Taps (1981) Full Review

Film Scene Investigation

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Transcript

00:00welcome back to another cult movie review with me beau here on the film scene investigation

00:20channel thank you so much for checking out this review in today's video i'm going to be taking a

00:27look at the 1981 military drama taps now this movie has been on my radar for some time i watched the

00:39trailer online a few days ago and um yeah i thought i'd give it a go before we get into the review guys

00:47if you haven't already please do consider subscribing to the channel all the support

00:52is greatly appreciated so taps from 1981 was directed by the filmmaker harold becker and was

01:03based on the 1979 novel by devry freeman called father sky filmed on location at a real military

01:11academy the production cost around about 14 million to produce but subsequently went on to earn 30

01:19million at the box office as for the plots the movie focused on the senior cadet brian morland who

01:28was played by actor timothy hutton a very popular figure in the bunker hill academy and seen among

01:35his friends as a future leader it's safe to say that brian definitely had pride in this influential

01:45status that he had gained at the academy we were also introduced to his friends alex and david who

01:53was played by sean penn and tom cruise respectively it was quite clear from the start that all of these

02:00guys took their roles very seriously setting a good example for the younger cadets while their lives

02:08at bunker hill seemed to be going great things soon turned sour when the board of trustees announced

02:15that they were permanently closing the academy and selling the land off to some local developers

02:22as you can imagine the news came as a huge shock to both brian david and all their other friends i mean

02:30this was their life bunker hill academy was all they ever knew and not only was it going to be closed

02:37it was going to be demolished the general played by actor george c scott made the announcement to

02:44the rest of the cadets and he deep down was completely disgusted by the board's decision

02:49not only to well sell on the land but to not even consult him first all of the history all of the

02:58tradition all of the loyalty completely gone down the drain simply because the board of trustees wanted

03:07to make some profits brian who was a senior cadet had a one-on-one meeting with the general to express

03:16his anger over the situation he encouraged the general to never give up to fight this decision

03:24and make sure that they never gave in to the developers brian and the rest of the students

03:30were just going to stand back and allow this to happen allow bunker hill to be demolished into rubble

03:37so that some new condominions could be built the general agreed he was completely disgusted with the

03:45situation and with the help of brian and the rest of the cadets he thought they had a good chance

03:51in stopping the development but the situation turned very ugly when late to that evening at the

03:59military ball the general ended up getting into a fight with some locals outside the front entrance

04:06of the academy a group of local kids showed up wanting to start a fight with the cadets outside the

04:14entrance and well as you can imagine tempers flared and fists started flying some guy jumped on the

04:23general's back grabbed his gun it went off and suddenly this young kid was dead i should clarify

04:31and say that the general did not pull the trigger but well the bullet came from his gun and he was to

04:39blame with the uproar over the civilian death and the general being taken into custody over his

04:46actions the future of the barracks came to a crashing halt prior to the shooting it was fair to say that

04:56the cadets and the general had a chance in saving the academy but after the civilian death

05:02it put everything into motion for a permanent closure the very next day suddenly inventory was being

05:13listed weapons were being taken away from the cadets i mean it was literally almost like they had

05:20decided overnight that yeah it's time to close bunker hill brian who saw the tide turning saw it all

05:28come crashing down in front of his eyes he couldn't just stand there so he decided with the help of his

05:35friends to take over the school and stop any authorities from entering these cadets these young men

05:42they'd had enough and they weren't just going to stand back like i said so they took the bold move to

05:49basically take the academy under siege they first took the weaponry back they shut the gates

05:57and they cut the phone lines to make sure that there was no contact from the outside world

06:03these guys weren't messing around absolutely not they'd meant business and they were doing it all for

06:11the general of course their refusal to leave it only escalated matters with the authorities showing up

06:19in numbers but the strong police presence didn't seem to have any effect on the young cadets

06:26who stood their ground it was a stalemate you know two sides that were not going to give up

06:34and so the police had to use a range of tactics to try and bring the siege to a halt even brian's dad

06:43sergeant kevin morland showed up outside the academy gates in an attempt to you know talk some sense

06:52into his son the sergeant spoke directly face to face with brian and told him you know the seriousness

07:00of his actions and how that he was basically ruining his life yet brian just didn't care nothing

07:09seemed to register with him he was locked in and not going to give up anytime soon regardless of what

07:17his dad said to him brian was playing with fire i mean he'd never been in the situation before

07:22and in a way was very naive but still he wasn't going to be stopped he wasn't going to be talked

07:29around or persuaded over the coming days some younger cadets did end up surrendering to the authorities

07:37but the core group of david alex and brian all stuck it out the police made a cunning decision

07:46to turn off the water supply and the electric and once that happened doubt definitely started to

07:54seek into the minds of the cadets i mean how are they going to cope with no supplies the movie

08:03culminated with the national guard finally showing up in force and surrounded the building with their

08:10armored tanks the authorities had done their best you know tried to destabilize the situation but

08:18nothing was working nothing was registering with those guys and they weren't going to stop so

08:23ultimately the authorities felt that all they had left was to use force to try and take back the academy

08:31this led to a deadly shootout that saw military helicopters drop a load of tear gas on the academy

08:39grounds it was complete anarchy with all of these cadets running around trying to escape try not to breathe

08:46in the gas and in the process david and brian ended up getting killed in the crossfire now as for the

08:56themes and symbolism in taps the whole idea around finding yourself and you know knowing your identity

09:04was a key element that i picked up on brian in particular was the representation of a young man

09:13who was impressionable and had given his life to service in the military brian had latched on to

09:22these ideals that he had learned at the academy and that's all he knew he was loyal to the institution

09:32that made him so the thought of seeing bunker hill demolished and clothed for good that was like brian

09:41losing a part of his own identity and the whole rebelling against the authorities wasn't so much in

09:49about saving the school but more to do with the fact that these young guys had the opportunity

09:55to assert themselves as soldiers for so long they had been training for a war and now they had found

10:04one on their doorstep and this was the perfect opportunity for them all to prove themselves so

10:12yeah the whole idea around identity and you know finding out who you really are as a person

10:19and what your moral compass is that was a very interesting and intriguing element that i really enjoyed

10:25especially at that age you know in your late teens absolutely identity and meaning and purpose

10:34you know that's you know that's a big thing for young people and uh i appreciated the film exploring that

10:42i also think in some ways you could say that this movie taps is a coming of age drama as we saw

10:51these cadets transform from honorable students to you know armed rebels there was certainly

10:58a loss of innocence that we saw as brian and the rest of his friends fell deeper into this ideological

11:08mindset their reasoning their moral judgment all of that was completely blinded by their goal in not

11:21giving up which of course led to some deadly consequences now the film featured a large ensemble

11:28cast of young actors who went on to have some successful careers in showbiz one actor i immediately

11:36spotted was giancarlo esposito who played cadet pierce in the movie now this was a minor role for

11:45esposito he didn't really have that much dialogue but with that said with the limited material he was

11:52given i thought he did a pretty good job he's an actor who of course has had a lot more

11:58success in his later career but um it was very interesting to see him you know in such an early role

12:06another actor who i noticed was evan handler who is most known for his work on the tv show sex and the

12:17city he had a small role as cadet west one of brian's friends now deep down his character cadet west

12:25wasn't fully committed in you know the siege and you know fighting back authorities he was only really

12:33doing it due to his loyalty to brian there was actually a scene where handler's character tried to

12:41talk some sense into brian but just like all the other times nothing was getting through to the guy

12:47he had tunnel vision and nothing was going to change his mind actor ronnie cox appeared in the film

12:54as colonel kirby one of the soldiers who attempted to negotiate with brian the colonel really did try to

13:04de-escalate the situation he you know numerous times tried to talk brian out of the situation and uh well

13:13eventually he had no other choice but to use force now as for the central cast actor sean penn played

13:21cadet alex dwyer marking his feature film debut you know it wasn't a big role for pen but he still

13:30impressed me with the limited amount of screen time that he'd been given his best scene had to be

13:37the moment when alex confronted brian towards the end of the film which led to them fighting you could

13:44really feel alex's desperation in that moment with you know the tears coming down his eyes he didn't

13:52want to be there but it was down to his loyalty and his friendship with brian that he stayed looking

14:00at this film and then obviously seeing sean penn's career yeah i mean at the time he probably wouldn't

14:07have said that he would have been some big hollywood star but he certainly was a young actor with a lot of

14:12potential and that showed on screen actor tom cruise marked his second feature debut playing david sean

14:20the intense cadet who certainly had some behavioral issues cruises character was an unpredictable

14:30individual who was definitely trigger happy and someone that you couldn't really rely on many times

14:39throughout the film we saw david and his unbalanced behavior cause issues for the rest of the group

14:47making him ultimately a liability i thought cruise did a brilliant job with his portrayal and even

14:55though he didn't have that much screen time in a way he uh he kind of stole the show i think it would

15:02be safe to say that he was the most memorable character and the one that kind of stuck out to you

15:10after the film had ended i also really appreciated cruise for going the whole way and shaving his head

15:17you know giving him that authentic military style look he obviously really committed to the role not just

15:25with the look of the character but the physical performance with the whole military drill i mean

15:32that wouldn't have been easy to have pulled off and uh yeah cruise did it with ease as for the lead

15:38i thought actor timothy hutton did a very good job playing the cadet and brian morland now i have to be

15:46honest and say that when i first saw the character i didn't really buy into him being this you know leader

15:54but as the story developed he really came into his own as we saw brian take charge of the operation

16:02in a cool calm and stoic manner the character was fully dedicated in upholding the oath of bunker hill

16:11and i must say that i thought actor timothy hutton was very believable in that role as a man a young

16:20man who was lost and confused and who ultimately lost his life for all the wrong reasons as for the

16:30late george c scott he too gave a solid performance as general harlan the catalyst for the siege scott

16:40brought his usual gravitas to the production playing a mentor type role and inspiration for all of the

16:48younger cadets his character didn't last long i mean as soon as the shooting took place he was taken

16:54into custody and that was the end of the character but still he gave a memorable performance and left a

17:02lasting impression technically taps is a very well made movie with lots of set pieces that included

17:10hundreds of extras as i said this movie costs over 14 million dollars to produce and it certainly showed

17:18on screen the parade sequence in particular was very impressive you know seeing such a large-scale

17:25military procession take place i'm not exactly sure how long that scene took to film but given all the

17:33different you know moving parts all the different extras and stuff like that it could not have been

17:41easy to pull that off you know one element that we have to remind ourselves is believability and if these

17:48actors these young actors had not uh fully committed to you know learning the drills and looking the part

17:55then that believability would have gone out the window so yeah they certainly pulled it off

18:01and yeah you know taps is certainly not your average typical popcorn movie it's a story a very dense story

18:11that was brought to life through careful consideration by all of those involved and so dislikes for taps

18:21from 1981 my biggest dislike for the film would have to be its opening 20 to 25 minutes that

18:30i found to be very slow now before i get into this i should state that this is more of a nitpick

18:38it's not really a dislike but it's something that um you know stuck out to me and yeah i'm not going to

18:46deny the the first kind of 20 minutes or so uh was very slow and uh quite uh underwhelming the film

18:55actually began with this ceremonial scene inside this church that saw the general give this speech

19:02he talked about how much of a privilege it was you know to serve at bunker hill after that we were then

19:10introduced to brian and his friends who were all you know just hanging out at the barracks now of course

19:18this was all done to establish the location and the characters you know the setting for the story

19:25totally get that totally understand that but if i'm going to be honest the execution was quite poor

19:34i um i don't know i guess i could say it was like paint by numbers you know just like

19:40yeah okay can we move on to the interesting part now yeah the story did not kick into second gear

19:47until about 25 minutes in when we saw this parade and we heard the announcement from the general

19:54that bunker hill was to be permanently closed from there on in the rest of the film started to pick up

20:01pace and yeah i mean it was fine but i just thought that those opening 20 minutes really uh really slow things

20:10down as i said it's more of a nitpick than a dislike but i am honest with my reviews and yeah i just um

20:19found the opening to be quite a slog so yeah be prepared if you've not seen this one yet

20:25and so ratings for taps from 1981 my rating is going to be a solid 6 out of 10 taps from 1981 was an

20:40intriguing military drama that didn't shy away from criticizing tradition and the lack of importance

20:50it has in an ever-changing progressive world as for the chemistry among the actors the cadets and

20:58their friendship and their camaraderie it all felt very authentic you know it it wasn't unbelievable

21:05to think that these guys this core group of friends could pull off such a task such an operation

21:12in taking over the academy if you've seen taps then please let me know your thoughts and memories in

21:19the comment section below for all of those who haven't this is a recommendation from me i think

21:26it's a very well made military drama and for any of you out there who like war movies and haven't seen

21:34this one yet definitely give it a go you'll you'll probably like it and well that is all from me today

21:41guys i do hope you've enjoyed this review of taps from 1981 i'll be back next week with another cult

21:49movie review if you like what i do here please consider subscribing to the channel i do appreciate

21:53all the support and of course take care

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