Red Dawn (1984) Podcast

Red Dawn is a film depicting the invasion of the United States from the south by Communist forces from Cuba, Nicaragua and the Soviet Union in what is to be the start of World War III. We picked this film partially because of the events currently occurring between Russian and the Ukraine. This seemed like a fitting film. It stars Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Jennifer Grey, Lea Thompson, Charlie Sheen and Powers Boothe all very early in their careers.

The film begins with high school kids starting classes only to see paratroopers landing outside in a small mountain pass Colorado Town. As people were rounded up, some escaped and ran into the mountains to hide from enemy forces. Over several days, as they start to investigate what is happening, they decide they can start trying to take on the invading forces. They form a small militia called The Wolverines, named after there High School mascot.

This movie follow the students journey together with the eventual addition of Powers Boothe’s character as a downed fighter pilot. Their journey takes them over several weeks while trying to take down enemy forces and reclaim their small mountain town.

All in all, this is a fun watch. I will say this, as many from this period do, shows it’s age. If you can handle some of the poor effects, and some should have been deleted scenes this is a fun watch. It also serves as a cautionary tale as we discussed in the episode.

Also worth noting there is a remake of this movie from 2012 staring Chris Hemsworth and Jeffery Dean Morgan. In the podcast I mentioned that I remembered liking that movie. While the action is better, I think the original may be an overall better movie.

Below is a trailer for Red Dawn (1984)

Here is a link to the IMDB page for Red Dawn.

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