The Lords of Discipline (1983)

Stylish but barely mediocre overall

An action-packed slog

Too much about the plot just didn't add up, the writing was bad, some of the scenes were cringey and awkward,

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Let me start to say that i never read the acclaimed novel by Pat Conroy which this film is based on, so i'm judging only the movie itself. "The Lords of Discipline" came out in a time this kind of "Military School" flicks were the latest popular trend in Hollywood, after the excellent "Taps", directed by Harold Becker and the surprise hit "An Officer and a Gentleman", directed by Taylor Hackford co-starred by David Keith playing Richard Gere's ill-fated best friend who was switched for his first leading role in this movie. Keith delivered an acceptable performance as Cadet Will McLean, when starting his Senior year at Carolina Military Institute in 1964, he's assigned by his mentor, Lt. Col. "Bear" Berrineau (a very good & committed performance by Robert Prosky) to keep an eye on Tom Pearce, the first black student admitted in the Academy, to protect him from the bigotry of some of his fellow alumni. Around the same time, a secret organization within the school, called themselves "The Ten", are acting illegally forcing the undesired students, through the practice of torture and violence, to quit...Franc Roddam's "The Lords of Discipline" moves at a nice pace, it's well filmed and the young actors (some of them gave here their first steps in the acting biz such as Michael Biehn, Rick Rossovich, Bill Paxton, Judge Reinhold, Matt Frewer or Jason Connery) are all superbly directed and convincing in their roles. The weakest part is the not very well structured screenplay and the inability of Roddam to introduce a feeling of eerie and mystery to the whole, which could have lifted this movie to a higher appreciation. Some plot points got their resolution too fast in the III Act, leaving some unanswered questions and the mystery beyond "The Ten", the phantom society within the walls of the Academy, could have been more explored and handled better.Nevertheless, this movie still delivers a solid piece of entertainment to the viewer with its well staged scenes such as the "Walk of Shame" and Michael Biehn's fans of his ruthless character of Johnny Ringo in "Tombstone" should check his vileness here. Curiously, this was the first movie of a group of actors who would be frequent collaborators for several films in the future like Biehn, Paxton and Rossovich in James Cameron's "The Terminator" & Lewis Teague's "Navy Seals"; Biehn, Paxton and William Hope in Cameron's "Aliens"; Biehn & Paxton in Pan Cosmatos' "Tombstone" and so on...

I will give this movie a grudging o.k. I feel the book was superior in all respects but hey, how can a movie live up to Pat Conroy's book. I was in the military for 8 years and a product of Conroy's 'damaged goods' sickness of the South. I had the privilige of attending that place but turned it down in favor of another school some 30 years ago. But please bear in mind that much has changed in the military and much of the brutality of the school has gone away with all the attention heaved upon it. I noticed that many of the readers comments indicate about the sadism but remember, Pat Conroy attended the Citadel in 1963 to 1967 when there were not the federal laws and scutiny that exists in 2006. I understand much of Conroy's distrust and bitterness about having attended then refused the commission for lack of a better word than conscience objector. I don't have a problem with that and can now relate having seen many of my fellow soldiers refuse to come back to service after the Gulf War started in 1990. Please read the book first and look deep into what Conroy is trying to impart to all of us. It is similar to 'Born on the 4th of July.' Don't look at today's Citadel with any type of similarity to what went on over 40 years ago. Like they say, it's gone with the wind...

A movie about discipline, the Lords of Discipline is the wrong title to what could have been a great movie. David Keith stars in a Taps like movie where a coming of age drama turns into a thriller. Some interesting characters, that end up not going anywhere, the movie has a plot but no real story that drives the audience to keep watching. Issues of race and equality take a back seat to the overall story of discipline. Military schools are looked upon as either a wrong idea run by the wrong people, or the only real justice left. These questions are not answered as David Keith tries to lead his cast. Instead, a nice movie, but far from anything great. Much like David Keith's performance, the movie falls short of anything timeless.

It's a shame that the greatest book of all time turned out to be the worst movie...The acting was horrible, they took out major plot lines from the book (Will falling in love) and in general ruined just about everything...I feel sorry for Pat Conroy.