IslandGuru Who payed the critics

Mjeteconer Just perfect...

Dorathen Better Late Then Never

Griff Lees Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

kapelusznik18 ***SPOILERS*** Movie about the notorious and shadowy group known as "The Ten" who terrorizes this southern military academy by keeping blacks and other undesirables out of its ranks in order to keep it pure from all other in their mind non American members. It's All-American milk drinking cadet Will McLean, David Keith, who's recruited by his "Rabbi" at the academy Col. "Bear" Berrineau, Robert Prosky, to see that the first black cadet in the academy's history the Jackie Robinson like Tom Pearce, Mark Breland, makes it to graduation day before he's run out of the place or even killed by "Ten Ten" if he doesn't comply with their demands: Which is to pack up and leave voluntarily like he's tolled to do. With McLean and his cadet friends trying to cover Pearce's back, who ends up doing time in "The Hole", they then in fact start to get the business from "The Ten" as well as the person who's really behind them. This leads McLean to find out that one of his cadet friends is secretly working with "The Ten" behind his back by keeping him from communicating with Pearce through the academy's library. This also leads to one of those working with McLean as well as Col. "Bear" Berrineau the bulky Dante "Pig" Pignetti,Rick Rossovich, getting framed by "The Ten" in siphoning off gasoline from McLean's car after McLane gave him permission to do it and being drummed out of the academy for breaking its secrete rules.***SPOILERS*** With McLean and his friends now having nothing to lose and not giving a flying cr*p about their future in the US military they kidnap one of the members of "The Ten" and make him talk by tying him down on the train tracks, with a speeding train about to run him down, about who's behind "The Ten" and it's members not only now but for the last some 100 years. No longer hiding in the shadows "Ten Ten" and its now leader are now history and drummed out of the academy with nothing left for them to do is to join the nearest KKK chapter where they'll be greatly appreciated as it's new members.

lockwood-10 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...

helpless_dancer Here is a good movie showing why one should not bother with either the military or it's pissant little institutions of higher learning. Yes the novel is 10 times better, but this is not a bad film either. Do these military schools really develop character and produce real men or do they brainwash and engender false codes of honor and loyalty thereby turning out highly tuned robots to fight for all the real reasons wars are waged - oil, money, and population control? The smart money would bypass entering these halls of insanity.

afrances 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.