Red Dawn

1984  PG-13  ACTION  1h 54min

CAST— Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, Ben Johnson, Harry Dean Stanton, Ron O’Neal, Williams Smith, Powers Boothe

MUSIC— Basil Paledouris  DIRECTOR— John Milius

     World War III has begun. Communists have begun to invade the United States, starting with a bump-in-the-road Colorado town whose inhabitants include some pretty plucky high schoolers who decide to confront the red menace. This they do from their mountain hideaway, a place to reload, rejuvenate and go all philosophical. This is a WWIII message movie (not to mention a paranoia film) that often feels ripped from S. E. Hinton, as if the Greasers and the Socs were at it again, forsaking switchblades for things that go boom. The film tries to maintain a social conscience, depicting the futility of war and violence (despite plenty of violent scenes within). On the other hand the film tries to convince us that a bunch of kids could fend off a legion of Commies. Uneven to be sure but fans of the stars may not even notice. Go get ‘em, Wolverines. Note of interest: this is the first film to garner the spankin’ new PG-13 rating.

OUR RATING— **

REMADE AS— Red Dawn (2012)