Lords of Discipline

Superb military school drama.
This one is an old favorite of mine, which I pre-ordered on DVD the instant I learned it was available. I have an old VHS recording of the film, which I have viewed many times. I have also read the book many times, and I consider it to be Conroy's best work.

This is the story of four young men at Carolina Military Institute, a fictional military academy located in South Carolina, which is of course a pseudonym for The Citadel, which is a fine military academy that really does exist. The film is set in the 1960s. The first black cadet (first year cadets are called "knobs" at the Institute) has just arrived. A secret society within the Institute, known as "The Ten" has pledged that no black will ever graduate from the Institute, regardless of ability.

David Keith turns in his customary excellent performance as the black cadet's designated mentor. The plot moves at a fast pace, but nevertheless does not feel rushed. Purists have criticized the fact that the...

The Lords of Discipline
This is a great film that deals with a traditional "Southern Racial Discrimination" at a military academy, it's a movie that should have been fully restored on DVD and released long time ago. So why now at Viacom/Paramount Picture it's been listed for a 2010 DVD release beats my imagination.

Can any one tell the studio that we need it on DVD right now in 2005 and not by 2010.

Saw the movie, THEN read the book
I saw the movie before I read the book. This is a typical adaptation of a long novel. Yes, the novel was better, but the novel was DIFFERENT! A similar situation occurs with The Caine Mutiny as well as The Godfather. Written stories allow you to explore aspects of character and situation that just can't be effectively portrayed in film. In film, you can't have the character's thoughts effectively presented. The film concentrated on the relationship between Will and Pearce, while the book actually had two plots-Will and Pearce and Will and Annie Kate. Instead of comparing book and film, treat each as seperate entities and enjoy them independently. In this case, the movie was enjoyable.

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