``Taps,'' a coming-of-age movie starring the unknown Tom Cruise as a teenager.

A refreshing collaboration with a later Oscar-winning actor

Brian and his friends are still teenagers, after all. You're at an age where you're passionate about what you believe in without worrying about it. When they believe that it is wrong to close this school, they use the order, command, and force that they have been taught at school to resist the adults who made the absurd decision. Although their ideology is hawkish, they also care about their friends and family, just like other young people. Furthermore, even though he is a teenager, a senior student like Brian has a certain sense of responsibility. On the other hand, as a teenager, there are times when I feel like my heart is about to break. I believe that this film is an excellent youth film in that it realistically captures such situations.

The cast included many future stars, with the exception of George C. Scott, the famous actor from `` Patton's Tank Army '' (1970), who played the role of the principal. Timothy Hutton, who played the main character Brian, is a young star who became the youngest person (20 years old) to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in Robert Redford's film `` Ordinary People '' (1980) the previous year. Meanwhile, future Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn plays the role of Brian's best friend, Alex, who is thoughtful and always gives accurate advice. Although this was his film debut, his father was a film director, and before that he had been building a career in TV dramas and stage plays, making him the perfect young actor to play the sensitive role of Alex.

“Taps” (c)Photofest / Getty Images

Tom Cruise played the role of Brian's other best friend, David, a warm-hearted and militant student who is in contrast to Alex. Compared to Hutton and Penn, who were already in their 20s at the time of filming, Cruise, who was 19 years old at the time, had little acting experience, and at this point only played a small role in the movie Endless Love (1981). He was just a newcomer who had just made his debut.

Tom, a newcomer, builds a foothold in Hollywood.