Red Dawn (1984)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

John Milius

Writers:

John Milius (writer)
Kevin Reynolds (screenplay)

Release Date:

10 August 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama

Tagline:

A full scale military invasion by foreign troops begins. Total surprise. Almost total success . . . .

Plot:

It is the dawn of World War III. In mid-western America, a group of teenagers bands together to defend their town, and their country, from invading Soviet forces.

Plot Keywords:

High School | Invasion | Guerrilla Warfare | Helicopter | Concentration Camp

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Patrick Swayze	...	Jed
C. Thomas Howell	...	Robert
Lea Thompson	...	Erica
Charlie Sheen	...	Matt
Darren Dalton	...	Daryl
Jennifer Grey	...	Toni
Brad Savage	...	Danny
Doug Toby	...	Aardvark
Ben Johnson	...	Mason
Harry Dean Stanton	...	Mr. Eckert
Ron O'Neal	...	Bella
William Smith	...	Strelnikov
Vladek Sheybal	...	Bratchenko
Powers Boothe	...	Andy
Frank McRae	...	Mr. Teasdale

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Russian | Spanish

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Iceland:16 | Brazil:14 | Argentina:Atp | Netherlands:12 | Netherlands:16 (DVD rating) | Australia:M | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Finland:(Banned) (original rating) | Finland:K-16 (re-rating) | Norway:15 (re-rating) | Norway:16 (original rating) | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 | West Germany:18

Filming Locations:

Johnson Mesa, New Mexico, USA

Company:

United Artists

Trivia:

During filming, an old Safeway grocery store in Las Vegas, NM, was converted to a sound stage and used for several scenes in the movie.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Cuban paratroopers launch a rocket-propelled grenade into the school bus, a special effects guide wire is visible.

Quotes:

[3 Soviet soldiers on patrol in the highlands of Arapho National Forest have found an arrow at the side of the road]
Yuri: [speaking Russian] Look. Look what I've found. An Indian arrow.
Soldier #1: [notices it is a manufactured arrow] I did not know these Indians used steel.
Yuri: Sure, you fool. They used the melted sabers of Federalist Cossacks.
Soldier #1: [notices the platic tail] Did these Indians work in plastic too?
Yuri: You idiot, this is bone, polished to a high sheen.
Yuri: [after spotting Toni & Erica] Stop!
Soldier #2: Watch out! She has a weapon.
Soldier #1: [speaking Russian] Stop, damn it!
[fires his AK-47]
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Trip & Sloan (2007)

Wolverines!

Someone else before me wrote that a lot of people don't understand how believable this movie was in it's day. I have to agree with the author. I remember this movie as being pretty scary and pretty violent. I haven't seen it in a while but there's a lot of scenes that haunt me. One in particular is when several of the kids look for their parents at a concentration camp. Harry Dean Stanton gives a powerful performance that serves to show that he's a genuine actor. That scene is heartbreaking, as well as a scene that follows with Patrick Swayze breaking down in the snow covered woods. C. Thomas Howell vs. the helicopter. The ritual of the deer blood. Powers Boothe. The final battle and resolution. Yeah, it's a little much and these days, it wouldn't exactly fly but dammit Jim, I dug it at the time and I still do. I think everyone should see it, just so you can either remember or learn what it was like to live in a time when the general thinking was a little paranoid. I think the movie manages to capture at least that, being what it is, a paranoid fantasy of someone who probably has a huge gun collection in his concrete reinforced cellar. Rating: *** out of *****.