Hard Knox (TV 1984)

A retired fighter pilot becomes the head of his alma matter military high school for two weeks with hilarious consequences. He shapes up the school and raises morale so that they are able ... See full summary »

Director:

Peter Werner

Writers:

Robert Conrad (story), David J. Kinghorn (story)

Stars:

Robert Conrad, Red West, Joan Sweeny

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Conrad	...	Col. Joe Knox
Red West	...	Thomas 'Top' Tuttle
Joan Sweeny	...	Marilyn Cole
Bill Erwin	...	Gen. Garfield
Dean Hill	...	Maj. Benjamin Garfield
Dianne B. Shaw	...	Lela Stallings
Stephen Caffrey	...	Gary Pascoe
Shane Conrad	...	Eric Shaner
Frank Howard	...	David Ambrose
Ricky Paull Goldin	...	Jeff Bridley
Alan Ruck	...	Frankie Tyrone
David Saunders	...	Bobby Sayers
Casey Siemaszko	...	Aaron Davis
Kathleen Sisk	...	Jessi Richards
Alex Stirling	...	Kimi

Storyline

A retired fighter pilot becomes the head of his alma matter military high school for two weeks with hilarious consequences. He shapes up the school and raises morale so that they are able to win the "brass-axe" competition versus another local military academy.

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Plot Keywords:

military | pilot | high school | leadership | teenage boy

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 January 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hard Knox, le casse-cou

Company Credits

Production Co:

A. Shane Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Hard Knox was produced in part as a pilot for a prospective TV series, which is consistent with Colonel Knox suggesting in the abrupt ending that he and Top come back the following Monday (beyond his alloted two weeks).

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Goofs

When he is in his screen mom's car, actor Shane Conrad's hair is parted on his left and the left side of his shirt buttons over the right side (at around 4 mins), but as he is watches her drive off (from 15:10 to 15:25), the frames are flipped with his hair parted on his right and the right side of his shirt buttoned over the left side. Later, both the part in his hair and the buttoning of his shirt switch back (at around 39 mins).

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Quotes

Col. Joe Knox: [after putting a plane on autopilot] Go ahead and take the yoke in your hands. Now, you see those two little buttons up at the top there? Go ahead and press them.
Frankie Tyrone: [does so] What does that do?
Col. Joe Knox: That releases the autopilot.
Frankie Tyrone: [slowly dawns on him] Whoa, hey, man! What're you doing?
Col. Joe Knox: You said you wanted control... now you got it.
Frankie Tyrone: [now in an uncontrolled dive] Nooooooooooooooooooo!

User Reviews

I hadn't realized how stereotyped military school movies are

This is like every last one of them: gruff but good leader, good boys who take their place as leaders, bad boys who learn to better channel their energy, wimpy boys who find strength, jokers who get serious, enemies who become friends, war games between factions, girls who get respect, etc., etc., and on and on.... This one has all of them. The light scenes get a few laughs, the suspense scenes are mildly tense, and the touching scenes bring tears to your eyes (not really). All in all, if you have a choice between watching this movie and cleaning the bathroom, I recommend watching this.