When Red Dawn came out, I was fresh out of the Marine Corps after a combat deployment in Beirut, Lebanon the year before. I loved Red Dawn, it was a story of fighting back after we weren't allowed to fight back in Lebanon and were hurt so badly. I swore I'd never be put in a position where I couldn't fight back again. That movie resonated with me then and it's even more relevant today with tech and government trying to suppress the free will of the American people. WOLVERINES!
I was in the Army when it came out, after that you couldn't go through a field exercise without someone standing on top of a big rock or an armored vehicle and hold their M16 up over their head shouting WOLVERINES!!! Were you in Beirut when the Marine barracks was bombed? I was in basic training when that and the invasion of Grenada both happened, and boy did the DI's make full use of both of those incidents to make us believe there'd be a war by the time we got out of our training, it also didn't help that I was already slated to leave for basic on Sept 21st and on Sept 1st the Russian's shot down Korean Airlines flight 007, things already looked kind of shifty the day I left then those two things happened when I was in basic, looked like things were shaping up to be a long 3 years for me, but as things turned out the only thing I had to fight was the boredom of being stationed at Ft Riley Ks for 2 years, there wasn't a day went by at that hole I didn't wish I was over in Europe fighting the Soviets, man did that place suck.
@@dukecraig2402 Yes, I was there. However, they've had it wrong all these years, it wasn't a barracks, it was our battalion landing team headquarters building. But, because most of H&S Company slept in it, the media took to calling it a barracks. I spent the previous night, October 21-22, at that building and returned to the perimeter on the afternoon of the 22nd... next morning it was attacked and destroyed. That was a bad time and I know exactly what you're referring to... between the KAL shoot down, the bombing of our headquarters, and the invasion of Grenada, it seemed like WWIII was kicking off.
@@CplSkiUSMC Yea I always wondered why they called it the barracks, it was a few year's but I eventually learned about how it was actually a headquarters and wondered after that how it got that label put on it, leave it to the media. So you just happened to be out on the perimeter when that happened by chance of it being your turn? Wow, talk about it not being in the cards for you. Yea I was a little nervous in the service there for a while after all that happened, there was a lot going on during those few months, them years later we all find out that we came even closer than we knew at the time with that misunderstanding over the NATO training exercise Able Archer 83, which happened in November and someone in Moscow didn't get the memo on that one and almost launched a first strike, then some junk Russian satellite right about that time mistook a reflection off a cloud as missile launches in the Midwest and their automatic system told some launch officer at a base somewhere in the Soviet Union to launch his missile's, thank God that guy kept a cool head or there wouldn't be us talking about the good old days on RU-vid, we'd all still be living like Denzel in The Book Of Eli if he hadn't, now that AI is on the loose I just hope I'm gone before T-800 Arnold's are roaming around the countryside. Well either way I'm glad you made it out of that mess, too many of your buddies didn't, that was a real tragedy, but I can tell you this, when that happened we were all fired up about going over there and helping you guy's get some payback for that, it did not sit well with us.
@@dukecraig2402 Actually, my normal position was on the line. We were up at BLT HQ to run a mission on Saturday morning up to Alpha Company at the Lebanese Scientific University on the Green Line. We went up Friday evening, spent the night at BLT, loaded up Saturday morning, and ran the mission. And that's the hell of it... had they tried the bombing on Saturday instead of Sunday, the truck would not have penetrated the building. Our 3 amtracs were blocking that entrance while loading up during that exact time frame. We returned to BLT Saturday afternoon for the debriefing and then went back to our positions on the airport perimeter. Woke up the next morning to a huge cloud of smoke and dust... thus began the day from hell. I learned of Able Archer years later and had to shake my head. I have thought of that Soviet Officer who put his head on the chopping block to stop a nuclear Armageddon and if I were President Reagan, I would have given him the Medal of Honor. If that man is still alive, I would love to shake his hand and thank him. We were still ashore in Beirut, and had he not personally stopped that launch, it would have been a very grim end for us... one battalion in a hostile land, having just suffered mass casualties, smack dab in the middle of WWIII. You are very well informed brother. I'm impressed with your knowledge of the events all those years ago. What did you do in the Army? I'm in Wyoming and if I ever had the chance, I'd love to drink a few beers with you and trade stories.
Back in the 1960s, many of us kids played WWII in our neighborhoods pretending to be fighting the Germans or the Japanese forces. On a weekend or during the summer months it would be the Germans or the Japanese, but not at the same time of course. I myself also pretended that I was a gunslinger during the days of the Old West on the days that I was in the mood to do so. I wore the cowboy hat, the boots, and a six shooter in a holster strapped to my hip. But I never had the toy repeating rifle which I always wanted back then. Toy guns from the days of the Old West and the military ones were very cool to have back then. Even pretend sword fighting like in the Middle Ages was a blast, using metal trash can lids as shields. I certainly would not want to be a kid today, and I am so glad that I was a kid back in the 1960s.
‘’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."
Anyone who doesn't have tears in their eyes when thinking about the brothers and everyone else who didn't make it through the movie isn't a very good person. It taught the real truth about war. You die, and sacrifice. In a few years, almost no one remembers your name, or what you did. You're dead forever too, no "Victory Parades" for you.
@@purdhupley7864 This movie cooked 2 generations of brains. Turns out all the guns did was get us killed in robberies and mass shootings. Invasions repelled or tyrants toppled: 0
Btw, the Las Vegas this was filmed around was Las Vegas, New Mexico, not Nevada, and some friends & I traveled a couple hours to be extras in Red Dawn for a few weeks during filming. We got to be Students, Russian soldiers, & towns people, and even got to die a couple times. It was a blast. Cheers!
Thank you for pointing this out, I came to say the same thing. During his teenage years my dad lived on that mountain, we were told that seeing the sun rise over that mountain is what cinched the name for the movie.
@@rolandblaise1149 Ah...no, the name Red Dawn is a play on the communists (aka Reds) launching an invasion at dawn which is when large military operations typically kick off, D-Day, The Invasion of Grenada, Operation Desert Storm and on just about any other large military invasion dawn is when the main forces, the actual invasion force, start their phase of the operation. The title Red Dawn implies America waking up to a communist invasion.
@@dukecraig2402 lol yes, I used to go to our neighbor's as a child and hear her regale about "dating" members of his gang. Also all the pictures of the fancy dresses she wore... Took me 20 years before I put together that she was a dance hall girl.
I heard that Lea Thompson was asked if she ever hunted, she said she hunted squirrels and shot one, John Milius asked her if she ate it, she said yes, and she got the role.
I got to see RED DAWN in the theater in 1984 when I was 15. It's been stuck in my head for 40 years. I watch my DVD copy often. Of course, it could not be remade in 2024... No DEI in 1984!
While I never became a parent and I don't have any kids but at the same time I have at least five because I'm a damn good uncle to his nieces and nephews I have
I absolutely adored this movie. It was like the Brat Pack goes to war. The first time one of the kids screamed "Wolverines!" the audience in the theater erupted with applause. And it was a great way to introduce the PG13 rating to America
I was in the USAF when this came out seen it in the base theater ,I do remember when the russian chopper made its appearance I asked my friend "Where did they get a Hind?"
It was an Aerospatiale Puma with a visual modification kit to make it look like a Hind. I worked for a helicopter company in the late '80s, and got to know some of the mechanics that worked on them. And yes, I said the same thing when I saw it in the theater!
I was in the Army when this movie came out, I can't tell you how many times someone would be standing on a big rock or on top of an armored vehicle and they'd hold their M16 over their head and shout WOLVERINES!!!!
@@braddouglas7839 wait, what? Was he a young wounded soldier? I know the question seems dumb given the show's subject matter, but he could have been a different character.
This was a very-well done movie. It came out during the age of Reagan and America's pride and patriotism had a resurgence - which also piggy-backed on our Olympic dominance during the 1984 games which happened in LA. I rewatched this not too long ago and had to be reminded how dark and realistic it was. Enemy occupation, anger and hatred for the enemy, and military strategy. I worked at a movie theater and this one had many sold-out showings. Thanks for the video!
@@ratagris21 He passed away in 2021. I'm actually kinda disappointed that Minty didn't mention Ron O'Neal, the actor who played the Cuban Colonel and the fact that he played Youngblood Priest in the classic Blaxploitation film Superfly, that's a classic movie there if ever there was one, but I guess it wouldn't have had the cultural impact in Australia that it did in the US.
Happy 40th anniversary to Red Dawn. It's shocking to believe that Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey didn't get on either this set or Dirty Dancing, but they seem to have patched things up before Swayze's passing in 2009.
@@chasehedges6775 some remakes can add something if a production was limited due to some shortcoming. Or perhaps an interesting new angle can be pursued. Things can go wrong often too though. Greatness is not easy to achieve.
Minty - you are the BEST! What's crazy is this plot is just as plausible today as it was back in 1984. I could picture tons of students running out of school with their cell phones to film the paratroopers for social media only to realize they were not "friendly". Gives me the chills!!
It's crazy that so many who grew up at that time are now in love with Russia and Putin more than their own country. Yet they call themselves patriots. Weirdos.
The Russians invading the US seemed so totally improbable then I didn’t even bother to see the movie! Although today a lot of people in the US seem to think civil war might be a perfect solution for their political problems, so the movie might be more plausible today except it won’t be Russians parachuting!
When you think about it, the opening is similar to the scenario that just happened in Israel, when hamas used those paragliders to swoop in and kill all those kids at that music event....🤔
@dansmith1661 maybe. I do believe it was a psyop. People here are done with the money being given to Ukraine do it's feasible to cause a distraction by pulling at the heart strings and kill some kids so biden could continue printing money on 2 fronts now. I don't think tptb in Israel killed those kids and blamed hamas though. If that were true and it got out, the people would burn down the palace and set Benji on fire. I do believe however that he told his military to step aside and let it happen.
@@digimortalone2759 Me as well. He grew so cold and nihilistic. Him taking on the Hind attack helicopter mano a mano was a truly unforgettable moment for me. "WOLVERINES!!!"
@@Statsy10 Exactly. As I got older I realized his sacrifice as a result of him being alone, especially after shooting Darrell, and just being burned out. It endeared me to him for some reason.
After watching Red Dawn in 1985 I knew I wanted an AK.. So when I turned 18 in 1986 I went to Shooters at Gwinnett and bought my first rifle, a Chinese Norinco AK-47, a dozen mags, and a case of Norinco 7.62x39 ammo.. Still have the rifle and magazines but the ammo has been long gone..
This movie scared the s**t out of me when I was a kid. I was in elementary school when it came out. My parents let my older sister take me to see it. Schools all looked similar to the ones in the movie back then so I'd sit in class watching and waiting. I just KNEW one day I was going to see Russian paratroopers landing in the school yard starting WW3. My dad had never watched the movie. He died in 2009 but a few months before that he saw it on TV and apologized. He finally understood how the movie could scare a child. Fun times.
@@rsmartin68 that's what even more messed up. I watched horror movies of all kinds when I was young and they never bothered me. I guess it's because I knew those were not real but Russians and Cubans who hated America were.
I'm from Colorado and was 16 when this movie was released. Needless to say I locked into the film and it has been a part of my consciousness ever since.
I saw this opening night in my hometown of Omaha, Nebraska. The scene after the Air Force LTC was shot down, describing how the war started; when he said the Russians nuked Omaha, there was a collective gasp from the full house, "Uggggghhh!" We knew before we were at ground zero. That line made it all too real.
A LOT of us who served in the late 1980s and the 1990s joined because of this movie or were inspired to serve because of it. To be ready at all times, have the skills needed to survive, and prepared for the worst.
I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. C Thomas Howell at a roping event. He was incredibly nice, but I did have to fight the urge to yell “WOLVERINES!!!!!”
It truly was. Maybe the greatest ever. Ghostbusters Karate Kid Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Footloose Repo Man Amadaus Children of the Corn Buckaroo Bonzai Top Secret Sixteen Candles Romancing the Stone Splash Beverly Hills Cop Police Academy The Cotton Club Dune Conan The Barbarian
I calling it a training video. I make my family watch it about every 6 months. Sons love it. Wife cannot roll her eyes far enough. She said she can quote it. I tell her once she name every weapons system and their calibers, oil type. Tread width. Then we can stop watching it. Lol
Great review Minty! A movie of time, 80's action wrapped in the Ragan/Thatcher red peril narrative. Scary thing is we're probably closer to it happening now than we were then.
@@aaronk534Huh... glad to know my family wasn't the only one that did that. Our solution was simple: head to my uncle's house. He was a prepper, so, he had everything that would be needed.
we walked uphill to school... both ways when we wanted to watch a show, we had to wait for it to be on when we wanted to cal our friend, we had to wait for them to be home
@@thurin84 sometimes times just get hard regardless of whatever anyone does. When the Chicxulub event occurred I'm sure all of the dinosaurs were going hard then. That did them no good though. Things happen that are beyond our control. Plus they didn't have Bruce Willis.
Y'know, while I was initially suprised to hear about the director calling it an anti-war film, it makes sense when I think about it. More than just the Wolverines "having a bad time of it," think about it. They watch family, friends, and even potential loves die before their eyes, their town is turned into a warzone, the brothers have to say goodbye to their dad who's in a concentration camp through a chainlink fence. After their string of initial successes, it backfires. They prove such a thorn in the enemy's side that in the end they bring in specialists to go after them, at which point things start to go increasingly wrong for them. By the end the only survivors of the Wolverines are the ones they sent away; all those kids have been denied the rest of their lives and instead have been turned into dead heroes. Just a lot of dead kids on both sides for map lines and old men's wars.
NGL, this movie, along with The Day After that was "made for TV" (and was the topic of a discussion in school) are two catalysts for me learning basic survival skills. They have served me well in my life, so I don't regret learning them. But growing up in that time period meant to be ready in case the Cold War went hot. Coming off of our defeat in Vietnam, us teens at the time believed that the Soviets just might try and pull something like this even if the nukes didn't fly.
Are you south Vietnamese? Because the US was never defeated in Vietnam. Heck the south held out for two years after we'd left. They were defeated, not us.The North knew not to even set foot on our embassy grounds until after we were gone. Because if they had that would have been viewed as a direct attack on US territory. Which we would have had to appropriately respond to. They knew exactly what that would have meant.
@@1pcfred They actually tried during the Tet Offensive in 68, VC sappers blew a hole in the wall surrounding the US embassy in Saigon, but despite the news incorrectly reporting that VC guerrilla fighter's had made it into the embassy and fought their way up several floors the truth is only 2 entered the grounds through the breech and were both gunned down before they made it across the lawn to the entrance, that was the worst day of their short lives, I guess their buddies decided they didn't want what those 2 got and wisely decided not to follow them through the breech. The news reporting things like that and claiming at Khe Sanh that many more transport aircraft were shot down than actually were is a prime example of the saying about Vietnam "It was a war that was misreported when it happened and has been misremembered ever since". You're absolutely right about the US not having "lost" the Vietnam War although that's the common narrative, everytime I catch someone saying that I ask them to explain to me how a military can be held responsible for a defeat that happened 2 years after it left, and you know what? No one's ever got back to me on that, they just dissappear without getting back to me. The problem with conflicts like Vietnam and Afghanistan is that people always compare the win/lose outcome to WW2, I'm always explaining to people, and this is where America's leaders at the time screwed up by not explaining it this way to everyone and kept using the word "win", is that Vietnam was never going to end with someone standing on the deck of a battleship signing surrender papers, it wasn't the kind of war like WW2 where the objective was to unseat the rulers of another nation, in Vietnam the US military was only task with keeping the north from invading the south which is something they did quite successfully while they were there, in 68 the north gave an all out effort to invade the south with the Tet Offensive and the US military promptly handed their asses to them, it's one of the greatest military defeats in history, the north had spent several years planning and moving equipment and forces into place for it and in two weeks they were literally decimated, what was left of them headed back across the border with their tales between their legs and the Viet Cong's command and control structure was smashed, from that point on they failed to continue being a nation wide military force with a chain of command and could only operate as rag tag individual village outlaws that were extremely easy for Special Force's to turn against their communist controllers who could no longer supply them and offer them protection, but if you listen to the way the news reported on Tet back then, and how it's still to this day portrayed in documentaries, they call it "the beginning of the end for the US", unbelievable, the US military lays down one of the greatest defeats in military history and it gets recorded in history as "the beginning of America's defeat in Vietnam", just wow, the reality is the north's military was reduced to the point where it took then 4 years to build it up enough to try another invasion in 72, known as the Easter Offensive and although not nearly as well known as Tet was much bigger including things like North Vietnamese armor units equipped with Soviet tanks, and once again in about 2 weeks the US military handed them their asses and routed them out of the south, another world class military defeat but somehow or the other it gets turned into some kind of a defeat for the US military, that's exactly what "Misreported when it happened and misremembered ever since" means. And meanwhile while everyone around the globe who hates the US gets their jollies running around like children claiming "The US was defeated in Vietnam the US was defeated in Vietnam" they completely ignore facts like North Vietnam signing agreements through the whole thing that they'd recognize the sovereignty of South Vietnam which was nothing but lies so they could set up their next invasion attempt, Der Fuhrer and his crew did the same thing 20 to 30 years before that and they go down in history as the biggest scumbags of the 20th Century but everyone just ignores Ho Chi Mihn doing it, and the crimes they committed, in the short amount of time they occupied the old part of Hue City during Tet they rounded up and murdered no less than 3,000 people, and that pales in comparison to their invasion of the south in 75 two years after US forces left, on their march through the south they went from village to village rounding up school teachers, priests, village officials and anyone who ever had anything to do with American's like women who worked as secretaries and anyone who had anything to do with American's in any capacity whatsoever and murdered them, everyone else in the 20th Century who did anything at all like that has gone down in history as war criminals but they get a free pass because everyone's too busy gloating that "America lost the Vietnam War", wow, the tens of thousands of people executed by the north and the hundreds of thousands that were rounded up and sent to their "re-education camps" many of which were never seen again by their families must be resting comfortably in their graves knowing that they're remembered, the fact is the people of South Vietnam just wanted to live free and is why many of them were people who fled the north and their homes up there to live in the south when the people of the country were given the chance in 1954 to decide which kind of system they wanted to live under, they couldn't get out of the north fast enough. And as far as that nonsense about the US being defeated there you're absolutely correct in what you said, the fact is after 10 years of being armed, trained and supported by the US the time had come for South Vietnam to put it's big boy pants on and take care of their own business, and they'd have been able to do it if their military's officer corps hadn't treated the 10 years that the US military was there like it was a big party, they squandered away all the training and supplies given to them, selling half of the supplies and support on the black market to enrichen themselves instead of using it to build up their forces strength, then when it came time for them to step up and lead their own military all they were interested in doing was escaping South Vietnam so they could come to America and keep living the playboy lifestyle, they'd tell their troops in the field "Stay right here and hold your positions, I'm going to headquarters to find out what's going on" and head straight for the coast and try to get on a boat that was headed anywhere but there, they should have never been allowed to leave the country, their officer corps should have been turned away at every escape route and forced to stay there and fight. And there's actually people out there in the world that believe "The US invaded and occupied South Vietnam and were eventually defeated and kicked out of it", wow, nothing like getting credit for going to assist a sovereign free democratic country that requested aid to help them keep from being invaded by a communist aggressor, I guess after helping the people of Europe with their aggressor problems 20 years before they got jealous when the US did the same thing for Asians, they must have felt jaded like a woman whose boyfriend left her for another woman because they're the one's more than anyone else who like to spread that nonsense about the US supposedly losing the Vietnam War, and run around all the time shooting off at the mouth gloating about it, like some kind of a jaded lover. Oh but guess what, now there's another aggressor problem in Europe and once again everyone wants to be all buddy buddy with the US again, yea, here we go again, now it's "You know that massive military we're always ragging on you for having, the one that we always say is more important to your military industrial complex than heath care for your citizens? Can we have some of it?"
@@luccac6247 No I fought the Cold War which basically was just sitting in Germany drinking beer. But watching the way those guy's get treated when they came back from Vietnam and all through the 70's is why I joined the military, I felt like someone owed them at least something, and the only thing I could do was show them that some of us still believed in what they did. And I owe them everything, it's because of enlisting in the military that I get to go through life with my head held high, I don't have to come up with excuses about why I didn't step up to the plate when it was my turn, and every time I hear "Thank you for your service" I tell everyone the same thing, "I appreciate the sentiment but no thanks are necessary, it was a privilege and an honor to wear the uniform of my country and those who came before me, just enjoy your freedoms and don't tread on others and that's thanks enough for me".
I saw this when I was a kid. It left an impression on me on me that I later learned Russian as a middle aged adult. Minty delivered, 10 things I didnt know about Red Dawn! Well done!
Charlie's brother Emilio and Harry Dean Stanton starred together in Repo Man. Actors tend to work together a lot in the business. The whole 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon thing.
@@1pcfred yes. And Emilio was also on an episode of 2 1/2 Men. Just making a Red Dawn reference. Heck, while were at it, Martin Sheen was also on an episode of 2 1/2 Men. Haha.
I remember watching this movie while I was serving in the US Army and we were like what happened did the whole US military going to start or something and cannot help but ask how did they get all the way to the Rocky Mountains. that fast. Without meeting massive resistance at the coastlines.
didn't they say in the movie, that they came in through Canadia?? which of course still leaves the problem that they would have ran into resistance that way as well, and obviously Canadia would have let us know... but either way, the planes certainly would be spotted before they got there and started dropping paratroopers. but of course it's a movie, so you need to really overlook some logic to enjoy it. 😀
@steveragsdale2358 That's just a Chinese weather balloon we're talking about moving whole armies with their armor and artillery across oceans they would have been spotted by satellites in outer space. The Japanese incineraty balloons to the west coast of the United States during World War II in large part because the United States didn't know of the existence of the jet stream at that time.
This is still one of my all time favorite 80s movies. When I was a kid we got to see a part of the movie get filmed. One of my friend's dad was an extra in the movie, he portrayed one of the soldiers. Most of the filming locations are still there. The Drive-Inn is still operational to this day during the summer months. Great vid Minty!!!!🤘🤘🤘
I knew a lot about this movie before it was ever released because my best friend's dad was one of the Russian helicopter pilots and brought us pictures of stuff to share.He was able to tell us some of the storyline.
I served in the ARMY in Germany during the cold war and we laughed our asses off at how bad the Vismod vehicles and aircraft were in this movie. The M1 Tank was real, but all the Russian gear was US shit modified to look Russian, and it looked ridiculous to any of us who served. But it's still an awesome movie.
Great movie. I remember watching it for the first time and having some doubts about whether or not I could enjoy it but it turned out to be really entertaining and well paced. Definitely an exciting, intense, and heartfelt action flick. Has a lot of good story twists too. One of the better dark futuristic stories of the eighties!
Yt been flooding me w/minty vids now, not complaining, but they never NOT had at least one Minty vid on my feed (bottom of the list, mind you.) This one, within minutes. We will not give up on you, Minty.
I grew up in the four corners area and was an 18 year old US Marine when I saw this movie in 1984. Red Dawn will mean different things to different people. To me it will always mean resisting tyranny and defending America. Wolverines! 🇺🇸
Red Dawn came out when I was 13.- It was a excellent movie and we all watched it over and over. Why does the new one blow goats! I bought it and didn’t even finish watching it and I still haven’t.
Amazing Film. Powerful af! One of my Fav from the 80s. Patrick Swayze. Charlie Sheen. C. Thomas Howell. Leah Thompson. Harry Dean Stanton. Powers Boothe. 🔥
I used to work for a major firearms and military surplus dealer. One day while going through some old boxes, I found Soviet looking flash hiders and aluminum finned barrel covers that obviously fit the US M-60 machine gun. The parts looked familiar so I set them aside. A few weeks later watching "Red Dawn" again I realised where I had seen them! We probably got them when we bought up Stembridge Movie Props years before.
I watched this movie so many times off of HBO and Cinemax... Recorded on video tape many times. We played this as kids growing up... When Fortress America came out had to get it because it reminded me of the movie so much.
