A New Red Dawn

“We are the government and we are here to help.”  Truly one of the most horrifying concepts within the last two centuries has come to the silver screen as a modern take of John Milius’s Red Dawn.  Milius’s film about a Soviet and Latin invasion/occupation of the United States during the Cold War has been both inspirational and controversial for generations of moviegoers.  Rugged individuals fighting a guerilla war against overwhelming forces in your hometown is a universal theme.  Every zombie film uses the same premise.  What made Red Dawn and its remake different are their patriotic and historical overtones. For example; in the original film the character “Jeb” is named after a famous mountain man who hunted, trapped, and fought Indians off when America was still expanding west. Milius loves to write about when men lived by their own means without laws or government, just by their own word and the gun by their side.  The remake of Red Dawn brings the audience back to this rugged scenario with a combat veteran teaching survivors how live in this new world without the comforts of civil society.

Original Trailer

Conservatives, libertarians, historians, and veterans love movies that promote these ideals and give audiences a glimpse at why we resist things in this world that are forced upon us.  This is why criticisms of both the original Red Dawn and the remake are very scathing.  The majority of American film critics are very liberal both socially and politically.  The art they review is created by an industry that is very liberal.  This is more than just conjecture on my part, because there are just too many polls out there that state otherwise.  The original was criticized as being right-wing paranoia, as well as being called; Fascism and pro-gun nationalism insulting the Soviets.  The new version suffered the same fate from critics some saying the acting was terrible, which is a legitimate argument until you watch the actual film.  The remake of Red Dawn has some great veteran actors and actresses in it portraying the situation with great realism showing the immaturity of youth, desperation, coping with loss, and warrior’s spirit.  Other criticisms were made by rather pro-communist, pro North Korea reviewers stating how terrible the portrayal of the North Korean military occupation is in the film.  This should not be a surprise to anyone out there. When dealing with progressive communism, people only see government for the free stuff they get and forget about the trail of bodies their theories leave behind.  My example comes from Anthony Herbert’s book Soldier about his time fighting the Korean War.  He details in his book finding friends he came across on patrol that were nailed to doorways and their entrails leading out into the ice and snow. That is what progressivism offers us.

Remake Trailer

Regardless of the bad reviews the original Red Dawn became a staple for generations of American youth giving them a fictional glimpse of what real freedom fighters had to endure all over the world and throughout history.  Milius is a true torch-bearer preserving America’s individualism and self-reliance for future generations in hopes that they will never forget their birthright. The original Red Dawn is available on Blu-Ray and on Netflix.  The remake even though it lacks some of the desperation of the original film has some intense plot scenes of betrayal and loss which makes for a great version, with an ending that is truly motivating.  A great movie quote that sums up both films comes from Ridley Scott’s Gladiator. Quintus, “A people should know when they are conquered.”  Maximus, “Would you, Quintus? Would I? “