Red Dawn Reviews

A blatant product of the '80s action market which is reflective of America's political climate of the era, Red Dawn remains an enjoyably cheesy instance of jingoistic action cinema. Fundamentally a combination of The Breakfast Club and The Dirty Dozen, Red Dawn spotlights a number of up-and-coming stars, is built upon an interesting premise, and contains an almost non-stop stream of solid action scenes. It's difficult to accept the proceedings with a straight face, yet this does not diminish the movie's entertainment value - in fact, there's a great deal of unintentional hilarity and camp. Frankly, it's best enjoyed while drunk.

Infused with its Cold War aesthetic, Red Dawn imagines World War III as being perpetrated by the Russians, and being kicked off with a team of Soviet paratroopers landing in the football field of a Colorado high school. Amidst the initial slaughter, a group of teenagers escape into the mountains surrounding their town and hide out. The small band of teens is led by Jed (Swayze), who refuses to surrender to the enemy despite the wishes of some of his friends. Before you can say "1980's musical montage", two teenage girls (Grey & Thompson) are added to the team, and they transform from average high-schoolers into a deadly, savage paramilitary guerrilla outfit who call themselves The Wolverines. As the Soviets maintain their occupation in the United States, The Wolverines begin raging war against the invaders to avenge the deaths of their families and friends.

To state the obvious, the plot of Red Dawn is patently ludicrous. Eight untrained teenagers armed with civilian weapons would have no chance in a battle against professional soldiers equipped with more sophisticated weaponry. How are these guys so adept at using heavy firearms (like AK-47s), and how can they shoot with such accuracy? The teenagers also seem free to wander in and out of town without being identified by the Soviets, despite being known to the enemy. Suffice it to say, a lot of mindless action occurs throughout the film's duration, as well as a few dialogue sequences constructed to lend a degree of substance to the production.

Controversial upon its theatrical release, Red Dawn bears the honour of being the first ever PG-13 rated movie to hit cinemas in North America. It was also considered the most violent film in history by the Guinness Book of Records, with an average rate of 2.23 acts of violence per minute. By today's standards, the blood is fairly tame, yet such carnage was unprecedented back in 1984, particularly for a film marketed mainly towards teenagers. Most powerful and shocking is the early scene depicting paratroopers descending into a high school football field. For the most part, though, Red Dawn is too goofy to work as anything other than a guilty pleasure. If more thought and attention was put into the screenplay, then John Milius (who, ironically, also co-wrote Apocalypse Now) may have been responsible for directing an effective portrait of a possible future, rather than a gung-ho camp classic.

A veritable who's who of rising actors and actresses, Red Dawn functioned as a launching pad for such actors as Patrick Swayze (Road House, Dirty Dancing), Charlie Sheen (Wall Street, Platoon), Jennifer Grey (Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Dirty Dancing), Lea Thompson (Back to the Future and sequels), Powers Boothe (Rapid Fire) and C. Thomas Howell (The Hitcher), whose careers flourished to varying degrees in later years. Unfortunately, at this early point in their careers, most of these guys sucked as actors. The personalities of the characters are one-dimensional and barely distinguishable, rendering most of The Wolverines entirely forgettable. As a matter of fact, there's no character development of any kind in their metamorphosis from terrified teens to hard-faced guerrillas. The Communist invaders are similarly faceless, hilariously incompetent in a fire-fight and never-ending in number. The script, too, is a cheese sandwich, with line upon line of cringe-worthy dialogue. That said, Red Dawn is rarely dull - director Milius (who also oversaw Conan the Barbarian) skilfully managed to keep the story moving along at an agreeable pace.

Watch Red Dawn if ever you're in the mood for a guilty pleasure. You'll snicker at the cheesy, quotable dialogue, and perhaps ponder the fact that, in the real world, America conquered the Soviets without the help of The Wolverines. The film has not aged gracefully, but it has aged well enough, and anyone looking for a fun, old-school '80s actioner could do far worse than Red Dawn. Due to the malleable possibilities of the premise, the film was remade in 2010.

5.9/10