Gooses "Forgotten" Movies
So last night I managed to catch another one of those movies that is 25 years old, not a blockbuster, but definately one of those Ive seen "That" movie but it has been forgotten. Uncommon Valor was one of those movies. Here is another.
The movie for this week is TAPS
1981 George C Scott, Timothy Hutton, Sean Penn, Tom Cruise.
Here is the plot... Upon hearing that Bunker Hill Military Academy will be demolished to make way for condominiums, the cadets barricade themselves inside. The kids prove formidable foes of the local police and the parents laying siege to the Academy.
Things rapidly escalate out of control with the boys fortifying the campus and arming themselves to the teeth with all manner of automatic and heavy artillery. When it is clear that the boys are not moving, the heavily armed National Guard arrives with all manner of weapons including some armoured tanks at their disposal. Surely they won't be forced to use them against a bunch of kids, will they? From here the story spirals towards the dramatic conclusion and along the way the resolve and determination of the cadets. I wont spoil the ending for those in the Lodge that havent seen it.
I remember watching this movie. I especially remember that many of the cadets were around my age at the time. Seeing this movie in 1981 as a young gossling of 9. It was Gooses 1st foray into words like Honor, Loyalty, dignity. The backbone of many of Gooses principals.
The movie reminds me a little of "Lord of the Flies". The William Golding novel (Im sure you all had to read it in school). What happens when children assume the role of adults, and create their own society. However instead of a deserted island, its a military acadamy. Divisions are created. Groups and social levels are formed. There is an elitist group of "Red Berets" led by Cruise. (By the way, this role for Cruise is a far cry from his future of scientology). There are the older and the younger kids. The film examines the way in which the students interact and react to the pressures put upon them, especially due to the outside actions that try to drive out the kids. Its not a cheery film. But interesting nonetheless.
For those of you that have not seen it. I would recommend a weekend of Taps, Uncommon Valor, and then Top it off with a Police Acadamy Movie to clean the palate. All are available for your NetFlix viewing pleasure. Happy Viewing!
The movie for this week is TAPS1981 George C Scott, Timothy Hutton, Sean Penn, Tom Cruise.
Here is the plot... Upon hearing that Bunker Hill Military Academy will be demolished to make way for condominiums, the cadets barricade themselves inside. The kids prove formidable foes of the local police and the parents laying siege to the Academy.
Things rapidly escalate out of control with the boys fortifying the campus and arming themselves to the teeth with all manner of automatic and heavy artillery. When it is clear that the boys are not moving, the heavily armed National Guard arrives with all manner of weapons including some armoured tanks at their disposal. Surely they won't be forced to use them against a bunch of kids, will they? From here the story spirals towards the dramatic conclusion and along the way the resolve and determination of the cadets. I wont spoil the ending for those in the Lodge that havent seen it. 
I remember watching this movie. I especially remember that many of the cadets were around my age at the time. Seeing this movie in 1981 as a young gossling of 9. It was Gooses 1st foray into words like Honor, Loyalty, dignity. The backbone of many of Gooses principals. 
The movie reminds me a little of "Lord of the Flies". The William Golding novel (Im sure you all had to read it in school). What happens when children assume the role of adults, and create their own society. However instead of a deserted island, its a military acadamy. Divisions are created. Groups and social levels are formed. There is an elitist group of "Red Berets" led by Cruise. (By the way, this role for Cruise is a far cry from his future of scientology). There are the older and the younger kids. The film examines the way in which the students interact and react to the pressures put upon them, especially due to the outside actions that try to drive out the kids. Its not a cheery film. But interesting nonetheless.For those of you that have not seen it. I would recommend a weekend of Taps, Uncommon Valor, and then Top it off with a Police Acadamy Movie to clean the palate. All are available for your NetFlix viewing pleasure. Happy Viewing!
posted by Goose at 7:05 AM
12 Comments:
never saw Tap...I keep waiting for Comcast to put in the free movies section for my weekly Saturday Morning Hangover movie...this week was a little six-degrees of Taps w/ Turk 182 which basically followed every 80's movie formula to the tee: a) spunky protaganist not made for the system b) older brother that is (Robert Ulich) c)Kim Catrell d) evil politician e) ultimate hi-jinks including overriding the jumbo-tron at the Meadowlands during a Giants/Jets game...and most important f) doesn't role longer than 95 minutes...which I blame on the coke epidemic of the 80's...new Coke
Also, LOTF is an excellent novel, one of my final Theory classes in College broke down this book from a political perspective and there is a lot of undertones to British and world society that Golding uses to establish a kid version of Lost...if you haven't read in a while, I recommend, it takes an afternoon...also, after reading follow it up by Orwell's "Animal Farm" to get the complete perspective...
A soldier? No, goddammit, I'm a soldier, with the career goal of all soldiers. I wanna stay alive in situations where it ain't easy, but you, my friend, you're a death lover.
I know the species.
17 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 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.
Hilarious.....right when I saw this post I was going to comment on the fact that Turk 182! was on the tube last weekend......Zimmerman flew, Tyler knew!
Haven't seen TAPS or Turk 182. I think I was too much into Star Wars & G.I.Joe at the time to understand the greatness of the 80's movie genre. Although, I have seen every Police Academy flick, I'm ashamed to say.
2.0...you can check out Turk 182 On Demand this month under free movies...I'd recommend it
btw...good work on the photo/comment for today 2.0...the creative machine was empty this morning...and nothing like 2" hops calling out the "Truth"
Thanks, you gotta give the love to the Legend when you can. And since I don't have digital cable anyomre, I'll have to wait until Turk 182 gets on rotation on TBS/TNT.
i'm kind of shocked some of you haven't seen TAPS, its almost up there with good cold war films like Red Dawn!!!
Soviet Union suffers worst wheat harvest in 55 years... Labor and food riots in Poland. Soviet troops invade... Cuba and Nicaragua reach troop strength goals of 500,000. El Salvador and Honduras fall... Greens Party gains control of West German Parliament. Demands withdrawal of nuclear weapons from European soil... Mexico plunged into revolution... NATO dissolves. United States stands alone.
[in the now-occupied Calumet, Colorado] General Bratchenko: And they lost, Ernesto... Morale is crucial right now. Keep the men in the secured areas. You'll see how they forget about these "Wolverines."
no one ever forgets the f'n Wolverines
If there was one movie that I watched all the time excluding TESP it would be Red Dawn. I don’t know if it was the fact it took place in Colorado or if it was the fine acting of C Thomas Howell. This is also the film that introduced me to the magical talents of Powers Booth (a vastly under used actor) .
I remember building my version of a McQuade fort in my basement and watch Dawn clutching my toy M-16 wishing I could take on the Kremlin and knowing that the resistance would start in the Rocky Mountain state. I was mesmerized by the opening sequence where the kids are in class and the soviet soldiers start dropping down on to the football field. Just a classic cold war movie
Dawn was directed by John Milius who is the inspiration for Walter in the Big Lebowski.
Yea man, you and me could have acted as communist latin infiltrators gathering intelligence for American resistance. Ethnic skin has advantages. I AM MANUEL VILLALOBOS!
This walk down memory lane got me thinking about a horrible mini-series back in 1987. It was called “Amerika”- its 1997 and basically the US was taken over peacefully by the USSR and there are labor camps and food costs a ton and there is a huge waiting line for bread. The movie stars Kris Kristopherson as the one man who is going to take on the KGB and lead a revolt a second revolution if you will… This movie was made in response to “The Day After” which the right wing thought was just left wing propaganda. I guess it was made to show that we need to have nuclear subs parked up in the Arctic Ocean and friggin’ laser beams in space….. This was also Laura Flynn Boyle’s first major acting role. I assume she was still eating at the time the movie was filmed so you might not recognize her.
Damn I miss the Cold War…
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