Red Dawn (1984) – Encore Review

“My family would want me to stay alive. Your family would want you to stay alive. You think you’re so smart, man, but you’re just a bunch of scared kids.” – Jed

Number of Times Seen – Who knows?? (Theater in ’84, cable, video, DVD, 25 Nov 2014 and 10 May 2020)

Link to original review – Here

Brief Synopsis – After the Russians invade the US, a group of Colorado teens form a resistance group in order to fight back.

My Take on it – This is a film that I have loved ever since I first saw it as a kid followed by many more rewatches afterwards.

The story plays out so well and they do an amazing job giving us such a profound and poignant story that seems so plausible.

The story is presented in a realistic way especially how we get to see these teenagers fight back using simple skills like when they use to hunt before the war broke out.

The movie has an amazing cast of Brat Packers including Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, Lea Thompson, C. Thomas Howell and Jennifer Grey.

Powers Booth also is great as the “adult” helping them out.

The film is about to present the action scenes really well and we are easily given the impression of how long this battle of attrition waged on.

I am willing to accede that the premise is a bit far fetched at certain junctures, but they still find a way to make things work despite this.

This is a movie that was imprinted on my brain at a young age and will therefore remain among my favorites largely because of the way it spoke to me as a kid living in the final era of the Cold War.

They are able to do a great job making things seem quite unique and innovative in the way that they allow pars of the story to unfold in unexpected and surprising ways which adds to the realism of it all.

Bottom Line – Amazing film that works so well. The story itself plays out in a seemingly realistic way as we get to see how these teenagers train themselves to fight back using their hunting skills. The cast is superb with Swayze, Sheen, Thompson, Howell, Booth and Grey giving great performances. The action scenes are done really well and we get a real feel of the long war of attrition that these characters must endure. Yes, The premise isn’t the most stable, but they still find ways to make things feel more plausible. This will always be among my favorite films because of how much it spoke to me as a kid when I saw it so often. They do a wonderful job helping make the various things that the characters do seem so unique and innovative as things unfold in ways one doesn’t expect. Highly Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Five of the thirty-six paratroopers in the beginning of the movie did get blown as much as a mile off course during filming. One of them got stuck in a tree. He had to convince locals that he wasn’t really an enemy soldier. (From IMDB)

Rating – Oscar Worthy (9/10) (no change from original review)