what are you doing there?
i said, what are you doing?
a play? show me. it's all right, children, show me.
shakespeare, is it? well, i'm sorry i missed it.
really? but you had time for a play?
i'm taking three conscripts from each town. they will have the honor of serving in the holnist army until such time as i see fit. three men. you suppose you could do that?
acceptable.
acceptable, captain!
you'll need to put some meat on, but i like an impressionable mind. acceptable.
mongoloid. unacceptable.
i want pure blood. someone like.
that man.
welcome, gentlemen, to your new life. you have been born again as soldiers in the army of the united clans of holn. the strong have been sapped by the whimpering propaganda of the weak. men, strong men, have been denied their destiny. you men have been saved from that fate. redemption is within your grasp.
you. what did you do before you were given this opportunity?
you digged holes.  well, now you're going to fill them. and you?
is there any question in anyone's mind that i was talking to you? yes, you. you look like a dangerous man. are you?
shakespeare?
i know who shakespeare was.  'cry "havoc!" and let slip the dogs of war.'
'we few, we happy few, we band of brothers.'
you're pretty good. you're also a fighter. i see it in your eyes.
don't you agree? come on, a man's got to speak his mind.
don't you think i should be the judge of that, soldier?
get up. i said, get up.
put up your fists.
now fight.
you're right. you're not a fighter. but you will be. i'm giving you a chance at a life that means something. a life worth living.
the laws of eight, gentlemen. that is the legacy handed down to us by nathan holn.
these are the laws that we live by. the eight is our symbol. each man will bear it with pride.
only then will you be part of the clan. sit down, gentlemen.
law one. you will obey orders without question. i told you to sit.
i didn't specify chairs. you could've sat down on the ground.
you disobeyed a direct order. you broke law one.
law two. punishment shall be swift.
law three: mercy is for the weak. four: terror will defeat reason. five: your allegiance is to the clan. six: justice can be dictated. law seven. any clansman may challenge for leadership of the clan. does any man here wish to challenge me?
on your feet!
law eight: there is only one penalty: death.
you will get out of this army what you put into it. work and you'll be fed. fight and you'll be respected. die and you'll be remembered. it's up to you.
they're yours. a solitary man, aren't you? binoculars. to watch life from a distance. and shakespeare. to read about it instead of living it.
if he wishes to rise above mere thuggery, a military commandeer must be classically educated. philosophy, history. even a sense of the dramatic. do you know what i did before the war? do you think i was in the army? i sold copying machines. i was a salesman. the talent to lead men and devise and execute a battle plan were locked away inside me.
if nathan holn hadn't come along, i'd still be selling copying machines. can you imagine the wasted life? can you imagine the magnitude of it? but war.  war gives men like me a chance.
here.  'the prize is often left unclaimed. have the courage to grasp it. for fortune always favors the bold.' it always inspires me. i have a design for the future. a master plan. i'll need able officers to carry it out. you have the intelligence. if your heart matches, you'll go far. we'll talk more in the weeks to come. dismissed.
issue the binoculars to a scout.
burn it.
quit moving.
i don't think so, captain.
come out alive and you got yourself a lion steak.
in the water. come back without him and you and another man will die in his place.
they don't usually look at me.
who's responsible for that?!
you. you'll be responsible. get him a torch.
set that flag on fire.
now throw it through the window of your 'post office.'
the united states doesn't exist. that flag is an abomination.
make sure that fire doesn't go out.
good lord. that, gentlemen, is a first-rate piece of ass.
tell the sheriff i want to be introduced. she does not belong in a mudhole like this.
you again?
do you know what system of government we have here, son? a feudal system. like the middle ages. with lords and vassals. that's you and me. those lords, they had some ideas. if a vassal got married, it was the lord's right, his right, to sleep with the bride on the wedding night.
sorry, but i wasn't invited to the wedding. now, you've already done me one favor, son. don't let this be a black mark on an otherwise perfect record.
we'll be civilized about this. i want you to give me your blessing.
can't? i'm tired of can't. we had a great nation once. do you know what made it that way? i can! till the weak came along. the 'i can'ts' destroyed us. but i'm going to make us strong again. i'm going to be the father of a new nation. do you know why it will be me?
because i can!
didn't have to what, sheriff?
your people seem seditious. you seem seditious.
what am i seeing here? i'm waiting.
what government?
who said that?
which way did he go? do not make me ask again.
send a patrol east. send three more south, north and west. they'd better find him east.
what?
the romans had an expression they used to scare their children. 'hannibal ad portas!' -- hannibal is at the gates. do you know who hannibal was? of course not. a pretty girl like you wouldn't know a thing. colonel getty, get some men up there and open that gate.
make it quick. i've got an attack to coordinate.
do i know you?
you're the postman, aren't you?
the restored united states. do these people really believe that shit? who are you really?
i was at the battle of georgetown. i watched the white house burn to the ground. don't try to sell me on any restored u.s.
you're funny. now, what are the terms?
appreciate your offer, postman. problem is, you're in no position to negotiate. these people made it through the bugs and the riots and the three year winter. but they're not going to survive you.
law six, justice can be dictated. kill him. and kill the restored united states with him.
get her.
colonel getty!
what do you think, lieutenant?
yes.
well, if it isn't our old friend the u.p.s. man.
who the hell are you?
i want the camp struck at dawn. we're moving north.
you spelled tyranny wrong.
nothing? everything is here. am i the only one who sees that? get out!
give the people back their hope and their dreams won't be far behind.
what is it, getty?
a military man, especially a commander, should keep a journal. after he's gone, it's the only real defense against the slander that arises.
no. no. not him. no. children. i want a man and you bring me children!
postage due.
you want a war? i'll give you a war. i was born for it!
no. let it stand. all by itself. so it can remind them what it cost them.
you think you can ride? then today's your lucky day.
he's out there somewhere. watching. i can feel it.
you feel it too, don't you? didn't have to end like this, sheriff. he knew where i'd be if he wanted to face me like a man. instead, he's hiding like a rabbit. so much for your postman.
fire!
good lord, what do we have here?
a letter?
'bethlehem. this letter is my testimony to the fact that there is no restored united states and there is no postal service.' then who the hell have we been fighting? 'my carriers are returning home. in exchange, i'm asking you to let them be. the postman.'
he expects me to believe this?
then i've won. i've won.
you were supposed to kill him.
why doesn't that surprise me?
bring out the one we found yesterday. they can die together.
wait a minute.  wait a minute!
hold your fire! you don't know each other? this will never be over. it'll go on except i'll be fighting a goddamn ghost.
no goddamnit.
no, i won't fight a ghost. tabula rasa, gentlemen. a clean slate. i want all mail carriers hunted down. i want the postman found. i want him dealt with. colonel, organize the scouts. he rode west?
how many?
with guns? are you sure?
looks more like two hundred to me.
only thing worse than a coward is one who can't count. lieutenant, do yourself a favor. die well in this battle. in my army a deserter's life is a brief and unpleasant one.
at last, someone with courage enough to bring the fight to me.
reckoning, gentlemen. this is the day i've dreamed of.
they're an eager-looking bunch. morale's a dangerous thing. bring him up. i want this postman to see how the game is played.
god, i hope not.
my little shipping clerk.
great men are made by other great men. patton had rommel. grant had lee. but i get you.
are you trying to goad me into a fight?
unfortunately, it doesn't work that way.
what?
you're not a holnist. you're not a member of the clan. you don't have the right.
where do i know you from?
shakespeare. the one who didn't want to fight.
law seven it is. this war is settled here!
i study people. i know your problem. do you know why you can't fight?
you have nothing to fight for. you don't care about anything. you don't value anything. you don't believe in anything. that's what makes me better.
would i had bestowed that time in the tongues that i have in fencing, dancing and bear-baiting. oh, had i but followed the arts.
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