Red Dawn

"Don't cry! Hold it back...let it turn to something else." - Jed

release year: 1984
genre: action/drama
viewing setting: home Bluray 6/25/23 and several times in the 1980s

synopsis: Foreign soldiers attempt to take over America, which doesn't sit well with a group of renegade teenagers.

impressions: No nonsense here - the movie doesn't explain why things are happening at first, it just has enemy soldiers parachuting in and shooting civilians before the five-minute mark. A small group manages to arm themselves and flee to the mountains, and eventually they decide to fight back using guerilla tactics. It's fun for a while, until the inevitable happens and they are outmatched by a superior force. I still don't understand or agree with the plan at the end - it seemed like pointless sacrifice, really.

acting: Patrick Swayze is the oldest of the teenagers, who immediately understands what's going on and becomes their leader. A young Charlie Sheen (so young that I didn't know who he was at first) is his younger brother. C. Thomas Howell is another of the kids, who quickly becomes a killing machine. Lea Thompson and Jennifer Grey are two sisters that join the group. Powers Boothe is a helpful downed pilot. Harry Dean Stanton has a small role as one of the fathers. Ron O'Neal and William Smith play foreigh officers.

final word: Entertaining "what if?" about a foreign invasion of the U.S..

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