The oldest Tom Cruise movie in the retrospective is Taps, and there are 2 scenes included.

It's beautiful, man. Beautiful.

I initially thought this was gonna be ANOTHER military propaganda film but instead it's another coming-of-age one. Although this one serves its purpose best in my opinion. It's not a totally flat stupid story that's trying to touch down as many sensitive topics that affect teenagers as possible but really concentrates on plot and building dynamics between characters. However, the plot isn't really great, yet it's watchable and has a few moments. The military aspect is just a placeholder in my opinion, for basically anything. General Bache is the father figure for these boys or atleast for Brian and that's the cause they are rebelling for. The movie captures that commitment of teenagers, also how easily they are manipulated and how important a good role model is. I think you can still easily apply this to today's world, so that part of the movie is very well done.
For the rest it's an okay to sometimes good youth drama.

Solid - strong 3 stars

The oldest Tom Cruise movie in the retrospective is Taps, and there are 2 scenes included.

It's beautiful, man. Beautiful.

I initially thought this was gonna be ANOTHER military propaganda film but instead it's another coming-of-age one. Although this one serves its purpose best in my opinion. It's not a totally flat stupid story that's trying to touch down as many sensitive topics that affect teenagers as possible but really concentrates on plot and building dynamics between characters. However, the plot isn't really great, yet it's watchable and has a few moments. The military aspect is just a placeholder in my opinion, for basically anything. General Bache is the father figure for these boys or atleast for Brian and that's the cause they are rebelling for. The movie captures that commitment of teenagers, also how easily they are manipulated and how important a good role model is. I think you can still easily apply this to today's world, so that part of the movie is very well done.
For the rest it's an okay to sometimes good youth drama.

Solid - strong 3 stars

What a movie to get recognized for. 

Taps, directed by Harold Becker, is a movie about brotherhood, honor, and loyalty.
The film shows the teenage misconception of honor as duty in a powerful way. When a military academy faces a serious situation, the students decide to stand their ground and protect what they believe in. Honor, tradition, and friendship is all they know, and they are not willing to let it go.
The character development is strong, even if it takes time for the story to build but all parts of the story feel completed at the end. 

Sean Penn and Tom Cruise getting recognized for their roles in this movie is so iconic and perfect as they’ll go on to do big movies and Timothy Hutton was the perfect main character for this movie.

What a movie to get recognized for. 

Taps, directed by Harold Becker, is a movie about brotherhood, honor, and loyalty.
The film shows the teenage misconception of honor as duty in a powerful way. When a military academy faces a serious situation, the students decide to stand their ground and protect what they believe in. Honor, tradition, and friendship is all they know, and they are not willing to let it go.
The character development is strong, even if it takes time for the story to build but all parts of the story feel completed at the end. 

Sean Penn and Tom Cruise getting recognized for their roles in this movie is so iconic and perfect as they’ll go on to do big movies and Timothy Hutton was the perfect main character for this movie.

it’s so weird seeing baby Sean Penn, Tom Cruise, and Giancarlo Esposito in the same movie. but i enjoyed it. it wasn’t anything crazy, a lot of the logic in the plot is severely flawed, it definitely drags in a few places, and i thought the themes of idealism and all that could have been handled better. the main character also could have been handled a lot better. but i enjoyed this. going in blind, it went in a direction i was not expecting and for the most part i enjoyed it. the themes are nice when explored properly (and they are in a few key moments) and the performances are surprisingly pretty good for being an early film in a lot of the recognizable actors’ careers. solid movie, again nothing outstanding but pretty good 👍

it’s so weird seeing baby Sean Penn, Tom Cruise, and Giancarlo Esposito in the same movie. but i enjoyed it. it wasn’t anything crazy, a lot of the logic in the plot is severely flawed, it definitely drags in a few places, and i thought the themes of idealism and all that could have been handled better. the main character also could have been handled a lot better. but i enjoyed this. going in blind, it went in a direction i was not expecting and for the most part i enjoyed it. the themes are nice when explored properly (and they are in a few key moments) and the performances are surprisingly pretty good for being an early film in a lot of the recognizable actors’ careers. solid movie, again nothing outstanding but pretty good 👍

not as bad as i thought but i’d be lying if i said i didn’t lose the plot. uuuhhh tom cruise went crazy i guess????

not as bad as i thought but i’d be lying if i said i didn’t lose the plot. uuuhhh tom cruise went crazy i guess????

A tense and unsettling look at how loyalty and discipline can turn dangerous when taken too far. As the standoff escalates, the deaths hit hard—not heroic, not meaningful, just the result of fear and stubbornness colliding. Strong performances, especially from Timothy Hutton and a young Tom Cruise, sell the tragic reality of kids playing soldier and paying the ultimate price.

A tense and unsettling look at how loyalty and discipline can turn dangerous when taken too far. As the standoff escalates, the deaths hit hard—not heroic, not meaningful, just the result of fear and stubbornness colliding. Strong performances, especially from Timothy Hutton and a young Tom Cruise, sell the tragic reality of kids playing soldier and paying the ultimate price.