RED DAWN (1984) | FIRST TIME WATCHING | MOVIE REACTION 

Red Dawn had such an impact on kids growing up in the 80's. Everyday our generation thought WWIII could start. When this movie came out we were able to visualize that fear. I still watch it every now and then. My teenage sons love it, but they'll never really understand how this movie made me feel when I was 12. Wolverines forever.

I always loved how the Cuban officer lets them go at the end. He says throughout the movie that he was once a partisan and he recognized and respected them for what they were doing. It’s better to die on your feet than to live on your knees

Red Dawn wasn’t a low-budget film. It had a well-respected director/co-screenwriter. It was one of the first PG-13 movies released. The movie was definitely a product of its time-the height of the pro-American, anti-Soviet, anti-Communist Reagan era.

One of my skydiving friends, John Mulikin, was one of Russian/Cuban paratroopers in the beginning of the movie. He was also one of the coordinators that planned the airborne drop. He told me that one of the stunt jumpers accidently landed off target, 2-3 miles, in a tree on a local farmer's property. He was dressed as a Russian paratrooper, with gear and an AK-47 prop rifle. The family had no idea that a movie was being filmed in the area, held the guy at gun point, and called the local authorities. That guy had one hell of a jump story to tell!

Growing up in the 80's in Texas, this movie galvanized a lot of us kids at the time. Considered jingoistic and over the top by some, a lot of us embraced it for what it was. And we all still remember this movie fondly with no apologies, especially the ending that implies that while we won WW III, it was not without sacrifice. As a 12 yr old back then, we were all Jed. At least we hoped we were.

As a kid growing up in the 80s in the rural countryside, we would all run through the woods shouting "Wolverines" and building booby traps and forts. We were armed with slingshots, BB guns, and the occasional bottle rocket bazooka. 😂

I love the way C. Thomas Howell’s character changed. Was the most realistic of the bunch.

This movie had the distinction of being the first ever to get a PG-13 rating. A lot of the violence was very un-Hollywood. No big overdone explosions. People getting hit with bullets and actually bleeding. Considering these were a bunch of high school students, pre-Columbine, made it tough for folks to handle.

Cassie, to answer one of your questions, they got their weapons from the dead enemy. This movie resonated heavily with Gen X because they, myself included, were teens at that time. With the Cold War, and the Soviets firmly in our minds. Check out, "The Day After". It's about what would have happened if nuclear war had occurred. It was released around the same time as Red Dawn.

Cassie, you have to remember when this film was made and what was going on in the world. Those of us that grew up during the Cold War didn't need a back story. We knew all about what the Russians could do and knew they were tight with the Cubans. We knew if anything kicked off, the Cubans, Russians, North Koreans and Iran would all try and gang up on us. We practiced drills where we hid under tables in preparation for a nuclear strike; people built underground survival bunkers in their backyards; every major American city had hardened shelters ready to go at a moment’s notice. Reagan worked on Star Wars, Iran Contra happened, the Cuban Missile Crisis and more. We all knew that it was coming, we just didn't know when. Then this movie came out and our worst fears were realized on screen. We cheered the Wolverines, rooted for them, egged them on and wanted more dead Russians. Jed’s father screaming “Avenge me!” was what we all felt at that moment. It might seem corny now, but back then it was a real fear and real emotion on the screen and we all felt it with the actors. Jed’s “You lose” at the end was what we all wanted to hear. And while we were sad at the thought of their deaths, they died free and died fighting for freedom. There was no more noble cause than that. And that’s why Red Dawn will live for eternity. Cause it represents a real fight for both survival and freedom. It’s why America has the greatest volunteer fighting force in the world. The themes throughout the movie represent America’s independent spirit and our fight to keep it that way. Bill Pulman’s (the President) speech in Independence Day would fit right in this movie without a hitch. That’s why both of those movies are so beloved by so many.

I've seen this a thousand times and still tear up at Partisan Rock. The director, John Milius, is a genius at this type of movie. I especially recommend his Theodore Roosevelt duo, "The Wind And The Lion" and "Rough Riders"

I was born and raised in Colorado and in high school when this movie was released. They are my people. This movie freaked me out worse than any horror movie could have.

You should definitely be seeing what the Russians and Cubans are saying. It really helps you understand the movie if you didn't grow up in these times.

I think you had to have grown up during the Cold War to understand this movie. We all lived the back story. As a teen, this movie rocked. My friends and I constantly watched this movie

As a teenager in the 80s (greatest decade, btw), this movie was so poignant and eye-opening and enraging. It was the height of the Cold War. And this movie (and a couple others) just helped push it deeper into your consciousness and kept it at the fore-front of your mind for a number of years. Also, it gave a sense of belonging to many people who were like the people in the movie. Small-town America was mostly forgotten as the decadence of the 80s, and the whole Yuppie thing was evolving in big cities across the country (but mainly in NYC and L.A.) and taking over society and the news. But this movie was a stark reminder that even small towns aren't immune from the horrors of war. On the contrary, it hits them harder because of their size and population. To this day, I still watch this movie with part young teenager eyes and part grown-up eyes. The teenager part likes the movie for what it is. The grow-up part quietly and mentally takes notes. WOLVERINES!!!

This is a prime example of a movie that was perfect in the context of its release. When we were kids in the 70s and 80s we were in the midst of the Cold War and knew that WWIII could start at any moment. This movie was playing hard on those thoughts and fears. It hits just right for those of us who were there when it came out. For you, it’s different

Better than the remake by far.

I agree that Colonel Bella is probably the most interesting character in this movie. Trying to resolve a struggle from within, having been the revolutionary in his younger days, to becoming the exact type of tyrant he fought against so many years ago.

'You can't just rocket launch at random citizens!' Gotta love that indignant tone. Awesome! 😀

I was 19 or 20 when this movie came out (about the same age as Jed's character), and was serving overseas in my first tour in the US military. So yeah, it was a pretty impactful film for me. FYI, you missed a LOT of context without sub titles.

Well, as a Marine whose job it was to stop Russian tanks in the late 70's and early '80''s, I never tire of this movie. I do think those who lived through the Cold War can relate to this movie better than those who didn't. Got to have the subtitles to fully get the movie. Finally, as far as "Avenge me!" being a cheesy line - not hardly!

YOU CAN’T JUST ROCKET LAUNCH AT RANDOM CITIZENS!!😂 Cassie you’re the best! 🚀

I watch this movie as a kid. I was 9 years old when it came out in theaters. It influenced me to learn wilderness survival and independence as a kid.

This movie came out right after I went through tanker training. The part where the girl blows up the tank by tossing in a grenade really hit home with me.

RIP Patrick Swayze.

This was made in the 80's and those of us who are older lived the backstory. Must be hard to grasp coming along after the cold war was over. It definitely wasn't high budget. Just to clear up a few mistakes. He didn't throw dirt in her face, he threw the plate over his shoulder to scare her. The weapons, and everything else, would be scavenged from the enemy. The spoils of war. Also, yes, you didn't have subtitles on.

“They’re just doing this to a school?” I used to think a military targeting a school was something unimaginable; an exaggerated act of evil and cruelty, as a piece of propaganda made to paint the enemy worse. After Ukraine I know better.

Sidenote: this has to be the greatest unintentionally hilarious Cass reaction EVER! The sheer perplexity in her face at each increasingly ludicrous plot point / detail was 👌🏻🤣

fun fact , the soviet vehicles are only mock ups , but they were so accurate the us government visited the set to find out where the production got them from

It absolutely wasn’t a low-budget film. Interestingly, it was the very first PG-13 rated film ever released. You mentioned perhaps “missing something”. I’d say, likely, context. Specifically the context of the era. This was a film everyone “got” in 1984. Even myself at age 10. It was a film most people loved and still hold in fond, if not high regard.

"Red Dawn" was considered the most violent movie ever when it came out, as it had more acts of violence per minute than any other film.

I was only 8 years old when this movie came out. I had to convince my parents to let me see it. We were literally on the way to the theater when my father changed his mind and I never got to see it at the movies. My parents were concerned about the violence. I watched it a few years later on VHS. Maybe I was around 10 or so. I think what scared me is that I actually thought that an invasion by the Soviets was possible. The movie felt realistic to me.

“We sleep safely at night because rough men stand ready to visit violence on those who would harm us.” ― Winston S. Churchill (among others)

16:05 Fun fact early in the Ukrainian war, destroyed Russian tanks started appearing in the news with graffiti that said “Wolverines”. Almost 40 years later this movie is still remembered and having an impact!

The version I saw in the theatre had subtitles for the spoken foreign languages

Great movie. It is a movie of it's time. I was in the US military when this came out and a war with the soviet union was a real possibility. A year after this movie Rocky IV: Rocky vs. Drago, The Soviet boxer movie came out. The cold war era was something you had to live through I guess to appreciate these types of movies.

This movie totally plays different for me as an adult than it ever did as a kid. As a kid it was an action movie with no consequences but as an adult, it’s super serious (even with the cheesy lines).

I graduated HS in 1984. It may seem funny now, but we lived everyday with the threat of nuclear war back then. I remember how rattled people were by the TV movie The Day After. Every youngster saw this movie, it was like a rite of passage in those days.

As a boy growing up in the Midwest in the 70's / 80's this move was epic in my eyes. Played lots of Army, baseball and did a lot of hunting and fishing. So making a heroic last stand with the Army or hitting a home run in game seven of the world series are things I imagined.

Fun fact: Red Dawn was the first PG-13 movie released. I saw this as a kid in the theater. There were subtitles. I've since seen this and several other movies in which the original subtitles were removed, particularly on streaming services like Netflix.

For the love of God Cassie, turn on the subtitles! I highly recommend you turn around and watch this again with them on. The Russians and Cubans have a lot of interesting things to say. Col. Bellas love letter to his wife brings me to tears…xoxo

I was 23 when this movie came out. I had grown up overseas as during the cold war. My dad was one of the various types of Naval intellegence. I paid attention. Red Dawn was in particular ways difficult to believe but in general tone, background and the nature of war of civilian populations was right on. Mental coldness was essential for survival.

To us who grew up in the cold war and 80s, we figured out the situation almost immediately. We had been conditioned all of our lives that such a war could happen, and many felt it was inevitable.

Didn't realize subtitles weren't just a part of the movie. There's actually a lot of exposition that's missed without them.

As a person who was born in the '50s in a small western town just east of the mountains in Colorado this movie hit home quite hard. We had missile silos near town and having known of the Cuban missile crisis, watching the assassination of JFK, having family members in the military during Viet Nam and served myself at the end of that conflict this was a fear we all lived with as a possibility. This is the one reason I am glad of our constitution it has kept this as only a possibility but if we lose it the possibility will become a reality.

Ron O’Neal letting the brothers walk away at the end of the film always impressed me.

It was implied there was more than an emotional bond between Lea Thompson's and Powers Boothe's characters. Lea Thompson said the original cut featured a love scene between her and Powers Boothe but it "was cut out after some previews because of the age difference.

I remember leaving the theater when I was in middle school feeling a very strong sense of National Pride and a little scared if this could really happen

During the height of the cold war everyone wondered how it could/would play out. This movie gave us one scenario.

I thought the scenes of young Sheen and Swayze as they portrayed brothers which is hard in unique ways. Their final scene was bittersweet and beautiful. I'll never forget, "I'll hold on to you Matty...as long as I can....but I'm so tired... so tired."

This IS the movie where we got the line "Avenge me!" You nailed it. All my generation used it often, usually to get a laugh, but obviously NOT funny in this movie.

The back story of the characters is subtly told. Like when Mr Mason says " them sons of bitches tried having their way with them" might explain why the girls have no empathy for Russians. Or why Erica goes off on Matt at the campfire. AND Danny tells Col Tanner "something happened to her". Also, they got their weapons from the Russians they'd killed. The movie does have flaws, but it's still a favorite of mine. Thank you for reviewing it, Cassie.

I suspect part of Cassie's disconnect is that the US military is so powerful today that it's hard to imagine that we could be invaded or lose a war, but back in 1984, a the height of the Cold War, it was a real fear. The US had been humiliated in Cuba, lost in Vietnam, kicked out of Iran by the Ayatollah, and the military barracks in Beirut was destroyed in a terror attack. Our enemies, especially the Soviet Union, looked ascendant. When this movie came out, every one of my friends could relate to the idea that we might have to be the next generation to fight, so every teenaged character in the movie felt real even without individual backstories.

Being a child of the cold war, the 60s and 70s, the ever present prospect of war with Russia was a constant concern. This movie was a perspective on how a conflict might actually occur and be waged on US soil with only limited nuclear force. I understand how it might not feel as real to generations who never experienced that era. Cassie I always enjoy your movie watches and reviews. Keep up the good work, I'll keep watching 😊

16:00 The way they acquired all those supplies is called (S)trategic (T)ransfer of (E)quipment to (A)lternative (L)ocation.

For an Australian take on the same scenario check out 'Tomorrow, when the war began' (2010).

Being of the post cold war era, this was the first cold war 'what if' film I ever saw, what an experience. It really catches the bleak horrors of war and their effects on the youthful resistance fighters. Also loved the subplot with Colonel Bella and his duty as a soldier and his sympathy for the resistance, having once been a partisan himself engaged in guerrilla warfare.

A lot of us 80s kids grew up on this movie. Memorized the lines. To this day my friends, family, and i all admire Robert's last stand (the Star Wars hat he wore in the beginning was also a big plus). MIght've had something to do w/ growing up in Texas and the Cold War environment back then but between country upbringing, stories of the Alamo, and movies like this influenced us greatly. Many of us ended up in the military. And the subtitles are a must. Love the channel!

I was in the Army on a tank when this came out and soldiers watching and shouting out vehicle types, T-72, ZSU 24-4 etc... They got their equipment as all guerrilla warriors do, from your dead enemy, at the start they were using hunting rifles and shotguns, later you see them with Russian AK 47s and RPG-7s (Automatic Rifles and Rocket Launchers). Many people didn't like this movie because there was no happy ending but life doesn't always have a happy ending.

One of the few movies I watched twice in a row at a theater. I was so blown away after I saw it, I stayed in the same theater and watched it all again.

I saw this as a kid and loved it. It takes a lot of liberty with the whole Soviet invasion being that successful and it did have a small budget. The industry hated John Millius (despite his contributions) and this isn't his best script but it still holds up in my opinion. You definitely should have had subtitles.

I grew up on this film. Watched it so many times on HBO in the 80s.

Yes, this film had subtitles. It would help you understand the mind and thoughts of the invaders. I live in Colorado and every time I pass through Las Vegas, New Mexico it reminds me of the film production that took place there.

There was fear of WW3 during the 80's. This movie touched a nerve. I would still suggest FailSafe (1964). That movie still gives me chills.

The best version of Red Dawn! The first time I ever watched this as a kid in the 80s I was sobbing at the end & then was terrified of something happening like this for YEARS!!! We all grew up so scared of Russia, well all my Gen X’ers know what I mean??

Hilarious how this went from being a relevant fear, to being a quaint and passé premise form a bygone era, to now being somewhat relevant again.

Fun part on the movie, the Russian officer was ex CIA that spoke fluent Russian. He NEVER spoke to the kid cast on set and they were actively afraid of him that led to more realistic reactions.

Good for you to give your honest opinion on this. Gen X-ers like me love this one, but to each his own. Not every movie is a winner to everybody.

During the early days of the current war in Ukraine, there was a picture of a burned out Russian tank, destroyed by Ukrainian resistance fighters.... across the back of the tank was spray painted "WOLVERINES".... Almost 30 year old movie, and it was enough to inspire cold, hungry, Ukrainians fighting for THEIR homeland against Russians to paint that on a tank they destroyed. It's not Citizen Kane or anything, and it was a low budget movie... but, it's got it's moments and resonating themes.

As a young kid in the eighties I used to wonder if I'd have to do this someday. What a time to grow up!

When they were talking in their languages, they were talking about getting 4473s. Form 4473 is the form you fill out at a gun store for a firearm transfer. It has info like name, address, etc. They wanted to go after the guns.

Patrick Swayze had so many hits in the 80s and 90s: Roadhouse, Point Break, Red Dawn. Legendary 🙌

This is the reality of war ....a very accurate depiction all normality is gone weapons were taken from dead enemy

Start your personal supply if you haven't already. It doesn't have to be a lot all at once, it could be as simple as adding an extra can of corn to your grocery order. Or a second of something else on your order. But make sure it is something you will already have on your list that is shelf stable. Dont waste money on something you wont eat. Watch videos on what to stock up on, there are things you wont think of.

I'd write creative wrighting stories in 4th grade class which were just a 1:1 copy of this movie. Was obsessed with this badass movie. This and Toy Soldiers. The 80's were magical if your favourite films like these don't get made anymore.

What's ironic is that we have a Red Dawn situation going on right now- only it didn't parachute in... it sprung from our universities.

That was the name of our battalion back in the day. The 94th Engineer Combat Battalion (Heavy) "Wolverines!" U.S. ARMY

This movie is definitely a product of it's times. I'm not surprised Cassie didnt really get it. If you grew up during the cold war, this was the horror story that went along with that. Ukraine is going through it right now.

Red Dawn was not a movie, it was an instruction manual. In the Ukraine they are showing this movie to trainees in their boot camps. It's been reported that someone is spray painting “wolverines” on destroyed Russian vehicles. As a Gen Xer and Clod War survivor I love hearing that.

Being a kid in the early 1980s in Europe all us kids knew that a bright flash on the horizon could happen every moment. We knew, that those that were incinerated immediately would be the lucky ones. When the wall fell, some USSR documents were eventually declassified, including the battle plan for Europe called "7 days to the river Rhine". Widespread use of tactical nukes would be implemented including 2 in my teeny weeny country, Denmark. The Russian estimate of subduing Danish resistance was 45 minutes.....

Growing up in the Cold War...this was a very timely, very scary movie for us. I still enjoy watching it.

They couldn't send the boy with the tracker back to town. The bad guys would've just interrogated him until he gave up where/how to find the others.

so surprised your version didn't have actual subtitles. it should definitely have them. classic movie

Patrick Swayze had several early acting credits, going back to 1979. But he started to hit it big with "The Outsiders" and "Uncommon Valor" (both 1983) and then this film. The Outsiders also has C. Thomas Howell, Darren Dalton and William Smith (whom you saw here in Red Dawn), Emilio Estevez (Charlie Sheen's brother), Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, Rob Lowe, a pre-dental-implant Tom Cruise, and Diane Lane. Uncommon Valor is headed up by Gene Hackman. It's kind of a precursor to the Chuck Norris "Missing in Action" movies and Stallone's early "Rambo" movies.

This is what happens in other countries all the time. It's only shocking/unrealistic to us from the American / Canadian perspective.

QUIGLEY DOWN UNDER! Great cast, great story, western that takes place in Australia, and a love story as well! Stats nuf said. Why doesn't ANY reactor consider this fine film. 😊

Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze would team up a few years later to film a popular dancing film called Weekend at Bernie's.

Cassie deserved to be told ahead of time that Red Dawn is a brutal war film . Also, why in God's name are the subtitles "off"?!

Hell yes!!!!! The combination of Red Dawn and The Road Warrior dominated my play time as a child.

You are right. This is supposed to have foreign langauge subtitles to translate what is being said. But you aren't missing anything that would be critical to understand the movie. The main back story about the enemy, was that the Cuban commander was sympathetic to the insurgents (the kids) because he too used to be the insurgents. He was warning the Russian commanders against mass executions, because he knew, as an ex insurgent, that this just fueled the hate necessary for the Wolverines to make more attacks. And you guessed right. That last Russian Commander they sent in to the area, was a specialist. He was sent there to defeat the insurgency. He said he would find and kill them because unlike the other soldiers and military, he was a hunter. And he knew his prey. The Wolverines. He knew you had to be cunning to defeat such an animal, not just brutal. Then they used the tracker, and stuff started falling apart. In one of the final scenes the Cuban Commander has a shot, but he doesn't take it. He knows the insurgency has already been effective, but he also knows that the brothers have lost that last battle, and he lets them walk to find their own end rather than shooting them himself. You hear this same cuban writing letters to his wife, and expressing frustration at his position. This is all from memory, but that is the gist of it. The movie stands tall even without the subtitles, but they do add to the understanding of the enemy perspective and some of the backstory. This is kind of a guy movie, even though they showed the girls being just as tough smart and effective. But it is still basically a guys fantasy of how he would fight back against tyranny. It is also a very American Movie, and I don't think people from some parts of the world really understand that a large part of the population, even now, but especially back then, would rather die than live under tyranny. Unfortunately, the brainwashing and indoctrinaters are doing a find job of eliminating this sort of attitude. And we are taught now that we serve at the pleasure of our good government, whereas in my generation we were taught that the government serves the good People of the United States, who as a whole, outrank and outclass the government that we have hired to represent our interests. This is ALMOST considered a subversive concept in 2023. Give them a few more years of our current leadership and it will be. They are already arresting people for disagreeing with the government, attempting to imprison political opponents on, no pun intended, Trumped up charges. Like following legal resources and methods to question election irregularities, which is considered sedition and terrorism, unless you are a member of THE party. Databyter

The soviet vehicles in the movie were so convincing that the crew, director, and producers got a visit from the CIA, wondering where they got(at the time) modern soviet armour from. From there the CIA helped contribute in the movie, from the details on the vehicles of both Cuban and Soviet forces, to even the uniforms and weapons. The RPG-7s shown are actually US Government owned(from capture in Vietnam) RPG-2s, dressed up to look like RPG-7s. The DshK heavy MGs are leased M-60s, augmented to look like DshKs. The RPKs which are the long barrel Soviet aks seen in when the paratroopers dropped in, are Finnish made copies. Basically this was another action film that did so good on it's own the US government took an interest and said "Ya know what, lend em some stuff." They even had US Army helicopter pilots in those Huey seen early on in the movie.

As an Aussie it resonated with us down here too. I still love watching this movie. It reminds me and my Gen X brothers playing war games together on weekends. Simpler times and without a care in the world. It's a movie that pulls no punches of sorts. It's a teen boys movie. Lets hope now like then that this scenario never plays out.

That opening... so freaking good, the music and the buildup really make this movie memorable.

One of my favorite movies growing up. Total 80s. Watched this a million times cause it was always on regular cable

I was born in 1994, so all my “experience” with the Cold War has come from eduction and movies and what not. The Cold War era has always been one of my favorites to learn about and I love just about every movies based on that time. Anything ranging from Tom Clancy books and movies to K-19 The Widowmaker to War Games to Miracle to the amazing Red Dawn. Being a Denver native and having this movie set in the Colorado Rockies, I always used to think about this movie when “fantasying” about war… Rising up and saving the town type stuff. Anyway having not lived during this era, I still knew and understood just how scary of a time it was for those that did. My mom grew up in a small farming town in Idaho called Preston. It’s the town that Napoleon Dynamite was shot in (her high school locker is in the movie and everything). Behind their house and barn was a very large rocky cliff/ridge. Knowing my fascination for the Cold War, she would tell me about how one of their biggest fears as kids and teenagers was the thought of waking up one morning to Russian soldiers parachuting over that ridge. Very reminiscent to the opening scenes of this movie. Every time I watch this movie I think of her and all those that lived in constant fear of the Cold War turning hot and a potential WWIII. Another interesting story I love sharing when I can is of my grandpa on my dads side. He was an Air Force mechanic for a lot of his career and he eventually moved to some sort of desk job. They moved around a lot and lived in a number of places outside of the US. One such place was Thailand. I believe my dad was like 2 at the time. They were there during the Cuban Missile Crisis for context as he worked his desk job. Years later my grandpa took my dad and his older brother to see The Hunt For Red October. That movie was so real that as they were driving home, he pulled over to have a serious talk with them both. He was so overwhelmed by the realism that he had to come clean. While in Thailand, he was not working just any ordinary military desk job. He literally spent his days sitting behind controls/turn keys to nuclear warheads. He waited for a phone call he prayed would never come. If the Cubans launched their nukes, he was to be one of a number of other people who would initiate the retaliatory nuclear strikes… specifically their were pointed at China. So if the war had turned hot, he would have been one of the men who turned a key that would have killed millions of people. Absolutely insane to think about and also a very legit reminder to me how serious this time in the world was. Also if you have not seen it you really need to do a reaction to the movie Miracle. Considered one of the most important sports games ever played and the turning point of the Cold War. Also just an absolutely amazing movie and one of the best adaptations of real sporting events to the big screen.

"You can't just rocket launch at random citizens" is probably the best movie comment ever.

There are movies, like this one, that it's okay to just roll with... don't have to overthink it. Just enjoy / accept it as it is.

This was based in the Cold War mentality (1984). Written by John Milius. He also wrote Jeremiah Johnson (which you recently watched), Apocalypse Now, Conan the Barbarian (Schwarzenegger), and a lot of other war and hero type stuff. The film might've been an attempt to help out with president Reagan's re-election. Yes, you miss a lot without subtitles. In the first night of the invasion, Col. Bella (Ron O'Neal) gives orders to get the records from the sporting goods store so they can find out who has guns. In the scene where the three Soviet soldiers go up to the mountains for a day of goofing off, the one who translates the Arapaho National Forest monument totally butchers it. (That's supposed to be comic relief.) You're right, Bella does indeed say that the invaders should try to "win their hearts and minds." When Strelnikov (William Smith) comes in to deal with the Wolverines problem and is haranguing the troops, he's saying that reprisals against civilians only make the revolution stronger (the same thing that Bella had begun saying), and instead they have to seek out and kill ONLY the Wolverines. The voiceover of the letter that Bella had been writing to his wife just before the last attack by Jed and Matt said that he was sick of war, and especially of being on the invading side rather than on the side of the homeland patriots, and he was going to post his resignation. So, at the end, he let Jed get away. The 2012 remake (which you probably don't want to bother with) originally had Communist China as the primary invader. But that would've sabotaged a good share of the international market, so they spent a couple years in postpro CGI changing the uniforms and stuff over to North Korean.

You spotted Jennifer Grey playing Toni before she went on to play Baby in "Dirty Dancing". The other girl Erica, who you thought you recognised, is played by Lea Thompson who went on to play Lorraine McFly (Marty's mother) in the "Back To The Future" movies.

The scene where the brothers are dying on the park bench, is the truest "guy cry" moment in cinema.