WOLVERINES!

Gettin' pretty lean on feelings, aren't ya, Jed?

Can't afford 'em.

Even if that'd been me?

We're brothers, let's make it count.

 

Wwwwhat about my dad?

They shot him, for aiding the enemy.

He never aided anybody ... we took the stuff.

Now you boys listen to me and let that burn in real good.

 

Coffee splashes dramatically on the fire . . . . . . and, SCENE.

As I say in every Red Dawn thread, the best part is after C. Thomas Howell kills Darren Daulton, and Patrick Swayze is crying alone in the woods. Then he gets a snot bubble, and wipes it away.

But not before a classic movie moment is created.

 

Well this thread took a turn, kind of like when the mayor's dopey kind went into town ... went and got caught.

 

I'm too lazy to dig for it, but I started a poll on the quality of Red Dawn.
Great Movie, Greatest Movie, I thought Wolverine was a reference to X-Men, and I wasn't born when this movie came out were the choices.
It also came up that Red Dawn was the first PG-13 movie. Or at least I think that's right.
Anyway, I still maintain that this movie defines a generation.
I'm not aware of any guy in my age range who doesn't immediately know the meaning of "Wolverines!"

 

It was the first PG-13 film. Makes a great trivia question; I believe Millionaire used it about a year ago.

Just checked the wikipedia entry for the film. Where the heck does the following info come from (Caveat: I haven't seen it in its entirety in 20 years)?



The film’s backstory involves several alternate history political precedents. The Green Party came to power in West Germany, forcing the removal of U.S. forces from that nation and all nuclear weapons from Europe. The resulting upheaval left NATO as a political nonentity, with only Britain remaining as a U.S. ally. At the same time, Soviet allies Cuba and Nicaragua each expanded their armies to 500,000 men, subsequently overrunning El Salvador and Honduras. A civil war in Mexico resulted in that country falling behind the Communist Iron Curtain. In a parallel to Operation Barbarossa, the Soviet Union, like Nazi Germany, now had a broad base from which to invade its primary enemy, and thousands of troops from satellite nations to augment their own armies.

During this time, the Soviet Union was suffering its worst wheat harvest in 55 years and food riots throughout the Warsaw Pact. Apparently desperate for food to feed its people, the Soviet Union and its Latin American allies launched a full scale invasion of the United States. Although the movie was released in 1984, the story itself takes place in the near future, probably 1988 or 1989 since the Holodomor of 1932-1934 is most likely the 55-year-old “worst wheat harvest” that is referred to. The Soviets utilize a three-phase attack. First, they use tactical nuclear strikes to destroy key points of communication including several major U.S. cities (Omaha, Kansas City and Washington, D.C. are specifically cited). Tactical nuclear weapons are also used to destroy ICBM bases in Montana and the Dakotas. In addition, it is hinted that Cuban infiltrators aid in confusing U.S. forces by raiding Strategic Air Command bases throughout the Midwest and Texas. Coupled with these nuclear attacks, Soviet transport aircraft slipped through the U.S. radar disguised as commercial airlines. These planes contained crack Soviet VDV airborne troops and Spetsnaz troops. The second phase saw Mexican, Nicaraguan, and other Central American Communist armies (with small contingents of Soviet forces) pouring across the U.S.-Mexico border into the Great Plains of the United States. The Soviets themselves invaded Alaska from Siberia. They crossed into Canada and cut the Alaskan Pipeline, but were decisively stopped at the U.S.-Canadian border by U.S. forces.

Elsewhere, Britain remained loyal to her American allies, but suffered heavily for it. China also declared war upon the Soviet Union; the reason for this is unexplained, though there is some long-standing animosity between the two powers resulting from the Sino-Soviet split that continues to this day. Colonel Tanner cryptically refers to there being some 400 million fewer “screaming Chinese,” these people were probably killed as a result of a massive Soviet nuclear strike. In the film, the effects of the nuclear weapons are not shown, as the location (northern Colorado) is far from any contaminated sites.

The Communist forces manage to occupy and control a large chunk of the central United States, extending as far west as the Rocky Mountains, and north to Cheyenne, Wyoming across Kansas to the Mississippi River in the east. Denver is also under siege.

Once the lines are stabilized, it quickly becomes a conventional war with both sides ceasing their use of nuclear weapons. Colonel Tanner explains that the Soviets are reluctant to use any more nuclear weapons, as they want to conquer the United States, not destroy it utterly, and the U.S. government is unwilling to use tactical nuclear weapons on or over their own soil against the invading armies. The Soviets work through American collaborators at the local level to help them maintain order.

 

I am ashamed to say I saw this movie in a movie theater when it came out, and enjoyed it.

 

No reason to feel ashamed. I saw it in the theater, as well, and my brothers and I were yelling Wolverines!!! afterward as we waited for our mom to come pick us up.

 

Yes, but I was long past the mom-picking-me-up stage. I was 24 or 25.

 

If I remember correctly, Red Dawn was based on U.S. military scenario from West Point or one of those government think tank places where they dream up scenarios all day and then game them out.

 

damn! I thought about setting the TiVo, but think I'll just go buy the damn thing instead. Great flick!