For any Americans squirming after Sunday night’s collective high five, and for any Auburn fans grappling with guilt over our not insignificant — if by (30-year) extension — roll in assassinating the Terrorist King, we offer one of the finest — if horribly written — examples of cautious patriotism ever: The Plainsman’s October 4, 1984 “9 out of 10” review of, oh yes, Red Dawn:
Awesome, overwhelming, exciting, intense and thought provoking; these are a few words to describe United Artists’ film, Red Dawn, that opened across the country in August. From the opening scene to the closing, the film is suspenseful and intense. The plot centers on seven youths using guerrilla warfare to fight against Russian and Cuban troops that are occupying a small town in Colorado.
The film opens on a normal weekday morning in September at the local high school, with a typical high school teacher lecturing. The serene Colorado morning quickly turns into a nightmare. The Mexican and Nicaraguan armies combine and attack Texas, while the Russian army attacks Alaska and of course, Washington, D.C., New York City, Kansas City and several missile silos were nuked. The idea was to attack the U.S. in the North and South and divide the country in half. This situation has come about after all our allies broke ties with us and Mexico plunged into revolution.
Basic feelings of patriotic valor were hard to squash as I watched my country attacked and my people murdered. It was easy to be overcome by my patriotism and cheer, although I realized that human being were being killed. The youths also pondered this question: “Aren’t they human beings just like us?”
This movie not only creates patriotism but also allows the viewer to see and realize the horror and hatred cause by war. I could see and almost feel the hatred of the youths for the invaders. Each time the youths would attack, their families as well as many others would be maliciously murdered. These murders only fueled the burning hatred of the youths.
During one scene in which several people are going to be killed, the group began to sing “America the Beautiful.” The song continued to echo in my mind and I swelled with pride, even after the gun shots had silenced the countryside.
This movie is not just a conservative comment, supporting the build-up of our armed forces.It makes it clear that war has a disastrous effect on everyone, especially the youth. The war caused hatred and the uncivilized actions of the youth allow us to see only a small part of the horrendous act called war.
Patrick Swayze turned in an incredible performance as the self-appointed leader of the “rebels.” This performance is his best yet and may be the beginning of a sound acting career.
In this time when our country is being criticized world-wide and we are being told to be ashamed of our country, I am glad to see and enjoy a movie that stirs my pride in my country. Neither this movie nor I support unlimited arms production or any thoughts of war, but I am reminded how precious my freedom is and how it must be protected.
This movie gets a solid 9 on a scale of 1 to 10. If you haven’t seen this movie, you have really missed one of the best of the year.
Name — no offense, tell us if you want credit — redacted.
The more things change…
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I wish I could say it was me……..
This and Clash of the Titans were my two favorite movies as a kid, which may explain a lot. Unfortunately, this one has already been remade and is awaiting a release date. I shudder to think what they may have done to my beloved Wolverines.
Despite the unbelievably unlikely scenario, stilted dialogue and mediocre acting from some of the lesser members of the cast, the movie did portray partisan/guerilla/insurgent warfare quite well. Set it in Yugoslavia or the Ukraine in 1943-44 and you’d have some terrific historical fiction.
The thought of ‘it could happen here’ accurately portrays the feelings of many Americans during the Cold War in the early 80s. This was before the Reagan-era revamping of the military had completed and the sting of Vietnam was still felt both emotionally and mentally. The Soviet military might seemed overwhelming – US units on the German border faced 8-1 or greater odds with inferior Vietnam-era equipment.
I enlisted in 1982 and was commissioned as an Armor Officer just as this movie came out in 1984. It’s one thing to say that five years later the Berlin Wall came down and seven years later the Soviet Union collapsed – but at the time those future events seemed impossibly far away.
Well…I sure am glad they’ve beefed up the journalism department since 1984.
Perfect, especially since this was added to Netflix streaming on Monday…