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1981, Drama, 2h 6m

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Where to watch taps.

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Taps   photos.

Bunker Hill Military Academy has been targeted by real estate developers for demolition. The students, outraged at the thought of their school being turned into condominiums, vow to fight back. Led by Cadet Maj. Brian Moreland (Timothy Hutton), they stage a school-wide rebellion that ends with them in charge of the campus. After winning over the headmaster (George C. Scott), Brian and his fellow cadets, Alex (Sean Penn) and David (Tom Cruise), face their toughest battle yet -- with the Army.

Genre: Drama

Original Language: English

Director: Harold Becker

Producer: Howard B. Jaffe , Stanley R. Jaffe

Writer: Darryl Ponicsan , Robert Mark Kamen

Release Date (Theaters): Dec 9, 1981  limited

Release Date (Streaming): Apr 29, 2014

Runtime: 2h 6m

Production Co: Twentieth Century Fox

Sound Mix: Surround

Cast & Crew

Timothy Hutton

Cadet Major Brian Moreland

George C. Scott

General Harlan Bache

Colonel Kerby

Cadet Captain Alex Dwyer

Cadet Captain David Shawn

Brendan Ward

Charlie Auden

Billy Van Zandt

Harold Becker

Darryl Ponicsan

Screenwriter

Robert Mark Kamen

Howard B. Jaffe

Stanley R. Jaffe

News & Interviews for Taps

Know Your Critic: Robert Daniels, Freelance Film Critic

Critic Reviews for Taps

Audience reviews for taps.

Not even solid performances from Timothy Hutton and George C. Scott can save "Taps," which is a generic teen drama that's often melodramatic to the point of being unintentionally comedic. Aside from Hutton and Scott, the acting is pretty weak, which might have something to do with the characters being incredibly unlikable, and the film itself has all the power and poignancy of a daytime soap opera. Nothing really ever works in "Taps," and while it isn't totally reprehensible, it's bland and forgettable and downright ludicrous.

tom cruise movie military school

A smart and well-crafted military drama, Taps is a daring and controversial film. When a group of cadets at a military academy barricade themselves inside their citadel a standoff with the local law enforcement and National Guard ensues. The cast includes Timothy Hutton, Tom Cruise, Sean Penn, and George C. Scott; who all deliver excellent performances. The writing is also quite strong, and does a great job at showing the internal struggle that the cadets go through in questioning their cause and what they've been taught to believe in. The film also explores some provocative themes such as the Military-Industrial Complex and America's attitudes toward the military in the post-Vietnam era. Taps is compelling and incredibly powerful.

Taps is a decent movie but nothing spectacular. The plot is full of holes but still is entertaining. The thing that makes the movie worth the watch is the performances by Hutton, Penn, and Cruise. This is the movie that launched Penn's career and allowed him to go onto bigger and better things. This was also only Cruise's second role. The story suffers a little from the impossibilities but the performances more than make up for it and make the movie worth the watch.

So totally boring, I couldn't watch the whole thing. I may give it another chance one day if I hear anything good about it. There is a good cast, but other than that, it's not worth watching.

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“Taps” is a meditation on two subjects for which some adolescents have a great capacity: idealism and authoritarianism. It takes place in a realistic setting (it was shot on location at Valley Forge Military Academy), but it is not intended as a realistic film. There are all sorts of clues, including the pointed absence of all but one of the academy's adult faculty members, to indicate that TAPS, like the emotionally similar “ Lord Of The Flies ,” is using its realistic texture as a setting for a fantasy about human nature. 

The film begins with an emotionally stirring commencement exercise at Bunker Hill Military Academy (as the school is called in the film). Sousa marches fill the air, the cadets march around the parade ground looking gloriously proud of themselves, and the reviewing stand is dominated by the legendary old General Harlan Bache, the academy's commander. Bache is played by George C. Scott , and it is probably no accident that his performance in this movie echoes his title role in “ Patton ” (1970): He is an iron-willed and yet incurably romantic professional soldier. 

We soon meet the leading upperclassman, Brian Moreland ( Timothy Hutton ). He has been selected to lead the cadet corps next year. In one of the most important evenings of his life, he is granted the great privilege of having dinner with old General Bache and sipping some of the old man's brandy. Soon after, however, this whole network of discipline, glory, and tradition is destroyed when it's revealed that the school's pigheaded trustees intend to sell the school and its land to some condominium developers (it is almost worth the price of admission to hear Scott pronounce "condominiums"). Bache is removed from the scene, in a dramatic development I will not reveal. And then Moreland, the cadet commander, takes inventory of the school's supplies of weapons and decides to lead the student body in making a stand for it. They'll take over the school in a military occupation, bar the gates, mount machine guns, and guard posts, and issue a set of demands designed to save the school. 

The central passages of “Taps” are devoted to this scheme. The students barricade themselves in the school grounds, the police and National Guard surround the school, and a standoff develops. Meanwhile, within the student body, tensions develop between those kids who are unstable and a little too violent, and those who would secretly rather be on the outside looking in. Hutton, as Moreland, does a lot of learning and soul-searching as he tries to hold his mad scheme together. 

There are obviously various problems of plot (such as: Where are the other faculty members? Why are the outside authorities both so stupid and so uncompromising? Why would the trustees have no appreciation of the school's tradition? Why would the grade-school-age cadets be issued live ammunition?, etc.). These questions do not really matter. “Taps” is basically a character study, a portrait of the personalities engaged in the showdown. And, like “Lord Of The Flies”, it observes that adolescent males can easily translate the idealistic lessons they have been taught into a rationale for acting in ways that are rigid, dogmatic, and self-justifying. 

“Taps” works as an uncommonly engrossing story, primarily because the performances are so well done. All of the cadet roles are well acted, not only by seasoned actors like Hutton (who won an Academy Award for “ Ordinary People ”) but even by the very young kids who struggle with guns and realities much too large for them. By the film's end, we share their love for their school, we despair at the situation they have gotten themselves into, and we are emotionally involved in the outcome. After the film, there are some ideas to think about, involving the implications when might and right are on the same side--and when they are not.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Film credits.

Taps movie poster

Taps (1981)

118 minutes

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Military cadets take extreme measures to insure the future of their academy when its existence is threatened by local condo developers.
Factual errors: When all the adult staffers of Bunker Hill Academy are loaded onto the bus, we see a Captain and a few other uniformed soldiers. Bache’s statement that the Cadet Major is only outranked by the commanding general, then, is untrue. Active military personnel outrank ANY cadet in a K-12 military academy. Continuity: When the two Academy trucks stop at an intersection in town, the first one, which has a narrow front bumper, stalls out. The cadets all leave in the second truck, which has a wide front bumper. A few seconds later, they ram a police cruiser but the truck now has the narrow front bumper. Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When taking inventory of the armory, the man counting the guns states they are “.45 millimeter caliber 1911’s”. Colt 1911’s are .45acp, not .45 millimeter.
Alex Dwyer: What the hell were you doing back there? David Shawn: At least I had your ass over the grinder and it’s okay enough to thank me, shithead! Brian Moreland: Hut! What’s the problem? Alex Dwyer: The problem is that this asshole just shot the town! David Shawn: Hey, Brian, Dungeons and Dragons game tonight? Brian Moreland: Nah, not tonight, Shawn. Alex Dwyer: Nice of you to ask. David Shawn: [gives Dwyer the finger] Alex Dwyer: Have a good day. David Shawn: Brian, Dungeons and Dragons game tonight? Brian Moreland: Can’t. [David flips Alex the finger] Alex Dwyer: Have a good day. [Firing machine gun] David Shawn: It’s beautiful, man! David Shawn: [about firing his assault rifle at the townies and cops, to facilitate their escape] I saw my duty, and I did it.
Prior to the production of the film, the key actors -Timothy Hutton, Sean Penn, Tom Cruise and others – were required to participate in a 45-day-long period of orientation with the students of Valley Forge Military Academy. They were given uniforms, borrowed from their real life counterparts at the school and given authentic military haircuts. They slept in campus barracks and were subjected to the same rigors and hardship that all Valley Forge cadets went through. While most of the actors enjoyed and excelled at their orientation, Cruise opted to leave the training for the comforts of a nearby hotel until filming began. The uniforms in the movie were the normal uniforms worn by cadets. The embroidered shoulder badges of “Valley Forge” were changed during filming to “Bunker Hill”. Then, the cadets of the Academy had no camouflage fatigues as a uniform. Filming continued into the summer after cadets’ school year was over. Foley recording of cadets was done during filming during normal daily activities. Cadet marching was recorded during parade practice, requiring extra marching by cadets and adding to the disruption of daily life. Due to the 1980 Screen Actors Guild writer’s strike, filming on the campus of Valley Forge Military Academy took much longer (60 days) than originally planned. It caused such a disruption that the commandant of the school subsequently advised his colleagues not to allow film productions at their schools. The next year both Valley Forge and the Citadel military academies denied filmmakers of The Lords of Discipline access to their grounds, leading it to be filmed in England instead. This was the last film to actually be filmed at the Valley Forge Military Academy due to its logistical problems which left a foul reputation on the school and subsequently denied another film taking place at a Military Academy, The Lords of Discipline, which came out two years later to be shot there and shoot in England. This is Sean Penn’s film debut. Penn was casted by Casting Director Shirley Rich in New York after seeing him in off Broadway play. More than 2000 actors auditioned for Sean Penn’s role, which he won after being discovered in fiery performance in an off-Broadway play by casting Director Shirley Rich. The rainy weather caused numerous problems during filming. Director Harold Becker had to create four sets of call sheets for each day’s shooting in case a scene taking place outdoors would be rained out and interior shoot would take its place. It also was very noticeable in the editing of the film, as cadets are seen wearing ponchos in one scene and none the next. Ronny Cox was Harold Becker’s original choice to play Colonel, but another unnamed actor was chosen and then fired two days into shooting his scenes. Producer Stanley R. Jaffe immediately called Cox, who flew down the very next day to begin shooting his scenes. Tom Cruise was originally going to play a background character in the film, but Director Harold Becker was so impressed by the way he conducted himself as one of the military cadets during rehearsals that he was offered the part of David Shawn. At first Cruise refused and then was finally convinced by Becker and Producer Stanley R. Jaffe play the role. Timothy Hutton accepted his Academy Award for Ordinary People immediately after shooting on Taps begin. The film was originally developed at Columbia Pictures by Producer Stanley R. Jaffe, but ran into a series of creative problems with the studio and it was one of many projects that went into “turnaround” under their banner. Jaffe was passionate about the project and then took it to Twentieth Century-Fox, who bought the script and immediately green-lit the project. One of many projects that were delayed by the 1980 strike by the Screen Actor’s Guild, which was finally settled late that year. T.A.P.S. immediately started filming in January 1981. he scene where Timothy Hutton and Ronny Cox’s characters are discussing terms was shot with three to four cameras, one of them operated by Director of Photography Owen Roizman. Roizman made a bet with Director Harold Becker for $75.00 that his close-up shots would make the final cut of the film. It was Roizman’s tight close up shots that made the final cut of the film, and Roizman who is $75.00 richer. Director of Photography Owen Roizman made a bet with Director Harold Becker for $75.00, that his close up shots during the scene where Timothy Hutton and Ronny Cox are talking at the gate, would make the final cut of the film. Becker told him that they wouldn’t. Roizman won the bet as his shots made it in the final cut of the film. The gate seen at the end of the quad area was built specifically for the film and was dismantled after filming ended. The exterior shots of the film were shot at Valley Forge, but the interiors (including General Basche’s office) were shot on sets built in Vally Forge’s massive Polo field by Alfred Sweeney and Stan Jolley. Sean Penn and a handful of other actors received military horsemanship training for the scenes as the leader of the school’s mounted cavalry. He later stated “It’s not like riding out on a backwoods trail-The trick is to salute, control the horse, keep in step with the other riders and try not to fall off.”

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Rotten Tomatoes® Score

An ideal script well played out makes Taps one of the more intriguing movies of the season.

A reactionary movie in which the old jingoistic values appear to be nostalgically glorified.

The director takes the movie to a melodramatic terrain that lacks any meaning. [Full Review in Spanish]

A fascinating first hour is drowned in the clichés of siege cinema.

Entertaining, especially if its musings on military values aren't taken too seriously.

Taps is a well crafted and original film about the perils of false heroes and uncontrolled militarism.

Mildly engaging, but burdened by a predictable climax.

A complex, violent movie for older teens only.

A heavy dramatic portrait of military school education with a disturbing shoot 'em up climax, Taps labors at an unbearably slow pace to an inevitable, depressing conclusion.

This proudly apolitical drama can probably be embraced by people on either side of the ideological fence.

Additional Info

  • Genre : Drama
  • Release Date : December 11, 1981
  • Languages : English
  • Captions : English, Spanish
  • Audio Format : 5.1

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Taps

Where to watch

1981 Directed by Harold Becker

This school is our home, we think it's worth defending.

Military cadets take extreme measures to ensure the future of their academy when its existence is threatened by local condo developers.

George C. Scott Timothy Hutton Ronny Cox Sean Penn Tom Cruise Brendan Ward Evan Handler John P. Navin, Jr. Billy Van Zandt Giancarlo Esposito Donald Kimmel Timothy Wahrer Tim Riley Jeff Rochlin Rusty Jacobs Jess Osuna David Reed Earl Hindman Ed Spinelli

Director Director

Harold Becker

Producers Producers

Stanley R. Jaffe Howard B. Jaffe

Writers Writers

Robert Mark Kamen James Lineberger Darryl Ponicsan

Original Writer Original Writer

Devery Freeman

Casting Casting

Shirley Rich

Editor Editor

Maury Winetrobe

Cinematography Cinematography

Owen Roizman

Art Direction Art Direction

Stan Jolley Alfred Sweeney

Set Decoration Set Decoration

Carl Biddiscombe

Stunts Stunts

David R. Ellis Brian Smrz

Composer Composer

Maurice Jarre

20th Century Fox

Releases by Date

20 dec 1981, 12 feb 1982, 01 apr 1982, 04 apr 1982, 16 apr 1982, 27 apr 1982, 28 apr 1982, 15 jul 1982, releases by country.

  • Theatrical PG
  • Theatrical 12
  • Theatrical T

126 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

📀 Cammmalot 📀

Review by 📀 Cammmalot 📀 ★★★

Cinematic Time Capsule 1981 Marathon - Film #104

”You boys are in very serious trouble.”

When a military academy is threatened with closure to make room for condo developers, a group of cadets decide to take matters into their own hands by stealing the weapons and barricading themselves on campus.

And this is why you should never leave cadets unsupervised.

This highly contrived film is so heavy handed with it’s over-the-top seriousness that it’s nearly impossible to take seriously.

The only real highlight is the chance to see the likes of Tom Cruise, Sean Penn and Giancarlo Esposito so early in their careers.

”Excuse me if I don’t shed any tears over your lost youth.”

Cinematic Time Capsule - 1981 Ranked

Josh Lewis

Review by Josh Lewis ★★

A very solid periphery cast including George C. Scott and a young Sean Penn, Tom Cruise, Giancarlo Esposito, etc do what they can to give this baby military academy cosplayers vs evil real estate developers drama (whoever wins we lose) some emotional weight about a dying type of old school American "honor" that maybe never existed but it doesn't really register. It's shot fairly handsomely but way too long, dry, and sentimental... and though I appreciate its commitment to gruesomely fucking up some of the kids it also relies on a hilarious amount of accidental firearm discharges that suggest a better, more satirical version of its war games premise.

charlotte

Review by charlotte ★★★

dead poets society with tanks and shit

MichaelEternity

Review by MichaelEternity ★★★½ 2

Part 1 of the unofficial decade-spanning po-faced child soldier trifecta that includes "Red Dawn" (1984) and "Toy Soldiers" (1991)? Let's say yes.

"Taps" is the more ideological of the bunch, questioning the indoctrination tactics of the military, especially its effects on impressionable youth. When a bunch of cadets take over their academy in the wake of their respected general being hospitalized and knowing that the school's going to be closed, is this proof of their loyalty to the service (they only take over the school because they don't want it to be shut down, after all, and uphold all regimented traditions in the meantime) or a dangerous side effect of being trained too well, of forcing values of martial law…

megan

Review by megan ★★★½

It's beautiful, man!

Michael501 📺

Review by Michael501 📺 ★★★ 2

1981 In Review - December  #22

Bunker Hill Military Academy has been targeted by real estate developers for demolition. The students, outraged at the thought of their school being turned into condominiums, vow to fight back. Led by Cadet Maj. Brian Moreland (Timothy Hutton), they stage a school-wide rebellion that ends with them in charge of the campus. After winning over the headmaster (George C. Scott), Brian and his fellow cadets, Alex (Sean Penn) and David (Tom Cruise), face their toughest battle yet -- with the Army.

And so I have finally made it all the way to end of December, this is the final film of 1981. December 1981 has been such a jam packed month that it has…

Andy Summers 🤠

Review by Andy Summers 🤠 ★★★½ 7

Revisiting an older movie full of young stars that would go on to international stardom can be a fascinating experience, especially watching what appears to be a hierarchy developing between them onscreen. With Harold Becker's T*A*P*S, it's not about their place in the military academy which forms the backdrop to the film, it's about that rising confidence, the rivalry, and the chance to shine within a cast of their peers. Watching Timothy Hutton, Sean Penn, Tom Cruise, Giancarlo Esposito, and even Evan Handler strive to be as professional as they could aged between 19 and 21 years old, is an eye-opener, although to be fair, Hutton already had an Academy Award from the year before. 40 years later, things are…

Timcop

Review by Timcop ★★★½

Full blown militaristic sympathizing (against predatory capitalists of all things) in the first half sneakily shifts to a much more anti-imperialist/anti-war point of view as it goes on. Interesting to see Penn portraying the level-headed rationalist with Cruise as a full-blown psychopath, something that would definitely not happen ever again.

Someone should have given George C. Scott some kind of award just for his anti-golf speech and the way he chokes back tears as he says, "...and they're within their rights....to push us out.....to make way for their....godDAMNED...CONDOMINIUMS."

Larry

Review by Larry ★★★★ 1

Great shot composition and an even greater teenage cast with the likes of Sean Penn, Tom Cruise, Giancarlo Esposito and Timothy Hutton is what Taps is all about. For fans of Californication a young Charlie Runkle also has a minor role.

The film tells the story of a Military Academy led by the battle hardened General Bache, (a more than solid George C Scott) that figures out it will be closing its doors next year. The trustees have sold out to condominium developers to use the land for real estate. After some ramblings about how the only thing that matters in life that cant be taken from you is honor, the young students decide to barricade the school and take…

lex 🍂

Review by lex 🍂 ★★★½

i actually enjoyed this a lot. no it wasn’t great but i def liked it

Marcy Webb

Review by Marcy Webb ★★★ 4

a Disney film about the military industrial complex? shocking

Michelle Parsons

Review by Michelle Parsons ★★★½ 2

George C. Scott, Timothy Hutton, Tom Cruise, Sean Penn and Giancarlo Esposito were all pretty great in this, but it went on a little too long for my tastes. I did enjoy all the scenes with Tim Hutton’s buns in those military dress pants though. 🔥

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Film Details

Brief synopsis, cast & crew, harold becker, george c scott, timothy hutton, technical specs.

The young cadets at a military academy stage an uprising and seige control of the campus, when they find out their treasured school is to be closed down and sold off to developers.

tom cruise movie military school

Brendan Ward

Evan handler, wayne tippett, amelia romano, michael longfield, declan weir, james handy, sheila marra, gary mccleery, jay gregory, jeff rochlin, john taylor, thomas medearis, elizabeth perry, rusty jacobs, karen braga, jeanne fisher, thomas hutchinson, billy van zandt, donald kimmel, brenda c. currin, l michael craig, ralph drischell, duane r. marion, frank chambers, john newmuis, eugene krumenacker, john faucher, john mcbrearty, earl hindman.

tom cruise movie military school

Giancarlo Esposito

Lou milione, arnie mazer, chris hagan, robena rogers, david mcginley, james m arnett, ralph babcock, aram betkijian, john bettis, frank bianco, carl biddescombe, gary bourgeois, garrett brown, james d camomile, mike campbell, bill chapman, ted churchill, michael clark, sara colleton, norman a cook, fred cramer, gordon daniel, greg dillon, dennis dion, david ellis, garry elmendorf, william m elvin, james faris, joel l. fink, devery freeman, james glennon, russell goble, phillip m goldfarb, craig hagenson, robert s hahn, bert hallberg, leon r harris, harold hauss, arthur jackson, howard b jaffe, robert jaffe, stanley r. jaffe, david jarell, maurice jarre, robert jiras, stan jolley, robert kamen, barry kellogg, marie kenney, jim klinger, joanne knapp, nikita knatz, marvin kosberg, james lineberger, harry litwack, michael j long, michael looney, michael luciano, jerry macdonald, michelle marchetti, eddie marks, william mccaughey, michel mention, wayne morris, charles myers, j craig nannos, stevie nicks, larry orlick, andrew overhaltzer, darryl ponicsan, bobby porter, scott rathner, anthony redd, shirley rich, owen roizman, r.a. rondell, reid rondell, saul saladow, gary shepherd, john sherrod, george silano, wayne h smith, frank sparks, william h steiner, paul h stewart, darilyn stringer, paul sullivan, alfred sweeney, garry ulmer, josh weiner, flo williamson, maury winetrobe, howard wollman, mickey woods, miscellaneous notes.

Released in United States December 1981

Released in United States Winter December 9, 1981

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"Taps" Trailer

Timothy Hutton leads a band of Bunker Hill Military Academy cadets determined to save their school from being torn down for a condo development. Tom Cruise and Sean Penn join Hutton in their first big movie roles and George C. Scott plays the crusty old academy commandant. Let’s just say honor and commitment don’t necessarily win the day. Cruise’s notorious maniacal laugh was definitely with him from the beginning and shows up at the film’s troubling climax. (1981)

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Film / Taps

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"Never be ashamed of being human, Mr Moreland. Without humanity, a leader becomes a tyrant." — General Bache

Taps is a 1981 film, directed by Harold Becker and starring George C. Scott , Timothy Hutton , Ronny Cox , Sean Penn , and Tom Cruise . The story revolves around young military cadets who take over their academy in order to prevent it from being closed and sold to real estate developers. It is based on the novel Father Sky by Devery Freeman.

It was the second screen appearance for Cruise (and his first major role after a brief appearance in Endless Love ), and the first non-TV movie for Penn. Hutton had already burst into the acting scene with his Academy Award -winning performance in Ordinary People .

These Tropes are beautiful, man ! Beautiful :

  • A Father to His Men : General Bache plays this role to the cadets at first, but once he's out of the picture, Brian steps up to replace him.
  • Adults Are Useless : Played for drama, as just about every adult save General Bache is either jeeringly dismissive towards the boys (the school administration) or completely disinterested in their day to day lives (their parents). That is, until the boys seize the school by force of arms after they try to shut them down.
  • All for Nothing : The standoff ends in bloody failure, with several deaths and the school still scheduled to be closed.
  • Ambiguous Situation : When General Bache and a local teen scuffle over his pistol, closeup shots of their hands appear to show the teen drawing the gun and firing; however, when the film cuts back to a wider angle, the gun is in Bache's hand, and he acts as though he is the one who fired.
  • Ax-Crazy : Shawn, especially by the end.
  • Badass Boast : Colonel Kerby to Brian: Kerby :The governor is this close to ordering us to take you in by force. When that order comes, I'll do it and you won't ever be that unhappy again.
  • Blood Knight : Shawn is the most militant of the three main characters, and is the one who opens fire on the gathered National Guard just as Brian is about to surrender .
  • Boarding School : The cadets stay in barracks on the academy grounds.
  • Bring My Brown Pants : Mentioned by Bache in a war story he tells Moreland. "Of course I was scared. Must have lost twenty pounds, all of it brown."
  • Calling the Old Man Out : Brian to Sergeant Moreland, who still considers him as a kid (see They Call Me MISTER Tibbs! ). Brian : He [ Bache ] is the example we follow!
  • Child Soldiers : The senior cadets are teenagers and there are considerably younger ones as well. Moreland even quotes what Bache taught him about children being the last line of muster, something that Col. Kerby finds horrifying.
  • Colonel Badass : Kerby, from start to finish. At first, he tries a gentle and reasoned approach with Brian, as he genuinely understands their point of view. However, once the first cadet is killed and it becomes obvious that Brian still doesn't understand that he's in over his head, Kerby wastes no time in cutting him down to size. He tells Brian in no uncertain terms that he's just been playing at being a soldier, his views on war are incredibly naive and romanticized because they're based on classroom lectures and not real life, his cadets don't stand a chance against trained soldiers, and the campus will be retaken. While he's spelling all this out, it's clear from Brian's face and body language that he's having another BSOD.
  • Curb-Stomp Battle : An insane idiot armed with only an M-60 goes up against an M48 Main Battle Tank. It ends pretty much exactly how you would expect.
  • Cut Phone Lines : The cadets do this to the school themselves to keep out outside interference.
  • The Dead Have Names : Church services at the school are said to always conclude with a reading of names from the Book of Remembrance, which lists every Bunker Hill graduate killed in action.
  • Death of a Child : All the cadets who die.
  • Death Seeker : Colonel Kerby accuses Brian and other cadets of being this.
  • Didn't Think This Through : Moreland's plan to force the school to re-open by taking it over with a bunch of armed children goes pretty much exactly as well as you'd expect it to go: into an increasingly downward spiral of disasters before ending in blood-soaked tragedy. Likewise, Shawn's decision to take on tanks with an M60 produces extremely predictable results.
  • Downer Ending : The film ends with several soldiers and cadets being killed and none of the demands of the cadets being met.
  • Elaborate University High : Bunker Hill is in essence a junior West Point or Citadetal, boasting the same sort of facilities as a proper military academy. Most notably, the school's armory boasts enough firepower to make the student body the envy of a comparably sized infantry unit.
  • Elevator School : The youngest cadets are middle school aged *  General Bache mentions having entered the academy when he was twelve ; Brian and his cohort are high school seniors.
  • Brian Moreland is the gentle leader, respected by all others (we don't know yet he is the Cadet Major).
  • Alex Dwyer is his subversive close friend, mocking the book of remembrance.
  • David Shawn admires Moreland but hates Dwyer (see Flipping the Bird ) and already looks like an insane , angry Jerkass .
  • Flipping the Bird : Shawn to Dwyer in introduction.
  • Foregone Conclusion : The school IS going to be closed. Used by Colonel Kerby when telling Brian that he can't win this . Col. Kerby : Mr Moreland, you know, and I know, that it's never gonna go your way. You do know that, don't you ?
  • Four-Star Badass : General Bache. Played with, in that it's implied at several points that Bache's career stalled for whatever reason and his running the school is a way of reliving his Glory Days , and while he means well it's clear that his philosophy and teachings ultimately have harmful consequences.
  • Heroic BSoD : Brian gets several when things start to go wrong.
  • Honor Before Reason : Brian, oh so much. Deconstructed, since Brian is informed by several people that rigidly and needlessly holding to his actions in the face of doomed circumstances for nothing but honor is a fool's errand, and ultimately it only results in people getting hurt and killed, including Brian himself.
  • Military School : Bunker Hill Military Academy. Unlike most depictions, the cadets love it there and are outraged that's it's going to be closed down and razed.
  • Brian during his last BSOD about Charlie.
  • General Bache has a similar reaction after accidentally shooting a local teen during a scuffle.
  • Never My Fault : When one of the cadets gets burned while starting an old generator, he claims it was an accident. When another cadet is shot and killed after a rifle is dropped and goes off, they blame Kerby and his men. Despite being called out on it, Brian doesn't seem to grasp that he's responsible for both incidents since he created the circumstances that led up to them.
  • Oh, Crap! : Colonel Kerby has this reaction when Brian calmly calls the younger cadets the "seed corn" that must be "mobilized" with weaponry: he realizes Moreland, whom he had considered intelligent but misguided, is actually a zealot.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure : Colonel Kerby.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech : When Brian refers to himself as a "soldier," Colonel Kerby lets him have it: Kerby : A soldier? No, goddamnit, I'm a soldier, with the career goal of all soldiers - I want to stay alive in situations where it ain't all that easy to do! But you, my friend? You're a death-lover. I know the species. Seventeen years old and some son-of-a-bitch has put you in love with death. Somebody sold you on the idea that dying for a cause is oh, so romantic. Well, that is the worst kind of all the kinds of bullshit there is! Dying is only one thing: bad! Don't find that out. Please!
  • Sarcastic Devotee / Sour Supporter : Alex Dwyer is this to Brian Moreland.
  • Swiss-Cheese Security : General Bache keeps a huge arsenal in the academy, in a building that apparently all the cadets can freely access. This is particularly absurd when you consider the actual U. S. military maintains their firearms on domestic bases in highly secured armories that only certain qualified personnel have access to.
  • Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism : Impersonated with Shawn vs. Dwyer.
  • Taps : Obviously pops up a number of times; at the beginning when the school reads off the names and dates of alumni who fell in battle, and when they have their memorial service for General Bache . The movie's title, and thus the Trope Namer , also indicates the impending death of the academy.
  • Soldier vs. Warrior : Played with. The Soldier half of the equation is perfectly exemplified by Col. Kerby and his National Guard troops, but the cadets approach being a deconstruction of the Warrior trope — naive, dangerously misguided kids raised on highly romanticized notions of war. Most have their beliefs shattered the instant they get the smallest taste of actual combat.
  • They Call Me MISTER Tibbs! : Brian to his father : Brian : Stop calling me kid. Sgt Moreland : You expect me to call you Major ? You can forget it.
  • They Have Reserves : From Bache : "They kept coming at us, wave after wave. Totally indifferent to casualties. Of course, the Chinese always had plenty of bodies to spare."
  • Who Will Bell the Cat? : After the National Guard are first called in, Brian musters all of the cadets together and offers any of them who want to leave a chance to do so freely. It was absolutely clear that many of them wanted to, but no one wanted to be the first to step forward... until Lt. West, who'd been trying hard to act as a voice of reason for Brian, recognized that things were now spinning out of control and requested to be dismissed , followed by nearly half the cadets. This was Brian's first BSOD, and probably the closest he came to realizing it was a lost cause.

- What in God's name did they teach you in here? What did they turn you into? - A TROPER, which is the only thing I ever wanted to be !

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tom cruise movie military school

TAPS Picture

George C. Scott , Tom Cruise , Timothy Hutton , Sean Penn

Ronny Cox , Brendan Ward, Evan Handler, John P. Navin Jr., Billy Van Zandt, Giancarlo Esposito , Donald Kimmel, Tim Wahrer, Tim Riley, Jeff Rochlin, Rusty Jacobs, Wayne Tippit, Jess Osuna, Earl Hindman, James Handy , Steven Ryan Update Cast

Early Appearances

See Tom Cruise before they were famous!

The voices of choirboys ease us into the scene of a church service at Bunker Hill Military Academy in the United States. The Commandant of the academy (George C. Scott) addresses the assembled cadets who sit rigidly in their immaculate uniforms. The closing ritual, a reading from the Book of Rememberance, to honour the fallen. We see "life in the lines" of a group of individuals of various ages, and are introduced to the main characters of the story. The Cadet Major Brian Moreland (Timothy Hutton), his close friend and confidant Alex Dwyer (Sean Penn) and gung-ho red beret David Shawn (Tom Cruise). We also meet some of the younger cadets and see how the life of a cadet starts at the very bottom of the heap as a veritable slave, but that through hard work and discipline, the cadets rise to the top positions of authority in the upper classes. Our three central characters are the seniors of their peers, but there is a tension borne through rivalry between Dwyer and Shawn. Moreland, the son of a war-hero Master Sergeant in the regular army, holds order and reigns supreme in his position as top cadet. But the spit and polish of this institution is about to be replaced with the steel and glass of change. The Board of Trustees sees the real estate potential of the academy as more lucrative than that of producing the military leaders of tomorrow. Condominiums are planned to replace the 141 year-old buildings of Bunker Hill (actually the Valley Forge Academy) much to the dismay of Commandant and Cadets alike. The good news is that the cadets can finish their year's studies and those not graduating will have time to look for a new school. However these thoughts are put aside as the cadets prepare for the upcoming ball, where girls in ball gowns are met at their vehicles by exceptionally polite and ceremonially dressed young men. However events are marred when local roughs start causing trouble at the gates of the academy. When the senior classmen and the Commandant arrive to break things up, one of the roughs pulls the ceremonial sidearm from the Commandant's dress uniform holster and in the struggle it discharges, killing one of the locals. Police roll in and we see a dejected Commandant trying to understand how the weapon could be loaded. Calls for the immediate closure of the academy flood the media, and the Board of Trustees moves to close down Bunker Hill. However, the Cadet Major and his troops have different ideas. They enter the magazine and arm themselves with m-16, m-60's and quietly secure the academy against a siege. Trucks are deployed to the local warehouses to fill orders for enough supplies to last the duration. Things start to come apart when another conflict with locals starts to unfold when a truck stalls in town. When the roughs start to get too close for comfort, the shots ring out and the locals scatter long enough for the boys to escape - minus a truck. By this stage, the word is out that the boys have taken over the grounds and they announce the terms of their occupation. Renegotiation over the future of the academy and the reinvestigation of the case against the Commandant. The authorities seem unwilling to accept terms from these "children" and so the situation escalates into an almost full conflict against the local national guardsmen, armed with tanks and helicopters, hundreds of troops and giant floodlights to psychologically disrupt the discipline and composure of the cadets. Inside the walls, discipline is starting to break under the pressure of begging mothers at the gates and little boys trying to fill the job normally filled by trained, hardened men. As one boy breaks ranks and head for the fence, he drops his weapon, it discharges and he is killed in the ensuing outbreak of fire. A dark cloud falls over the scene as his lifeless body slumps against the gates. The pressure is on everyone now, with more and more boys failing to turn up at morning muster, Moreland, Dwyer and Shawn are torn between their desire to save the academy and the reality of their situation. When things finally do come to a head, there is a tragic conclusion that leaves a hollow sadness and darkness over the academy that was bathed in sunshine and glory at the start of the film. I remember being young and eager for a military career when this movie was released, and at the time felt it was an awesome movie. Now, as an ex-serviceman who is a part of the civilian life, I still think back with fond memories of this movie. It is one I can watch over and over again. The second half tends to lose the pace and overall feeling of "tightness", but maybe that also reflects the situation of the young men in this story. The 80's style and feel of this movie takes me back to a time where things were a bit more wonderous and almost anything was possible. Just as these boys felt their personal crusade would see them save their beloved institution. Watch it, enjoy it, and don't worry about picking it apart, love it for what it is, and marvel at where the starts had their early breaks.

This film is a must see for anyone who loves the 80's and who wants to glimpse back at the stars in the making. It is a classic in the sense that it is a war movie, anti-war movie and teen movie all in one. It is also a slight at those who would tear down our heritage to make a quick buck and create tacky, high density housing.

Rewind Rating

Director: Harold Becker Writer: Devery Freeman, Robert Mark Kamen , James Lineberger, Darryl Ponicsan Producers: Howard B. Jaffe, Stanley R. Jaffe Locations Manager:

Release Date: 20 Dec 1981 MPAA Rating: PG Studio: 20th Century Fox Production: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation Genre: Teen Drama

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How tom cruise and sean penn got their big breaks.

The Hollywood Reporter looks back at some of the most glamorous and memorable moments from its eight decades of storied history, including how "Taps" influenced the actors' careers.

By Bill Higgins

Bill Higgins

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How Tom Cruise and Sean Penn Got Their Big Breaks

From left: Tom Cruise, 19, Timothy Hutton, 21, and Sean Penn, 21, during the making of 1981's "Taps," filmed at Valley Forge Military Academy in Pennsylvania.

T he Hollywood Reporter ‘s review of Taps in 1981 showed prescient understatement when it said the supporting cast demonstrated a “potential for future assignments.” That would include the unknown pair of Tom Cruise , then 19, and Sean Penn , 21.

The film, which grossed $35.9 million domestically and marks the 30th anniversary of its release Dec. 18, was about military academy students who initiate an armed occupation to save their school from real estate developers. The lead cadet role had gone to Timothy Hutton , 21, who’d won a supporting actor Oscar for Ordinary People just months earlier.

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Producer Stanley Jaffe says Cruise originally had been set to play a background character but was shifted to a key role when he impressed director Harold Becker during the four weeks of rehearsal that resembled a boot camp.

“He was out-marching the other cadets on the parade field,” said Becker in 2004.

PHOTOS: Sean Penn and Hollywood in Haiti

Penn was chosen after being spotted starring as the timid son of an abusive father in the small Broadway play Heartland .

The trio formed an incredibly potent cast. “It’s that thing some people have,” says Jaffe. “If you knew how to describe it, you’d bottle it.”

Cruise’s next role was in Francis Ford Coppola ‘s The Outsiders , Hutton’s was in Sidney Lumet ‘s Daniel , and Penn got a major career boost when he played Jeff Spicoli in Fast Times at Ridgemont High . Although the Amy Heckerling comedy brought Penn much more attention, he told biographer Richard T. Kelly he looks back fondly on working with Cruise and Hutton because it “was like I’d gone to high school, and now Taps was college for me. And it was Fraternity Row.”

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Taps (I) (1981)

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At the Smithsonian | May 26, 2022

‘Top Gun’ Is Back. But Is the Elite Navy Fighter Pilot School Really Like the Movies?

The Smithsonian’s Chris Browne flew the much-feared F-14, and as a former TOPGUN student, knows well the power of a Navy-trained fighter pilot

Tom Cruise as Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in

Erin Blakemore

Correspondent

Hold on to your aviator sunglasses, Pete "Maverick" Mitchell is back. After a nearly-40-year hiatus, the Top Gun franchise is taking off once more with Top Gun: Maverick , a long-awaited sequel to the hit 1986 film. In theaters now and filled with visual thrills and real-life air sequences, the Tom Cruise vehicle takes viewers back to fighter pilot school.

But what is the U.S. Navy's real training program like? And how accurate was the throwback flick that catapulted both the high-powered military school and the iconic F-14 fighter jet into the public consciousness?

Though it's popularly known as TOPGUN, the Navy's program is actually called the Fighter Weapons School. And as a point of clarification, it hasn't been around since the dawn of fighter planes. Far from it: Though there was a Korean War-era gunnery school , it was brief and had been discontinued by the Vietnam War.

And by 1968, it was painfully clear that U.S. troops were at a disadvantage in the air war over southeast Asia.

Though the proxy war's biggest toll was on the Vietnamese people—it took the lives of an estimated 2 million civilians, 1.1 million North Vietnamese and Viet Cong, and an estimated 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers—the conflict proved deadly to American troops, too. According to the U.S. military, 58,220 American troops were killed in Vietnam, the vast majority before 1970.

North Vietnam's air force was equipped with MiG 17s, a Soviet-designed aircraft that was surprisingly effective. They weren’t built for dogfights in the air—their original intent was to intercept the bombers cruising at altitude and dropping ordinance straight down from on high. But the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong flew them in dogfights with a frustrating—and deadly—level of daring and success.

For the U.S. Navy, which played an essential role in the air war over Vietnam, the situation was unacceptable. When naval officials reviewed their own air-to-air missile performance in 1968, they gave themselves a dismal grade. Just one kill had been achieved for every 10 firing attempts over a three-year period, the Naval Air Systems Command wrote in a document informally known as the Ault Report .

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The Navy’s assessment of the preparedness of its own flight crews was brutal. "While the experience in air-to-air missilery is the highest it has ever been, formal missile system training is still largely a 'boot-strap' operation in many areas," the report said . One of its many recommendations was that the Navy establish an advanced training school for fighter pilots.

That's where TOPGUN began, Hill Goodspeed, a historian at the National Naval Aviation Museum, says via email: "The resulting Navy Fighter Weapons School literally changed the face of the air war over North Vietnam as seen in the improved kill ratios against enemy fighters."

Based at Naval Air Station Miramar in San Diego, the program that emerged was rigorous and demanding. Its instructors were subject-matter experts who used real-world intelligence to help trainees grow as fighter pilots. The program involved both lectures and training flights followed by relentless debriefs.

"You'd go back and revisit every turn, every move," says  Christopher Browne , the director of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. A former naval flight officer, Browne trained in the program in the early 1980s.

F-14D (R) Tomcat

By then, the F-4 Phantoms and F-8 Crusaders of the Vietnam War had been replaced—but the Cold War was still raging. "Our training and efforts really centered around countering the Soviet threat," he says.

The Navy had a not-so-secret weapon: the Grumman F-14 Tomcat —a supersonic fighter jet that ruled the air for more than 35 years. Designed in 1968, the aircraft was specifically developed to counter the Soviets. It featured six long-range AIM-54 Phoenix missiles and others designed for dogfights. Also on board were the most advanced weapons system of its time, and the aircraft had the speed, maneuverability and all-out power needed to dominate the air. "What made the F-14 unique was its adaptability," says Goodspeed. Though it was massive in size, with a 64-foot wingspan and twin engines, it was unexpectedly maneuverable.

It was also fun to fly, says Browne, who learned to pilot the plane in 1981.

"It was essentially a rocket," he says, as he reminisces about what it felt like to feel the raw power of the plane, with a full cargo of weapons, as it got an extra boost from its afterburner for take-off. "Particularly at night, you'd see these plumes of flame going 100 feet after the aircraft. It was not a casual event. It was a thrill ride all the way."

The public was thrilled by the plane, too, as evidenced by its use in multiple movies, not just Top Gun . It made its screen debut in The Final Countdown , a 1980 film starring Kirk Douglas and Martin Sheen that depicted the iconic jet as a time-traveling machine that might just stop the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Chris Browne

Students at the Navy Fighter Weapons School often felt like they were running out of time, too. Browne recalls the program's grueling schedule, with lectures, flights, debriefs and lessons that involved studying the enemy's aircraft, too. Browne chuckles when he thinks of the   depictions of volleyball games and late-night hangouts in the 1986 film. "It's not that; folks don't have fun along the way. It's training for the real world."

That real-world training took Browne to the skies above the international waters of the Gulf of Sidra, which Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi had claimed for his country. Though Browne himself was not there that day, on August 19, 1981, Libyan jets fired on two F-14 Tomcats, which promptly shot them down. Browne later flew one of the planes that had engaged with the Libyan fighters, but says that he never got within more than 50 miles of a Libyan plane.

"When they knew you'd locked on to them, they'd turn and run," he says.

Such was the power of a TOPGUN-trained fighter pilot in the much-feared F-14—and Top Gun the movie only increased the world's interest in, and respect of, naval fighters. But it did sow some misconceptions about the program, most related to its rigor and professionalism.

Fighter pilots aren't quite as brash as Tom Cruise's Maverick. "While fighter pilots are a confident collection of individuals," Goodspeed says, "one former TOPGUN commanding officer stated, 'We are not looking for someone who is arrogant or overconfident. We are looking for aircrew who are humble and approachable; traits that will make them effective teachers in the end.'"

Browne concurs. "What people don't always recognize is that when the Navy deploys a carrier to sea, it's a national asset," he says. "[The fighter pilots] were mindful that we were the difference between success and failure for the carrier."

tom cruise movie military school

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Erin Blakemore

Erin Blakemore | | READ MORE

Erin Blakemore is a Boulder, Colorado-based journalist. Her work has appeared in publications like The Washington Post , TIME , mental_floss , Popular Science and JSTOR Daily . Learn more at erinblakemore.com .

Taps movie cover

Where was Taps filmed?

City locations.

Pennsylvania (USA)

Location Types

College, Riverside, Storefront

Location Styles

Colonial, Americana, Building Dated, Rustic

Taps showcases a unique perspective on how students at a prestigious military academy prioritize honor above all other human virtues. Released in 1981, this American drama film is directed by Harold Becker and features Timothy Hutton, George C. Scott, Sean Penn in his film debut, and Tom Cruise.

The narrative of Taps unfolds in the imaginary setting of Bunker Hill Military Academy. The story revolves around a band of cadets who resort to extreme measures when their school faces the threat of being razed by a greedy real estate corporation. The students equip themselves with ample weaponry, ready to fight against the so-called 'invading' developers. Concurrently, General Bache (George C. Scott), the academy's leader, strives to suppress the uprising before it spirals out of control.

The film received generally positive reviews from critics and has been compared to William Golding's 1954 novel Lord of the Flies due to its themes surrounding violence and power. Roger Ebert gave Taps three stars out of four, noting that "there is something weirdly compelling about this story set inside a military academy where these young men are eager for conflict." At the 1982 Golden Globe Awards ceremony, Timothy Hutton was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama for his role as Brian Moreland.

Taps Locations

Taps was filmed in some of Pennsylvania's most beautiful and storied regions. Most scenes were filmed at Valley Forge Military Academy, a historic school miles from Philadelphia. The sweeping backdrop provides a stunning view of the campus, with its historic buildings and lush grounds serving to anchor viewers both old and new to the story they are about to experience.

Valley Forge National Historical Park also served as a shooting location for some scenes in the movie. This park offers visitors an idyllic setting featuring sprawling meadows, towering trees, creek-side trails, and many historical landmarks such as Washington’s Headquarters Visitor Center and Star-Spangled Banner Flag House Museum. These locations offer a unique look into America's Revolutionary War heritage, making a trip to Taps filming locations even more worthwhile.

In addition to these iconic spots, other surrounding areas were utilized during production, including N. Wayne Ave in Wayne, Pennsylvania, and sets constructed in Valley Forge's former riding hall, Clothier Hall, which no longer exists. These details come together to provide viewers with an insight into what life was like for cadets attending Valley Forge Military Academy in the early 1980s - making it genuinely worth visiting all these significant locations featured in Taps.

The academy scenes in Taps

Valley Forge Military Academy and College, 1001 Eagle Rd, Wayne, PA

Most of the academy scenes in Taps are set at Bunker Hill Military Academy, based on the real-life Valley Forge Military Academy. Before the Bunker Hill Military Academy graduation parade commences, a confidential meeting unfolds between Cadet Brian Moreland (Timothy Hutton) and the academy's retired commander, General Harlan Bache (George C. Scott). In this private discussion, Moreland receives a promotion to Cadet Major, marking him as the highest-ranking cadet in the academy.

Most of the filming occurred at Wheeler Hall and Clothier Hall (which has since been demolished). The brick and iron gate showcased in this scene was constructed for the movie and taken down after filming wrapped. VFMAC provides visitors a unique opportunity to view some of the exact locations seen in Taps 1981 first-hand. Numerous students from VFMAC were also enlisted as extras in the production.

If you plan to visit VFMAC, start from downtown Philadelphia and take Interstate 76 W. Continue on this route to Chamonix Rd and follow it to Eagle Rd in Wayne. Parking facilities are conveniently provided onsite for those who wish to explore the area more comprehensively.

Cadets' truck breaks down scene in Taps

N. Wayne Ave, Wayne, PA

A squad of cadets is dispatched to a town-based food supply warehouse to refill their supplies. However, one of their trucks experiences a breakdown during the return trip. As Cadet Alex Dwyer (Sean Penn) attempts engine repairs, they are confronted and encircled by some local townsfolk. The situation escalates when the fiery Cadet David Shawn (Tom Cruise) discharges his M16 into the air, firing several rounds. This causes the locals to flee. Consequently, the cadets leave behind the broken-down truck and hastily depart the scene in their other vehicle, accidentally colliding with a police car.

The street scenes were filmed through N. Wayne Ave between Strafford and Wayne, Pennsylvania. This vibrant area provides a unique setting for the scene, as it captures the everyday lifestyle of small-town America and a feeling of impending dread among all involved.

To visit this location, fans can take Interstate 76 from Philadelphia towards Wayne until they reach N Wayne Ave. Plenty of attractions are located near this locale - Rolling Hill Park, Valley Forge National Historical Park, Stoneleigh: A natural garden, and many more, all within driving distance of N Wayne Ave.

Moreland's speech in front of the parents scene in Taps

Valley Forge National Historical Park, 1400 N Outer Line Dr, King of Prussia, PA

The police cordon off the academy while a group of parents, headed by Moreland's fiery and military-inclined father, Sergeant Kevin Moreland (Wayne Tippit), arrives on the scene. However, their presence does not sway the cadets' decisions. To prove to the parents and police that the boys are not being held captive, Moreland gathers the cadets and allows them to leave. Yet, every one of them opts to stay.

The scene was filmed at Valley Forge National Historical Park in Pennsylvania. It's located about 20 miles northwest of Philadelphia and covers over 3,500 acres of monuments dedicated to honoring those who pulled together during extraordinary times during the Revolutionary War era. Visitors can explore memorials dedicated to important figures such as George Washington and Nathanael Greene.

To get to Valley Forge National Historical Park, visitors can get to Philadelphia and rent a car or take public transportation for an hour's drive northwest towards Pennsylvania's Montgomery County. Depending on availability during certain seasons, the park also provides shuttles from local hotels. After arriving at the park entrance, visitors can explore by foot or bike along its 80+ miles of trails for a unique outdoor experience that pays homage to America’s past struggles and successes.

Taps is a powerful and thought-provoking film that reflects the idealism and authoritarianism of adolescence. The performances are exceptional, with Tom Cruise, Timothy Hutton, Sean Penn, and other young actors delivering compelling and nuanced portrayals of high school cadets struggling to come to terms with their experiences.

Taps utilized Pennsylvania locations to bring its military academy setting to life. Valley Forge Military Academy, Philadelphia, Reading, Spring City, Wayne in Pennsylvania, and Woolwich Township in New Jersey served as the primary filming locations.

One of the most impressive aspects of Taps is its realism. This was achieved by shooting on location at the Academy, which enabled the cast to become immersed in military life and allowed for subtle nuances in their performances. It also gives the film a sense of authenticity that adds to its power. These settings provided the appropriate backdrop for the movie's storyline and added to its overall atmosphere and visual impact.

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The behind-the-scenes story of shooting those crazy Top Gun: Maverick flying sequences

Tom Cruise insisted that his costars be filmed in actual flying jets.

Senior Writer

How do you convincingly shoot scenes in which actors look like they are flying in jets with extreme G-forces contorting their facial features as the planes perform extreme aeronautical maneuvers? You get the actors to do it for real. That, at least, was the conclusion of Tom Cruise when he began to think about how to shoot Top Gun: Maverick (out May 27), the action sequel in which his titular flying ace must prep a younger generation of pilots for a highly dangerous mission.

"It's the craziest idea," says Glen Powell , who plays one of the pilots Maverick trains in the film. "You kind of don't believe it. It was like: Okay, this is a really cool idea but it's never going to work."

Yet work it did, with Cruise, Powell, and other cast members believably looking in the film like they are really in the skies because they really were in the skies.

"It was a lot of work," admits Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski . "It was very tedious and difficult at times, but the footage speaks for itself."

When filmmaker Tony Scott directed the original 1986 Top Gun , he too had hopes of shooting actors in the air but was thwarted when cast members began throwing up whenever they were taken for a ride. "Though I was never really doing it, I learned the mechanics of operating the plane," Top Gun star Val Kilmer recalled in his 2020 memoir I'm Your Huckleberry . "We went up in the jets several times and... I have to report that I was the only one who didn't regurgitate, which, given the gut-wrenching drops and spins of those ferocious flights, was no mean feat."

In the years after Top Gun made him a global star, Cruise became a pilot himself thanks to Sydney Pollack, who directed him in 1993's The Firm and gave the actor flying lessons as a present. Cruise was determined to depict the aerial sequences in Top Gun: Maverick as realistically as possible, an ambition shared by Kosinski.

"I've always loved aviation, I was making model airplanes from a young kid and studied aerospace in school," says the director. "Every movie's a challenge, you know. I love that. If you don't have butterflies going into a project, it's probably not the right thing. I always want to look for something new to try and, yeah, this was a tough one but I had Jerry [Bruckheimer, the film's producer]. I had Tom, I had a great cast, and a story that we really believed in. So we gave it our best shot."

Cruise had played a military-school student in the 1981 film Taps and, together with costars Sean Penn and Timothy Hutton, attended a training boot camp ahead of the shoot. Inspired by that experience, the actor decided to put his fellow cast members through a training regimen which would allow them to be filmed in flying jets looking like actual, non-vomiting pilots.

"That was Tom's expertise," says Kosinski about Cruise's insistence that the actors be properly prepared for the shoot. "He's a pilot, and he's done aerobatics, and he was in the first Top Gun . He knew that they wouldn't be able to get in the plane and hold their lunch down and be able to do these scenes, so he created a training program that they all went through."

The actors began the schedule flying in single-engine Cessna 172 Skyhawks before moving on to the Extra 300, which is capable of more acrobatic maneuvers, finally graduating to L-39 Albatross single-engine high performance jets, which prepped them for the F/A-18s in which they would be filmed during the shoot.

"Tom used part of the budget of this movie in order to ensure that we were comfortable and able to emulate a real-life fighter pilot," says Powell. "There's no way without that regimen — a thing that he didn't have on the first movie — that we would be able to pull off these performances. There's full scenes up in the air and we would have been passed-out bodies just going for a ride."

Did Powell throw up over his plane? "Not on the plane," says the actor. "You've got bags obviously. I never missed a shot in the bag."

While the pilots were preparing to act like real pilots, Kosinski was figuring out how to shoot them doing so. "[That] took a lot of preparation," says the director. "We had to work for about 15 months with the navy to figure out how to get cameras in the cockpit. We ended up getting IMAX-quality cameras into the cockpit with the pilots and the actor."

During the shoot itself, Kosinski had the strange experience of "directing" actors who were many miles away during the actual filming.

"I'm there, with the actor, when they're getting in the jet, I'm setting the cameras up, making sure all the angles are exactly what we need," says the filmmaker. "But once that jet pulls out onto the runway, they're gone for the next hour or two. As soon as they land, we take the footage, we went into the debrief, we put it all in and watched it together. We give them notes on what didn't work, and we'd cheer when something was great, and then we'd give them notes and send them up again in the afternoon. It was a very unique way to direct, because it was a lot of prep and a lot of rehearsal. And it was very tedious — you're only getting a minute or two of good stuff every day. But it's the only way to get footage that looks like this."

The flight sequences in the finished film are certainly thrilling (EW's Leah Greenblatt praised Kosinski for "sending his jets swooping and spinning in impossible, equilibrium-rattling arcs"), aided by the fact that the cast's faces can be seen enjoying and enduring the aerial acrobatics.

"You just feel the peril for everyone in the movie in a different way," says Powell. "If you were using CGI, audiences are very smart, they can tell the difference. When you are whipping through canyons at 650 knots, you can't fake that, and you can't fake the Gs on actors faces."

So, if Top Gun: Maverick is a success, can Kosinski imagine overseeing more of such sequences in a sequel?

"It's all about the story for Tom," says the filmmaker. "If we can figure out a way to tell what Maverick's up to next, who knows?"

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  • The sky's the limit for Top Gun: Maverick hotshot Glenn Powell
  • Why Top Gun: Maverick starts exactly the same way as the original film
  • Review: Top Gun: Maverick is a high-flying sequel that gets it right

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Tom Cruise Seen Sprinting Down Street in London as He Shoots Next Mission: Impossible Movie

The eighth 'Mission: Impossible' film, which does not yet have a title, is expected in theaters May 23, 2025

Mega / Dean - Click News And Media / SplashNews.com

Tom Cruise is showing no signs of slowing down in the next Mission: Impossible movie.

On Sunday, Cruise, 61, was seen sprinting down a street in London while filming a scene for the upcoming eighth film in his signature action franchise. The actor could be seen wearing a black suit with a white shirt opened at the top, with fake blood drenched over his chest while filming the sequence.

Cruise most recently appeared as his Mission: Impossible character Ethan Hunt in last year's Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning , which made $172 million at the  domestic box office . Dead Reckoning also earned the franchise its first-ever Academy Award nominations when it received nods for Best Visual Effects and Best Sound at the recent 96th Oscars ceremony.

A title for the upcoming eighth Mission: Impossible movie has not yet been announced. The next film was originally set for release on June 28, but production delays related to 2023's SAG-AFTRA strike forced the film to restart production in the fall and delay its release until May 23, 2025, as Deadline reported back in October.

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Dead Reckoning left Cruise's character Ethan Hunt and series regulars Luther (Ving Rhames) and Benji (Simon Pegg) at odds with villain Gabriel (Esai Morales) and forging new alliances with characters like Grace (Hayley Atwell) over a battle for control over a sentient artificial intelligence.

James Gourley/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures

The eighth Mission: Impossible film is just one movie among a number of projects Cruise has in development. In February, PEOPLE confirmed Cruise will star in the next movie from The Revenant filmmaker  Alejandro G. Iñárritu , while The Hollywood Reporter  reported in January that Paramount is developing Top Gun 3 as a sequel to Cruise's major 2022 success Top Gun: Maverick .

Cruise, known for his penchant for performing his own stunts, was recently seen climbing the iconic Hollywood Sign in Los Angeles' Hollywood Hills on March 16 accompanied by a film crew. A representative for Cruise did not respond to PEOPLE's request for comment Monday. While it's unclear what Cruise was filming on Saturday, the stunt did not appear related to the next Mission: Impossible film.

Mission: Impossible 8 is expected in theaters May 23, 2025.

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COMMENTS

  1. Taps (1981)

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  2. Taps (film)

    Taps is a 1981 American thriller drama film starring George C. Scott and Timothy Hutton, with Ronny Cox, Tom Cruise, Sean Penn, 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, [user-generated source?] and Darryl Ponicsan, based on Devery Freeman's 1979 ...

  3. Taps (1981)

    As Cadet Captain Dwyer (Sean Penn) attempts to fix the engine, a group of locals threaten them and surround the truck until hotheaded Cadet Captain David Shawn (Tom Cruise) opens fire with his M16, shooting several bursts into the air. The locals scatter and the cadets abandon the stalled truck, fleeing the scene in the second truck and ramming ...

  4. Tom Cruise Movies List

    Tom Cruise Movies List by ratul-majumder0 | created - 23 Jul 2011 | updated ... Military cadets take extreme measures to ensure the future of their academy when its existence is threatened by local condo developers. ... As students at the United States Navy's elite fighter weapons school compete to be best in the class, one daring young pilot ...

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    Apr 04, 2013. A smart and well-crafted military drama, Taps is a daring and controversial film. When a group of cadets at a military academy barricade themselves inside their citadel a standoff ...

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    Taps. "Taps" is a meditation on two subjects for which some adolescents have a great capacity: idealism and authoritarianism. It takes place in a realistic setting (it was shot on location at Valley Forge Military Academy), but it is not intended as a realistic film. There are all sorts of clues, including the pointed absence of all but one ...

  7. TomCruiseFan.com

    Prior to the production of the film, the key actors -Timothy Hutton, Sean Penn, Tom Cruise and others - were required to participate in a 45-day-long period of orientation with the students of Valley Forge Military Academy. They were given uniforms, borrowed from their real life counterparts at the school and given authentic military haircuts.

  8. Taps

    Purchase Taps on digital and stream instantly or download offline. Timothy Hutton, Sean Penn and Tom Cruise join the legendary George C. Scott in this tense, compelling drama. A cadet major (Hutton) leads his fellow military students in an armed revolt against authorities in order to save their school from being turned into a condominium complex. But when an unexpected accident leads to the ...

  9. ‎Taps (1981) directed by Harold Becker • Reviews, film

    Review by Josh Lewis ★★. A very solid periphery cast including George C. Scott and a young Sean Penn, Tom Cruise, Giancarlo Esposito, etc do what they can to give this baby military academy cosplayers vs evil real estate developers drama (whoever wins we lose) some emotional weight about a dying type of old school American "honor" that ...

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    It was Penn's first film role, and Cruise's secondTaps is a 1981 American drama film starring George C. Scott and Timothy Hutton, with Ronny Cox, Tom Cruise,...

  11. Taps (1981)

    Duration. 1h 58m. The young cadets at a military academy stage an uprising and seige control of the campus, when they find out their treasured school is to be closed down and sold off to developers.

  12. "Taps" Trailer

    Tom Cruise and Sean Penn join Hutton in their first big movie roles and George C. Scott plays the crusty old academy commandant. Let's just say honor and commitment don't necessarily win the day.

  13. Taps (Film)

    Without humanity, a leader becomes a tyrant." Taps is a 1981 film, directed by Harold Becker and starring George C. Scott, Timothy Hutton, Ronny Cox, Sean Penn, and Tom Cruise. The story revolves around young military cadets who take over their academy in order to prevent it from being closed and sold to real estate developers.

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    Taps. Edit. Prior to the production of the film, the key actors - Timothy Hutton, Sean Penn, Tom Cruise and others - were required to participate in a 45-day-long period of orientation with the students of Valley Forge Military Academy. They were given uniforms, borrowed from their real life counterparts at the school and given authentic ...

  15. What are the movies in which Tom Cruise serves in the military?

    What are the movies in which Tom Cruise serves in the military? ... but rather officer material. It made me think of Tom Cruise in "A Few Good Men" and "The Edge Of Tomorrow", the wonderful remake of "Groundhog Day". ... Well, Taps(1981) was actually set in a military academy. Born on the 4th of July(1989),Minority Report(2002){ex-military ...

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    TAPS -The 1981 Teen Drama movie featuring George C. Scott and Tom Cruise at the award winning 80s Movies Rewind. 8 pages of info, trailer, pictures and more. THE WEB'S FAVORITE - SINCE 1999. TAPS ... It also examines the overall effect of a military academy, where the main purpose of the upper classmen is to strip you of your own identity and ...

  17. How Tom Cruise and Sean Penn Got Their Big Breaks

    From left: Tom Cruise, 19, Timothy Hutton, 21, and Sean Penn, 21, during the making of 1981's "Taps," filmed at Valley Forge Military Academy in Pennsylvania. AF Archive/Alamy Share this article ...

  18. Tom Cruise: What I Learned Making First Movie 'Taps' at 19

    Published on July 26, 2018 10:00AM EDT. Tom Cruise was just 19 when he started living his dream. In PEOPLE's new cover story, the star of Mission: Impossible—Fallout looks back on how he got ...

  19. Tom Cruise filmography

    Tom Cruise filmography. Tom Cruise is an American actor and producer who made his film debut with a minor role in the 1981 romantic drama Endless Love. [1] [2] Two years later he made his breakthrough by starring in the romantic comedy Risky Business (1983), [3] [4] which garnered his first nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor ...

  20. Taps (1981)

    Continuing my plan to watch every Tom Cruise movie in order, I come to his second movie, Taps (1981) Plot In A Paragraph: Military cadets take extreme measures to insure the future of their academy when its existence is threatened by local condo developers. I really enjoyed this movie. It's one I had to buy for this marathon, and despite the cast, (Cruise, George C. Scott, Timothy Hutton, Sean ...

  21. 7 best Tom Cruise 1990s movies, ranked

    Cruise turns his movie star charm up to 10 in Jerry Maguire. And yes, Tom, you had us at hello, too. Rent Jerry Maguire on Prime Video, YouTube, Apple, or Google.The Latest Tech News, Delivered to ...

  22. 'Top Gun' Is Back. But Is the Elite Navy Fighter Pilot School Really

    The Smithsonian's Chris Browne flew the much-feared F-14, and as a former TOPGUN student, knows well the power of a Navy-trained fighter pilot. Tom Cruise revives his Top Gun role as Pete ...

  23. Where was Taps filmed?

    Taps showcases a unique perspective on how students at a prestigious military academy prioritize honor above all other human virtues. Released in 1981, this American drama film is directed by Harold Becker and features Timothy Hutton, George C. Scott, Sean Penn in his film debut, and Tom Cruise. The ...

  24. How they made Top Gun: Maverick the most realistic flying movie ever

    Cruise had played a military-school student in the 1981 film Taps and, together with costars Sean Penn and Timothy Hutton, attended a training boot camp ahead of the shoot. Inspired by that ...

  25. Tom Cruise Seen Sprinting in London While Filming 'Mission: Impossible 8'

    Tom Cruise in London on March 24, 2024. Photo: Tom Cruise is showing no signs of slowing down in the next Mission: Impossible movie. On Sunday, Cruise, 61, was seen sprinting down a street in ...