RED DAWN (1984)

[rra]

RED DAWN (1984) - ***

There is a shot in RED DAWN focusing upn a car's bumper sticker: "They can have my gun when they pry it from my cold, dead fingers." We then cut to a Soviet paratrooper pulling a Colt revolver from a dead man's grip. Either writer/director and NRA supporter John Milius has a sense of humor or its a serious scene that fails, I always get a laugh out of it.

What is known now is that the whole premise of RED DAWN is based on a fallacy of its epoch. We didn't learn until after the Cold War that the Russians didn't have the military or economical capacity to fully invade and occupy America in the 1980s. Plus, America's geographical isolation makes any invasion by a foreign power utterly impossible, but that doesn't matter.

DAWN's scheme is a fantasy what-if in the tradition of John Steinbeck's THE MOON IS DOWN and a exploratory tale of resistance inspired by the reality-based THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS. People simply dismiss this film as stupid ideological paranoia from the Reagan Decade. Where were these people when the RAMBO sequels were insanely popular?

With the plot being the Soviets invading America and high school kids becoming guerilla fighters, it should have been pretty damn stupid and absurd, except this is John Milius we're talking about here.

He help scripted APOCALYPSE NOW. He shot the awesomeness that is CONAN THE BARBARIAN, and he inspired John Goodman's character in THE BIG LEBOWSKI. He aint a moronic flag-waver like Michael Bay.

Now I don't agree with many of Milius' politics. I prefer to keep firearms from the hands of idiots who treat them like toys, and certainly some moments in RED DAWN seem to be his thematic argument against gun control. But what I do dig is his small touches in what is otherwise a decent action movie.

Take the Cuban Colonel. As a member of the Soviet occupation authority, he seems to understand why they're being beaten by kids, which his Russian superiors want to hear nothing of it. Just like Col. Mathieu in THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS, he's a former partisan fighter that is now the imperialist opposition of an insurgency...and he's disillusioned by it.

We never see such compelling communist baddies in the RAMBO pictures.

Then there are Milius' references to history from the Rocky Mountain landscape evoking intentional Deja vu feelings of Afghanistan to the town's cooperation this side of Vichy France.

Other nice stuff include Powers Boothe as the downed American pilot who gives a chilling assessment of this Third World War, which no viewer ever forgets, to the Russian counter-attack against these Wolverines that's surprisingly intelligent.

Ultimately I guess I liked RED DAWN because I enjoyed seeing Milius taking these materialistic and selfish kids of America and making them into soldiers fighting for a cause beyond shopping malls and crappy pop music, though apparently some folks took it too seriously and missed the whole point.

When American occupation forces of Iraq captured Saddam Hussein in 2003, the seizure operation was called Operation Red Dawn. The Pentagon claims the codename was a coincidence and that we have not become the Cuban Colonel.

[Palatial Regalia]

Since I grew up in this time period, Id say Red Dawn was my favorite movie involving "kids".

[jcdenton]

I love how Paster Richards in GTA VC rips off that movie in his paranoid fears of the Soviets.

[rra]

jcdenton said:

I love how Paster Richards in GTA VC rips off that movie in his paranoid fears of the Soviets.

Yes, this nation at AmmoNation, we'll be having a special screening of the documentary RED DAWN!

Now you really want an idiotic right-winger movie based on the same concept of RED DAWN?

Try to track down the infamous late 80s ABC mini-series AMERIKA with Sam Neill. Urgh. People that trash RED DAWN don't know real pain.

[rra]

protoroc said:

Since I grew up in this time period, Id say Red Dawn was my favorite movie involving "kids".

Watching it on TV again today, I noticed how Patrick Swayze could have been a very good actor if he had wanted to.

Instead, he went and did pop garbage like ROAD HOUSE and DIRTY DANCING. He did become a movie star, but who gives a damn about him now?

BTW, speaking of the Swayze, anyone ever see his STEEL DAWN?

[tankmcquade]

WOLVERINES!!!!!!!!!

[jcdenton]

rra said:

jcdenton said:

I love how Paster Richards in GTA VC rips off that movie in his paranoid fears of the Soviets.

Yes, this nation at AmmoNation, we'll be having a special screening of the documentary RED DAWN!

Now you really want an idiotic right-winger movie based on the same concept of RED DAWN?

Try to track down the infamous late 80s ABC mini-series AMERIKA with Sam Neill. Urgh. People that trash RED DAWN don't know real pain.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amerika_%28TV_miniseries%29


I find it funny how these Right wing wank-paranoia movies always have the US just obliterated in a short time. I mean, dont they want there country to look strong?

[jobber2thestars]

The musical was pretty good.

[BoilerRoomBrawler]

Yeah, talk about a dated movie.

I like how the Wolverines were ultimate useless to the story too.

[rra]

boilerroombrawler said:

I like how the Wolverines were ultimate useless to the story too.

Really, useless?

How so?

But yeah, it is a dated movie....I mean, who in the 80s figured the Soviets would be out of business by 1991?

Hell, look at Peter Hyam's 2010....

[amsiraK]

This was always a little cheesy for my tastes. But that's me.

So, what WAS up her ass anyway?

[Bob Schlapowitz]

This movie is a wicked guilty pleasure of mine!

[Jiren]

I thought it was crap

I prefer "Grey Dawn"

[BoilerRoomBrawler]

rra said:

boilerroombrawler said:

I like how the Wolverines were ultimate useless to the story too.

Really, useless?

How so?

But yeah, it is a dated movie....I mean, who in the 80s figured the Soviets would be out of business by 1991?

Hell, look at Peter Hyam's 2010....

The US eventually defeated and drove off the Russians without the Wolverines' help.
And if I recall, it was years afterward.

[AriadosMan]

The Wolverines weren't significant in the total sum of their victories, they were significant because they inspired the Americans to ultimately defeat the Russians. Their courage was supposed to be inspirational, not their firepower.
Funny that the movie makes it out to be huge bloody war, whereas in reality the collapse was economic. And it was one of the worst things ever to happen to the pro wrestling business, as it denied them access
to the Evil Russians that they had used as stock bad guys for decades.

[2 time pro bowler Fred Dryer]

Dude, members of the brat pack killing commies, and Powers Boothe as a good guy? What more do you need?

[BoilerRoomBrawler]

realfakerazor said:

The Wolverines weren't significant in the total sum of their victories, they were significant because they inspired the Americans to ultimately defeat the Russians. Their courage was supposed to be inspirational, not their firepower.
Funny that the movie makes it out to be huge bloody war, whereas in reality the collapse was economic. And it was one of the worst things ever to happen to the pro wrestling business, as it denied them access
to the Evil Russians that they had used as stock bad guys for decades.

Fair enough. I was basically speaking of firepower.
In any case, I wonder if deep down a lot of Americans were, in some twisted way, hoping for a war to end all wars with America standing triumphant?

[rra]

boilerroombrawler said:

realfakerazor said:

The Wolverines weren't significant in the total sum of their victories, they were significant because they inspired the Americans to ultimately defeat the Russians. Their courage was supposed to be inspirational, not their firepower.
Funny that the movie makes it out to be huge bloody war, whereas in reality the collapse was economic. And it was one of the worst things ever to happen to the pro wrestling business, as it denied them access
to the Evil Russians that they had used as stock bad guys for decades.

Fair enough. I was basically speaking of firepower.
In any case, I wonder if deep down a lot of Americans were, in some twisted way, hoping for a war to end all wars with America standing triumphant?

Oh definately. Good ole US of A.....

[Hulk With A Mustache]

I like this movie. It's pretty good, but it would have been better if the movie had some scenes with a military guy training the Wolverines. It didn't make any sense to me how a bunch of high school kids could become so well trained in guerrilla warfare in such short time without any training. I mean, where did they learn all the shooting and camoflauge techniques? Were those classes at their high school?

[The OP]

Their dad taught them. Remember the scene where they visit their dad at the prison camp? They explain it during that part.