Red Dawn

I was in a group interview a couple of months ago (I didn’t get the job, but I did make it pass this part of the 3 day process) and we had to name as many Patrick Swayze movies as we could. When I mentioned Red Dawn one of the interviewers was very impressed, it seems we both share a love of this classic 80s cold war movie.

I saw this movie with my little brother and thoroughly enjoyed it. Obviously it’s a movie so you some of it was very contrived, but the premise behind it seemed very real to many people who were living during that political climate. I think it spoke to us as young people on a number of levels and one of these had to be the way we knew our local area.

During the 80s I feel as though kids had a lot more freedom with where they could go without their parents panicking. My brother and I decided that we would try and get home from the movies without anyone seeing us, obviously after we left the main street that housed the cinema. We also had a time restraint because we were supposed to go straight home. It really was amazing how far we managed to get before anyone saw us (we lived on a main road so we could only get to that road before we were caught), we knew so many back alleys and pieces of private property that you could easily cut through. I think we were convinced that we could ward off an army because they wouldn’t know the area as well as us......bear in mind there were no Google maps in those days and the town maps available never showed these alleyways that we knew.

Anyway I’m digressing here, but I really enjoyed the movie Red Dawn and if you did too then check out the link to watch the trailer and add your thoughts to my review.

It's a Red Dawn - An Awesome 80s Movie

Red Dawn - The Beginning of WWIII

Framed Red Dawn Movie Poster

September in a small Colorado town and teens are rocking up to school talking about football - including their school's bad loss at the weekend. It's just another day in 1984, but everything was about to change because today was about to become the beginning of a Red Dawn.

On the school playing fields pupils in class notice paratroopers landing, but they're not Americans........panic rises as the movie begins.

Red Dawn is an absolute classic 80s movie starring Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, Jennifer Grey, Lea Thompson and C Thomas Howell. Red Dawn embraces a very real fear in people's mind during this era and the chilling consequences they believed could occur.

Red Dawn - The Movie Trailer

Why Every 80s Teen Wanted to Watch This Movie

Red Dawn - A Movie For It's Time

I can remember watching Red Dawn at the cinema (I can't believe how long ago that was!) and I absolutely loved it. The 80s were the era of the cold war, although it was thawing later on in the 80s. The events that occurred in Red Dawn were actually believable at the time and was the stuff of some people's nightmares.

I had been thinking about Red Dawn for some time and so decided to rent the movie out again recently. The clerk at the video store commented what a classic it was and said that he watched it every few months - he looked like he hadn't even been born when it was released! That tells me that Red Dawn is a classic, despite the fact that the cold war is dead.

I still enjoyed it this time around although I wasn't on the edge of my seat this time- that's the trouble with knowing the ending! It also seemed to drag in places, but that was also because I knew what was coming. It's pretty good to see the stars before they became household names as well.

Red Dawn (Collector's Edition)

Red Dawn starred Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, Jennifer Grey, Lea Thompson and C Thomas Howell. It was actually Charlie Sheen's first film credit and (in my opinion) a great start to an actor's career.

Here's what other critics had to say -

Red Dawn is a classic 80s movie from writer director John Milius. Red Dawn, in my opinion, is a pop culture classic. Red Dawn joins the ranks of good cult movies. A Heroic Action-Adventure Film for those who remember the dark days of the Cold War

Red Dawn Movie Poster

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Wolverines

Before Hugh Jackman Wolverine meant a small group that included Jed (Patrick Swayze), Erica (Lea Thompson), Matt (Charlie Sheen), Robert (C Thomas Howell) and Toni (Jennifer Gray). The 'rebels' from the 1984 movie Red Dawn.

After the deaths of their families (except Darryl's) the kids decide to fight back. Using the name Wolverines after the school's football team they engage in Guerilla warfare with the Russians, Cubans and Nicaraguan troops.

The Wolverines was the name of the high school football team that Jed used to play for and Matt currently played for. A Wolverine is also a member of the weasel family that has a reputation for ferocity and strength out of proportion to it's size. It seemed a fitting name for this band of teens when they were tackling the might of a combined Soviet, Cuban and Nicaraguan troops

"Far better it is to dare mighty things, than to take rank with those poor, timid spirits who know neither victory nor defeat." Theodore Roosevelt.

Everyone wants to be a hero, but do you think you have what it takes to be a wolverine? If the answer is yes then why not wear the name with pride?

Red Dawn Silhouette T-ShirtRed Dawn Property Of The Wolverines T-ShirtRed Dawn Shirt AK47 T-Shirt

Red Dawn - Chilling Dilemmas

The movie Red Dawn also tackles some moral questions - would you compromise your values for your life? We see the Mayor of the town effectively sign his own son's death warrant and we see Matt and Jed create a diversion to allow others to survive while knowing it was a suicide mission.

When the two brothers go into town towards the end of the movie you do wonder how much havoc a couple of teens can cause.....the answer is alot as we are treated to a pyrotechnic display of gunshots and explosions. There are also a couple of really touching moments.

 "...dad'll be here soon Matt"

More on Red Dawn

This movie was Charlie Sheen's first credited film role and what a film to make a debut in. A 1980s classic.

In Red Dawn Charlie Sheen gets to act out every boys dream, being able to fight for his countries freedom. He also has to answer the question - what's the difference between them and us and to dig deep for courage alongside his big brother.

The movie Red Dawn has several ironic moments in it the classic one appearing in the opening scenes. You can see a bumper sticker saying "they'll get me gun when they pry it from my cold, dead hands" then the camera pans over and shows the driver dead and a Russian prying the gun from his hands! These little gems of irony all add another layer to what was, at the time a very believable scenario.

Red Dawn Monument

Partisan Rock

The movie ends with one of the surviving characters returning to Partisan Rock when WWIII had ended. At the rock a monument has now been errected celebrating the Wolverines it reads as follows......

"In the early days of World War Three, guerillas, mostly children placed the names of their lost upon this rock. They fought here alone and gave up their lives, so that this nation should not perish from the earth."

Have You Seen Red Dawn?

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