Devery Freeman's novel Father Sky was the inspiration for the far-fetched but convincingly acted and directed Taps. When an exclusive military school is threatened with demolition by a rapacious real-estate company, the students, headed by
Timothy Hutton, take drastic action. Utilizing every bit of military know-how at their disposal, the boys take over the school, arm themselves to the teeth, and prepare to do battle against the "invading" developers. General George C. Scott, the head of the academy, tries to quell the rebellion, but soon he too is swept up by the students' to-the-death determination when the Army is called in to rout the boys. Whenever the action of Taps begins to flag, we recommend that you keep an eye on the show-stopping performances of
Sean Penn (in his movie debut) and
Tom Cruise as two of the cadets. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide