Very obviously made during the eighties and extremely reflective of the American political climate of the era, Red Dawn is a little hard to take seriously in this day and age but that doesn't at all diminish the film's entertainment value. Has the movie aged well? In many regards, no, not at all - in fact politically the film is unintentionally hilarious. That said, there are some interesting ideas here and a few well executed action scenes that make this slightly more than just 80s camp (though that factor does play a huge part in the film's watchability).

The premise of the film is an interesting one. World War III begins when the citizens of a small Colorado town wake up one morning to swarms of Soviet and Cuban Paratroopers descending on the football field of the local high school. The soldiers attack the school and a small group of teenagers (Charlie Sheen, Lea Thompson, C. Thomas Howell, Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey) run out into the mountains to escape the invaders. Thankfully these scrappy teens are able to arm themselves with a few measly weapons - bows, knives, low caliber rifles - and with some help from an old American soldier and an injured fighter pilot (Powers Booth), they soon turn themselves into guerilla style freedom fighters. Meanwhile, around the country, the communists are re-educating the masses, taking away privately owned firearms, and more or less locking down the country. When a patrol of soldiers makes their way to the woods, the group kills them off and before you know it, they're fighting for freedom as.... THE WOLVERINES!

The premise of Red Dawn is one worth exploring and one that is ripe with ideas - it's a great basis for a movie, particularly in the post 9/11 world with Americans being told to 'be on alert' and with the threat of more terrorist attacks a very real fear. That said, the execution of what is admittedly a good idea leaves a lot to be desired and the script is so ridiculous that it's pretty damn near impossible to take much of this film seriously at all, particularly when you've got some Brat Pack actor yelling WOLVERINNNNEEEEEEESSSSSSS every couple of minutes. The early scene in which the paratroopers descend on the field and then unload on the history teacher remains a powerful and effective opening and the scene in which the freedom fighters have to execute a few commie soldiers is a bit unnerving but for the most part, the film is just too goofy for it to work as well as it could have. Had more care been put into details and logic in the script instead of killing everyone and blowing everything up then director John Milius (yes, the same John Milius who co-wrote Apocalypse Now - arguably the best war movie ever made) could have created a chilling and effective portrait of a possible future instead of a 'shoot'em all let God sort'em out' camp classic.

As a slam-bang action film, however, Red Dawn is awesome! Turn your brain off and watch stuff explode, marvel at how many people get shot (even if most of the actual carnage occurs off screen), take a drink every time someone yells 'WOLVERIIINNNNEEESSSS' and try not to be sloshed by the time that the end credits hit, and swoon to the strange romance that blossoms between Lea Thompson and the much older and creepier Powers Booth. In some ways, Red Dawn has it all, even if it is a huge missed opportunity.

Video:

The transfer on this new two-disc special edition presents the pictures in its original aspect ratio at 1.85.1 widescreen, enhanced for anamorphic sets (the previous single disc release was not 16x9 enhanced). Color reproduction is strong and black levels stay pretty solid. A little bit of fine grain coats the picture throughout but it's hardly distracting, it just makes it look like film. Skin tones look good and fine detail in both the foreground and the background of the image is quite revelatory. Don't worry about any compression artifacts as they're never a problem though eagle-eyed viewers may pick out some really light edge enhancement and a bit of shimmering here and there. The transfer shows its age in a few scenes in that there is the odd speck of print damage here and there but it's a vast improvement over the previous release and overall things look quite good here.