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Page 3
:«ijra(;e under firi
i
liiTTie Corps of Cadets traveled to Austin
ISBfor a week to participate as extras
iation suppli *
iose canbe By Kristina Buffin
' ^^ngd^HE Battalion
pi in ary cenii
hing for ms]
ere are usulI
its workinf f
ige studeml
earn.
;ar reactors f
and resear
— the NSC
rport. NSC
research
he Texas A&M Corps of
Cadets had a second op
portunity to be show-
ased in a major motion picture when
the casting director of Courage Under
r vice preafe
d Action Ml i i . « o -i
ajor, said rey Fire was looking lor a few good men to
icross campus
e on camps;
here’s quite serve as extras,
set about th
w have i
>re convenitj Col. Donald Johnson, interim comman-
can’t recyif dant of the Corps, said the casting director
Tvanted about 150-200 cadets a day for six or
Seven days during the Spring of 1995.
I “We decided that if the cadets wanted to
So it it would be okay,” Johnson said. “We
also checked the story line because we didn’t
Want them to be involved in a movie we
Wouldn’t be proud of.”
J; The production company paid for the
j/ Action Coahr cadet’s transportation from College Station
to Austin and gave cadets $75 a day for
iversity’sii their participation.
i be fading. Francisco Armada, a junior English major
used to us an d member of K-2, said the cadets partici-
d carrying P a ted in a lot of the background shots and
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toet some of the stars of the movie.
“I got to talk to Lou Diamond Phillips and
he was really down to earth,” Armada said.
"We kind of joked about his role in Stand
nd Deliver.”
However, Armada’s impression of Acade-
y Award-winner Denzel Washington was
ompletely the opposite.
When I talked to Denzel he was kind
of an asshole,” Armada said. “But I didn’t
really get a chance to talk to Meg Ryan
l>ne-on-one.”
The cadets left at 4 a.m. every morning and
did not return until 8 p.m. each night. They
worked for approximately 13 hours a day.
Johnson said it was harder to find willing
adets as the week wore on.
“It didn’t take long for them to realize
hat this was not going to be a piece of
ake,” Johnson said. “But I think they en
joyed it and they got paid. Overall it was a
oositive experience.”
On the first day, Armada said, the cadets
had to patrol the field, which meant walking
Karen Walden (Meg Ryan) celebrates her completion of military schooling in Courage Under Fire.
back and forth for a long period of time.
“On the second day we went to an obsta
cle course with barbed wire and mortars go
ing off,” Armada said. “But on Thursday we
got to get into flight gear and go out to the
airfield and mess around.
“It was fun depending on the day. The
mornings were cold but the afternoons were
hot. We got to get into full camouflage gear
and use fake M-16s.”
Johnson said the Corps’ participation in
Courage Under Fire and A Few Good Men
will allow cadets to show prospective students
that they may have similar opportunities.
“I don’t know if A&M will get direct cred
it,” Johnson said. “But when we talk to stu
dents we can say our cadets were in it. Both
were excellent movies, and it was a thrill for
our cadets.”
The release of Courage Under Fire
caused anger and disappointment
to ignite amongst the cadets. Un
like in A Few Good Men, Courage
Under Fire never credited the
Corps for their participation.
“In A Few Good Men the Fish
Drill Team was featured and in
Courage Under Fire they were not
really recognizable,” Josh Marcus, a
junior biomedical science major and
member of A-l, said. “So it was dif
ferent but they could not have
filmed the movie without a large
group of guys.”
Marcus said the Corps was an integral part
of the movie and the cadets spent a lot of time
working on the movie so one credit mention
would have been nice.
He said leaving them out of the credits was
inconsiderate of the filmmakers.
“We did help out and we were paid,” Marcus
said. “They just had to do one line for a credit.
“All major movies thank places where they
shot the movie. A lot of people feel they could
have just added one line of thanks easily.”
"It didn't take long for them (the cadets)
to realize that this was not going to be a
piece of cake. But I think they enjoyed it
and they got paid. Overall, it was a positive
experience."
— COL. DONALD JOHNSON
interim commandant
Washington and Ryan
give Oscar performances
By Jeffrey Cranor
The Battalion
Courage Under tiro
Starring Denzel Washington and^t
Meg Ryan
f- - Directed by Edward Zurich;
)enzel Washington’s latest
movie, Courage Under Fire,
proves Hollywood formulas can
result in a well-made film.
Courage Under Fire has ac
tion, a love story, over-simplifi
cation of the military, an inter
nal battle within the hero, and
a corny-but-touching ending.
Through all of this, the produc
ers have borne a great film
marking the beginning of Os
car season. To the Army, Lt.
Col. Nathaniel Serling (Wash
ington) far from emulates a
Gulf War hero.
In the heat of a midnight
tank battle with Iraqi forces,
Serling gave the order to fire at
what he thought was an enemy
tank. But the tank was “friend
ly,” and several American sol
diers were killed.
Now Serling is confined to a
desk job at the Pentagon, and
his new assignment is to re
view the nomination of Capt.
Karen Walden (Meg Ryan) for
a Medal of Honor. Walden is
the first woman to be nominat
ed for the award, but the nomi
nation is posthumous.
The job seems simple
enough — a rubber stamp and
a ceremony — but Serling
soon finds himself in a mass
of confusion. His own past in
the Gulf War is haunting him
while the story of Walden and
her men changes with each
man’s recollection.
One of the soldiers, Ilario
(Matt Damon), recalls
Walden’s fine leadership and
bravery during her command
of a helicopter rescue mission.
Montfriez (Lou Diamond
Phillips), on the other hand,
describes Walden as a coward
and a poor decision maker.
What Serling and the script
writer want is for the truth to
be exposed.
By coming to terms with
what one knows as
real, one can move
forward in life.
Montfriez cannot
face the events, er
rors or victims of
the night of the res
cue attempt.
Phillips gives an
Oscar-caliber por
trayal of Mont
friez’s struggle.
Ryan, who has
little screen time in the film,
plays the most significant fig
ure. Karen Walden is symbolic
of all the characters’ buried
truths. Serling cannot return
home and face his past until he
first deals with Walden’s past.
Ryan does an excellent job
of portraying the constantly
changing Walden. Talks of an
Oscar nomination for her will
probably die down by next
March, though.
Washington should gain an
other nomination for his su
perb performance, but Oscar
followers may remember last
year’s inexplicable oversight of
the entire African-American
community by Academy voters.
Courage Under Fire makes
everyone proud to be an Ameri
can, but Aggies may be disap
pointed with the lack of recog
nition for the Corps of Cadets
in the finaTcredits.
Denzel Washington is in
charge of a crucial investigation.
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Rising (Star
A&M senior James Jackson made his acting
debut in the summer hit Courage Under Fire
By Pamela Benson
The Battalion
W hen a friend gave him the
telephone number to the
Texas Film Hotline, James
Jackson never thought he would par
ticipate in a film with one of his fa
vorite actors.
Jackson, a senior agricultural de
velopment major who will graduate
in August, sent his resume to Austin
in hopes of getting a part in the film,
Courage Under Fire.
The results of those actions proved
to be worthwhile.
Several weeks later, the casting
director called and asked if Jackson
Was interested in doing a scene with
Denzel Washington, Lou Diamond
Phillips and other extras.
“He (the casting director) called
toe on a Monday and I needed to be
there on Thursday,” Jackson said.
I’ve always wanted to meet Denzel
Washington so I jumped on the the
opportunity immediately.”
Jackson said he was instructed to
arrive on the set at 5 a.m. and didn’t
end up leaving until 5 p.m.
The day his scene was being filmed,
Jackson was asked to walk past Wash
ington and step over a bench.
“I kept thinking that I would fall on
Denzel or something,” he said. “If
someone messed up during a scene,
they would simply kick them off the
set and find someone else
to do the part.”
Jackson said the
scene was repeated at
least 15 times until they
were able to move on to
something else.
“The process (of mak
ing a film) is so meticu
lous,” he said. “All of the
different angle shots take
up a lot of time.”
When Jackson was not busy, he
was determined to speak with Wash
ington about acting and his expecta
tions of the future.
Jackson said he didn’t want to ap
proach Washington at first, because
he is so serious on the set.
“He sat around and concentrated
on what he was doing so much that I
didn’t want to disturb him,” he said.
“But I was determined talk to him
and get a picture.”
Although Jackson did get to talk
to Washington and take a few pic
tures, the majority of the advice he
received about acting came from oth
er professionals on the set.
“I learned more from the people on
the set like Washington’s make-up
artist and personal bodyguard, who
have been around him for 10 to 15
years,” he said. “They told me how to
survive in the industry as an
African-American man.”
Jackson said he still stays in con
tact with various people on the set and
plans to continue keeping in touch.
Jackson will certainly have that
opportunity when he moves to New
York to go to acting school in August.
Herbert Bergoff Studio in
Greenwich Village will be Jack
son’s new home.
He said he plans to study acting
technique, acting scene study, speech,
movement, dance and directing.
At first, Jackson said he wasn’t
sure about the idea of acting because
it is such a risky business.
However, when his fraternity
brother was killed and his grand
mother passed away, he realized that
life is too short not to be happy.
“We really don’t know how long we
have on this earth,” he said. “I don’t
want to look back 30 years from now
and realize that I didn’t at least try
to pursue my dreams.”
Jackson also said he is not neces
sarily looking for fame, but rather an
opportunity to do something he loves.
“I’m not at all concerned with be
ing famous,” he said. “I want to do a
good job and have longevity in the
business. If I can do that, everything
else will follow.”
"We really don't know how long we
have on this earth. I don't want to look
back 30 years from now and realize that
I didn't at least try to pursue my dreams."
— JAMES JACKSON
senior agricultural development major
Pat James, The Battalion
James Jackson, a senior agricultural development
major, will leave for New York in August.