Too Young The Hero (1988)

So much average

Just perfect...

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

I was an uncredited extra in this film and got about 8 seconds of on-camera time out of it. We were filming in the crew quarters of the USS North Carolina. While the crew slept, an alarm went off. After an officer told Schroeder "We're going to war", the crew filed out behind him. I planned to toss and turn in the background before the lights came up (to give myself more of a chance of being seen) and lo and behold, that made it in the film in addition to me filing out of the quarters. I've seen this movie on Lifetime a few times in the past few years, and I get a kick out of that scene every time it comes on. I remember Schroeder being aloof towards the extras during shooting, but then I don't think I expected him to sit down with us and have lunch. He was the central character of the film, after all. In terms of the overall film, I found the story interesting. It's odd that we go to such lengths to protect children from all kinds of dangers now. Some group would have some naval officer arrested for felony child abuse today for daring to let a 12 year old into a battle zone. All in all, it was a good "made for TV" movie of its time.

I think this movie is a very good movie. My brother and I watched this when we were younger and thoroughly enjoyed watching the movie. We got to talking about it a while back and decided to find the name of the movie as we could not remember. We were telling his wife about it and saying how we would like to see the movie again and get a copy. We may have been young, but we still think the movie is very good. It is about a young boy that had a dysfunctional family and joined the navy during World War II at the age of twelve. The fact that he was so young was not revealed until much later after he had been awarded for his bravery. We enjoyed the movies as it was about a young boy not much older than ourselves. The whole family enjoyed it. It is a family oriented movie and I recommend you watch Too young the hero.

The makers of this made for TV film of course had a tough call when it came to casting the part of the principal character Calvin Graham. They had to find a professional actor who could pass for a 12 yr old who just happened to look a little older (at least 17). They chose Rick Schroder who was 18 at the time this film was made which in my opinion is pretty close. The film is certainly not of Oscar caliber as most made for TV films are but it isn't all that bad. If it does nothing else it at least tells yet another chapter of the U.S. in WWII. This time the story of underage boys who managed to get in the service. It is hard however to believe that the U.S. Navy could not detect the fact that this was just a 12 yr old kid. In most of the other cases it involved 15 and 16 yr olds passing for 17. It shows in the film how he got past his induction physical but once in basic training at additional physicals and dental exams he would have been detected by qualified medical and dental personnel and sent home. So as a Naval veteran myself it left me with the feeling that the Navy knew they had a way underage boy on their hands and decided to look the other way on it until the heat came down on them as they always seem to do. I was not surprised in the least however at how the Navy handled the affair once it was unmasked. Aside from the true tale of this the film is not bad and has the always enjoyable human interest side to it to help it along.

When you see Rick in the film it's easy to understand that it is impossible to be a 12 years old boy. I think he is around 20 in the film but the director may used this actor because he though that this was the only that he could find and fit for the role. Of course some things in the movie never happened but they were created so the film could be success. I hoped that films like that would be produced even today. As an overview of the film its shows the World War II at the side of U.S. Navy through the eyes of a young boy.