Taps (film)

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Taps

Directed by	Harold Becker
Produced by	Howard B. Jaffe, Stanley R. Jaffe
Written by	Devery Freeman Robert Mark Kamen James Lineberger Darryl Ponicsan
Starring	George C. Scott Timothy Hutton Ronny Cox
Music by	Maurice Jarre
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	1981
Running time	126 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

Taps is a 1981 dramatic film, starring Timothy Hutton, Sean Penn, Tom Cruise, Ronny Cox and George C. Scott, directed by Harold Becker. Hutton was nominated for a Golden Globe award in 1982 for his role in the film.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's tagline is This school is our home, we think it's worth defending.

1 Plot summary
2 Trivia
3 Cast
4 External links

[edit] Plot summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Bunker Hill Academy is a fictional military academy with a tradition of training young men for military service, but all of that is about to change. The land where Bunker Hill Academy stands is very valuable to local land developers. General Harlan Bache (George C Scott), the commander at Bunker Hill Academy, is proud of tradition and being a soldier, announces that the Academy will be closed one year after the current commencement ceremony. Recently promoted Cadet Major Brian Moreland is the highest ranking cadet at the academy, who talks to General Bache about the closing of the academy. He is very sad about its closing.

A dance is held at the academy. Outside the gates are townies who are looking for trouble. A fight breaks out between a townie and a cadet, and it escalates. When General Bache tries to stop the fight, one of the townies grabs his gun. Subsequently, one of the townies is shot. Bache is taken into custody by the police and the academy is ordered closed immediately, rather than a year hence. Cadet Major Moreland decides to take a stand against the academy's closing.

The next morning, the board are taking count of all the weapons. Later, Major Moreland has the cadets move all the weapons and makes demands to the police and the board of trustees about the closing of the school. The cadets hear that General Bache has had a heart attack and is in intensive care. Things go well for the cadets until the National Guard arrives, and the situation worsens.

[edit] Trivia

Was filmed at Valley Forge Military Academy and College in Wayne, Pennsylvania
The main building featured is Wheeler Hall.
In order to prepare for the film, Timothy Hutton, Sean Penn, Tom Cruise, and others participated in 45 days of training with the actual students of Valley Forge Military Academy. The majority of the actors enjoyed the experience. However, Cruise left in the middle of the training and chose to stay at a nearby hotel until principal photography began.