Anyone here heard of or seen Red Dawn? It's one of my favorite movies, even if it's a bit far fetched! It was on TV last night, and I only caught the first half, but then again I have seen the movie lots of times!  ;D

Is that the one with Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen?

that movie rocked. totally opposed to my personal politics but it was so over the top it was entertaining as hell.

there are some fun 50s, 60s movies that have red dawn type themes -- invasion usa had the same tip, soviet paratroopers landing on the little league baseball field in minnesota and all that stuff. they did a mystery science theater version of it back in the 90s, which is the only way it should be watched, probably. it seemed like without the wisecracks it would probably be pretty dreadful.

http://imdb.com/title/tt0044750/

Myster Science Theater did a version of Red Dawn?

Myster Science Theater did a version of Red Dawn?


naw, invasion usa, that 50s red-dawnish movie. red dawn, though no masterpiece, would be way too good for the mst3k treatment.

Well, at 15 I liked 'Red Dawn', at that age, stuff like that was rockin'. Now that I'm older, well, you see it as over the top and silly!

Yeah, Invasion USA had the same theme, it was okay, but I preferred Red Dawn more back then.

On a somewhat personal note: At that time, you would think stuff like that would be so surreal, that we would never get attacked liked that on our own soil. If we only knew then what we did now.

i seem to remember thinking the only reason why red dawn seemed a little implausible is because with nuclear deterrence conventional war like that seemed like a thing of the past. and i thought it was interesting that the americans in that had to use all these vietcong style guerrilla tactics.

Is that the one with Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen?


Yeah, that's the film...

Good flick. When if first came out, all of them were "unknowns". Now, we all know  Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, Charlie Sheen, and Jennifer Grey.




Cat

was red dawn the movie where they ca;;ed themselves the wolverines...named after their school mascot?

'Wolverines' was the name of the football team.

C. Thomas Howell hasn't done much as of later, in quite some time to my knowledge

Charlie Sheen does seem to be one of the few actors in the film, who is actually doing something...  ::)

I have it somewhere on VHS. Its probably all dusty  ;D

I often get this movie confused with Steel Dawn, which also stars Patrick Swayze  ;D

I often get this movie confused with Steel Dawn, which also stars Patrick Swayze  ;D


Red Dawn is about school age kids fighting the Russians ( or some communist  :D ) Back in 85 or 86. It was a good flick back then. I haven't watched it in years.

The movie was released in '84

i really dig the bit in the beginning, when the teacher guy is in class doing his lecture and he looks out and the rooskies are all flitting down on parachutes in the schoolyard. it's very understated and nicely done. the movie sorta devolves into an action film after that but for a few minutes in the beginning i was really expecting something unusually good. but i'm a fan of the movie anyway.

this month's "harpers" magazine there's an article about war movies -- mostly talking about this flick "jarhead" that's coming out but he interviews the director of "Red dawn" at some length. interesting coincidence that, and probably sign of a communist conspiracy.  :o

I simply loved "Red Dawn" when it came out, and today it's still one of my favorite movie of all times, and just for the record the enemy in the movie is the Red Army and the armies of Cuba and Nicaragua, and a fun piece of info I got from the DVD (I'm quoting the inlay):

The movie's T-72 MBTs were such a precise replica that while it was being carted around L.A. two CIA agents followed it to the studio and wanted to know where it had come from.

Also one of the parachutists who took part in the invasion scene got blown a mile off cause, and found himself hanging in a tree shouting (To the people on the ground) "Don't shoot, don't shoot I'm not a russian soldier" and "Red Dawn" was actually the first movie to be rated PG-13, followed five weeks later by "Dreamscape" starring Dennis Quaid.

nice to know those cia agents were on the ball. and it sounds like if a couple more of those faux paratroopers had blown off course, they might have started a panic a la the orson welles "War of the Worlds" broadcast! too funny.

oh, yeah, PG-13ness. i remember now. dreamscape!

Dreamscape is a pretty good movie...

i loved the thing with the numchucks. the whole country was numchuck-crazy at the time, i remember that. it was this total fad. i had like four pairs of numchucks. i was always banging myself on the back of the head with 'em. take that, miscrean...ow!

One thing I remember that was used in the movie was how the invasion got so far along before the Military knew it was under attack.

They had the soviet troop planes follow in commercial jets.  This was the same thing they did when they invaded Afganistan a few years before.

And they had the US follow conventional nuclear strategy, which states that nukes will only be used in retaliation to a nuclear strike.  As long as the Soviets did not launch a nuke (or chemical/biological) weapon, the US would not.  The US dropped the concept of "Battlefield Nukes" by the mid 1960's, in any role other then retaliation.

you'd probably like "hamburger hill," mushroom, if you've never seen it. john milius, the director of red dawn, has got a new movie in production. he had a lot to do with that hbo series "rome," which i saw the pilot for and it's pretty good. no "red dawn" or anything, but passable...

Two other good movies about WWIII are "The Day After" from 1983 and "By Dawn's Early Light" From 1990, both are about a nuclear war, although I prefer "The Day After" but funny enough the main character of "By Dawn's Early Light" is played by Powers Boothe, who played Colonel Andy Tanner in "Red Dawn".

yeah, the day after was a real phenom. everyone was talking about it the next day at school. i thought about that when i was talking with vally girl about t.v. and how it used to be more of a communal experience when there were only a few channels. pretty much EVERYBODY saw TDA and was talking about it in school the next day.

Two other good movies about WWIII are "The Day After" from 1983 and "By Dawn's Early Light" From 1990, both are about a nuclear war, although I prefer "The Day After" but funny enough the main character of "By Dawn's Early Light" is played by Powers Boothe, who played Colonel Andy Tanner in "Red Dawn".



I remember The Day After. There was also another movie (can't remember the name of it) that took place in England. I think it was heavier than The Day After. Can another refresh my memory?




Cat

I remember The Day After. There was also another movie (can't remember the name of it) that took place in England. I think it was heavier than The Day After. Can another refresh my memory?




Cat


There is a British movie called Threads...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090163/

Two other good movies about WWIII are "The Day After" from 1983 and "By Dawn's Early Light" From 1990, both are about a nuclear war, although I prefer "The Day After" but funny enough the main character of "By Dawn's Early Light" is played by Powers Boothe, who played Colonel Andy Tanner in "Red Dawn".


Testament with Jane Alexander was WAY better than The Day After... it also starred Roxanna Zal, Ross Harris, a very young Lukas Haas (Witness)  Rebecca DeMornay and a young actor (in a small role) named Kevin Costner.

There was also another movie (can't remember the name of it) that took place in England. I think it was heavier than The Day After. Can another refresh my memory?


Possibly "The Fourth Protocol"? KGB agents assemble a gun-type atomic device piece by piece in an English suburb.

Testament with Jane Alexander was WAY better than The Day After... it also starred Roxanna Zal, Ross Harris, a very young Lukas Haas (Witness)  Rebecca DeMornay and a young actor (in a small role) named Kevin Costner.

I'm sorry to say that I've never heard about this movie, but maybe we called it something else in Denmark, I'm gonna check it out though.

I'm sorry to say that I've never heard about this movie, but maybe we called it something else in Denmark, I'm gonna check it out though.


It aired in the US on PBS in 1983. It is available on DVD.

Since we've once again strayed from the original topic, I have a question. Does anyone remember the show that one of the 3 major U.S. networks(thinking CBS or ABC) did about a nuclear attack off the east coast? It was done in a "special report" kind of format. I remember hearing after it aired some people thought it was real.....guess they forgot to check their TV Guide. ::)

It was "Special Bulletin"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086350/maindetails

I remember hearing after it aired some people thought it was real.....guess they forgot to check their TV Guide. ::)

Like a modern version of the panic of the "War of the Worlds" radio thing?

Like a modern version of the panic of the "War of the Worlds" radio thing?


funny thing is, first thing when i read that, i was like, they had to have KNOWN they might get the war of the worlds reaction, so, like, they must have been EXPECTING it.... like it was a publicity stunt or something.

anyway, it sounds cool, actually. can you get it on amazon? or ebay, do you think? you can get just about any dang thing on ebay.

funny thing is, first thing when i read that, i was like, they had to have KNOWN they might get the war of the worlds reaction, so, like, they must have been EXPECTING it

Even funnier, they ran disclaimers during the program. I read that it was people in Charlseton, SC that freaked....nuff said there.  ::)

anyway, it sounds cool, actually. can you get it on amazon?

I checked Amazon-$99.00, Yahoo-$124.00. Too much bread for me. Didn't check eBay.

I thought it was originally aired on CBS or ABC, turned out it was NBC.  ::)

Even funnier, they ran disclaimers during the program. I read that it was people in Charlseton, SC that freaked....nuff said there.  ::)

I checked Amazon-$99.00, Yahoo-$124.00. Too much bread for me. Didn't check eBay.

I thought it was originally aired on CBS or ABC, turned out it was NBC.  ::)


daaaaggggg... there's these two shows i've been wanting to get my hands on for ten years -- they're pbs shows from the early 70s by this group called TVTV. they're very cool, but i haven't been able to find them for less than, seriously, $250 and up for a VHS tape! i'm like, i don't love ANYTHING that much. sorry.

i think the original war of the worlds had disclaimers too. but i think some folks tuned in in between em, and freaked out so quick they were out the door before the next disclaimer aired. (and there were probably some other folks who were paranoid enough to go be all, damn martians! NOW they're inserting disclaimers! like we're gonna fall for that!)

LOL....I'm sorry but I just got this mental image of some Fred Ziffel(Green Acres show) looking character in his red long-johns(rear flap half open) saying: damn martians! NOW they're inserting disclaimers! like we're gonna fall for that! as he spits his terbacky and runs out the door.  ;D ;D

LOL....I'm sorry but I just got this mental image of some Fred Ziffel(Green Acres show) looking character in his red long-johns(rear flap half open) saying:  as he spits his terbacky and runs out the door.  ;D ;D


precisely my intention, skippy!

movie?
I thoguht it was a documentary?

movie?
I thought it was a documentary?

Nope, although not always the exact story, documentaries are generally based on factual accounts.

I saw a docu on Discovery once, it lasted three hours or so and was about a conventional WWIII between NATO and WAPA, it was pretty cool and I hope they'll sent it again.

"movie?
I thought it was a documentary?

Nope, although not always the exact story, documentaries are generally based on factual accounts."

i think we're confusing documentaries with cautionary tales -- saying this could come to pass if we're not careful...

I read somewhere that Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze HATED each other during the filming of Red Dawn, only to play convincing lovers 3 years later in Dirty Dancing...

I think I heard that one too.

;D I absolutely LOVED Red Dawn!!!...It was one of those movies with all the "future" stars in it....What  freaked me out is that I thought it was ...ABLE to happen...I had nightmares about Russians dropping outta the sky...That movie and " The Day After" really chilled me for a LOOOng time..

;D I absolutely LOVED Red Dawn!!!...It was one of those movies with all the "future" stars in it....What  freaked me out is that I thought it was ...ABLE to happen...I had nightmares about Russians dropping outta the sky...That movie and " The Day After" really chilled me for a LOOOng time..

Couldn't have said it better myself.