Red Dawn (1984)

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.

Director:

John Milius

Writers:

Kevin Reynolds (story), John Milius (screenplay),

Stars:

Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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	...	Mr. Mason
Harry Dean Stanton	...	Mr. Eckert
Ron O'Neal	...	Colonel Ernesto Bella
William Smith	...	Strelnikov
Vladek Sheybal	...	Bratchenko
Powers Boothe	...	Lt. Col. Andrew 'Andy' Tanner
Frank McRae	...	Mr. Teasdale

Storyline

From out of the sky, Soviet, Nicaraguan, and Cuban troops begin landing on the football field of a Colorado high school. In seconds, the paratroopers have attacked the school and sent a group of teenagers fleeing into the mountains. Armed only with hunting rifles, pistols, and bows and arrows, the teens struggle to survive the bitter winter and the Soviet KGB patrols hunting for them. Eventually, trouble arises when they kill a group of Soviet soldiers on patrol in the highlands. Soon they will wage their own guerrilla warfare against the invading Soviet troops-under the banner of 'Wolverines!'

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Plot Keywords:

soviet | high school | wolverine | student | invasion | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Action | Drama | War

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Certificate:

PA

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Russian Spanish

Release Date:

10 August 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

L'aube rouge

Filming Locations:

Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, New Mexico, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

United Artists, Valkyrie Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo (4 channels)

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The story was originally to be set in the real town of Calumet, Michigan. It was moved to a fictionalized version of Calumet, Colorado. Colorado was a more central location within the United States which better fit the story and Calumet, Colorado is actually a tiny former mining town abandoned in the 1970s.

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Goofs

Genghis Khan is spelled incorrectly on the blackboard in the classroom.

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Quotes

Darryl Bates: [he and the other Wolverines are gathering food, weapons and survival equipment from Robert Morris's father's store] And grab some toilet paper; I ain't gonna use no leaves.

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Crazy Credits

None of the actors are in the opening credits

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Connections

Featured in I Love the 80's 3-D: 1984 (2005)

User Reviews

Sums up US feelings

Man o man. This movie is great. As a history student its awesome to look back on these types of things and see what the buzz was around the time of the movie's release. The plot is insane, acting over-the-top, but the historical commentary is amazing. People actually believed that such a thing as this was possible in the mid-80s, pre-Gorbachev. This is not "low-level propaganda," its the most obvious pro-American movie I have EVER seen.

On the movie alone, the "film" shouldn't even rate. But as a Cold-War barometer, every interested person should see this to peer into the height of US-Soviet tensions.