User reviews

I graduated from The Citadel and can tell you that the book is not a standing joke on campus and that almost everyone reads it during their knob year for their English class. It is true that upperclassmen are not allowed to touch knobs but this is a rule that was very loosely enforced in the 60s. I was not there in the 60s but it is a well known fact on campus and by alumni. I have never heard anything of that nature and I believe they made it worse than it really was in order to make people watch it and enjoy reading the book. All in all the book is much better than the movie. Read the book don't watch the movie, or at least read the book first.

I was impressed with how well this movie captured the flavor of time and place. As a viewer I easily felt that it was Charleston, SC in the mid 1960's. The parts were well-cast and convincingly played. I would be comfortable suggesting this movie to others and would not mind seeing it again myself.

Having read Pat Conroy's original novel years ago I found that the characters in the movie looked remarkably like my imagination expected them to. That was another plus.

However......and this is minor......Pat Conroy's novels tend to be sprawling affairs with several plot lines (and the ensuing chaos) running concurrently. They do not condense down into a standard length feature film without editing a good bit of the original novel out. This is the case here......several minor items had to be changed for the movie to cover the fact that one of the major plot elements in the novel were left out entirely.

It's 1964 at the Carolina Military Institute. Returning for his senior year as a cadet, hunky David Keith (as Will "Bubba" McClean) and his pals discover the freshman "Knobs" include, for the first time, a young black man. As you might expect, he is the victim of racial hatred. Old-timer Robert Prosky (as "the Bear") enlists Mr. Keith's help in watching over the black cadet, Mark Breland (as Pearce). Keith gets reluctant help from his three roommates - piano playing Mitchell Lichtenstein (as Tradd St. Croix), weight-lifting Rick Rossovich (as Dante "Pig" Pignetti), and Italian Elvis fan John Lavachielli (as Mark Santoro).

Keith and his friends participate in "Hell Night" with the usual shenanigans. Of course, "scumbags," "maggots," and "faggots" are encouraged to vacate the premises. Overweight Malcolm Danare (as Poteete) is the first casualty. Then, a (not so) secret organization known as "The Ten" targets Mr. Breland. But, "The Lords of Discipline" isn't really about Breland or his race. Rather, it's a mystery thriller focusing on Keith and his roommates. And, even then, it's not much of a mystery. Most enjoyable are Keith and his three roommates, who manage to be appealing in some unappealing (and obvious) roles.

****** The Lords of Discipline (2/18/83) Franc Roddam ~ David Keith, Mitchell Lichtenstein, Rick Rossovich, Robert Prosky

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...

I enjoyed this movie thoroughly. Now i have never read the novel it is based on so i am not disillusioned by how "bland" an adaptation this is, but i must say that this was an interesting, intriguing and enjoyable film. It was deep and thought provoking and provided an insight into what was... and possibly still is considered to be the making of a man and a soldier.

Also, the fact that it is a veritable melting pot of future stars and character actors doesn't hurt. David Keith as a likeable character? Michael Biehn and Bill Paxton, a year before making Terminator together, a few years before making Aliens and ages before making Tombstone. Judge Reinhold, Rick Rossovich (the guy from Roxanne and pacific blue), Matt Frewer (HE LOOKS SO YOUNG!!!), the fat guy out of Godzilla (he is great). It was interesting seeing all these people in these roles, big and small.

Moral of the story, great flick :)

The movie is adequate and casting for "The Bear" was perfect. The film lost the eliminate of mystery and intrigue the book had. By showing "The Ten" to early and on campus they stole from the mythology of the fraternity. On the other hand, it is impossible to make a film that lives up to a Conroy novel as their is just too much. If a producer was smart they would hire Pat Conroy to make a TV series out of any one of his novels. I don't mean a mini series, but an actual TV series that would probably need to run three seasons. If Conroy didn't want to write the series than David E. Kelley could possibly do justice to many of Conroy's novels or in the case of the Lords Of Discipline Arron Sorkin could possibly write it. Obviously Pat would be the ideal writer though. Trying to do any Conroy novel in a two or even three hour film is just ridiculous. That's why "The Prince of Tides" was such a bad film. It did not stand a chance of having even the same story line as the novel because the real story could not be covered by a film.

Will McLean (David Keith) is a senior cadet at the Carolina Military Institute, a school that promises to make men of honor but practises brutal hazing to freshmen. McLean's roommates are Dante Pignetti (Rick Rossovich), Mark Santoro and Tradd St. Croix. In the time spent there McLean will join all the academy's activities (except breaking new cadets) and will see the corruption inside the institute, and will also try to unmask it (without some trouble and Pignetti getting expelled).

Despite I have not read the original novel LORDS OF DISCIPLINE I still liked the movie because it has some very good acting by everyone. I am not a huge David Keith fan but here he was very good as the lead, Rick Rossovich was very funny as the cadet that didn't stopped screaming, while Michael Biehn and Judge Reinhold give some of their best performances in their careers. The plot was great as there were lots of twists and turns when the leads were finding the truth.

Overall, a good militar academy drama that excedded my expectations as I was very surprised that I liked it very much. If you are searching something underrated from the 1980s, then this is for you.

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.

The movie itself was mediocre-- but having read Pat Conroy's incredible novel, filled with cynicism, cruelty, depth, and of cource, deceit-- all that good stuff. Alas, without a love interest, the myriad losses, and the absolutely imperative dips into the depths of Senior Private Will McLean's psyche, this movie is simply a hollow time-waster about a Southern Military school. Read the book, skip the film-- or better yet (since the film was actually rather enjoyable) see the film first, and then bask in the sheer, dark goodness of Pat Conroy's writing. If only there were no Pat Conroy novel, this movie would be an enjoyable flick... Oh well.

Noting that a good deal of The Lords Of Discipline was filmed in Charleston, South Carolina and the school our characters attend is the Carolina Military Institute, I was amazed that The Citadel lent itself to this production. From what I understand it can still be a frightening place. Only in the past decade did they get around to admitting women.

This story is set in 1964 and this school is now getting around to admitting its first black cadet. A lot of special interests want to see Mark Breland fail. Te usual hazing a plebe gets is with some real menace. Another one folks aren't fond of is Malcolm Danare and things end tragically for him.

Second in command Robert Prosky asks a favorite cadet upperclassman David Keith to keep an eye on Breland. Remember this is 1964 and the civil rights era is upon us and I think Prosky doesn't want too many Yankee faces looking into the school.

That doesn't mean anything for a certain secret elite society among the cadets called The Ten. They want to uphold the traditional (read racist) ways and this bunch would have been proud to serve with Nathan Bedford Forrest.. Michael Biehn heads it currently and he's a piece of work. This was the first of many roles like this for Biehn. He's a really menacing guy.

Keith and his three roommates Mitchell Lichtenstein, Rick Rossovich, and John Lachiavelli get targeted. The final confrontation between Keith and commandant G.D. Spradlin is beautifully played.

One more thing. The Commandant of the Citadel in 1964 was Mark Clark and one hopes the American commander of the Italian theater in World War 2 did not countenance these sort of doings.

The Lords Of Discipline is a fine film telling of times we hope have passed.

As a cadet who experienced a very similar situation, I found the story to be very close to the truth. I enjoyed watching the movie although most (if not all) of the performances were stilted and stuffy!

I was a former R.O.T.C. cadet, who was actually supposed to attend The Citadel (the institution that movie supposedly depicts) and attended another Military College...I found the depictions very close to some of the "on-goings" of Military College life for cadets (at that time), including some of the treatment of cadets with different ethnic backgrounds.

The performances of the "actors" in this movie showed their inexperience at that time. Although, some of those actors learned from the experience and are some of the best known character actors, although mostly in comedic roles (I wonder, why?) of current films, including: Judge Reinhold and "Wild" Bill Paxton.

I recommend this film as a film to be watched by those learning how to act. It is a prime example of what not to do. Hopefully, no one imitates any of the acting in this film but hopefully they will use it as a learning tool.

Set in a Carolina officer cadet school THE LORDS OF DISCIPLINE tells the story of a racist guild within the school who are hell bent on making sure no black cadet will ever be at the passing out parade . It`s a fairly good film but had the potential to be so much better . The problem I had is that it takes place through the eyes of cadre officer Will who I thought just a little bit too fine , upstanding and moral to take seriously and it`s because of this the film doesn`t reach the heights it could have . It should also be pointed out because it`s filmed in England doubling as an American military base I couldn`t help but be reminded of the first half of FULL METAL JACKET , it never helps a movie comparing it to that classic segment

But as I said LORDS OF DISCIPLINE is an entertaining enough movie that features a bunch of actors who almost became stars in the 1980s . See if you can spot them

The Lords of Discipline is a slow-moving, dull, boring, and badly acted 1980s film. The characters come off as cartoonish. David Keith is likable enough, and does a fair job considering what he has to deal with. The rest of the cast overplays their parts and none of them come across as real. The Southern accents are terrible, and it's hard to figure if this is a military college or a high school military school. Regardless, everyone in the cast is way to old to be students in either case. The worst scene is when Keith and his room mates kidnap a lawyer and tie him to a railroad track. The whole scene came across like a cartoon and the actor playing the lawyer gave a junior high school acting performance. Forget the Lords of Discipline.

I can talk about military school as I was third generation to attend a military school; my father and grandfather attended the same school. And I wanted to go; to escape from the small town syndrome. They wanted to shoot "Taps" there, but we turned it down as, our president at the time, a retired 2 star general said, "It portrayed the military school student as a radical." Gee secret groups are bad. So public groups like gangs are forgotten? Any organization will have good and bad in it. At the military school we had Black, Whites, Asian, Mexican, etc. The only color that mattered were the black, gray and blue of your uniform. Time there mattered. If you were a new boy, (1 year of less) you were the lowest form of life, no matter what color you were. Old Boys, +1 year and who had signed our honor code, were the upper level. It didn't matter what color or how old. And when women started there, some of the older alumni had problems with that. But I am here to tell you, in the final years of life of that school (which was shut down to mis-management and money... gee always money) the female company was the best there. the military school, when I attended 1977-1983, was a great way to prepare young people for the future-be it in the military or in life. Anyone who say different, well... I won't say what I think. If you didn't go to a military school, you don't know. Just like being in the military. I am proud that I attended and still have more friends from than I can count from there, over 30 years later. How many can say that about the school you went to?

numquam non paratus

I saw this movie when it was first released. I have not seen it since. I hated it then. I hated it when I saw it today.

I don't know why I should have expected more. It would be impossible to put any of the music or poetry in Conroy's prose into a 2 hour movie script. It was a crime to even try.

The only good thing about seeing this movie again was seeing Michael Biehn before The Terminator, a nascent Judge Reinhold, Robert Prosky and a couple others as they were almost 20 years ago. There was nothing technically wrong with the movie, but it shared nothing with the book but its title and a couple of the character's names. Lousy adaptation.

The armed services of the U.S. have spent years trying to define and instill the core values that they wish the Soldier, Sailor, Airman, Marine, and Coast Guardsman to possess. The military realizes that not many people have learned those core values from their home life. Induction into the service is a metamorphosis into a new life and it involves making over the former civilian into the servicemember -- body and mind. In this excellent fictional movie, the Commandant and his "Ten" lost track of the distinction between pride in their accomplishments and...elitism. Will and The Bear had honor. Will's moral courage exemplified the core values that the military strives to teach its members today.