i think teddy would have approve . sometimes modern movie present the past through modern belief and sensibility . in fact and more often than not director present the past in this manner . rough rider be an honest movie that let the past speak for itself with no apology . teddy roosevelt and his rather diverse band of recruit believe that they be go to cuba to save the cuban people from an evil and exploitive spanish colonial government . tom berenger completely bury himself in the character of teddy roosevelt without the parody that often accompany the part . he be surround by a cast of excellent actor from gary busey a general joe wheeler to george hamilton a william randolph hurst . sam elliot and francesco quinn and and brad johnson be fictional character use to represent the range of ordinary men who follow roosevelt . chris noth and holt mccallany and and james parke be the wealthy scion of the wadsworth and fish and tiffany family . i especially liked nick chinlund a frederick remington and adam storke a stephen crane . except for hurst and wheeler and these men go into the war dreaming of honor and adventure . they saw themselves a hero go off to save the cuban people . they be men who quote shakespeare henry v we happy few and believe it implicitly . the director and john milius and and his cast of fine actor do honor to themselves and their profession by allow these naive young men to speak for themselves and their world .