Review of Red Dawn (1984) by Jacob L — 14 Jun 2008

I'd heard a lot about this film before seeing it. Mostly from blowhard critics who like to hear the sound of their own voice (or that of their own fingers typing). A lot of the reviews I've heard are negative, based on the idea that it is ludicrous, overly preachy and patriotic and that it's very dated. Firstly, you can't exactly blame the movie for being dated as it deals with the sort of fears everyone had at the time of production. People were frightened sensless by the idea that a bunch of soviet soliders would parachute into their towns and take over. So as for being ludicrous and dated, those arguments don't hold any weight as these fears are mostly gone nowadays and you can't blame the movie for that.

Now for the argument that it's overly preachy and patriotic. While it's true that the film is patriotic this argument once again holds no water as the one of the many purposes for films, books, magazines, etc, is that the person responsible is able to express their opinions and their own outlook on life. Also though the film's baddies are the Russian soldiers that are invading the land and killing and raping where they go, it is established later in the film that the heroes of the movie are no better than the villains in that they also use force to get what they want, no matter how noble their intentions.

Now that that is out of the way we can get on with the real review. The movie wasn't bad at all, in fact it was pretty awesome. The action in the film didn't seem overly embellished (e.g no bullet time crap that was only good in The Matrix and characters doing backflips off walls), it actually seemed like a real battle between two armies. There are scenes of emotion in the film that are genuinely heartbreaking to watch and a lot of the character development just helps it along. It's also rather poingnant that it is the children (teenagers) of the town that end up being the saviours by using things that they learned from their parents.

Now for the downsides. A lot of the dialogue is rather stilted, particularly that of the Russian soldiers and there's more than a little hint of cheese buried in the proceedings ("Avenge Me! Avenge MEEE!"). But hell, what's an eighties movie without cheese, eh? Also the ending's is a bit abrupt.

Now for the more lowbrow section of the review. The action got started very quickly, the opening sequence being among the best parts of the film, the action sequences are really well done in that they entertain the shit out of you. "Red Dawn" is famous for not only being among the first PG13 rated movies, but also for being the most violent movie ever made for the time. Despite it's rating it was actually considered more violent than a lot of R rated movies of the time (in that there are many acts of violence in the film, not the graphic nature).

John Milius' "Red Dawn" is up there with Peter Hyams' "Outland", John Carpenter's "Prince of Darkness" and many others as one of the most underated movies of the eighties. I suggest you keep an open mind and check it out, despite it's underlying cheesyness. Besides, John Milius co-wrote "Apocalypse Now". How could you go wrong?

Tagline: A gang of high school kids become the last line of defence.

Quote - "Avenge me! AVENGE MEEE!" - Father (Harry Dean Stanton).

4/5 Cups of Dead Deer Blood.