The Lords of Discipline

Another in that most unlikely of 1980s genres: the US military college saga, this time a liberal conspiracy thriller, pitting its hero against the racist secret society which controls the college. If the blend doesn't quite work, it is no fault of Roddam, who gives the film the pace, energy and excitement he instilled into the action sequences of Quadrophenia. In the first half, Roddam admirably conveys the notion of an enclosed world with its own insane rules and rituals; but as the conspiracy format becomes more obvious, the sheer confinement of the setting and period begins to work heavily against the film, closing down its narrative options precisely at the point when, in this kind of thriller, you want them to open up.