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Storyline
From out of the sky, Soviet, Nicaraguan, and Cuban troops begin landing on the football field of a Colorado high school. In seconds, the paratroopers have attacked the school and sent a group of teenagers fleeing into the mountains. Armed only with hunting rifles, pistols, and bows and arrows, the teens struggle to survive the bitter winter and the Soviet KGB patrols hunting for them. Eventually, trouble arises when they kill a group of Soviet soldiers on patrol in the highlands. Soon they will wage their own guerrilla warfare against the invading Soviet troops-under the banner of 'Wolverines!' Written by
Derek O'Cain
Plot Summary
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Plot Synopsis
Taglines:
A full scale military invasion by foreign troops begins. Total surprise. Almost total success . . . .
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Did You Know?
Trivia
The cast underwent an intensive 8-week military training course before filming started.
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Goofs
Genghis Khan is spelled incorrectly on the blackboard in the classroom.
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Quotes
Toni:
[
her dying words, to Jed]
Go on ahead. I'm just gonna stay here and listen to the wind a while, okay?
[
He gives her a grenade, pulls the pin for her and kisses her goodbye; she then rigs herself as a boobytrap]
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Crazy Credits
None of the actors are in the opening credits
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Connections
Referenced in
Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)
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Red Dawn is 1980s right-wing cinema at its best, if you could call it that. Considering the time frame, the film becomes all the more ridiculous.
An emboldened Soviet Union (in actuality on the verge of collapse at the time) invades the United States with her Cuban (another country with a teetering infrastructure) and Latin American allies. Following a successful invasion and occupation of large portions of America, a group of then-current teen heart throbs form a guerrilla resistance against the Commies.
At the risk of sounding like a far-left Communist sympathizer, which I am not, the paranoia that the conservative screenwriters had is striking. I wish I could have reminded them that the United States in prior history sent military expeditions into Russia in 1918 and trained Cuban exiles to invade Cuba in 1961.
Politics aside, this is just a bad movie. The ludicrous storyline about high school kids fighting off a huge Soviet war machine is simply too unbelievable, even for cinematic standards. The acting by the young ensemble actors is poor throughout, one notable instance being when the teary eyed boys visit their captured father. The dialogue, particularly, exemplifies atrocious writing;
"WOLVERINES!!!"
"Not bad for a bunch of kids, huh?" "Mama would be real proud."
"They're gonna kill us! All of us!" "So why should we be different."
Still, Red Dawn does have some merit as an encapsulating piece of a political atmosphere that ran rampant over America, much like the Russians in the movie.