEarl HindmanEarl John Hindman was an American actor, best-known for his role as the kindly neighbor Wilson W. Wilson Jr...
as State Police Lieutenant Hanson - James HandyJames HandyJames Handy is an American film actor. He appeared in more than eighty films and television serials between 1977 and 2011. He is best known for his appearance as Arthur Devlin in Alias and Lou Handleman in Profiler.-Selected filmography:...
as Sheriff
Production
This film was filmed on location at Valley Forge Military Academy and College (VFMAC) in Wayne, PennsylvaniaWayne, Pennsylvania
Wayne is an unincorporated community located on the Main Line, centered in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. While the center of Wayne is in Radnor Township, Wayne extends into both Tredyffrin Township in Chester County and Upper Merion Township in Montgomery County...
VFMAC is also known as the Military College of Pennsylvania. Most of the filming took place at Wheeler Hall and the now demolished Clothier Hall. The uniforms shown in the movie were accurate VFMAC uniforms of that period, with modifications. 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
Hargrave Military Academy
Hargrave Military Academy is a private American boarding school located in the town of Chatham, Virginia.Hargrave is a school affiliated with the Baptist General Association of Virginia emphasizing Christian values that focuses on a college and military preparatory program...
(HMA) 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.
Reception
Film review aggregator Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 80% of the 15 sampled critics gave the film a positive review and that it got an average score of 6.1 out of 10. Film critic Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave the film 3 stars (out of four), comparing the film to the classic novel Lord of the Flies
Lord of the Flies
Lord of the Flies is a novel by Nobel Prize-winning author William Golding about a group of British boys stuck on a deserted island who try to govern themselves, with disastrous results...
(1954).