Red Dawn

Name: Red Dawn
Genre: Action, Drama
Released: August 10, 1984
Duration: 114 min
Rating: 53
Cast: Ben Johnson, Brad Savage, C. Thomas Howell, Charlie Sheen, Darren Dalton

1984

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Mixed or average reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 29 Ratings

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5.6	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 29 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

MGM/UA Entertainment Company | Release Date: August 10, 1984 | PG-13

Starring: Ben Johnson, Brad Savage, C. Thomas Howell, Charlie Sheen, Darren Dalton, Doug Toby, Harry Dean Stanton, Jennifer Grey, Lea Thompson, Patrick Swayze

Summary: It is the dawn of World War III. In mid-western America, a group of teenagers bands together to defend their town, and their country, from invading Soviet forces.

Director: John Milius

Genre(s): Action, Drama

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 114 min

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Critic Reviews

Bill Cosford

This is what we call a movie-movie, a movie that throws nuance and self-consciousness and artiness to the wind and concentrates on the slam-bam. It's richly entertaining, it's big, it moves fast. [10 Aug 1984, p.C1]

Fernando Croce

What if Reagan’s America got a taste of her own interventionist foreign policies? Apocalypse, wow. Read full review

John Haslett Cuff

It's pure American corn but expertly and entertainingly harvested. The casting is excellent, the performances are so good and the emotional thrust of the film so strong that it is impossible not to enjoy. [10 Aug 1984]

Empire Kim Newman

Red Dawn is at once a mainstream shoot ‘em up action picture and an ideologically demented exercise in American paranoia. Read full review

Gary Arnold

Milius and his co-writer, Kevin Reynolds, commit a fatal blunder by jumping into combat sequences before we've scarcely had time to take in the idyllic heartland setting, a rural Colorado town called Calumet. [10 Aug 1984, p.B4]

Rita Kempley

Director John Milius, the barbarian behind Conan, co-wrote this anti-gun-control, anti- Communist, survivalist script with Kevin Reynolds. Sick and silly as it is, the idea could have been intriguing, had it gone anywhere, which it didn't. Read full review

TV Guide Magazine Staff (Not Credited)

Another infantile right-wing fantasy from writer-director John Milius, this cinematic embodiment of the paranoid delusions of militarists, survivalists, and television evangelists is definitely a film for the Reagan era. Red Dawn is simply too simplistic and inept to be taken seriously. Read full review

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User Reviews

Popcorn55

Dec 25, 2018

This classic (the original 1984 film) is a FAR better film than it gets credit for. Original, gripping, somewhat chilling storyline, well executed. "What if?" ... and if accept the premise, we are drawn into a very entertaining heroic tale that isn't so utterly far-fetched, and includesThis classic (the original 1984 film) is a FAR better film than it gets credit for. Original, gripping, somewhat chilling storyline, well executed. "What if?" ... and if accept the premise, we are drawn into a very entertaining heroic tale that isn't so utterly far-fetched, and includes some striking and vivid combat scenes that go far beyond our low-budget expectations. Like the scene where the helicopter shoots up the enemy roadblock... that was money for sure, and it's almost just a background cameo. Makes it feel unexpectedly real and immersive. We really feel, "yeah, this is kind of how it would be, if the US homeland were actually invaded". Hence, we identify with the high-school kids turned patriot soldiers in a shattered world where they don't even have any news of what is happening, at least until the downed pilot shows up.

We need more homeland survival dramas in this genre. It's a fascinating theme, and plenty of room for more "What if...?" stories about what ordinary folks in America would have to do when the country is falling apart.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

benskylerhill

Apr 23, 2018

Red Dawn is one of my favorite movies of all time, but it's certainly not because it's a great movie. Rather, it's a guilty pleasure that's loud and unintelligent but sure is a lot of fun.

The acting and script are probably the best thing about this movie. They're over-the-top and taken aRed Dawn is one of my favorite movies of all time, but it's certainly not because it's a great movie. Rather, it's a guilty pleasure that's loud and unintelligent but sure is a lot of fun.

The acting and script are probably the best thing about this movie. They're over-the-top and taken a bit too seriously, but they still give audiences a reason to be emotionally invested in these teenage protagonists and the bleak, harrowing situation they've found themselves in.

The story is not entirely unbelievable when it comes to its basic premise. The title cards at the start of the film set up an alternate history that sets up a plausible setting for a World War III on American soil. But once it gets into the gunfights with a small group of teenagers defeating groups of a well-supplied army, all reality is to be suspended indefinitely. But the overall quality of the film certainly doesn't detract from its entertainment value. Red Dawn is not to be viewed as a good film, but as an escape into a fun, unbelievable story of conquering against all odds.

Story: 6
Acting: 5
Script: 6
Visuals/Sound: 4.5
Entertainment Value: 8

MY RATING: 5.9/10… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Voodoo123

Sep 6, 2022

The great cast and premise are squandered by the limited battle choreography and screenplay that fail to build any kind of tension instead presenting poorly paced dramatic scenes between the teenagers which then cut alway to scenes of incomprehensible action montages. Still it is clearlyThe great cast and premise are squandered by the limited battle choreography and screenplay that fail to build any kind of tension instead presenting poorly paced dramatic scenes between the teenagers which then cut alway to scenes of incomprehensible action montages. Still it is clearly made from the heart and I found it quite compelling.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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