Retired Brigadier General Harlan Bache (George C. Scott) runs the Bunker Hill Military Academy for boys. He appoints Cadet Brian Moreland (Timothy Hutton) as the leader Cadet Major. Alex Dwyer (Sean Penn) is a zen Cadet Captain. David Shawn (Tom Cruise) is the most militaristic Cadet Captain. During commencement, Bache shocks everyone with news that the board of trustees are tearing down the academy and selling off the land in a year's time. During a dance, local teens confront the cadets and Bache's pistol accidentally discharge killing one of the locals. Bache is arrested and has a heart attack. The cadets take over the campus The standoff escalates when the National Guard arrive led by Colonel Kerby (Ronny Cox).

The setup is very clunky and slow. The local kids are cartoon characters. The locals are simple plot devices. The parents are given short-shrift. There is basically no adult supervision in the Academy. The whole thing is straining to establish a Lord of the Flies situation. There are some terrific young future stars at work. Tom Cruise does a very interesting intense character. After a fairly slow opening, the movie gets slightly better but it's hard to get on side with the cadets. The kid who runs out first is probably the bravest of anybody in the movie.

We are at Bunker Hill Military Academy, a prep school with students ranging in age from, say, high-school seniors to boys so small that they can't possibly have experienced any of the delights of puberty. The cadet corps is run by proud Timothy Hutton. His immediate subordinates include the sensible Sean Penn -- yes, sensible -- and the semi-psychotic Tom Cruise. In overall command is the avuncular General George C. Scott.

The problem is that, as Scott announces to the cadets, the school will be closed and sold for its real estate value next Fall. They are going to mow the place down and build condominiums. Scott dies promptly of a heart attack and, led by Cadet Major Hutton, most of the kids confiscate the stores of weapons and lay down a list of demands before they will allow the school to be dissolved. I was all on the side of the cadets. Not that I love military academies but that I hate condominiums. It's rather like why I'm a vegetarian. I hate the taste and texture of vegetables but I love to kill them by eating them raw or boiling them.

This film sounds like it has a lot of social relevance -- the military and patriots and men of honor on one side, and the peace-mongering wussies who never had a fist fight on the other. Now we're all going to refight the Vietnam War.

But it's not like that at all. Timothy Hutton is a bright kid with leadership qualities only, as it's explained somewhat clumsily, he has reason to hate his father, who is a Sergeant Major, and has found a substitute in General George C. Scott. And therein lies the problem. Hutton has absorbed only part of Scott's message about self discipline, and death before dishonor, and all that elementary stuff. After all, he's only seventeen. It's only with a little seasoning that we can begin to look behind the buzz words.

Hutton is supported by Penn because Penn has "never walked out on a friend," and it's Penn who finally talks Hutton into ordering the adoption of another common tactic -- "declare victory and depart the field." But Tom Cruise is the genuine nut job aboard for this adventure into terra incognito. Throughout, he's always been something of a martinet. He is the leader of a group of red berets. I don't know exactly what they're function is but it appears to be something like the Gestapo's. And while the rest of the cadet corps is marching sullenly and weaponless towards the gate where the National Guard is waiting, Cruise cuts loose from an upper window with an M-60 screaming, "It's beautiful! It's BEAUTIFUL!" The performances are all pretty good without any being exceptional. The chief weakness is in the script. It's opened up a whole can of worms and doesn't want to get its fingers dirty by digging into it. The problem with pride, honor, and a feeling of knowing more than others, is that that whole assemblage of attitudes can't exist without an enemy. If you're superior, then you must by definition be superior to someone else. In this case, there are only off-hand references to the pencil-pushers and bean counters. Not that the film presents external forces -- the local cops and the National Guard -- as anything other than reasonable or even perfect. But solidarity is self reinforcing. It feels so good to be part of a group that's even only temporarily powerful that often the original goal is lost sight of. That's what happened during the prison riots at Attica. The governor granted some of the inmates demands and the inmates ripped up the concession to great cheers from the throng. Finally the governor granted ALL their wishes -- and an inmate in the center of the yard ripped them up to great cheers from the throng. The point was no longer to have their wishes granted but to relish the momentary sense of power.

And the distinction between civilian power over the military is hardly mentioned. It's one of the lessons that Scott apparently never passed on, but it's a fundamental one. It's why our Commander-in-Chief is called a "president" and not a "generalissimo." Here's something the governor and the National Guard might have tried. They might have simply waited the kids out. What the heck. They couldn't have had that much food. The electricity and water could have been shut down. Enthusiasm for the cause was hardly universal -- about half of them quit. Morale would have crumbled eventually. Fads fade quickly among teens.

And Tom Cruise's final insane outburst was completely unjustified by what we'd learned of his character earlier, but then it had to happen or we'd all have been denied the pleasure of the final shoot out. We're built for speed and action, not waiting patiently, not thinking things through logically. In a sense, Tom Cruise stands in for part of all of us. And so do the proud Timothy Hutton and the sensible Sean Penn. I hope when we face our next crisis, whether national or personal, we can find some middle ground.

I like when a movie is different. This movie is, as I don't remember other movies with a similar theme. It shows young soldiers who already understand what honor is and are ready to withstand their principles. Being a soldier is not easy, as you have to hide your emotions and stay strong no matter what. This movie does show young soldier's lives pretty good.

*** Spoilers - don't read if you want to rewatch: The movie does have plotholes, or strange decisions (why they never asked for media attention or didn't ask more actively to complete their demands). Unfortunately, because of this most people outside probably thought they are just crazy terrorists, because the media didn't show their motives really and showed just one side of the story. Or for example why did the general at the beginning never said that it was the kid who took his pistol and shot?***

This is basically the first Tom Cruise' movie (Endless Love had only 20 seconds of him) and I must say, I was surprised how good his acting in this movie already is. His character is different and I really liked him. Great job Tom! On overall, the movie is good and it is worth watching. Even rewatching again if you have a company.