Charles Frank

Three buddies sneak off to their secret fort and to their surprise discover a Russian sailor, Mischa, hiding there. The boys eventually decide to help poor Mischa make it back to his home.

Three buddies sneak off to their secret fort and to their surprise discover a Russian sailor, Mischa, hiding there. The boys eventually decide to help poor Mischa make it back to his home.

At the peak of the Cold War, anti-Soviet sentiment is a common bond for the residents of a coastal Florida town. When a Russian sailor (Whip Hubley) washes up on the shore, a group of all-American boys (Joaquin Phoenix, Peter Billingsley and Stefan DeSalle) defy their parents' belief systems, spurn government propaganda and befriend the stranded foreigner named Mischa. A climactic ending caps director Rick Rosenthal's tale of youthful naïveté.

Winner of four Academy Awards for its technical achievements, and nominated for Best Picture, this adaptation of Tom Wolfe's bestseller appeared on almost every "Top Ten" Best Picture list for 1983. Featuring an all-star cast including Golden Globe-nominee Dennis Quaid ("Yours, Mine and Hours," "In Good Company"), Academy Award and Emmy- nominee and Golden Globe-winner Ed Harris ("A History of Violence," "A Beautiful Mind"), Scott Glenn ("Training Day," "Vertical Limit"), Academy Award-nominee and Emmy and Golden Globe-winner Barbara Hershey ("Falling Down," "Hoosiers") and acclaimed playwright-actor and Academy Award, Emmy and Golden Globe-nominee Sam Shepard ("Stealth," "The Notebook"), whose enigmatic portrayal of Chuck Yaeger garnered him an Academy Award-nomination. From Yaeger -- the first man to break the sound barrier -- to the seven Mercury astronauts, it's the story of the birth of the U.S. Space Program.