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Released towards the tail end of The Cold War, 1984’s Red Dawn serves as writer/director John Milius’ follow-up to his compromised stab at epic fantasy Conan the Barbarian. With MGM finally releasing the now two-year-old remake (which is probably not going to improve on the weaknesses of the original), it seems only fitting that the company would make the move to get the original out on blu-ray.
While initially presenting an interesting alternate history of America - one in which the country finds itself ironically isolated by the collapse of the United Nations – Red Dawn is more concerned with being the action-packed and testosterone-fuelled teenage version of Rambo then portraying any sense of the jarring reality its beginning suggests. It’s amassed quite a cult following in the years since its release but that love comes more out of shouting “Wolverines!” then an actual celebration of the film itself.
After a harrowing opening in which Russian paratroopers descend from the sky onto an open football field directly behind a high school (a scene that is easily the film’s best and only true moment), Red Dawn focuses on a ragtag group of teenagers – led by actors Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, and D.B. Sweeney - that manage to survive the invasion and maintain their lives on the outskirts of town. They call themselves Wolverines.
While we never know exactly how, World War III has begun and, it seems, America is losing the war. An American pilot – played by Powers Boothe – confirms this when his plane is shot down and he parachutes right into the middle of the Wolverine camp. He explains to the gang of survivors that there are only a few remaining “free zones” in the country. Together, the Wolverines – now including actresses Jennifer Grey and Lea Thompson – plan a violent assault on the communists in a last ditch effort to … survive.
Red Dawn is not a great film. It bases its believability upon the shoulders of a group of young actors who are clearly – after drinking blood from a fresh deer kill – in over their heads. There are some nice moments from Swayze but the rest of the cast is barely there; painted on with broad strokes that test your patience when the more dramatic moments – i.e. death scenes – are just around the corner. The only form of a “pick me up” arrives when Boothe parachutes in. Finally, Red Dawn has a guiding and much-needed presence…until he is killed.
Part of the problem is the fact that Milius never once provides any character development that is sure to happen as these kids enter survivor mode. One falls by the wayside and no one cares. There’s nothing to distinguish any of the characters from each other. It’s reported that the actors went through an eight-week long military sponsored survival-themed boot camp. Mostly wasted money as what is captured on screen features only rote scenarios seen in almost every other movie that has a camp out scene.
Make no mistake, Red Dawn is big American DUMB fun.
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (first film to ever garner the PG-13 rating.)
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