RED DAWN (1984) - Full Watch Along
Added 2025-09-21 16:36:28 +0000 UTCNot quite the Stand by Me or Lost Boys I was expecting… but wow. This was incredibly intense, shook me around a little, and at times felt like The Deer Hunter for children. Hope you enjoy this 80s classic with me! Reaction highlights on YouTube Friday September 26th. 🖤
Comments
This was inspired by the real-life Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the guerilla war waged by the mujahedin. We can see now in Ukraine that not much has changed between 1980's Soviets and today's Russians. For the question about the idea that these teenagers were excellent marksmen and hunters, remember that some of the US's military members most honored for their marksmanship skills have come from poor families where they learned to hunt as pre-teen boys in order to help put food on their family's table: Alvin York, Audey Murphy, Carlos Hathcock, Chris Kyle, etc. Where bullets were so valuable that they learned to make every one count and only expend 1 per game animal. York is quoted as saying shooting Germans in the head as they popped up over the top of trenches in WW1 was easy when he had learned as a boy to shoot turkeys in the head with a rifle so as not to damage the meat. And to the commenter who called it "Reagan-era Cold War propaganda": keep in mind that the push to back the Afghans against the Soviets came from a Democrat; Representative Charles Wilson of Texas. So much so that he is the only civilian ever awarded the highest honor bestowed by the CIA.
JAKH
2025-09-28 09:27:32 +0000 UTCI share your sentiments on this movie. It came out when I was twenty and was pretty clearly Reagan-era Cold War propaganda exploring a wildly unlikely scenario. Just thinking about all the movies passed over in favor of Red Dawn makes me sad. So sad that I think I’m going to have to go watch one of my favorite romcoms, NEXT STOP WONDERLAND, to cheer myself up.
Flounder
2025-09-22 22:40:20 +0000 UTCChina wants to invade America? Let’s see how that goes.
Brandan Wakefield
2025-09-22 18:09:28 +0000 UTCNo. I hate this f*cking movie. It’s dumb. I can handle “Road House” because its ridiculousness is f*cking funny. This movie, tries to be serious. Guess what? No one is taking it seriously.
Brandan Wakefield
2025-09-22 18:06:52 +0000 UTC
