Tom Cruise Rewind

The key to understanding Taps lies in its name. It differs from the title of the novel that serves as its source material, and perhaps for good reason: while both follow the general premise of a group of military cadets fighting to keep their school open, Devery Freeman's  Father Sky serves as more of a psychological investigation behind the cadets' reasoning and their parents' opposition, while Taps purely focuses on the cadets. This may be a result of the fact that the film rights were purchased before Father Sky was published. However, nitpicking over similarities and differences doesn't mean too much when Taps provides a subdued analysis of its own on military culture within the United States.

In 1979, Scott Spencer published his book Endless Love , a novel about 17-year-old David Axelrod and his dangerous obsession with his girlfriend, Jade. Two years later, a film adaptation of the same name came out and disastrously missed the point of its source material. While this is no strange feat in Hollywood, it's difficult to point fingers on who, exactly, is to blame for claiming that David really was in love Jade and vice versa when the novel goes so far to explain that this isn't the case, as there doesn't seem to be much information widely available regarding the production of the film. Part of me feels that it's more likely the fault of studio meddling; after all, the popular love ballad of the same name gained this film its only Academy Award and Golden Globe. And I don't believe that the screenwriter nor director were completely oblivious to the symbolism present in the novel, given an early scene in the film where David and Jade dress similarly to ...