Red Dawn is a 1984 American military film directed by John Milius and co-written by Milius and Kevin Reynolds. Jennifer Grey and Charlie Sheen join Patrick Swayze as well as C.T.H. Howell, Lea Thompson, and Thompson. It was the first picture in cinema history to be released with the MPAA classification of PG-13.
In 1993, a sequel to Red Dawn (based on the original) was in the works but was shelved when the Cold War ended.
A Red Dawn remake was launched on November 21, 2012.
Cast
Jed Eckert, played by Patrick Swayze
C. Thomas Howell as Robert Morris
Erica Mason, played by Lea Thompson
Charlie Sheen as Matt Eckert
Daryl Bates is played by Darren Dalton.
Toni Mason is played by Jennifer Grey.
Brad Savage as Danny Bates
Doug Toby as Arturo “Aardvark” Mondragón \sPowers Boothe as Lt. Col. Andrew “Andy” Tanner, USAF
Tom Eckert is played by Harry Dean Stanton.
Ron O’Neal as Col. Ernesto Bella
Strelnikov, William Smith Vladek Sheybal, Bratchenko, Vladek Sheybal
Mr Jack Mason is played by Ben Johnson.
Roy Jenson as Mr Samuel Morris
Pepe Serna as Mr Mondragón
Lane Smith as Mayor Bates
Radames Pera as Sgt. Stepan Gorsky
Movie Summary
The Start
Several European states depart from NATO, putting the United States at a strategic disadvantage in the film Red Dawn from 1984. The Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact allies take advantage of this to increase their power. Elsewhere, the Ukrainian wheat crop collapses as a communist coup d’etat takes over Mexico.
On a sunny September morning, in the hamlet of Calumet, Colorado, a local high school teacher witnesses Soviet paratroopers landing in a neighbouring field. The paratroopers commence fire on the instructor. Chaos erupts as people escape the invasion. Downtown, Cuban and Soviet forces strive to restore order for their takeover.
The KGB is instructed by a Cuban Colonel called Bella to acquire ATF Form 4473 sales data from a local sporting goods business. A list of gun owners and their addresses is included.
Robert Morris, Danny and Daryl Bates, and Arturo “Aardvark” Morgan, together with Jed and Matt Eckert’s pals, purchase survival gear at the sporting goods company owned by Robert Morris’ father. They then go and hide in the wilderness.
While attempting to ascend the mountains, they encounter a Soviet barrier, but an American Army UH-1 helicopter gunship intervenes to free them. They spend a few weeks in the jungle until they slip back down into town. Jed and Matt see their father at a re-education centre where they visit him. He tells his sons that their mother has already died and that they must revenge on her…and his own.
What happens next?
First-hand information about their location behind enemy lines in an occupied America is shared with the youngsters during their visit to the Masons. Robert’s father was hanged for the missing merchandise from his business. The Masons ask Jed and Matt to take care of their two grandchildren, Toni and Erica.
The gang murders three Soviet troops in the woods, and they launch an armed rebellion against their captors; dubbing themselves the Wolverines. As a kind of retaliation after every Wolverine assault, the occupying troops begin by massacring civilian populations. During one of these executions, they take the lives of the fathers of Jed, Matt, and Aardvark. Daryl’s father, Mayor Bates, works with the invaders and tries his best to placate the new rulers. However, even with the vengeance murders, the occupation troops come nothing close to halting the Wolverines.
Lt. Col. Andrew Tanner, an American pilot, is discovered by the Wolverines. The city of Washington, D.C., among others, was completely devastated by nuclear attacks, as he claims. Additionally, the Strategic Air Commands were disabled by Cuban saboteurs, and paratroopers were dropped from fictitious commercial airliners to occupy vital sites in preparation for an invasion by Mexicans and Alaskans later on.
Closing Scene
They have won control of all of middle America, but U.S. counterattacks have stopped Soviet advances near the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River. Tanner joins the Wolverines to arrange many attacks against the Soviets.
KGB officials compel Daryl to ingest a tracking device and then release him to rejoin the Wolverines. Spetsnaz proceeds into the mountains with portable triangulation equipment, but the Wolverines attack them first. They follow the signal until they find Daryl, who admits to carrying the transmitter. He begs for them not to murder him, but Robert kills him and a captured Soviet soldier nevertheless.
Robert and Toni are killed by Mi-24 helicopter gunships as they ambush the surviving Wolverines. Jed and Matt assault the new Soviet headquarters in Calumet to allow Danny and Erica time to escape. The scheme succeeds, but Jed and Matt end up gravely injured. For reasons of decency, Colonel Bella does not shoot the brothers when he finds them. The brothers reach a seat in the park they grew up in. They die holding each other. Danny and Erica can reach the border of Free America.
In the last shot, a plaque is inscribed with an American flag fluttering nearby. According to the inscription on the plaque:
… In the early days of World War III, insurgents — primarily youngsters – inscribed the names of their lost atop this rock. To ensure that “this country will not vanish from the face of the world,” they fought and died here alone.
Where to watch?
Right now, you can stream “Red Dawn” on fuboTV, Showtime Amazon Channel, Showtime Roku Premium Channel, Showtime, Max Go, DIRECTV, and Spectrum On Demand. You can also buy “Red Dawn” on Apple iTunes, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Vudu, Redbox, AMC on Demand as a download or rent it on Apple iTunes, Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Vudu, Microsoft Store, Redbox, AMC on Demand online.
