red dawn discussion thread

[maks]

a few thoughts to get us started

1. wolverines y/n?
2. do you miss patrick swayze?
3. patrick swayze is dead right I think I'm remembering that correctly or did I make that up
4. the chair is against the wall.
5. john has a long mustache.
6. wolverines y/n?

[Skooks]

Red Dawn is a 1984 American war film directed by John Milius, with a screenplay by Kevin Reynolds and Milius. It stars Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, Jennifer Grey, Ben Johnson, Harry Dean Stanton, Ron O'Neal, William Smith, and Powers Boothe. It was the first film to be released in the US with a PG-13 rating[3] (under the modified rating system introduced on July 1, 1984).

The film is set in an alternate history timeline in which the United States is invaded by the Soviet Union and its Cuban and Nicaraguan allies.[4] However, the onset of World War III is in the background and not fully elaborated. The story follows a group of American high school students who resist the occupation with guerrilla warfare, calling themselves "Wolverines", after their high school mascot.


Contents
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production
3.1 Ten Soldiers
3.2 John Milius
3.3 Casting
3.4 Filming
4 Reception
4.1 Box office
4.2 Critical reaction
4.3 Later reputation
4.4 Home media
5 References in the film
6 Music
7 Operation Red Dawn
8 Cultural influence
8.1 Film and television
8.2 Music
8.3 Video games
9 Remake
10 See also
11 References
12 Notes
13 External links
Plot
The United States has gradually become strategically isolated after several European nations (except the United Kingdom) withdraw from NATO. At the same time, the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact partners aggressively expand their sphere of influence. In addition, the Ukrainian wheat harvest fails while a communist coup d'etat occurs in Mexico.

On a September morning, in the small town of Calumet, Colorado, a local high school teacher pauses when he sees Soviet paratroopers landing in a nearby field. The paratroopers open fire when the teacher confronts them. Pandemonium follows as students flee amid heavy gunfire. In downtown Calumet, Cuban and Soviet troops are trying to impose order after a hasty occupation. Cuban Colonel Bella instructs the KGB to go to a local sporting goods store and obtain the records of the store's gun sales on the ATF's Form 4473, which lists citizens who have purchased firearms.

Brothers Jed and Matt Eckert, along with their friends Robert, Danny, Daryl, and Aardvark, flee into the wilderness after hastily equipping themselves at the sporting goods store owned by Robert's father. While on the way to the mountains, they run into a Soviet roadblock, but are saved by an attacking U.S. Army UH-1 helicopter gunship. After several weeks in the forest, they sneak back into town; Jed and Matt learn that their father is being held in a re-education camp. They visit the site and speak to him through the fence; Mr. Eckert orders his sons to avenge his inevitable death.

The kids visit the Masons and learn that they are behind enemy lines in "occupied America". Robert's father is revealed to have been executed because of the missing inventory from his store. The Masons charge Jed and Matt with taking care of their two granddaughters, Toni and Erica. After killing Soviet soldiers in the woods, the youths begin an armed resistance against the occupation forces, calling themselves "Wolverines", after their high school mascot. The occupation forces initially try reprisal tactics, executing groups of civilians following every Wolverine attack. During one of these mass executions, the fathers of Jed, Matt, and Aardvark are killed. Daryl's father, Mayor Bates, is a collaborator and tries to appease the occupation authorities. Despite the reprisal tactics the occupation forces get nowhere.

The Wolverines find a downed American pilot, Lt. Col. Andrew Tanner, who informs them of the current state of the war: several American cities, including Washington, D.C., were destroyed by nuclear strikes; the Strategic Air Command was crippled by Cuban saboteurs; and paratroopers were dropped from fake commercial airliners to seize key positions in preparation for subsequent assaults via Mexico and Alaska. The middle third of the U.S. has been taken over, but American counterattacks have halted Soviet advances along the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River and the lines have stabilized. The only remaining U.S. allies, the UK and People's Republic of China, are militarily crippled. Concerned about nuclear fallout, both sides refrain from the further use of nuclear weapons.

Tanner assists the Wolverines in organizing raids against the Soviets. Soon after, in a visit to the front line, Tanner and Aardvark are killed in the crossfire of a tank battle. Daryl is caught by the Soviets after being turned in by his collaborating father. Using threats of torture, KGB officers force Daryl to swallow a tracking device, then release him to rejoin the guerrillas. Spetsnaz are sent into the mountains carrying portable radio triangulation equipment, but are ambushed by the Wolverines. The group trace the source of the signal to Daryl, who confesses and pleads for mercy, but is executed by Robert, along with a captured Soviet soldier.

The remaining Wolverines are ambushed by Mi-24 helicopter gunships, and Robert and Toni are killed. Jed and Matt attack the Soviet headquarters in Calumet to distract the troops while Danny and Erica escape. The plan works, but Jed and Matt are mortally wounded. Though Colonel Bella comes across the brothers, he is unable to bring himself to kill them and lets them go. The brothers reach a bench in the park where they spent time as kids, holding each other as they die. Danny and Erica reach the frontier of Free America.

In the closing scene, a plaque is seen with Partisan Rock in the background. The rock is fenced off and an American flag flies nearby. The plaque reads:

... In the early days of World War III, guerrillas – mostly children – placed the names of their lost upon this rock. They fought here alone and gave up their lives, so "that this nation shall not perish from the earth."

Cast
Patrick Swayze as Jed Eckert
C. Thomas Howell as Robert Morris
Lea Thompson as Erica Mason
Charlie Sheen as Matt Eckert
Darren Dalton as Daryl Bates
Jennifer Grey as Toni Mason
Brad Savage as Danny Bates
Doug Toby as Arturo "Aardvark" Mondragon
Powers Boothe as Lt. Col. Andrew "Andy" Tanner, USAF
Ben Johnson as Jack Mason
Harry Dean Stanton as Tom Eckert
Ron O'Neal as Colonel Ernesto Bella
William Smith as Colonel Strelnikov
Vladek Sheybal as General Bratchenko
Frank McRae as Mr. Teasdale
Roy Jenson as Samuel Morris
Pepe Serna as Mr. Mondragón
Lane Smith as Mayor Bates
Judd Omen as Nicaraguan Captain
Radames Pera as Sgt. Stepan Gorsky
Production
Ten Soldiers
The film was originally called Ten Soldiers and was written by Kevin Reynolds. It was set in the near future as a combined force of Russians and Cubans launched an invasion of the Southwestern US. Ten children take to the hills when their small town is captured and they turn into a skilled and lethal guerrilla band.[5]

Producer Barry Beckerman read the script, and, in the words of Peter Bart, "thought it had the potential to become a tough, taut, "art" picture made on a modest budget that could possibly break out to find a wider audience."[6] He got his father Sidney Beckerman to help him pay a $5,000 option. Reynolds wanted to direct but the Beckermans wanted someone more established. Walter Hill briefly considered the script before turning it down. So too did other directors.[7]

The Beckermans pitched the project to David Begelman when he was MGM and were turned down. They tried again at that studio when it was being run by Frank Yablans. Senior vice-president for production, Peter Bart, who remembers it as a "sharply written anti-war movie ... a sort of Lord of the Flies".[8] He took the project to the head of the studio, Frank Yablans.

The script's chances of being filmed increased when Kevin Reynolds became mentored by Steven Spielberg who helped him made Fandango (1985).[9] MGM bought the script.

John Milius
Bart recalls that things changed when "the chieftains at MGM got a better idea. Instead of making a poignant little antiwar movie, why not make a teen Rambo and turn the project over to John Milius, a genial and rotund filmmaker who loved war movies and also loved war? The idea was especially popular with a member of the MGM board of directors, General Alexander Haig, the former Nixon chief of staff, who yearned to supervise the film personally and develop a movie career."[8]

Bart says most of MGM's executives were opposed to Milius directing, except for Yablans. Bart claims he made a last minute attempt to get Reynolds to direct the film and went to see Spielberg. However by this stage Fandango was in rough cut stage and Bart sensed that Spielberg was disappointed in the film and would not speak up for Reynolds.[10]

Milius was signed to direct at a fee of $1.25 million, plus a gun of his choice.[11]

Milius set about rewriting the script. He and Haig devised a backstory by which the circumstances of the invasion would take place; this was reportedly based on Hitler's proposed plans to invade the USA.[12] Haig took Milius under his wing, bringing him to the Hudson Institute, the conservative think tank founded by Herman Kahn, to develop a plausible scenario. Milius saw the story as a Third World liberation struggle in reverse; Haig introduced Nicaragua and suggested that, with the collapse of NATO, a left-wing Mexican regime would participate in the Soviet invasion, effectively splitting the U.S. in half.[13] Bart says "Even Milius was taken aback by Haig's approach to the project. "This is going to end up as a jingoistic, flag-waving movie," Milius fretted. Meanwhile, the Department of Defense flatly refused to extend any cooperation whatsoever. As a result, the budget of this once $6 million movie almost tripled."[8]

[maks]

get the fuck out of my thread

[Skooks]

get the fuck out of my thread

my favorite part about this forum is how literally every post is irreverent random bullshit shit posts with no context or punchline but I get flak from everyone here for doing literally the exact same thing as everyone else. you made a random shit post about some mediocre 1980s movie nobody cares about, did you think that was comedy gold, that it was funny? you think im here for you? you think anyone here is here for anyone else? I'm here for the same reason anyone is and for the only worthwhile thing this shithole has ever produced, which is Ruby posts. Everyone here is worthless but the name sake.

tl;dr get fucked kid

[maks]

you're just no good at it. try trying less hard.

[maks]

watch red dawn (the 1984 one not the shitty remake) and return with your actual thoughts. it was in the guinness book of world records for most deaths per minute it's fucking fantasic

[Skooks]

the only sad thing is that you think im trying at all

[maks]

you're trying to make it look like you're not trying but you're doing it too hard. you're a poor man's roxtoyz you can do better go watch red dawn

[Skooks]

Did you think I was joking when I made that post saying Ive been lurking for over 10 years? I've never been liked by anyone here and I don't care. THis is a place for me to vent stupid shit and read ruby posts. Literally everyone here but ruby is unfunny.

[maks]

also the russians rape lea thompson in the ass off screen so there's that

[Skooks]

also the russians rape lea thompson in the ass off screen so there's that

like, in real life?

[maks]

I can tell you've been here for a long by how hurt you get when I call you a try-hard go watch red dawn it's free on amazon prime instant video

[maks]

well free if you have an amazon prime account anyway but anyone who isn't poor already has that

[Skooks]

I can tell you've been here for a long by how hurt you get when I call you a try-hard go watch red dawn it's free on amazon prime instant video

actually, I'm just in a bad mood today. hope you had a nicer day.

[maks]

I know what'll make you feel better, watching teenage american insurgents kill dozens of russians cubans and nicaraguans in retaliation for them raping lea thompson and jennifer grey

[lethe]

Red dawn redawmption 2 the red dawn -ening

[maks]

what has happened to this place

Jennifer Grey was hot af in ferris busller. I just looked her up and she looks horrible. I think she had plastic surgery, sad stuff

wait, I'm thinking of the girl who played ferris's girlfriend. this is the jewy looking girl from dirty dancing, et cetera, no thanks

[maks]

she looks like jane kaczmarek now

[juji]

I didnt watch it but I played freedom fighters

[maks]

you should watch it, it's amazing

[Lily]

I loved that movie. I also drank deer blood from my first kill, and ate a piece of its raw heart. Good times.

[maks]

get the fuck out of my thread

[Cag.]

AVEEEEEEEENGE MEEEEEEEEW

[juji]

AVEEEEEEEENGE MEEEEEEEEW

welcome back

[Lily]

It's just jon

[maks]

AVEEEEEEEENGE MEEEEEEEEW

first relevant post itt

[Lily]

first relevant post itt

I loved that movie. I also drank deer blood from my first kill, and ate a piece of its raw heart. Good times.