This marked Tom Cruise's first impact in the movies, Sean Penn's debut, and Timothy Hutton's follow-up to his Oscar-winning role in Ordinary People. They play cadets who take over their military academy when it's threatened with redevelopment, in Harold Becker's fascinating film which parallels if.... It sometimes gets hysterical and loses its narrative way, but the bright young stars and George C Scott as the iron-jawed commander see it through. Entertaining, especially if its musings on military values aren't taken too seriously.

Military cadets take extreme measures to ensure the future of their academy when its existence is threatened by local condo developers.