Taps (25th Anniversary Special Edition)

 

Picture: B     Sound: B-     Extras: B+     Film: A-

 

 

Taps became the sleeper hit of the 1981 holiday season, finishing with a domestic gross just behind the adult dramas Absence of Malice and Reds, and just ahead of the violent police thriller, Sharky's Machine.

 

With a young cast headed by Timothy Hutton, who had just won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Ordinary People, and a still unknown Sean Penn and Tom Cruise, Taps probably had more youth appeal than most of its Christmas '81 competition, but it was also legitimized for adult audiences by the presence of a top billed George C. Scott.

 

Twenty-five years later, I'm thrilled to report, Taps has aged like fine wine.

 

Only appearing in about the first quarter of the film, Scott is his usual commanding self as General Harlan Bache, a war hero who runs a military school for 12 to 18 year olds called Bunker Hill Academy (the movie was filmed on the grounds of Valley Forge Military Academy in Eastern Pennsylvania).  We never really know whether or not Gen. Bache is a genuine war hero or an aging Armed Forces screw-up put out to pasture as commandant at Bunker Hill Academy -- it's likely a combination of both.  But Gen. Bache might as well be Gen. Patton as far as the cadets are concerned.  The young men idolize Bache and are mesmerized by his stories of bravery on the battlefield and his message of honor above all else.

 

By casting Scott, whose towering portrayal of Patton was so indelible that it now makes most people immediately think of the actor whenever the real Patton is mentioned, it easy to see why these impressionable young men are so enamored of the Bache character.

 

After the Board of Trustees announces that Bunker Hill Academy has been sold to make room for condominiums, and will close after the current school year, Gen. Bache promises he'll do everything within his power to keep the school open.  Soon thereafter, a tragic accident occurs and the general is hospitalized in critical condition.  With their leader incapacitated, and the Board of Trustees now ordering the school to close immediately, the newly-anointed top cadet in this year's senior class, Brian Moreland (Hutton), decides him and his fellow cadets must honor Gen. Bache and keep their beloved school open, even if it means taking up arms to do so.

 

As the toy soldiers arm themselves like real soldiers, a standoff situation develops as police, concerned parents and the National Guard gather outside the school gates.  Ronny Cox plays the National Guard colonel who tries to avert tragedy by reasoning with the extremely-committed Moreland.

 

Under the strong direction of Harold Becker (The Onion Field, Sea of Love), Taps is an absorbing, tension-filled and intelligently-written drama where there are no easy answers.  Obviously, on one hand, Moreland and his most ardent supporters get carried away and go too far, but they also gain our sympathy because they're willing to fight for a way of life they truly love that the outside world doesn't understand.

 

As mentioned earlier, the film features early supporting performances by two then-unknown actors who've become big enough stars in the last 25 years to now be featured alongside Hutton in the DVD art.  Contrary to many roles that followed, Penn plays the more easy-going character who's often the company cynic, while a very intense Cruise portrays the most dangerously gung-ho cadet.

 

Fox's 25th Anniversary Special Edition of Taps offers an impressive 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer that nicely captures Owen Roizman’s unpretentious, though gorgeous, cinematography.  The 4.0 Dolby Digital Surround sound is also quite good for a film from the early '80s, while the film had a Dolby analog A-Type theatrical release.  The extras include an audio commentary by director Becker and two very enjoyable featurettes. The first featurette has newly-recorded retrospective interviews with Hutton, Cox, Becker and the always-insightful film critic Richard Schickel, and the second features a veteran bugler explaining the origins of Taps, the most famous of all military bugle cries.  Trailers and TV spots are also included.

 

 

-   Chuck O'Leary