Taps (1981)

Taps takes place in a military school. The young cadetsad are fiercely devoted to the school but find out it is to be closed in the near distant future and turned into a golf course, and at the same time, their mentor is away in a hospital from a heart attack. Without direct advice of theInstead of  letting this happen, the students take extreme measures through revolt and hostile takeover of the school and its grounds, demanding to negotiate with authorities in order to keep the adacemy open. They get ignored at first but the situation escalated and the authorities refused to tolerate it. An army of tanks and soldiers and machine guns surrounded the school, forcing them to go nuts, and infusing their minds with fear - fear of the 'what if' - if the adults will not cooperate. The authorities also trying to break up the loyalty of the kids, getting their parents to plead with them to come home, confusing the kids' loyalties, breaking up the collective of the kids as one big team - planting doubts, largely successfully, as several kids give up and go home.

Knowing Sean Penn's typical role overall as a rebel going against the main stream was a good prerequisite for appreciating this movie. In this supporting role, he's not exactly a full-on rebel yet, as he fulfills his part as a comrade, yet he is the one who isn't so entirely gung-ho about his friends' chosen next steps. He is part slacker and part realist. He, can see the situation form another perspective, from a larger perspective, despite being in the middle of a clash of one-track minds - keep the school (dutifully) opened, and the other one - get these kids to stop playing games and move one with the set plans to close the school.  Despite his lack of zeal, he still sticks with the cadets' "honor" - a big theme in this flick, and is forced be directly involved and affected by the set of actions that unfold at the academy.

Overall: first feature film role (has done previous tv work), early displays of a social deviant, a 'so what?' mentality, beginning of not caring what others think.


Unrelated bonus: early Tom Cruise with a preview of his future fanatical personality