Great visuals, story delivers no surprises

Absolutely the worst movie.

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

What started out as one-sided conservative propaganda turned into a unique war movie that is beautifully shot and masterfully plays on your emotions. I was not prepared to like this movie starting out. I saw things like, "Commies are the devil" and "Boys shouldn't cry" and "Here boys, protect these girls" and "Murrica is awesome and of course we will win." But as the movie went on, it pleasantly surprised me. The boys in the group still showed emotional vulnerability. The girl characters became just as capable in combat as the boys. The young freedom fighters representing America experienced many triumphs, but also a lot of grief and suffering. Even the Communist villains showed signs of humanity, particularly towards the end. Though this movie appears to be a pro-American propaganda piece playing on a prevalent fear in the 80's, it is actually an emotional drama that shows a young group of people as they cope with trauma and struggle to survive in a hellish landscape. It is a work of art and should be treated as such.

Great movie, alot of great lines. WOLVERINES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As a serious drama this is arguably one of the most inept major releases of all time. As a comedy - which it might be - it's still one of the most inept major releases of all time. Acting so bad I'm surprised any casting directors took their agent's phone calls after this one. Patrick Swayze, C Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, Powers Boothe. How did they find work ever again? Action sequences so farcical is makes pro wrestling look like the most carefully choreographed martial arts movie. A story so preposterous it makes real-life Cold War rhetoric sound as gentle as a Jane Austen novel by comparison. Most movies centered around high school kids are bad, generally speaking. But this is the worst. Who agreed to invest money in this production? A bunch of dentists hoping to lose money so they could claim the tax break?

I'm not a big fan of '80s teen movies here – show me a John Hughes title and I'll probably run a mile (apart from HOME ALONE, which I have a nostalgic soft spot for). So when I heard about RED DAWN, a film about American teenagers fighting back against a Russian invasion, I didn't get my hopes up too much. The film is far too mainstream to offer any really cutting edge kind of thrills, so instead we're left with a bloated mess, full of average action scenes shot with little flourish or flair and plenty of soul-searching dialogue which got on my nerves after a while. I have a feeling that the Chuck Norris B-movie INVASION USA is a lot more entertaining than this flick.However, it's not all bad. It has a great director in John Milius, and he re-teams with CONAN THE BARBARIAN composer Basil Poledouris so there's a decent soundtrack. There's a big budget and action a-plenty involving shoot-outs, tanks and RPGs; some of the good guy deaths are quite moving. The script isn't all I hoped for, but there's an epic, wide-scale sense to the action which isn't half bad. It's mainly the youthful cast I have problems with. The likes of Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, and Charlie Sheen are all here, but they lack the definition that made them successful Hollywood actors in their own right. There are touches of individuality and acting ability but for the most part they seem faceless, just another figure in an ensemble group. The same goes for BACK TO THE FUTURE's Lea Thompson and DIRTY DANCING's Jennifer Grey. It takes some older actors like the excellent Powers Boothe and baddie William Smith to show them how to act.All in all, RED DAWN is a 'big' '80s film but in the end I found it a little bland for my tastes. There's a good downbeat climax, but the pacing issues up to then make it feel like an all-too-simple case of fight-talk-fight-talk ad nauseum. I enjoyed it, but it's not one I'll be watching again.