Cheap Red Dawn (DVD) (Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson) (John Milius) Price

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Customer Reviews of Red Dawn

I saw this movie as an early teen in that tender age when certain movies have the potential to blindside you and completely freak you out. Had I seen this recently this wouldn't have happened but as it was, this movie stands as the ultimate testament of scared teens caught up in the violence and bizarreness of the cold war.

Viewed through mature eyes you will notice the acting flaws, silly dialogue and some melodrama. But Red Dawn is the classic cheeseball "cold war-turned hot" type of movie that you shouldn't miss. Festooned with brat packers, gun battles and New Mexico scenery, how can you go wrong? The DVD clearly should have more features on it but MGM took the easy way out unfortunately. Interviews, "making of" and other aspects would have been great but oh well.

What Might Have Happened...
This movie was made during the height of the Cold War. It portrays a fictional invasion of the United States by the Russians, who, according to the film, have suffered their worst harvest ever. They have no choice but to attack the United States. The Russian paratroopers land in a small Colorado town.

Patrick Swayze (Jed), C. Thomas Howell (Robert), Charlie Sheen (Matt), Jennifer Gray (Toni), and Lea Thompson (Erica) are the stars of the film. They are forced to flee to the mountains for safety after the Russian invasion. There they form a group of freedom fighters, the "Wolverines". This group continually harasses the Russians by attacking columns of vehicles and troops. The Russians alsways suffered major losses, while the "Wolverines" usually escaped unscathed. Not very realistic. Powers Boothe plays a fighter pilot who is shot down and joins the group. He tries to provide some leadership and ends up falling in love with Erica. Finally, the group's luck begins to run out. Boothe's character is killed during a tank battle, and the losses mount from there. Jed and Matt lead one more attack against the Russians, while Erica heads off across the plains to "Free America", the safe zone.

I found this movie to be entertaining, but not very realistic. I felt the acting was good and I enjoyed the battle scenes, but I had a hard time with how the "Wolverines" escaped almost every encounter without anyone suffering so much as a scratch while the Russians lost numerous vehicles and troops. Also, how did the "Wolverines" manage to keep getting re-supplied with such things as RPGs and heavy machine guns? I did, however, enjoy the paratrooper scenes at the beginning, and I thought the intro to the film, which describes the failed Russian harvest, was well done.

Red Sunset
Dreary "What-If" movie about a bunch of brat packers (a militia group calling themselves "The Wolverines") revolting against Soviet occupied America. The action/battle sequences are third-rate, the characters are one dimensional, and the script is very lame and predictable. The film's core point-of-view is a time-capsule for the Reagan Era paranoia of the evil red empire (Russia). Only thing worth watching in the film is the outdoor wilderness location shots, otherwise there is nothing that is remotely of value in this terrible John Milius film. If this reviewer was a wolverine, I would be very offended by this film.
A film which has almost the same premise and atmosphere, but is a way better film is THE POSTMAN with Kevin Costner.