Code Breakers

I love movies like this, well-cast, well-acted, in the tradition of films like "School Ties" and "Dead Poets Society". What a great film, especially for an ESPN original. I had to pause my dvr and look up Zachary Bryan on the internet to make sure that he is, indeed, the same actor from "Home Improvement". He has done a number of other projects since that show as well, none of which I have seen. I am very impressed with the way he and his acting have matured. And Jake Busey...well, he always cracks me up. He seems to be cast according to his personality...loud and proud. I had never seen the other lead character in anything either, but I do like him as well. Hopefully they will run this movie again on ESPN...it is good stuff.

I enjoyed the movie very much. It was very interesting, and I thought the young cadets were faced with some really tough issues. In their own mind, they knew it was wrong, but they were desperate to play on the team, graduate, etc. What they did was wrong, but I do not believe they deserved to be forced to resign from the academy. A failing grade or a suspension would have been more appropriate that what they had worked so hard to accomplish. However, I still enjoyed the movie and thought it brought out some real important issues. My only complaint is that at the end of the movie when the information of what eventually happened to the key characters was listed, I did not have time to read it, and I would still like to know what happened to the key cadets who had to resign.

Lynn Smoak

i liked this movie.it's a movie about football,but it's much more than that.it's really about honor,truth,and loyalty .it is set in 1950,and chronicles the "Army"-the West Point football team.West point is the very esteemed military academy.as the movie begins,"army is coming off of 27 consecutive wins and hope to win the championship once again.along the way,many on the team will go through some trials that will test their morality and pledge to uphold the principle of honor at any cost.the backdrop to the story is the Korean War.i like the fact the the story has some depth to it.the very fine performances go along way in anchoring the story.Scott Glenn gives a nice understated,quietly intense performance as one of of the coaches.even though this is a morality tale,it doesn't hit you over the head,or preach to you.all in all a pretty good movie.for me "Code Breakers" is an 8/10

Codebreakers was a stimulating review of the ethics of my time. I was going through high school in those years and appreciate getting full details of the football scandal and what led up to it. The peer pressure to conform had to be intense and the movie portrayed the situation well.

I liked the follow-up on the athlete's response, outlining how many regained their dignity and were able to re-enter the military and sports arenas in subsequent years.

I often wondered how the legendary Vince Lombardi got his start, and now I know more of his background.

All in all, it was fine entertainment.

My summary above refers to the fact that in February 2022 I saw THE LORDS OF DISCIPLINE and it was about cadets fighting for honor at West Point ending with a trial and some cadets being expelled. On July 2023 I saw CODE BREAKERS and the concept is still the same. Now this doesn't necessarily mean that it's a bad movie, perhaps this is a rare case when a re-hashed plot still works.

This story is set in 1951 during the cheating scandal at West Point and its impact on the football team that was forced to dismiss its entire team. In 1950 the cadets football team was highly favored and yet it went to lose on another team. Then there was the scandal of 90 cadets that broke the Academy's Honor Code. From then on the movie follows cadet Brian Nolan who was brought to a ring of cheaters when he needed academic help to pass and also on coach Earl Blaik (Scott Glenn) and his relationship with his son Bob who was one of the cheaters.

The plot while 95% unoriginal is still good and the characters are written so well that you'll root for them until the very end (just like with LORDS OF DISCIPLINE). The main reason for seeing this is the acting: despite they are mostly unknowns (except for Glenn and Jake Busey) they are still good actors that should have had more chances after this.

If you have never seen THE LORDS OF DISCIPLINE you'll find it original but if you saw that one as well it's still like a both modern and different take on the plot.