Major Payne (1995)
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A hardened Marine veteran is tasked with leading a group of delinquent youth cadets in a military competition.
The story
Major Benson Winifred Payne, a battle-hardened Marine veteran of the Vietnam War and Persian Gulf, is passed over for promotion and receives an honorable discharge. After a brief stint in jail, he is secured a position back in the military as an instructor at Madison Preparatory Academy in Virginia. He is given command of the JROTC students, a disorderly group of delinquents who have placed last in the Virginia Military Games for eight straight years. Payne immediately takes a hard stance, asserting his authority through harsh punishments and strict discipline to transform the outcasts into a unified squad.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After being passed over for promotion and briefly arrested, Major Payne is assigned to lead the failing JROTC program at Madison Preparatory Academy. He imposes a regime of strict discipline, including shaving the cadets bald and moving them into a dilapidated barracks. This causes friction with school counselor Emily Walburn. The cadets, led by rebel Alex Stone, attempt to sabotage Payne with laxatives and a staged biker assault. Payne eventually recognizes Alex's leadership and makes him squad leader. When Payne offers to quit unless they win the Military Games trophy, the boys practice diligently and develop into a unified squad. Payne is later offered a return to the Marines for a deployment in Bosnia, which he initially accepts. However, he eventually refuses the posting to stay with the cadets. At the Military Games, after a series of conflicts with the rival Wellington Academy, Payne returns at the last minute to lead the group in an unorthodox drill routine that wins them the trophy. The film ends with Payne resuming his role as instructor, having married Emily and adopted the young cadet Tiger.
- First release year
- 1995
- Runtime (minutes)
- 95
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English; Vietnamese
- Directors
- Nick Castle
- Writers
- Dean Lorey · screenplay; Gary Rosen · screenplay; Damon Wayans · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Damon Wayans · Major Benson Winifred Payne; Karyn Parsons · Emily Walburn; William Hickey · Dr. Phillips; Steven Martini · Cadet Alexander "Alex" J. Stone; Michael Ironside · Lieutenant Colonel Stone; Orlando Brown · Cadet Kevin "Tiger" Dunn; Albert Hall · General Elias Decker; Andrew Harrison Leeds · Cadet Dotson
- Genres
- comedy; military comedy
- Themes
- discipline; redemption; mentorship
- Tone and mood
- dark cartoonish comedy; satire
- Premise and plot tags
- military; comedy; remake; school
- Source material / true-story basis
- The Private War of Major Benson (1955)
- Reception
- The film received generally unfavorable reviews from critics, though it was noted as ideal entertainment for younger audiences. It was praised for Damon Wayans' comedic performance and its irreverent edge.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 29% · review count: 14; Metacritic · score: 34 · scale: 100 · review count: 18
- Production trivia
- Most of Michael Ironside's scenes were cut from the final film.; The film was shot at the Miller School of Albemarle in Charlottesville, Virginia.; The film debuted at number 2 at the US box office behind Outbreak.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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