Tom Cruise - Legend/All The Right Moves/T.A.P.S./ (Box Set) (DVD) Review

This DVD is one of my oldest gifts connected with Tom Cruise. Though the films on it were shot a long time ago, it is a real treasure for Tom Cruise’s fans since the movies show us how he started his career and what his first roles were. Now, I will review all three films separately and make a small conclusion about each of them.

Price and Availability

The DVD is available online. You can purchase it on Amazon for £ 24.99, not the cheapest one. But it's worth it. Now only 2 left in stock. But you can search and find it for £11.14, as well as the used versions from £4.98.

Legend

"No Good without Evil. No Love without Hate. No Innocence without Lust. I am Darkness."

Brief overview: "A young man must stop the Lord of Darkness from both destroying daylight and marrying the woman he loves."

General Information

Director: Ridley Scott
Writer: William Hjortsberg
Cast
Tom Cruise ...Jack
Mia Sara ... Lili
Tim Curry ... Darkness
David Bennent ... Gump
Alice Playten ... Blix
Billy Barty ... Screwball
Cork Hubbert ... Brown Tom
Peter O'Farrell ... Pox
Kiran Shah ... Blunder
Annabelle Lanyon ... Oona
Robert Picardo ... Meg Mucklebones
Tina Martin ... Nell
Genres: Adventure | Fantasy | Romance
Country: USA | UK
Language: English | Italian
Release Date: 13 December 1985 (UK) 
Runtime: 94 min | 114 min (director's cut) | 89 min (theatrical)

Film Setting

First of all, I should say that the Legend turned out to be a real legend and completely corresponds to its title. The film can be called a classic example of the fairy tale popular in all ages.
The most impressive about the film is its setting, its entourage. The film was shot in 1985; thus, we cannot judge computer graphics very strictly, but we can notice great efforts of make-up artists and actors who managed to recreate fairy-tale creatures starting from gnomes and finishing with trolls. Unicorns are also a very attractive element of Legend.
The forest is really magical, and the demonic underground in the end is realistically gloomy and nasty. The picture and outer paraphernalia are inimitable. I would like to tell more, but it is better to see it once than to hear about it 100 times. In my opinion, the film is worth watching.

Story and Sound

The story is a pure fairy-tale, starting from the characters and ending with the episode of the death of the unicorn as well as the travelling of friends aimed at the renewal of balance in the world. Well, as I have already said, it’s a classical story in its best manifestation.
The soundtrack of the film completely corresponds its theme. The voices of the characters, especially evil ones, very well add to overall positive impression from the film. 

The Starts

Another key to success are the stars taking part in film creation. First of all, I can’t but mention starring actors of the Legend: Tom Cruise (reminding me an American Mowgli, so to say), Mia Sara (a beautiful princess), and less famous actor in make-up Tim Curry (representing Darkness). The post of director is occupied by Ridley Scott, not the last name in filming industry as well. But the actors of secondary roles have also done their job very professionally, if not perfectly.

Conclusion

The Legend is a fantasy for ages, a classical immortal fairy tale that will be not lose its popularity even after 30-40 years after its creation. It impresses with its atmosphere, quality and evokes the feeling of childish delight and kind memories about filming traditions of the past.

All The Right Moves

"He plays to win"

Brief overview: "A high school footballer desperate for a scholarship and his headstrong coach clash in a dying Pennsylvania steel town."

General Information

Director: Michael Chapman
Writers: Pat Jordan (article), Michael Kane
Cast
Tom Cruise ... Stefen Djordjevic
Craig T. Nelson... Nickerson
Lea Thompson... Lisa
Charles Cioffi... Pop
Gary Graham... Greg
Paul Carafotes... Salvucci
Chris Penn... Brian (as Christopher Penn)
Sandy Faison... Suzie
James A. Baffico... Bosko
Mel Winkler... Jess Covington
Walter Briggs... Rifleman
Genres: Drama | Romance | Sport
Country: USA
Language: English
Release Date: 21 October 1983 
Runtime: 91 min

He is lifeless who is faultless

Every person has to make a choice in their life concerning who (or even what) they are going to become. Usually, we prefer to have an interesting and prestigious work, big beautiful mansion, wonderful spouse, a lot of children, and then we will reach the top of our Everest. However, not everyone manages to realise all plans. The moral of the film is quite simple, and it lies in the subtitle of this paragraph.

The Story

A young boy from a football team, Stefen Djordjevic (Tom Cruise) is dreaming about better life, and in order to realise his dream, he just needs to show his best in the nearest football match. From the first look, the plot seems as easy as ABC, but it is not so. Stefen as well as his trainer Nickerson (Craig Nelson) is very ambitious and always gives priority to his own opinion. Moreover, the boy is never afraid to express his opinion to his trainer in a rude form, that leads to the conflict, which become the basis of the plot. Each of the characters makes a mistakes, but this helps others understand their failures and admit their guilt. Main characters seem to show us that mistakes are necessary to realize some things in our lives, they are like ‘right moves’ on the track of every person.

So, the philosophic idea is quite simple, but its existence makes the film not a typical entertainment for the youth, but something bigger, something that makes them think.

Acting

I can tell only positive words about actors of the film. Young Tom Cruise looks very interesting at the dawn of his career. I would say that this role in not worse than his next roles in the films. So, Craig T. Nelson and Tom Cruise is a successful ‘mixture’ so to say. They look nice and lively, and give us another reason to watch the movie.

Conclusion

It is an interesting, dynamic, and quite sensible film that can be watched in any mood, and a person will receive a good supply of emotions flavoured with an unpretentious and pleasant soundtrack. 

T.A.P.S.

"This school is our home, we think it's worth defending"

Brief overview: "Military cadets take extreme measures to insure the future of their academy when its existence is threatened by local condo developers."

General Information

Director: Harold Becker
Writers: Darryl Ponicsan (screenplay), Robert Mark Kamen(screenplay)
Cast
George C. Scott... General Harlan Bache
Timothy Hutton... Cadet Major Brian Moreland
Ronny Cox... Colonel Kerby
Sean Penn... Cadet Captain Alex Dwyer
Tom Cruise... Cadet Captain David Shawn
Brendan Ward... Charlie Auden
Evan Handler... Edward West
John P. Navin Jr.... Derek Mellott
Billy Van Zandt... Bug
Giancarlo Esposito... Cadet Captain J.C. Pierce
Donald Kimmel... Billy Harris
Tim Wahrer... Cadet Major John Cooper
Genres: Drama 
Country: USA
Language: English
Release Date: 25 December 1981 
Runtime: 126 min

The Story

The film captures with its main idea: when they plan to close the Academy, some guys rebel against it. However, everything goes too far, somebody has to give his life for it. But is this worth it? I think, everyone can give his or her own answer to this question. 

Acting

I would like to point out the acting crew, in particular three main actors, Timothy Hutton, Sean Penn, and Tom Cruise. For me, Timothy Hutton is not a very familiar actor since I have never seen any film with his except for this one. He acts very nicely. You believe his character, and want to go on believing, but his commitment to the affair makes him a bit reckless, and he realizes his mistake only at the end.

As for Sean Penn, he cannot act in a bad way. I liked his character in the film most of all. He supported his friend, not the idea, and managed to persuade his friend to quit. Moreover, it was pleasant to see him being 20 years old :)

And finally, Tom Cruise. If we don’t take into account his episodic roles, the role in this film is his first meaningful role, as for me. And he coped with it perfectly. It is interesting to watch how he plays his first role and compare it with his later ones. 

Conclusion

In general, the film is not bad. It outlines the question: what is more important in life: money or honour? And who needs war? It is worth watching and thinking.

This review can be also found on Ciao under my nickname AliceBond.