***SPOILERS*** Movie about the notorious and shadowy group known as "The Ten" who terrorizes this southern military academy by keeping blacks and other undesirables out of its ranks in order to keep it pure from all other in their mind non American members. It's All-American milk drinking cadet Will McLean, David Keith, who's recruited by his "Rabbi" at the academy Col. "Bear" Berrineau, Robert Prosky, to see that the first black cadet in the academy's history the Jackie Robinson like Tom Pearce, Mark Breland, makes it to graduation day before he's run out of the place or even killed by "Ten Ten" if he doesn't comply with their demands: Which is to pack up and leave voluntarily like he's tolled to do. With McLean and his cadet friends trying to cover Pearce's back, who ends up doing time in "The Hole", they then in fact start to get the business from "The Ten" as well as the person who's really behind them. This leads McLean to find out that one of his cadet friends is secretly working with "The Ten" behind his back by keeping him from communicating with Pearce through the academy's library. This also leads to one of those working with McLean as well as Col. "Bear" Berrineau the bulky Dante "Pig" Pignetti,Rick Rossovich, getting framed by "The Ten" in siphoning off gasoline from McLean's car after McLane gave him permission to do it and being drummed out of the academy for breaking its secrete rules.***SPOILERS*** With McLean and his friends now having nothing to lose and not giving a flying cr*p about their future in the US military they kidnap one of the members of "The Ten" and make him talk by tying him down on the train tracks, with a speeding train about to run him down, about who's behind "The Ten" and it's members not only now but for the last some 100 years. No longer hiding in the shadows "Ten Ten" and its now leader are now history and drummed out of the academy with nothing left for them to do is to join the nearest KKK chapter where they'll be greatly appreciated as it's new members.

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.

A movie about discipline, the Lords of Discipline is the wrong title to what could have been a great movie. David Keith stars in a Taps like movie where a coming of age drama turns into a thriller. Some interesting characters, that end up not going anywhere, the movie has a plot but no real story that drives the audience to keep watching. Issues of race and equality take a back seat to the overall story of discipline. Military schools are looked upon as either a wrong idea run by the wrong people, or the only real justice left. These questions are not answered as David Keith tries to lead his cast. Instead, a nice movie, but far from anything great. Much like David Keith's performance, the movie falls short of anything timeless.

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.