Amazon.com video review:
The Ronald Reagan 1980s were all about going back to the
future--rewriting the past to better suit Reagan's upbeat vision of
the present. So, Sylvester Stallone's John Rambo (a psychotic,
shell-shocked Vietnam vet in the original film, transformed into a
flag-waving hero in the sequel) was able to go back to Southeast Asia
and "correct" history by decisively (and single-handedly)
winning that messy ol' war on behalf of America. Red Dawn is a
paranoid cold-war cautionary tale that presents us not with a rosy
alternative past, but with an ominous vision of the future,
metaphorically plopping a piece of Russian-occupied Afghanistan into
America's back yard. In this celebration of the Second Amendment,
storm troopers from the Evil Empire descend upon the inadequately
defended United States and hold America hostage. Stealthily avoiding
the invaders, a motley group of red-blooded, small-town, gun-toting
teenagers go underground to form the Wolverines, a guerilla resistance
squad dedicated to making those Russkies rue the day they parachuted
onto U.S. soil. It's a darn good thing those kids had the right to
keep and bear arms, huh! Written and directed by macho filmmaker John
Milius, the self-described "Zen fascist" who also cowrote
Apocalypse Now, as well as the horrifying shark story Robert
Shaw tells in Jaws. The cast includes Patrick Swayze,
C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, Jennifer Grey (a few years before she
and Swayze took up Dirty Dancing),
Charlie Sheen, Powers Boothe, Harry Dean Stanton, and Ben
Johnson. Red Dawn was a commercial success, although audiences
invariably split into two camps, finding it either patriotic or
appalling. Whatever your verdict, the film remains a telling
reflection of its era. --Jim Emerson
Amazon.com video review:
Truly ridiculous but somehow moving, this right-wing paranoid
fantasy by John Milius (The Wind and the
Lion) from 1984 concerns a Soviet takeover of the United
States and a band of ragtag adolescents who metamorphose into freedom
fighters. One can laugh at the notion of Nicaraguans, Cubans, and
Russians having worked out a master plan to invade America, but
Milius's account of how such a grim day affects a small Western town
really does get under one's skin. The cast--most of whom were not yet
stars (Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey had probably never heard of a
script called Dirty
Dancing at the time)--are quite persuasive as nice kids who
come to recognize the tragedy of their lost innocence through fierce,
uncompromising struggle. Powers Boothe is very good as a pilot who
briefly comes to their aid, and Harry Dean Stanton is stirring as a
solid working man and father who represents the virtues his sons are
fighting for. The DVD release includes production notes, the original
theatrical trailer, trivia, scene access, and an optional widescreen
presentation. --Tom Keogh
