Red Dawn (1984)

"Avenge ME!!! Avenge ME!!!"

Ok, so let's get this annoying plot summary thing over with quickly and move on to the fun stuff. Russia and Cuba invade small, northwestern American town in Colorado. A handful of kids, including Matt Eckert (Charlie Sheen), escape with Matt's older brother Jed Eckert (Patrick Swayze) into the mountains outside of town. They survive for awhile by hunting and eventually return to town to find the Commie's have taken over and turned it into command center numero uno. On the way back to the mountains they visit an old family friend who reveals to them that World War III has begun and they are about 50 miles inside of enemy lines. A few new characters pop up from here to there including Powers Boothe as downed Air Force pilot Andy. The small group, now calling themselves the 'Wolverines' begin a rebellion and strategically attack there Russian/Cuban foes.

Ok...Stop there. "Red Dawn" is very well made and far more of a war film than I thought it would be. I'd never seen it despite the number of people who'd always told me it was a good movie. After a week of 80s Action films I really expected the heroes to come out the other side of this unscathed but not everybody does. Who bites the dust? For those few of you who've never seen it, I will leave you in suspense. However, I really hate it when the good guy you've been rooting for the entire hour and fifty three minutes bites the bleeping dust!! I know that it's more realistic this way but c'mon, we come to the movies for fantasy right? Escapism, RIGHT? My complaints don't stop there, oh no, you should be so lucky!! At times the movie seems to take itself a little too seriously and it occasionally became overly dramatic . Hey, Charlie Sheen's character, your 'friend' betrayed you and sold you out to the Russians and you DON'T want to kill him? You want me to be sympathetic? Somebody's wires got crossed. Anyhow, it was pretty good all in all and most of you would probably dig it minus a few gripes. It drags on a bit and anybody who gets it, gets it in the last 15 minutes. It wasn't terrible though I'll probably never sit through it again...but hey, I've never really liked war movies anyway. 2.5/5 -andy

SECOND OPINION: Well theres no accounting for taste. On that note "Red Dawn", given the time it was made and the material that was being dealt with, which was somewhat contriversal having such an impact on American culture during the Reagan administration. At the time these fears were real just like the Cuban Missile Crisis. The characters are all portrayed well and the story is solid and original. A very young Patrick Swayze delivers the best performance. Keep your eyes out for the remake this year which I hope does the original justice. As one of the best films of the 80s " Red Dawn" deserves more. 3.5/5