Console best movie i've ever seen.

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

ehochstein-29944 This movie is the best. The best. Americans look foolish. Russia extremely strong and powerful in it's denial. Stick around after the credits for the hotel pee pee scene.

contactdouglashumble If you don't like this movie...then you ain't American and that's all there is to it. In fact, if you don't like this movie, just take your butt on outta here you pinko!

Scott LeBrun Political paranoia time. This obviously very memorable 80s product of the Cold War puts forth a chilling "what if" scenario. In this case, the Cold War has a different outcome, and legions of Russians, Nicaraguans, and Cubans aggressively invade the U.S. of A. However, a small band of high school students in Colorado are able to head for the hills. While they are in seclusion, they begin to use whatever supplies and weapons they've acquired, and rise up righteous to kick tons of evil Commie ass.If you can lay aside your personal political beliefs, this does function as an interesting, sometimes believable action thriller that forces people to answer a serious question. If your own country were invaded like this, would YOU be able to rise to the challenge? It's because the premise touches people in that way that makes it a compelling enough entertainment. Obviously, the war and violence here are not glorified, but are treated as something unavoidable. Our band of heroes do have quite a bit of success, but they're also not infallible, and aren't experienced soldiers despite whatever training they might have had.Many of the bad guys are pretty one dimensional, but not all of them. One of the most intriguing characters is a Cuban colonel (Ron "Superfly" O'Neal) who has his doubts about the whole conflict, and who yearns to be back home with his beloved.Action scenes and stunts are well executed by Terry Leonard, and the movie does manage to have some fairly punchy gore despite a PG-13 rating. At its best, "Red Dawn" is vivid, disconcerting, and rousing, perfectly punctuated by Basil Poledouris' soaring score.The kids are played by Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, Lea Thompson, C. Thomas Howell, Jennifer Grey, and others, and they do alright, but the older generation is particularly strong: Ben Johnson, Lane Smith, Harry Dean Stanton, Frank McRae, Roy Jenson, etc. "Red Dawn" does hit its stride upon the introduction of the Powers Boothe character, and then the top dog villain played by the eternally bad ass William Smith (who speaks fluent Russian)."Red Dawn" is the kind of film that can engender purely personal responses. Still, it's undeniable that it truly does hit a nerve. It would make a fine double feature with "Invasion U.S.A.", a Chuck Norris vehicle from the following year.Directed by John Milius, who also receives screenplay credit with Kevin Reynolds.Seven out of 10.

BrooklynRedLeg I re-watched the original version of Red Dawn recently. I'm absolutely baffled by the vitriol this movie engenders among its critics. I've seen it referred to as everything from a racist, jingoistic "Ra, Ra, America" piece of Reagan-era trash propaganda to an allegory for the Afghani insurgency (which is far closer to the truth). The vast majority, I believe, completely missed the point of the movie. Either they never watched it or simply didn't pay attention.To call it a jingoistic bit of Reagan propaganda is a stretch, to say the least because the reason the "Wolverines" take up the insurgency is summed up once in the entire movie: "Because we live here!" That, in a nutshell, is the cry of every partisan, insurgent and guerrilla fighter the world over throughout history. They don't do it for "God, Mom and Apple Pie" or any of that crap. They do it because their home was invaded, their families were butchered and their enemy is relentless.Another jab I've seen is that somehow the movie portrays the Wolverines as super soldiers that never talk about, let alone experience, the horrors of war. So, somehow, Robert's descent into sociopathy, the deaths of Arturo "Aardvark" Mondragon and USAF Lt. Colonel Andrew Tanner, the implication that Toni and Erica were about to be raped (or were) and the eventuality of the war grinding down Jed are all completely and totally ignored.Does the movie involve Commies getting mowed down? Ayep, though I would note that its not front-line troops that the Wolverines usually attack, but troop convoys and rear echelon types....just like what happens in most guerrilla/insurgency campaigns. The one time they attack the Spetsnaz, its a well conceived ambush when the Soviets come blundering into the Wolverines encampment. Somehow, I don't think the critics actually paid attention. Red Dawn isn't a Chuck Norris movie.The other thing is that, unlike in other action movies of the era, the enemies in Red Dawn are not faceless automatons/robots to be blown to kingdom come. Colonel Bella is about as sympathetic an enemy as you can get even though he orders the deaths of the parents of the known Wolverines, minus the Mayor who is Daryl's father. The Soviet Spetsnaz commander Strelnikov is also sympathetic and clear headed. Most tellingly, he says he hates the hypocrisy that warfare produces, that euphemistic language of "containing the enemy" and so forth is a bunch of BS. Again, this is not something a mindless robotic enemy would say in a "Ra, Ra, Ra, USA! USA! USA!" movie. Anyway, for TL;DR - Red Dawn (1984) is a hell of a lot better movie than the then critics, then or even now, give it credit for being. Its a lot more subversive in its message than "Kill Commies for God, Mom and Apple Pie!" as some claim.