Discuss Red Dawn
Discuss → Movies → Red Dawn → General
There Was A Time . . .
posted by northcoastSTAFFMOD on March 24, 2024 at 6:38 PM
When we feared the Commies.
When we imagined, here in the U.S.A., that Russkies just might start falling from the skies, while the Nicaraguans came all the way up through Mexico and the Cuban Army landed in Florida.
And then we'd show 'em! -- Yeah, we'd run to the mountains or the forests, with our camping gear our knives and whatever guns we could scrounge, and take 'em out, never really having to worry about actual military discipline because we'd be "free-agent" militias.
This movie (it's not a film) encapsulates that late Cold War era perfectly. I first saw Red Dawn (1984) on HBO, probably around 1986 or '87 when I was only around 11 or 12. Back then I thought it was pretty good, though having just given it a Blu-Ray rewatch, my gosh, how terrible was the acting. Just not good at all. And every right-wing paranoid phobia was brought to bear . . . the Nicaraguan Army first managed to clandestinely invade the country by migrating illegally across the Rio Grande, and then showed their true colors by neutralizing Strategic Air Command USAF bases ahead of the USSR paradrops throughout the American West.
And boy, when the Commies finally take over select areas of the U.S.A., they waste no time setting up "reeducation" camps and putting free showings of Alexander Nevsky (an actual Soviet-era film from 1938) into the local cinemas. And sending their agents into local bait and tackle shops to pull the lists of those Americans who have purchased firearms (scenes like this are still used to this day by some here in the U.S. to argue against national firearms registrations. Because you never know when those Russkies might show up. Oh, wait a minute, the American right wing now looks up to former KGB agents [cough Putin cough]. So I guess, nevermind?).
But don't worry, Patrick Swayze and his merry band of high school partisans are here to save the day! WOLVERINES!!!!!!!! Now, point of fact, in the early days of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, there were news reports of Ukrainian military units spraying this word-- in English --across the sides of military vehicles, as Swayze and crew did. So this movie apparently did provide some actual real-life inspiration to some present-day resistors of Russian aggression. Just not here in America.
Some positive points about this movie:
Real-life pyrotechnics galore . . . no CGI flames or explosions here . . . I do miss those days of more visceral special-effects techniques.
Very accurate mock-ups of Soviet equipment. We see a life-size model of a Yak-36 Forger fighter aircraft blown up before it can takeoff, and three (apparently Puma-type) helicopters flying across the landscape pursuing the American guerrillas, these helicopters convincingly painted to replicate fearsome Soviet Mi-24 Hind gunships. Not to mention all of the armored vehicles painted in the scheme of Soviet tanks and armored personnel carriers. Very close attention to detail on the part of the props crew.
But my-- as I've said before --was the acting bad, and the paranoia intense. Oddly enough-- and I believe this argument, having lived through the late Cold War and met some of these people with this thought process --the argument has been made that some on the American Right actually wanted this to happen, so that they could point a shaking, accusatory finger at those on the American Left, and say, "See, we told you so!" And then these Righties could grab their guns and go fight some Russkies.
Ah, the memories.
Red Dawn (1984) -- 5 out of 10 stars.
Reply by northcoast
on March 24, 2024 at 11:40 PM
Just by going on what I've read on this site over the years, I'm probably more politically "conservative" than most here on TMDB-- although, the older I get, the more I dislike such labels, since I fear they just reinforce our own echo chambers (whether one is on the "Left" or the "Right").
I was actually one of those people back in the 1980s-- despite my youth, I was very politically aware -- who feared that such a "Red Dawn" scenario could happen. And I believe the old USSR absolutely was a threat. But I also recognize that there was a lot of propagandistic hogwash on both sides, and, in my opinion, "Red Dawn", to a large degree, falls into that category.
As for the current situation with Russia? Well, they are no USSR. Look close at their armed forces, and you'll see that those are a pale shadow of the Soviet armed forces. They are certainly in no position to launch a successful invasion of Western Europe, much less the United States, and if not for the fact that they have an enormous nuclear stockpile, we wouldn't have to worry so much about them like we currently are . . . but they do have those nukes. Without them, Putin would be nothing.
As for the film versus movie thing . . . I've written about this before, in particular on The Godfather board. The Godfather is a film. 2001: A Space Odyssey is a film. Both of the recent Dune releases are films.
Red Dawn is not a film. Terminator 3 is not a film. Those are movies. But not films. Too much surface, not enough depth. But candy can be enjoyed, too, even though candy is barely food. And I do on occasion enjoy me some candy, just as I enjoy movies. But one category is art, while the other is kitsch. And Red Dawn is definitely kitsch.
In my opinion.
Reply by rooprect
on March 25, 2024 at 9:42 AM
It's been ages since I saw this but I still remember how bad it was. Something about a cartoonish Russian invasion being foiled by a bunch of kids running around the woods with pointed sticks? Rambo meets The Mighty Ducks?
Great observations, nc! I think this film is a historical marker, perhaps reflecting the 80s Cold War paranoia and xenophobia that would eventually morph into the extremist Q-Anon faction we're dealing with today. Like you I was pretty conservative growing up on movies like this, like the Rambo franchise, like every other 80s action flick where the bad guys were defined by a Russian accent, or a turban, and that's all you need to know about them. But whereas we grew out of the comic book phase, others took it as their bible.
Your review made me want to re-watch this movie just for laughs sake, kinda like the way you watch old episodes of Threes Company for it's cringe factor whenever Roper slings a homophobic dig, and you say to yourself "How did I miss how frickin offensive this was??" and laughing at how far we've come. Er... some of us at least.