When Taps hit theaters on December 18, 1981, audiences likely had little or no idea that they were witnessing the arrival of two future stars. The military-themed drama stars George C. Scott and Timothy Hutton, the latter of whom had recently won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Ordinary People. Starring alongside Scott and Hutton, however, were Tom Cruise and Sean Penn. For Cruise, Taps marked the actor’s second big screen credit, while Penn was making his debut in the military drama. Though they played supporting roles, their work on the film would ultimately prove fateful and fruitful, landing them on the radar of major Hollywood players and paving the way for two of the most prolific and acclaimed careers of a generation.

What Is the Military Drama ‘Taps’ About?

Based on the 1979 novel Father Sky by Devery Freeman, Taps tells the story of rebellious cadets enrolled at Bunker Hill Military Academy who, upon discovering their school will close the following year and fall into the hands of real estate developers, forcibly overtake the institution in an attempt to preserve it. When a fatal accident leads to the academy’s General Harlan Bache’s arrest and subsequent heart attack, the decision to immediately close the school is made. Having recently been promoted to the rank of Major, Brian Moreland (Hutton) rallies his troops, including Captain David Shawn (Cruise) and Captain Alex Dwyer (Penn), and leads a campus-wide mutiny after taking up arms in defiance of the academy’s dean and local authorities.

As the situation escalates, police and the National Guard descend on Bunker Hill, but the cadets initially show no signs of surrendering. The mounting pressure ultimately causes some of the young men to give up on their mission and flee the grounds, while the most staunch cadets remain and become even more determined to defend their beloved academy. For his part, Moreland eventually considers standing down if an order comes directly from General Bache, but news of the commander’s tragic death lowers morale among the young men. The final straw, however, is the accidental killing of a cadet at the hands of the National Guard, leading to a showdown resulting in multiple deaths.

Tom Cruise’s ‘Taps’ Character Is Wildly Unpredictable

Though Taps was only Tom Cruise’s second film role, hot on the heels of his appearance in 1981’s Endless Love, the military drama served as a masterclass in cinematic education, as he explained to People in 2018. At 19-years-old, he landed the role of fanatical cadet David Shawn after moving to New York City and booking various auditions, and was beside himself with excitement over the prospect of acting in a film. Taking full advantage of the experience, Cruise devoted himself to learning as much as he could about the performative, logistical, and technical efforts required to bring a story to the big screen. “I remember even back then, saying, ‘Just do the best I can,’” adding, “All I can do every day is do the best I can. And learn.”

Curious, diligent, and persistent, each of which were qualities that would serve him well for decades after Taps, Cruise wasted no time in amassing valuable knowledge about the filmmaking process. “I couldn’t believe I was making a movie,” he’d later admit. “I went to every single department and asked questions. I drove everyone crazy. The director Harold Becker was so lovely to me because he knew I was so passionate.” According to Cruise, Becker even allowed the young actor to view rushes, footage shot on the previous day’s work, to gain insight into what makes the final cut and what hits the cutting room floor. All things considered, working on Taps provided Cruise with not only the pure thrill of acting in a film, but an overall experience that proved essential in establishing the ardent work ethic he’d become known for as an actor and hands-on producer.

Aside from learning as much as he could about filmmaking, Cruise delivers a memorable performance as David Shawn in Taps. In playing the unpredictable loose canon, whose fervor and dedication to his mission solidifies as the film barrels toward its violent conclusion, the actor brings a level of intensity and hardened focus to the character that would become commonplace in his varied profile of performances. Donning an often furrowed brow and intense gaze, he steals scenes left and right despite having limited screen time, particularly in Taps’ final moments when his character takes impulsive, reckless action that proves tragically consequential for him and his fellow cadets. Just 19-years-old when the film hit theaters, Cruise made the absolute most of his appearance in his second feature, giving unsuspecting audiences a brief but promising glimpse of things to come.

‘Taps’ Foreshadows Sean Penn and Tom Cruise’s Hollywood Success

According to The Hollywood Reporter in its original review of Taps, the film’s young supporting players displayed “potential for future assignments.” With hindsight clear as day, such a statement is laughable on its face, but it nevertheless provided an undeniably fair and accurate assessment of the film’s rising stars. Though Timothy Hutton was already established, having just won an Academy Award at the age of 20, Taps marked his first lead role in a feature film, and what followed was a slew of credits for years to come alongside some of Hollywood’s biggest stars and most renowned filmmakers.

Similarly, Sean Penn’s appearance in the 1981 drama marked a pivotal moment in the beginning of a decades-long career chock-full of stellar performances. In Taps, which was “the first big movie” of Penn’s career, he, like Cruise, made the most of his screen time as Alex Dwyer, elevating a supporting player to the fore in an emotionally-charged yet measured performance that culminates with the actor chewing the scenery in the film’s final moments. While Penn would ultimately be renowned as one of his generation’s powerhouse performers, famous for brushing subtlety to the side in favor of theatrics, his turn in Taps displayed a more restrained — albeit affecting — sensibility.

Within just two years of playing the unhinged David Shawn in Taps, Tom Cruise’s star also ascended with his supporting role in 1983’s The Outsiders and, in the same year, with his memorable turn as Joel Goodson in Risky Business. While 1983 was a big year for the actor, it paled in comparison to 1986, which saw the release of the iconic blockbuster Top Gun, solidifying Cruise’s star power, and The Color of Money alongside legends Paul Newman and Martin Scorsese. Similarly, Sean Penn became a household name on the heels of Taps thanks to a star-making performance as the surfing stoner Jeff Spicoli in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, catapulting him into the limelight for years to come via largely dramatic work. They may have been fresh faces in 1981, but Cruise and Penn’s commanding presence in Harold Becker’s military drama swiftly transported the pair of young actors into Hollywood’s upper echelon, marking the last time their names would be relegated to obscurity.