Red Dawn (1984)

Ever wondered if "Red Dawn," the first American PG-13 film, shouts a battle cry for war or waves a white flag for peace? We grapple with this question as we dissect the 1984 controversial war film, digging into its portrayal of conflict and analyzing everything from the performances to the film's haunting visuals. Expect an episode filled with debate as we critically examine the iconic invasion scene and the lack of complex character arcs.

Strap in for a behind-the-scenes tour led by Patrick Swayze's challenging leadership and the intense boot camp the young cast endured. We reveal the intricate layers of "Red Dawn," offering a unique perspective on the film's creation, including director John Milius's unorthodox casting process and the unexpected tenderness between Swayze and Jennifer Grey pre-"Dirty Dancing" fame. We navigate the film's themes and pay homage to the heart-wrenching moments that stir our emotions, all while contemplating the movie's lasting impact on audiences and its place in cinematic history.

Our discussion takes us through the psychological toll of war depicted in "Red Dawn," the group's evolution into a resistance force, and the moral dilemmas they face. As we reach the film's poignant conclusion, we reflect on the emotional weight of the final scenes, the unresolved storylines, and the humor found in the movie's seemingly disjointed ending. Tune in for an engaging session that's as much about the art of storytelling as it is about the personal impact of a film that continues to provoke discussion decades after its release.

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Music produced by Joey Prosser. X @mrjoeyprosser

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:03

Hello and welcome to the we Recommend podcast, a movie podcast, where every week we recommend a movie for you to watch and then come back here and listen to us discuss. I'm Jesse.

Speaker 2 0:12

I'm Jason. All that hate's gonna burn you up, kid, it keeps me warm.

Speaker 1 0:18

Because this week we recommend Red Dawn. Okay, first thing I want to ask. So is this a anti-war movie or a pro-war movie? Or does it not know what it's trying to do?

Speaker 2 0:49

I don't know if it's, if it cares. Either way, I don't know if it's anti or pro, I think it's just there.

Speaker 1 0:56

They're just dealing with it. Cool premise.

Speaker 2 1:01

It's kind of pro-war like grab your guns, kill the invaders.

Speaker 1 1:05

Then it has all the anti-war stuff of like you see these kids run down, all this classic like anti-war War is ugly, yeah, like the war is ugly type thing, okay. So is this a movie filled with good actors that are not acting very well, or is it a movie that's just not well directed? What do you think?

Speaker 2 1:31

it is. I don't think it's probably a little bit of both, a little bit of both man because they are rough in this film. It's like what.

Speaker 1 1:39

How are you guys struggling this much?

Speaker 2 1:41

Yeah, I thought also that there wasn't a whole lot of character development there was like none in this.

Speaker 1 1:47

The only character development is Colonel Bella. Yeah, he's like the way we tell and oh crap, what's the guy's name? The uh, was it Tanner? Yeah, it's Tanner. And Colonel Bella.

Speaker 2 2:00

They have the most character development and all Bella's is really just like I have a wife. I used to fight in the uprising.

Speaker 1 2:09

And it's like I hate, it's like I want to kill random people because they're killing our soldiers. Then, like next to you Never mind, I feel bad about this Other guy comes up. We must do it more. I kind of tried it, it didn't really work. And then he just finally has to change the heart by the end. It's like what are we doing? Why are we even doing this? Which, I think about the end, is supposed to be the message of this film. But then you get like the very ending of the movie where they're like getting their like I don't know, like their, their cards, their classic, like baseball card, like like the music kicks in and is like and then I don't know, it's.

Speaker 1 2:47

It's weird, it's because I love this movie. As a kid I was like, whoa, this is crazy. When I get older I could do this, I could survive. But seeing all the paratroopers come down at the very beginning, it's pretty scary, it's awesome first school shooting.

Speaker 2 3:06

Yeah, I know.

Speaker 1 3:08

Only things that did not age. Well, am I right? But yeah, like just seeing like everybody fall from the sky and just in a regular school day. They just come out and they're looking watch out do it up there. It's like oh, you almost landed in the wrong area it's like dude. They're not speaking English, so was this your first time watching it, or?

Speaker 2 3:29

second, this is the first time watching it. All the way through I think I had seen bits and pieces of it. Actually, the movie that I thought this was was a totally different movie. Oh really, what do you think? It was Something with Kevin Bacon, where he puts on climbing shoes and like climbs over a ravine with a bunch of kids. I don't know. Weird, yeah, super weird.

Speaker 1 3:48

I do not remember that at all. I don't know what that movie is.

Speaker 2 3:51

That's so funny. I thought it was this long. Definitely not.

Speaker 1 3:55

So the person that originally wrote this movie is someone that you'll like a lot because you like the Robin Hood, prince of Thieves movie. What, kevin Costner? Yeah, I wrote this. Well, no, kevin Reynolds is the writer, but he directed Robin Hood, prince of Thieves. Hell, yeah, that movie was awesome. This was the first time you watched it yes, I'm sorry, and you liked it.

Speaker 2 4:22

It was a fun watch, you know, turn your brain off, kind of thing. I thought a lot of the Vistas like they did a really great job of making it look beautiful.

Speaker 1 4:30

They really did. It's like classic 80s, where it's like, yeah, everything looks real and we're on location and let's fucking go.

Speaker 2 4:38

Yeah, it looks very pretty. Yeah, kind of gave you the sense of, like, this is what they're fighting for.

Speaker 1 4:43

Yeah, and then whenever you see the like everything kind of getting destroyed and it's being taken over, like it's, like it's Colorado. It's supposed to be beautiful, not this which.

Speaker 1 4:53

I think they did a really good job with, definitely the other writer and director and the director of this is John Millis. He did movies like well, he took over the screenplay for this and pretty much completely changed it. But he also did Conan the Barbarian. Yeah, he wrote and directed it. I was like he also wrote Apocalypse Now. So I mean the guy's been doing clear and present danger. I mean the guy kind of does a lot. Holy crap, that's sweet.

Speaker 2 5:20

You know, in Conan the Barbarian Arnold Schwarzenegger had to actually stop working out because he was too big to hold a sword.

Speaker 1 5:26

Bro, you're too. I can't grip it. It's too small in my head.

Speaker 2 5:31

I can't clap my. I put my hands together, yeah, so then try to play Patty Keg and just crying.

Speaker 1 5:35

That's hilarious. Meek a big a sword Wherever I don't know. That was terrible, but so this movie stars Patrick Swayze as Jed C, thomas Howe as Robert, leah Thompson as Erica, charlie Sheen as Matt and Jennifer Gray as Tony. Tony, you have Harry Dean Stanton as Mr Eckert Eckert, eckert, eckert, eckert, eckert.

Speaker 2 6:01

Eckert, eckert, eckert.

Speaker 1 6:05

And there that's pretty much most of the people that you'll know off the top of your head. But, yeah, what a talented cast. You know. Yes, too bad, they were too bad, too bad they were like everybody. Well, I mean half the people. It's their first like film, really yeah.

Speaker 2 6:19

This is.

Speaker 1 6:19

Charlie Sheen's first film. This is Patrick Swayze second, after the outsiders, like his second major motion picture. All right.

Speaker 2 6:27

I'm pretty sure it was made in 1984. Yeah.

Speaker 1 6:30

Jennifer Gray wasn't super popular because three years later is whenever Dirty Dancing came out. Where she's with Patrick.

Speaker 2 6:38

Swayze again.

Speaker 1 6:40

And Leah Thompson. I don't know if this was her first or not, I can't remember off the top of my head, so probably yeah. So let's get into some facts about the movie. So the film made the Guinness Book of Records for the most acts of violence in any film up to that time. Oh wow, according to their calculations, 135 acts of violence occur per hour, or 2.23 per minute. Wow, that crazy Nice. You really wouldn't. I don't know, it doesn't seem like that would.

Speaker 2 7:10

Yeah, I feel like that's been heavily surpassed, yeah.

Unrated Films and Behind-the-Scenes Drama

Speaker 1 7:13

Like now it's nothing. So this was America's first PG-13 movie. What yeah Thing is this movie should be rated R? The opening scene alone, with the kid getting shot in the head, yeah Like. When I saw that I was like whoa. I do not remember that as a kid.

Speaker 2 7:31

Yeah, if they made us know it would definitely be that yeah, or had a scene like that anyway, it's kind of, it's crazy, it's like this.

Speaker 1 7:38

I would assume it was been rated R. Honestly, this war movies now are they?

Speaker 1 7:43

didn't know what PG-13 meant, yet yeah, they were like right, 13 years, I mean, we're already beating them. It's 80s, come on, let's just let them do this. This is America. So John Millis rewrote the script of Red Dawn completely. Kevin Reynolds wrote Red Dawn while still a student at USC Film School.

Speaker 1 8:02

Mgm optioned the script and asked Millis to direct it. He says I brought the writer in and said this isn't going to be easy for you to take because you're kind of full of yourself, but I'm going to take this and I'm going to make it into my movie and you're just going to have to sit back and watch and it may not be too pleasant. Millis told creative screenwriting, my advice is to take the money and have you have and spend it on a young girl. Enjoy getting laid and write another script because this isn't going to be much fun. Millis said Reynolds script was similar to Lord of the Flies. He says I kept some of that, but my script was about the resistance and my script was tinged by the times who we made it really outrageous, infinitely more outrageous than his vision. And to this day it holds up because people ask what's that movie about? And I say the movie's not about the Russians, it's about the federal government.

Speaker 2 8:57

Okay, not really. Yeah, no, it's like you don't really give us that lie. You know, I ever see the federal government Like I can't even it's like unless it's like the Russians are supposed to be the federal government, like if it's supposed to have that type of.

Speaker 1 9:10

I don't know message to it, but I was like what I didn't see it.

Speaker 2 9:15

I kept waiting for like any type of, like real military to show up. Yeah, I mean you only.

Speaker 1 9:20

And it's so hard to see them because they do show up on planes like a couple of times and it's like, is that? Our plane, their plane? We don't know.

Speaker 2 9:28

I literally have no idea who's who in this.

Speaker 1 9:33

So Millis the director. He had a unique way of auditioning actresses for the film. Oh my God, no, yeah, well, it's okay. So he asked each actress this question at the start of their audition what would happen if you were in the wilderness and you were starving? Could you kill anybody? And he always say a bunny, not a rabbit. And he'd say could you kill a bunny and skin it and eat it? And the girls were horrified at that suggestion and, needless to say, didn't go any further. The girls who said, well, if it were life or death, got to go on and read parts of that. Eventually we're going to play, but is it not obvious enough that I would be like, yeah, I'd kill everybody? I see.

Speaker 2 10:15

Yeah, kill all. She has a bunny in her mouth, yeah, hey, let me take this out.

Speaker 1 10:20

It's like I didn't know you were gonna ask this. I just brought it with me. Well, you might think I'm crazy. So, john Millis, he put Patrick Swayze in charge of the cast, essentially since he was the leader, because, like a babysitter, well, so instead of giving in directions, like directing the cast, he told Patrick Swayze to go and tell him what to do. So because you know, he's the leader of the group. So they put that into an actual like, actually in like, real life, just for the set Interesting.

Speaker 1 10:56

So because Patrick Swayze was older than most of the actors and because he had more acting experience than them, millis trusted Swayze to control his co-stars. Millis is a very intense director. Swayze said in the red dawn commentary he's a very wonderful director but we had to call him the general and he called me and he called me. He says Swayze, you're my lieutenant of the art, I'm directing these little suckers through you. He put a lot of responsibility on my shoulders and I took it really seriously. It was wild so, but that led to Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Gray to not really get along. So not all the actors were thrilled with Millis decision to put Swayze in charge of the cast yeah, cause it's ridiculous.

Speaker 1 11:37

Yeah, swayze told Daily Mail that he butted heads with Jennifer Gray in particular, who disliked how he ordered her around At the end of red dawn. However, when we shot her character's death scene, she seemed to warm to me. He said it's a tender scene and I stroked her hair and it was truly emotional. I think it endeared me to her and it was clear she and I had chemistry together. Almost exactly three years later, the pair's chemistry would ignite the dance floor and dirty dancing Gross. Yeah, funny thing is they also did not like each other on the set of dirty dancing.

Speaker 2 12:08

That's what I heard. Yeah, I just don't think they really meant it.

Speaker 1 12:11

I think this is a lie.

Speaker 2 12:12

They didn't get along at all. The only reason he thought they had chemistry is cause she was asleep and he was touching her. And he was stroking her hair. Or dead maybe.

Speaker 1 12:22

Well, it's funny because these are actually two really tough movies to do side by side together. So you have a war movie where you have cause they had to do boot camp and all the stuff they make actors do to be like we're training you to be soldiers. They do this every war movie. So having to do that and then also forcing Patrick Swayze to be in charge of Jennifer Gray, the director, so that's gonna make him butt heads. Then you go to dirty dancing, where Patrick Swayze is a great dancer, jennifer Gray is not a dancer, so she's struggling. He knows he's getting it all right. So it's just more friction that way and it's just like could y'all do a normal movie together where y'all are just like hanging out and chatting a lot? Maybe y'all can become friends that way, I don't know.

Speaker 1 13:06

So Patrick Swayze got Frostbite while filming this movie Nice. So filming in Las Vegas, new Mexico, sometimes met extremely cold conditions, so cold, in fact, that Swayze ended up with Frostbite. He says I got Frostbite so bad in my hands and my toes that now in my hands and fingers I get the slightest bit of cold. It feels like someone shoving toothpicks under my finger. Now C Thomas Howe had a different perspective on the cold temperatures. You know it's cold when you're forced to spoon Charlie Sheen. He said that's what we were forced to do to huddle together and pretend we liked each other. Wow, they really did like each other.

Speaker 2 13:44

Yeah, I don't think anybody actually liked each other at all in this movie.

Speaker 1 13:48

Are you ready to? This is probably gonna be the grossest fact that we do, Sweet. The video cut a love scene between Leah Thompson and Powers Booth.

Speaker 2 13:59

Yep, really we have that's Tanner.

Speaker 1 14:01

In the red dawn commentary, Thompson described a beautiful love scene between her and costar Powers Booth, who was 13 years older than her. How old was she Supposed to be? That's what I'm not sure in the movie. I'm like, well, I can't tell if they're supposed to be older than the high schoolers or if they're also in high school. I assume that they're older. I assume that they're like 18. Yeah, that's what we have to assume.

Speaker 2 14:27

That's what I assume.

Speaker 1 14:30

Leah Thompson says I say I'm going to die before having made love. Will you please make love with me? And then we said okay and disappeared out of frame and they took the scene out of the movie, which was sad because it explained my character. It was a nice scene, sure it was. I mean, hey, if you think you're gonna die and you're very and you know it's like you're gonna, if you're, I'm assuming she's 18.

Speaker 2 14:54

There's lots of kids you're age around, though. I mean it would have made a lot more sense.

Speaker 1 15:00

That's true, but those kids kind of sucked a little bit yeah, they just I mean yeah. You know, honestly, I don't know if they sucked.

Speaker 2 15:06

I don't know them. You don't know anything about them. I have no idea who they are. It's really Ardvark, whatever they said his name when he died.

Speaker 1 15:12

That guy had them. Out of all the characters he kind of had, he probably had the second most amount of like backstory.

Speaker 2 15:18

I know. But like I didn't know anything about him, he just like oh, is that good, I know, I knew he had a dad.

Speaker 1 15:22

That's about it, which puts them pretty high on the list. But it's fine. You know, it's fine to have that sometimes in movies. I mean it still was entertaining and the action's great. It's just like it gets you into that. Ooh, what would I do in this type of situation, which is really fun? I think that's why I like this movie so much. As a kid, I was like what would I do? It's kind of like when you watch a zombie movie, it's like, hmm, in this situation, what would I do right now?

Speaker 1 15:48

Yeah, this is barricade the stairs. Yeah, it's kind of one of those things I'm trying to see if there's anything else. Yeah, there's two more. I just want to say real quick so this is one of the coldest productions on record, as temperatures drop to below 30. Well, negative 30, sorry, oh, negative 30.

Speaker 2 16:09

Yeah, look yeah.

Speaker 1 16:12

It's not that cold, especially so that final scene of the movie where they're like hugging in the park or on the swing set or where they swing kids. That was the coldest day of there.

Speaker 1 16:24

I was like oh, maybe they weren't wearing makeup, maybe they were literally just frozen over Because I was like golly, they look rough. So the upbeat epilogue showing partisan rock with the voiceover explaining that America eventually won the war was added at the studio's insistence. John Millis, for his part, viewed the ending as a darkly ironic, suggesting that the character's struggles were ultimately reduced to a lonely monument. Just funny, because there's before we get to this monument, you have the very beginning, which is the Rough Riders monument, and then it reminds me of DMX, yeah. And then you have the second monument later on in the film, where you have like the three Cuban or Nicaraguan people going out and they're reading the rock about FDR, oh yeah, and they're kind of saying everything that's on the stone, but with a more of a like he says he can read it, but he just made it up.

Speaker 1 17:19

Well, he like he got it all right, but he made it sound he didn't give it that American heroism of it, like, oh, these people came in and killed a bunch of Native Americans and took all their stuff and it was a great vicious battle. But the power one or whatever, and it's like that was when I was like oh, I see what they're trying to do here. They're trying to be like oh well, we do the same thing.

Speaker 2 17:41

Yeah, like we've done the same thing, yeah.

Point Break Versus Red Dawn

Speaker 1 17:43

But I was like it's just like the rest of the movie is like fighting against that at the same time and it's just like I don't know where it wants to be. But it's still fun movie. Last thing At the end of the movie Colonel Billa says voyacondios to Jed. Similarly, in Point Break Johnny Utah says the same final words to Bode. In Point Break 1991, the movie that you love.

Speaker 2 18:09

Patrick Slazy, yes.

Speaker 1 18:11

Which one did you like? More Point Break or Red Dawn Point Break, I think.

Speaker 2 18:14

I was like it was a little bit.

Speaker 1 18:16

It was close to jumping, a little bit more insane. Everybody's got a character in that, even like the side, characters have characters.

Speaker 2 18:26

I was really excited to see that Patrick Slazy didn't throw any dogs in this movie. That's true At the end, at the end, launching dogs at the Russians.

Speaker 1 18:35

You just see him with a giant catapult just thousands of pimples Go. Then they run into battle with more dogs and then you just see Russians with dogs all over him like oh no, we never thought this would be more effective than cannons.

Speaker 1 18:57

Classic. Okay, bro, you ready to hop in it? All right, so Red Dawn envisions an alternate history of mid 1980s America. We get a few title cards that precede the opening credits. Tale of famine in the Soviet Union leading to food riots in Poland. The USSR subsequently invades Poland. Troubles in Central America include Cuba and Nicaragua, building their armies to immense, unprecedented numbers and invading the nations of El Salvador and Honduras. If he's in snake off, he's getting rolled up. A communist revolution breaks out in Mexico and Europe. Political divisions in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO I should have said NATO lead to the dismantling of nuclear weapons. Finally, NATO dissolves, leaving the United States with no allies or support. All that flashes on screen for like five seconds.

Speaker 1 19:46

There was so much I had to pause it. I was like Jesus Christ dude. I give us more than two seconds to read three sentences.

Speaker 2 19:55

Yeah, I haven't read a book since I was 18.

Speaker 1 19:57

That's like, dude, we're watching a movie we didn't realize we're going to have to speed read. At the very beginning I was like what the heck was so fast? So the story is set in small Colorado mountain town called Calumet right Sure, is that how I like that sounds. About right, that's how it felt like it should be said. We get shots of the town before the attack, before and then before an autumn school day in September, a young man named Jed, played by Patrick Swasey, is dropping his younger brother, matt, charlie Sheen and their friend Ardvark off at school. They're like mats, he's part of Matt and Ardvark, I guess they're part of the football team. They have like a big, I guess, game coming up and they did something to someone's score board or whatever. That's literally the most we get out of Matt and his character development right there.

Speaker 1 20:42

That is that there's some pranky teens, just some pranky teens. So, while giving a lecture on Genghis Khan's tactics in conquering Asia, their history teacher notices paratroopers.

Speaker 2 20:52

It's actually pronounced Genghis Khan. Genghis, yeah, but I think the guy says Genghis Okay. I think most people say Genghis, as far as I know everyone says Genghis.

Speaker 1 21:05

So the teacher notices paratroopers landing outside in the school football field, thinking they may be American soldiers, who are off course. He leaves the classroom to investigate and is immediately shot and killed by one of the players.

Speaker 2 21:16

Like is that?

Speaker 1 21:17

is it raining, I guess, Well, he comes out and is like hey, what the heck? All right, you need a cup of coffee. We're just learning some school and you want to come in Come on in guys, Come on.

Speaker 1 21:27

It's like dang, can't you what the heck happened? Y'all landed in the wrong spot. It's like why are they landing in Colorado in general? Where were they supposed to be landing? They missed, they missed. Yeah, we missed by three countries over, but so he's immediately shot and killed by one of them. Yeah, he's like pop quiz motherfucker, yeah.

Speaker 1 21:47

Who then opens fire on the classroom, killing at least one student, which, like soon as it started and me and Nile are watching it and they showed like it gets a close up of that kid- I was, like you know, this face hanging out the window. Yeah, I was like ouch Dang Swear. It all began. It just immediately like hit me. I was like, wow, this played different back in the day for sure.

Speaker 2 22:12

They're like this this is something that would never happen.

Speaker 1 22:14

Yeah. Ever, in America Everday. One thing I do want to talk about is the camouflage worn by the people. What the fuck is this?

Speaker 2 22:26

camouflage. It's like opposite delimitation camouflage.

Speaker 1 22:30

It's like, it doesn't look like anything. Did you ever see any camouflage like that when you're in the army?

Speaker 2 22:36

I didn't do. I didn't like serve with a lot of Russians or Cubans.

Speaker 1 22:41

It seemed like. Even so, I guess I just looked up Russian red dawn Is believe the pattern was modeled on what few photographer photographs of Soviet troops had emerged from the USSR at the time. Most likely it makes sense Most likely the star, the stair step pattern. It was so weird, I've just I've never seen that.

Speaker 2 23:02

It didn't. To me. It didn't really seem out of place because you know it's Russia, cold fuck yeah.

Speaker 1 23:08

Well, because it will like the beginning, it's green with white like almost cloud looking pattern. They changed camouflage quite a bit.

Speaker 2 23:15

Yeah, well, we do. The Russians have got great logistics.

Speaker 1 23:18

Well, it is like five to six months this movie takes place on, and you barely, can, you barely know that I don't be like in history of war with Russia.

Speaker 2 23:26

They have like the worst logistics ever, so that was interesting to see how much great equipment they have all the time. That's true.

Speaker 1 23:35

Except for their camouflage, which was terrible. They should have, but they kept changing it.

Speaker 2 23:39

Yeah, they should have bought some like dug down and see camouflage or something.

Speaker 1 23:42

Dug down. I don't know why. So Matt and Ardvark escaped the chaos. When Jed pulls up, why does he got to be named Jed? Reminds me of Borderlands. I think there's like somebody named Jed in Borderlands? Probably yeah, and he's hilarious, but yeah, so Jed pulls up. Having quickly returned, they are also joined by their friends Darryl and Robert. Robert is played by C Thomas Howe and a kid named.

Speaker 2 24:11

Danny.

Speaker 1 24:12

I don't remember who Danny is dude.

Speaker 2 24:14

It doesn't matter, I can't remember I don't think it matters.

Speaker 1 24:18

They drive through town witnessing more of the invasion. Ardvark's father is seen being chased by the invaders and tries to reach them, but it's never ended. But that's kind of. So this whole scene. It kind of rules Like going through your own home, because, especially like three minutes earlier, because all this is happening in a three minute span, so much happens at the very beginning, which is something I really liked about the film. It's organized quick, yeah, but so you get all the shots of the town that's normal and everything at the very, very beginning and then, like you're seeing, you drive by all the same places, but now occupied by Russians and Cubans. Hell yeah, which is really cool, it's scary. It's scary and it's fun to watch, do you think?

Speaker 2 25:02

when people are watching this You're like oh what happened? I could.

Speaker 1 25:06

No, I could be better dude. The thing is it really doesn't show like how well. I mean they got their tanks and stuff there quick, but there would be like I, just like we'll get to more of that in the bad, the good, the bad and the ugly Cause I got more stuff about just if it's better than that.

Speaker 2 25:29

I wish Dan Carlin would do an episode on this movie.

Speaker 1 25:32

Yeah, that would be actually really cool. So the group, the group drives out of town to Roberts Fathers gas station on the highway Roberts.

Speaker 2 25:41

Fathers gas station. This gas station has everything you need. Well, they only got like four of them in town. Has all the weapons all the weapons soda so much tomato soup.

Speaker 1 25:54

All they got was soda. Yeah, I was like, hey, maybe some water dudes. They didn't have water there.

Speaker 2 26:00

Wow.

Speaker 1 26:02

So Roberts Fathers tells them to gather supplies for camping and gives them a few rifles and ammunition. They escaped to the mountains but are met with a roadblock. The kids plan is to camp out in the mountains until the conflict is over. Um, and then, like at the roadblock, the uh a, uh, u S, I guess, plain combs and like starts shooting at him or whatever, and they're able to get in it, and after that, uh, the truck's not starting, so they have to pee in it.

Speaker 2 26:31

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 26:32

Pee in the radiator and for one and for some reason, a random kid like cause Patrick Swayze is looking at the truck, charlie Sheen's one that suggests to pee in it, and they just picked some other random kid to be the one. I was like hey, jed Matt, how about one of you two do?

Speaker 2 26:48

this Is your bride idea. Just thinking of like hot, like when that radiator heats up. Yeah, just going to smell so bad.

Speaker 1 26:55

I guess all they got to do is just get to the mountain, then they're, then they're okay. So, back in town, a Cuban colonel named Bella um oversees the hasty occupation of the town. Russian forces have moved in from all sides and are attacking relentlessly. Bella orders his Cuban and Nick Wagrin troops to defense positions and orders another of his men, a Russian KGB agent, to acquire documents from the gun store identifying local citizens who possess privately owned firearms. It took our guns, take your guns.

Speaker 2 27:29

It was funny, though, whenever they um, when they went to this gas station, the guy's like, wait, what's going on? And one of the kids is like there's soldiers, and I think they're heard speaking Spanish, and by this time you hadn't seen any Cubans, it was only the Russians, and that really confused me.

Speaker 1 27:47

Yeah, it confused Natalie too. She's like wait, what country's invited? Cause I told her it was the Russians. But I was like, wait, you kind of spent all this time with this one. Uh, I guess he was cubing. I just think this kid is an idiot yeah.

Speaker 2 28:02

This guy's, like I don't know, our public school system failing us again.

Speaker 1 28:06

Well, I mean they, I guess I don't know, I don't know. So the boys arrive in the mountains and set up camp and argument erupts between Jed and the high school class president Darrell oh, this is great, he's like I was class president, yeah.

Speaker 1 28:22

Well, I guess me be. I guess we should just give up. Well, what we do on football teams as me as a class president we actually forfeit every game. It's the best way to win, and we'll learn a little later that Darrell's dad is the mayor. Um uh. But yeah, darrell insists that they go back and turn themselves in Jed's like bitch. What.

Speaker 2 28:45

Yeah.

Speaker 1 28:47

So Jordan Jed orders him to leave. However, however, darrell relents and stays with the group. Um, they have like it's just this whole argument. And then Matt's like I'm your brother, I'm not going to show idiot motion, but I'm with you, we're not allowed to show. The group also discovers that their radio has been destroyed when they were shot at, so they're in contact with the outside world, essentially cut off. Then we cut to Robert, jed and Matt. They're hunting a deer. Robert makes a kill and they're like hey, this is your first kill, so you got to drink some blood because our abusive faller says you have to.

Speaker 1 29:26

That's what Native Americans do.

Speaker 2 29:28

Okay.

Speaker 1 29:29

You know, honestly, I would like to know if that's actually a true thing. I've only seen it. I've never heard of actual Native Americans doing it.

Speaker 2 29:38

You see, kevin Costner eat the heart and blast the Mohicans, but like and when he did this, I thought, for sure you mean dances with wolves yeah.

Speaker 1 29:47

That's what he gets is whatever day that movie rolls. Maybe we should do that yeah.

Speaker 2 29:52

But no, like I was waiting for him to just start puking, he's like oh, it's pretty good.

Speaker 1 29:59

Just like five minutes of heat coming out of his face.

Speaker 2 30:02

Like what we do with the shadows. Yeah, whenever he eats the french fry.

Speaker 1 30:08

So yeah, there he drinks it. Jed also suggests that everyone will notice a change in Robert from then on. Because he drank the blood, his face turns green. Yeah, he really liked it.

Speaker 2 30:21

He's like give me another cool, he just dives right into it. Yeah, sucking it out of the wound.

Speaker 1 30:26

That is weird. So now he cuts. A few weeks later, in October, Jed Matt and Robert slip into town. Something more comfortable they slipped into the deer fur.

Speaker 2 30:41

It went to a Victoria's Secret.

Speaker 1 30:44

But they go into town to find out what has happened in there since they haven't been there for a few weeks. They talk to a store owner, alicia, who tells them that the Russians know who they are and tells them that the boys are being blamed for a series of violent crimes in town. She also tells them that many people have been reprimanded to a holding camp at the town driving theater. Then the boys go to the camp that evening and find that it's a communist reeducation camp.

Speaker 2 31:12

Yeah, Seeing that all the Russians and everyone know who they are, and are looking for all of their like jailing, all the military age men. They seem pretty chill about these dudes just walking around on the open.

Speaker 1 31:26

I guess they just don't know what they look like yet.

Speaker 2 31:31

They have posters of people, but they're just like who are you?

Speaker 1 31:34

They're having a nice time, so I guess they're just hoping that someone in town will be like, hey, that's the people you're looking for.

Speaker 2 31:40

Can I get out of this place?

Speaker 1 31:43

So we see Jed and Matt's piece of shit. Falder, he's a prisoner. Look, he's a prisoner of war. I feel bad about that.

Speaker 2 31:53

So that's a rough go.

Speaker 1 31:54

Then he says so when they see him. He has been severely beaten, telling his sons that he was hard on them for an occurrence like this. He also implores them to evade him.

Speaker 2 32:05

Thank God this happened, then, right, they made all of his toxic upbringing worth it.

Speaker 1 32:11

He's like.

Speaker 2 32:12

God, I can't wait to say I told you so.

Speaker 1 32:14

See, here's the thing. It's like okay, so was he like a militantistic father where he's like you got to do chores, this, this, that, whatever, that's fine, and this, because the way it makes it seem is like you know how I beat you your entire life.

Speaker 2 32:28

Well, it's for this reason? If it's that, then screw this guy. I think it was more like I just made your life difficult so you would learn how to fight the Russians.

Speaker 1 32:40

Which I guess this is, I don't know. I guess been going on for a little bit, so maybe he was just like I got to toughen up my kids. But it's like the way the conversation comes off is like did he just like, straight up, beat his kids?

Speaker 2 32:50

their entire life. He beat the tears out of them.

Speaker 1 32:52

And he's like hey, you guys should actually thank me for that, because I prepared you for a Russian invasion, so stay. It's pretty weird. It's a weird scene, but Harry didn't sin, does a great job, patrick.

Speaker 2 33:07

Slyzy and Charlie Sheen are crying like crazy or trying to.

Speaker 1 33:11

They're trying to. They got a bunch of water put in their eyes for sure. But they say I love you and he says I love you too. And then he's like don't cry boys. Yeah, don't ever cry, ever. I was at the beginning going to just use the words.

Speaker 2 33:24

I'm yes. Though it kind of makes it it kind of.

Speaker 1 33:29

So weird Like hey, dude, guess what you got your kids Because you're yelling, go avenge me. I will say this camp looks great, though Like it looks it doesn't really make sense, but it looked pretty terrifying in there because there's a car in there and like a guy's getting drug in there, screaming no, and I'm like what's happening to?

Speaker 2 33:51

this guy, because I don't like this.

Speaker 1 33:53

This is scary. But I was like, oh, this is kind of this would be kind of be really terrifying to be in this.

Speaker 2 33:58

And maybe that, like when they're not reeducating them, they can watch a movie.

Speaker 1 34:01

Yeah, it's like, could you put like something, can you put dirty dancing on my son's? But so it's the next morning. The group next goes to the ranch of their father's friend, mr Mason, whose property lies far enough outside of the town to go and notice. Mason confirms, or the Mason informs the boys, that a large portion of the central United States has been occupied by Soviet and Cuban forces and they are all 40 miles behind enemy lines. Yanks, beyond the Soviet slash, cuban front lines, fa or free America exists. They also tell Robert that his father was killed by the enemy while gathering their supplies at their father's store before fleeing to the mountains.

Speaker 1 34:43

The group also took several rifles and then, like guys starts to cry, but Robert, but he's just like just trying so hard. And then Jed's trying to console them and I was like God, you guys cannot cry in this movie. It's crazy. The Soviet authorities had Robert's father publicly executed for providing insurgents, the boys, with weapons. Mason doesn't know what happened to Robert's mother. Robert breaks down and is distressed. Jed feels obvious guilt or their deaths, yeah that was kind of sad.

Speaker 2 35:15

Yeah, it's pretty sad. Sucks seeing all the innocent people getting shot yeah.

Speaker 1 35:20

Not a good thing. So Mason tells the boys that they are not at fault and that the lesson learned from the incident, symbolizing that the US government registration of privately owned firearms, should sink into them all. Before they leave, mason gives them a radio and also asks the boys to take his teenage granddaughters with him.

Speaker 1 35:40

Yeah, I was like you're so property, yeah, so hey, I got something that I need you to take care of. It's like we don't know what we're doing. Now you're going to throw this into the mix. You seem pretty safe up here, guy.

Speaker 2 35:55

You seem safer than the rest of them. They have food and like electricity.

Speaker 1 36:03

And the two new people are Tony, played by Jennifer Gray, and her sister Erica, by Leah Thompson, who ride back to the camp with them on a few horses. We learned that they've been hiding out because I guess just essentially, if they get caught they're going to know. No good, very bad things happen yeah.

Speaker 2 36:20

But then they weren't they like in a hole in the floor?

Speaker 1 36:22

Yeah, when they found them. It's a spacement Dude. They seem way safer here.

Speaker 2 36:28

Yeah, he's like the Russians tried to have their way with them.

Speaker 1 36:31

Yeah and it's like no.

Teen Guerrilla Resistance Against Occupation

Speaker 2 36:33

And then you're just going to get rid of them with these random people, these random boys, dude, I don't know, they seem pretty safe with you actually, I guess Meanwhile. Darrell's father. At least they get to get out of the basement when they go with them. Yeah, exactly that's true.

Speaker 1 36:50

So Darrell's father, the mayor, same as the best baits, he's been collaborating, I guess, kind of trying to appease the occupation authorities under Colonel Bell.

Speaker 2 37:02

Yeah, he's like, I'm still going to get to be mayor, right? Yeah, so can I still be mayor? I'll give you anything you want. You can have my car so like can I drive it on weekends? You want my kid?

Speaker 1 37:09

Yeah, he offers his assistance in getting the citizens of his town to adhere to the new laws that Bell has imposed. That has been imposed, Sorry. So back in the woods the group hears a radio announcement from the Free Zone that tells them the war is far from over. John has a long mustache and the combat is at a standstill.

Speaker 2 37:32

The chairs against the wall, that's great.

Speaker 1 37:37

Did y'all have that? Did you learn, have to learn, any of that in the military?

Speaker 2 37:41

Like, oh, like code words yeah, but like not. I mean not this one specifically.

Speaker 1 37:48

They would have never said John has a long mustache.

Speaker 2 37:51

I mean, you know, you just got to make some stuff up, but it was more. We learned to use the codes for like if you're going out on patrol at night, you come back in and they're like, and they the person at the gate gives gives this call and then you're supposed to give their response to it. Then that's how they know you're. You know, cool, cool.

Speaker 1 38:13

Okay. So the next day of, the group sees a Russian patrol of three soldiers headed towards their position. While taking on the sides, the patrol sees the group and attempts to arrest them. Jed Robert and the others killed them all. It's very clumsy. Well, no, this is the one where they're hiding from the rocks. They're like crap, yeah.

Speaker 2 38:33

How did we get into this situation? Right dude in the rocks.

Speaker 1 38:37

I guess they were just like hunting for food, it looked like because they had like the hunting rifle.

Speaker 2 38:41

Maybe and maybe they're hunting wood. They're just doing some recreational rock climbing.

Speaker 1 38:46

Yeah, they're going out there about probably, but it's very clumsy. It's like do you see how terrible they are at fighting? At the very beginning they're all like just slipping and running and trying to kill them, and very bad at it. Robert later talks of his enjoyment killing all of them, though probably because he's seeking revenge for the death of his parents, he starts sawing off the shotgun yeah.

Speaker 2 39:09

He's got this kind of like over the line.

Speaker 1 39:11

Yeah, it's like you know what I'm all in, yeah.

Speaker 2 39:15

He is like really getting into the spirit of this, yeah.

Speaker 1 39:18

It is like he would have become a serial killer, like if the right things happen, like just the right things. That happened. His father died. He drank some animal blood.

Speaker 2 39:28

It's usually like around the way that usually serial killers work right, turns into the deer man, yeah.

Speaker 1 39:36

So Jed remarks that they cannot return to town ever again because they will be hunted.

Speaker 2 39:39

Yeah, Now they'll know.

Speaker 1 39:42

Especially since they seem like they killed some, like decorated soldiers or whatever it looked like. They seem important. Colonel Bella orders the killing of several of the town's residents after they Dig grays for the dead Soviets.

Speaker 2 39:56

It's just a way and like I feel like this could have been cider. I don't know. It was funny when they're about to shoot him and all the people are like fuck you.

Speaker 1 40:04

Yeah, cuz they're doing the mass extinction and so you have the Charlie Sheen's character witnesses from a dead distance, and then, like one of the people that were killed during the mass Execution was our boss father Also present is Darryl's father, who's visibly sickened dead later tells everyone not to cry over their family's death.

Speaker 2 40:28

No more.

Speaker 1 40:31

That scene was a little silly Because it's like there's all this yelling and there's everybody's like crying and hugging. All of a sudden, patrick Swayze, he's getting hugged by Matt and it's like what the fuck some scenes all over the place.

Speaker 1 40:47

So in crime makes it right. That seemed like that's what he was about to say. You know, that's what his father said to me. Yeah, yeah. So in retaliation, the teens continue their gorilla, gorilla campaign, dubbing themselves. Yeah, after the high school football teams mascot, what if they're just like the goats, like or were they just? I Be pretty great. You just hear in the woods a bunch of it's like wow, there's a bunch of goats out here, and then they all pop out of the ground shooting.

Speaker 1 41:20

They're all dressed as sheep so they am but ambush Soviet and Cuban patrols, shoot up armored columns and raid local armory. So still weapons such as AK-47 rifles, sniper rifles, ammunition landmines, rpg launchers, among many other weapons. This is like one of the parts where we see Tony being used as bait. Seemed to be a popular thing that.

Speaker 2 41:44

Was that when she pulls up at the gas station? Yeah, on our bike, yeah, okay.

Speaker 1 41:48

Yeah, it was fucking hilarious yeah hey, military guys, I don't think she would have done that this might be a trap, just like drives by gets off her bikes like oh, I don't want in your business. I'm just walking by you now with my bike that I could easily be driving.

Speaker 2 42:04

Don't take my basket of cookies, yeah.

Speaker 1 42:07

It's like I feel bad for Tony. He's always being used as bait. It takes, takes also, don't these gasoline? Yeah, that makes sense, was it diesel?

Speaker 2 42:17

it's more like these fishable. United States uses this thing.

Speaker 1 42:20

Oh dude, they just pee in it, right.

Speaker 2 42:22

Yeah, that is part of it.

Speaker 1 42:25

So a month later, erica, while on patrol, sees a pilot land, nearby a parachute or nearby, sees a pilot land nearby by parachute. The pilot is an Air Force Colonel named Andy Tanner, played by powers booth, who joins the team and fills them in on events of the current of the war currently. So the group is getting to know him. Jed questions him a lot How'd you get shot down? It was five to one. I got four and now they're best friends, slash lovers. He is married but doesn't know about his wife, like what happens here.

Speaker 1 43:01

We learned that the occupying forces are made up of Cuban and Soviet commando forces who invade from both Mexico and Canada. Soviet forces crossed into Alaska, cutting the Alaska oil pipeline. Tactical nuclear nuclear weapons were used to take out key us nuclear missile and communication locations. However, by this time the front lines of combat had have mostly stabilized. Tanner tells the teens that the United States only allies are great Britain, who has suffered huge defeats in about 600 million Chinese. When Daryl says that China's population is supposed to be over 1 billion, tanner implies that they've been defeated by the Soviets as well, perhaps by mass slaughtering combat or by nuclear war. What about Canada?

Speaker 2 43:43

Mexico daylight.

Speaker 1 43:45

Hey pal, we're not fighting. Sorry, the Russians, don't call me.

Speaker 2 43:58

I would love to see a Canadian, just like a, just go like a Rambo, but from Canada.

Speaker 1 44:04

Yeah, I'm not your buddy Dressed up in maple leaves. Where's hockey masks?

Speaker 2 44:13

even french fries and gravy, yeah. So the team invites the Colonel to join their guerrilla efforts.

Speaker 1 44:20

Tanner also teaches them basic tactics for attacking larger targets. They attack an air base located near the reeducation camp. This is great. This is essentially where they had the yeah, you know, you know I'm talking about yeah the drive-in is what I'm trying to say, but that word left my Existence, I guess.

Speaker 1 44:43

But so and the whenever pops up like something on the screen, this is Wolverines, like written on it. That was such a good part. This, this whole scene them getting the reeducation camp and taking it over was really good. Just in terms of the way it looked, seems realistic.

Speaker 2 44:59

I'm saying they fucking shit out driving through the fence.

Speaker 1 45:02

Yeah, it's great, and it's like wait. How many people are there fighting? Because there's only like five kids here. Yeah, they're fucking blowing everything up. Um, so they free prisoners and destroy a few key military targets. Tanner later notices Robert carving Hash marks into the stock of the AK-47 rifle for every enemy soldier that that he kills. Tanner tells the boy All that killin's gonna burn, you will decide. Robert replies yeah, but it keeps me warm. It warms my butt. I'm 16 and I'm the hardest person you've ever seen.

Speaker 2 45:35

It's just drinking blood all the time.

Speaker 1 45:39

It's like dude, you've had so much human blood, you have to chill. All right, like Robert it's time to stop, you have a disease now. You got a disease from the deer immediately.

Speaker 1 45:52

Then we get this weird flower thing with Erica and Tanner. It's weird. And then Tanner goes and talks to I can't remember who it was over by a rock he goes up to. He's like she's kind of what's wrong with her and he's like something happened to her. Earlier in the film, matt says Didn't he like say up your ass or something like that weird and like they immediately like the two girls freak out and then this one guy saying something happened to her. I'm like oh, oh.

Speaker 2 46:25

Well, yeah, but grandpa whenever he said them to the boys. He Said that the Russians tried to have their way with her or something.

Speaker 1 46:34

Well, it seems like through these two instances is like almost like they got to.

Speaker 2 46:40

That's kind of what I was in the way that she's acting a little bit yeah.

Speaker 1 46:44

Seems like maybe that might have come out into that one scene that they cut potentially.

Speaker 2 46:48

Yeah, yeah, yeah, she's been through some stuff.

Speaker 1 46:52

Yeah, just uh oh.

Speaker 2 46:55

Yeah, real bad, yeah so.

Speaker 1 46:57

Jet takes Tanner to meet mr Mason, where he tells them both that there are rumors of the Soviets dropping special forces Units into the occupied zone to hunt the Wolverines. There is also talk of sending in American special forces troops to aid them.

Speaker 2 47:12

It's like bears walk, or like riding on balls, like in the circus. Yeah let's go.

Speaker 1 47:20

It's just like it's cocaine bear. They're just. The Russians sent all their bears with cocaine Bar the bar, the bear comes out. I don't need cocaine. And then you have Anthony Hopkins. It's it what's his name?

Speaker 2 47:45

Oh my god, Charles.

Speaker 1 47:48

What's? Oh my god. Yeah, who's the other guy in that movie. What's his name? He's Baldwin.

Speaker 2 47:55

Yes, one of the bald ones, the bald.

Speaker 1 47:58

Alec Baldwin, he's, he comes out doesn't seem south to me, charles. It's like what the hell's happening? Yeah, I can't believe it took so long to.

Speaker 1 48:12

Honestly, I do kind of rewind. I need a okay bear. So Jed takes Tanner oh, we already know this, my bad. So there is also talk of sending in American special Forces troops a them already said that Jed believes there's only their only chance to survive the wars to cross the front lines Into free America. Tanner decides to show them the way out of the occupied territory. There's also those points like we just got a flank him. What's a flank? Think it's a steak? It's like guys, you are already taking down Operations here.

Speaker 2 48:51

They've already been pretty organized.

Speaker 1 48:52

I haven't talked about flanks yet. So they go to the front lines of combat, where an M1 Abrams American tank is engaged in a fierce battle with a few Soviet T 62 tanks. Tanner tells Jed that they'll have to cross the no man's land between the tanks to reach the free zone where Soviet jets are dropping napalm.

Speaker 2 49:13

It's pretty cool shot though, yeah.

Speaker 1 49:16

Kind of say anytime, like someone drops napalm in a movie, it's a cool, pretty cool.

Speaker 2 49:23

What's a fire?

Speaker 1 49:25

Pretty darn cool. So as they prepare to move forward, another Soviet tank moves up to their position, unaware that Tanner and the team are nearby. The tank begins to fire on the American tanks and Tanner sees an opportunity to disable the enemy. This skirmish, ardvark is killed and Tanner is critically wounded by a grenade because Ardvark could not chill the.

Speaker 2 49:48

Yeah, well, he was kind of having a panic attack.

Speaker 1 49:50

Yeah, he definitely was. He was freaking out. I can't do this. It's like you've killed so many people. Just stick it out a little longer, bro. They might have made it across enemy lines so, before he succumbs to his inner in injuries were talking about Tanner. He's able to mark the tank with a colored smoke bomb, making it visible to the American forces. They destroy the tank and Tanner along with it back in camp.

Speaker 1 50:16

Yeah, yeah, back in camp. Erica becomes deeply depressed over his, his, the loss of Tanner, having been attracted to him. A Small funeral is held for Tanner and Ardvark. Their names are carved by the team into nearby rock as memorial.

Speaker 2 50:30

Did you feel like when Ardvark got shot and Tanner? I didn't feel anything.

Speaker 1 50:35

I feel bad for.

Speaker 2 50:35

Ardvark. I kind of I was like, oh sick, killed one of them. Well, who was that? Tanner? I was like I don't know, dude.

Speaker 1 50:41

You're, you're, he's kind of, I'm kind of, yeah, you got a wife. You told Erica about your wife and then you're still like.

Speaker 2 50:49

Having sex with her supposedly.

Speaker 1 50:55

I don't know, dude, I don't know. I liked Ardvark is weird, it's just cool, I just didn't know.

Speaker 2 51:00

When he died, I was like, huh, yeah, it would have been nice to have a little bit.

Speaker 1 51:05

Like especially when we get to the end had been like man. If only there were some sort of connection between Matt and Jed. Meanwhile, colonel Bella and his superior and his superior, the Russian Major General Brotch. He looks hilarious.

Speaker 2 51:23

I don't know something about his face and like his eyebrows he looks like a comedian yeah.

Speaker 1 51:28

Before they move in their commander major Strayling Cove so bad it order their forces to stop killing people and all the atrocities against the local population, saying terror tactics like those will not win the conflict for them in the long term. I like it because Colonel Bella started this where they're just killing random people. It's like typical war stuff right, sure, and then it's not working, and then another this is when the Russian Major General Brotch-skinko comes in is like we're gonna keep killing more local people.

Speaker 1 52:02

Colonel Bill's like I tried guys, it didn't work and now I'm kind of feeling bad about it so maybe let's chill. What are you gonna do?

Speaker 1 52:10

And the other guys is like, nah, yeah, we're doing this. And then this, this guy comes in, he's like we're no longer doing this and the bill is like looking over, the other guy Told ya. So the Soviet commandos move into the mountains using a tracking device to find the Wolverines. However, the teens are waiting for them and kill most of the commandos. One is left alive and is interrogated by the group. They discover the tracking device, which reveals that the Daryl that Daryl is a traitor, having stolen away from the team and Into the town to see his father, despite Jed's strictest orders not to go into town. Do you think he?

Speaker 2 52:50

really swallowed it, or they show it up his ass.

Speaker 1 52:53

Uh, he's just, I definitely think they probably forced him to swallow it, I'm assuming.

Speaker 1 52:59

Then he could just poop it out if he puts in his. But he did say it's like they do things you never imagined to me. Don't poop it out, yeah, but like they're all super pissed at him now. So they learn that he's been forced to swallow a tracing bug and Reveal his and his friend's location in the mountains. The team makes a tough decision to execute both Daryl and the Soviet prisoner. Jed, enraged by the Soviet invasion, kills the soldier and turns his gun to. Daryl was unable to kill him. The rest wants to let Daryl go because he's one of them. Matt steps in. What's the difference? What's between the dip, what's the difference between us and them? If we do this, which I was like, oh okay, so we are doing like an anti-war thing for sure, a little bit of yeah.

Speaker 1 53:44

And then Robert steps up and very casually and coldly shoots Daryl in the head or in the chest, leaving the team horrified at his callousness in executing a friend. Yeah, that dude could just let him go.

Speaker 2 53:57

Just like hey go, just keep walking the other way, hey, get out of here. We'll kill you.

Speaker 1 54:02

Yeah, that guy's a cold-blooded killer, crazy guy yeah.

Speaker 2 54:08

That's the guy whose father was the mayor right the class president, darrell.

Speaker 1 54:12

Yeah, yeah, yeah turncoat like father likes, yeah no. By the March of the following year. After five months of fighting, the Wolverines are physically and emotionally weakened by the attacks in the other events and their morale erodes as the war of attrition continues, even though the Americans of Civilians are increasingly resistant to soviet rule. The occupation forces are pushing the resistance of the Wolverines to the breaking point, so they're just finally starting to get a little.

Speaker 1 54:41

Like yeah, well, they're just well. Yeah, they're getting super exhausted, but like, finally there we're starting to gain momentum and fighting back. Like that's a country, I guess. Oh yeah, a few days later, while observing a small detachment of Soviet vehicles, jed notices that they drop a few cartons of food and calls off their attack. They scrounge what's.

Speaker 2 55:02

Tony runs up there.

Speaker 1 55:03

Yeah, she's just started shoving everything in her mouth. I was like dude, that's for everybody.

Speaker 2 55:09

They're watching her do it and then, like she comes back, she's like sorry, there was nothing there.

Speaker 1 55:13

Yeah, tony, we saw you. No, that was an illusion, optical illusion. It wasn't any good, though, yeah just like why is Tony always like the goat or whatever? Where?

Speaker 2 55:26

they like, send her out. It's like you die, you die. I don't know. She's expendable.

Speaker 1 55:29

Yeah, I guess so he's like I'll protect your granddaughters with my life Every time there's a chance they throw them out as bait.

Speaker 2 55:36

You're gonna be the bait again, tony, yeah um.

Speaker 1 55:44

So they scrounge what's there and take it back to the camp. However, apparently the food had somehow been bugged and they're heavily armored. Soviet MI-24 Hind helicopters move in and attack the group. Yeah yeah, those helicopters look rad, though, dude.

Speaker 2 56:00

Yeah, they were pretty neat, pretty dope helicopters. I thought it was. It was funny how he shot the RPG at the helicopter Mm-hmm, it went perfectly in the window, killed someone apparently, but didn't explode anything.

Speaker 1 56:12

Fine, I saw that too. I was like what the fuck is that? So we see Tony is shot immediately and it's taken to cover by Jed. The rest of the group also scatter on their horses and try to make it to cover. However, robert's horse is shot out from under him. He makes a final stand, damaging one MI-24 chopper with an RPG, killing the door gunner and Firing his rifle at a second. He's killed in a hella gunfire. Here's the thing yes, shoot your RPG. Yeah, run away, boy.

Speaker 2 56:44

instead of yelling Wolverines because you could still be alive.

Speaker 1 56:47

Yeah, they really could have used you the rest of this film instead of shooting RPG. Hey, there's five other helicopters, but yeah, robert's.

Speaker 2 57:00

No, but about the horse. If you really want to see a horse die Spectaculately. I don't. The new Napoleon movie. Oh holy shit man. It's awesome I.

Speaker 1 57:11

Like horses, I don't want to see them down. That's something that always made me feel bad, except now they use fake horses, as in CGI, so it's not.

Speaker 2 57:19

doesn't make me feel as bad I'm assuming if.

Speaker 1 57:27

Yeah, if you watched any Western back in the day, I'm sure a lot of those horses have died. Always makes me feel bad when I watch a Western, and especially an older one, and they have like the horse flip and roll over. I'm like bro.

Speaker 2 57:41

Oh man, that's not a Napoleon's horse, oh.

Speaker 1 57:47

Insane. I don't, even, I don't. I don't remember learning about a horse going crazy in Napoleon story.

Speaker 2 57:54

It doesn't go crazy, it just gets or gets done crazy, it's good, it gets done, crazy, crazy.

Speaker 1 58:01

So, after the three Soviet helicopters leave the scene, jed and the seriously wounded Tony share a final moment and Jed leaves her a grenade Because she's like, he's like I've done good, it's like I can't kill you, I'm sorry, and she's like this Can you shoot me?

Speaker 2 58:14

That's sick dude, like we're not. Yeah, she's like shooting me, but but having just holding the grenade, yeah, that's some Wild shit, it's pretty dope and she seemed to kind of place it in a way like on her back.

Speaker 1 58:26

So if you die when they rolled her over it was gonna explode. Yeah man Hell hell, crazy kind of awesome.

Speaker 2 58:33

Yeah.

Speaker 1 58:35

So later, when the Soviet pin for me, yeah. Later, when Soviet group ground troops arrive and find her dead body, the grenade that had been left live Under her goes off, taking at least one soldier with it. Yeah, sweet, I know. I would have liked to seen Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grace characters have like some sort of Relationship.

Speaker 2 58:57

I'd like to see any of them have any kind of a relationship at all. Right, they must have, they've had to cut it?

Speaker 1 59:03

Did they get? Was this like a two and a half hour movie that they just cut down to two hours? Yeah, thanks. I honestly would have been fine with them taking a couple of the action scenes out and, just like sure, given some. Just spread that out a little bit more and I know that's in minutes of the movie.

Speaker 2 59:20

It'd be alright, I'm not a director.

Speaker 1 59:22

Jed adds Tony's and Robert's name to those already on the memorial rock tired and immoralized Her face like the bullying dynamite through the girl's face.

Speaker 1 59:31

It's only three hours on the shading. Tired and demoralized by the loss of their friends, jed and Matt prepare a suicide, suicidal attack on the Soviet headquarters in town, which will serve as a diversion allowing Erica and Danny to escape to free America. Matt says they can make it, but Jed knows it's coming to an end. We cut to Colonel Bella writing to his wife and starting to regret being part of war. Is that the scene where there's that stupid line? Well, I'll, if I have it later, my notes, I'll bring it up.

Speaker 1 1:00:05

But there's the line where it's like they're kind of talking cuz Matt's like dude, we could go with them. We'll be fine, we've done this, we. We don't have to end it now by going out Go be free. There's a part, I guess, patrick's ways. It's hard being brothers. What is this y'all? Been pretty sure, is brother y'all seem to actually be pretty chill as brothers. I've seen really no issues. Jed, you need to eat your vitamins say your prayers brother.

Speaker 1 1:00:43

But like this would it seem like okay, why leave that line in there, if you're just gonna cut?

Speaker 2 1:00:48

out hold on would have been great in this he would have.

Speaker 1 1:00:51

It's like whatever, like hope, because you think he got Hulk Hogan down and then you shoot the top rope and then Then you hit him in your head and the next thing you know he pops his head up and he's oh no brother.

Speaker 2 1:01:04

Then you keep hitting him and he's just take it in any stuff to beat me, and then once he drops, his leg drop.

Speaker 1 1:01:09

Oh, you know he's coming off the top rope.

Speaker 2 1:01:11

The nobo macho man, randy say baby, elbow drops a helicopter.

Speaker 1 1:01:20

Russians are going. America's the cream of the crop. We rise from the bottom to the top, so so where were we? Yes, so During the climatic final battle, many Soviet, cuban and enemy soldiers and officers are killed. During the fighting, jed and Matt kill one of the Bratch can go and blow up his communications trailer RPGs while trying to escape on a nearby train. Matt is shot by a person, by the pursuing Strayling Cove. Jed sneaks up on him and the two shoot each other Simultaneously at close range. So Strayling Cove is killed and Jed is wounded in his side. Colonel Bella sees Jed holding his brother but does not shoot them and let them pass, because he's like go, because he's putting in his resignation. He's like, yeah, boy, yeah. Jed takes his fatally wounded brother to a bench in the town's empty snowy Park Square and cradle's LMS. He dies in front of the swing set that they Never took him to.

Speaker 2 1:02:32

Yes, that's the one thing he did once. Yeah, he was like you remember that one time we had a good time together.

Speaker 1 1:02:40

You should go there and die after this. I will say, the first time I watched this I thought I was like whoa, this is an iconic scene. Yeah, it was pretty deep, the shots great. I just wish they had some story to go along with some of this. You know Some character development to really make me feel bad.

Speaker 2 1:02:58

Yeah, I felt bad, but it only comes over and pushes them off this way. I thought it was funny or not funny, but it was great when Colonel Bella lets him go, because he was talking about being on that side of the war. Yeah, in Cuba, mm-hmm, that's kind of cool.

Speaker 1 1:03:12

Yeah, now I think it's great and, like the whole movie, should have probably been Colonel.

Speaker 2 1:03:16

Bella's movie.

Speaker 1 1:03:19

We kind of know more about him than anybody else in this entire movie.

Speaker 2 1:03:22

This is Patrick Swayze goes to Cuba to get revenge.

Speaker 1 1:03:26

Yeah, and then we're on call.

Speaker 2 1:03:28

He takes over Cuba. It's made by the Cuban.

Speaker 1 1:03:32

So it's like, oh okay, they're doing their own version of Red Dawn.

Speaker 2 1:03:36

For some reason it's just a bunch of Patrick Swayze.

Speaker 1 1:03:38

Yeah, it's like why did Patrick Swayze agree to do this? So the film closes, with Erica and Danny being the only two survivors of the original team.

Speaker 2 1:03:51

This is a bad ending. Yeah, they come over the hill and they're just like we made it and it's just like some trees. Yeah, well, it's like a tree and like a couple of buildings. Yeah, they're like we made it.

Speaker 1 1:04:02

It's like why weren't the Russians attacking this team?

Speaker 2 1:04:05

Yeah, well, it seems like all this was added on.

Speaker 1 1:04:08

It seemed like it was supposed to. It felt better ending with Matt and yeah, yeah, I don't remember this part as a Like watching as a kid. When this happened, I was like it doesn't. It didn't end. What else is gonna end?

Speaker 2 1:04:23

I thought for sure, this is when this you know, special ops comes in and saves the day, or like saves the town, kills all the Russians, oh.

Speaker 1 1:04:30

I've been super sweet, we just kind of learned that. So they made their way to the great planes to free America. Erica narrates the final scene of the film saying that the war ended. The war ended a little later. She adds that she often visits a memorial to their friends called partisan rock, but no one else ever visits. The memorial has an inscription that invokes the words of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg address. The memorial, its inscription and presence of an American flag indicate an America eventually won the war. The plaque reads the early days of World War. Three gorillas, mostly children, place the names of their loss upon this rock. They fought here alone and gave up their lives so that this nation could should not perish From the earth.

Speaker 2 1:05:13

They definitely didn't bang each other. Yeah, yeah, that's the end of the film weird way to end the movie, though that's all that I want.

Speaker 1 1:05:26

Yeah, yeah I don't know.

Speaker 2 1:05:30

I felt like they could have just wrapped up things a little tighter with a little nice little bow. Mm-hmm would have been better.

Speaker 1 1:05:36

Whatever I would have perverted just been the dark ending of Matt and Jed yeah, and then just dies. And then this may be like a title just nodding or even just do like some like lines at the very end, saying like oh, the war eventually ended, america succeeded and I'm all vampires, our. Or just like whenever it just like cut to the plaque only afterwards, like I think that would just been a better ending and maybe add like a couple extra lines saying that America won or whatever.

Speaker 2 1:06:07

Oh, this would have been a great time for zombies. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 1:06:16

Okay, um, so next we're gonna head to our categories. The first category is the good, the bad, the ugly. It's where we go through each section and we talk about the good of a film, something that we like, the bad of the film, something we didn't like. The ugly is something that we don't think age will, and the fine is something we think age will.

Speaker 2 1:06:35

What's your good, bro? That they. They showed all the beautiful the, just the countryside, like the, the shots of, like the mountains and the the fields, like I thought there's great cinematography.

Speaker 1 1:06:49

Yeah, it's great, great use of America. America's a star yeah um, for me, the good was just the idea of to make a movie about invading kids going at the.

Speaker 2 1:07:02

What would it be?

Speaker 1 1:07:03

like if a Country had the idea to come and invade us, I mean it would take like five billion different things to happen. Yeah, don't do it.

Speaker 2 1:07:12

Other countries yeah, we got kids here. We yeah, we also probably have more guns in your military.

Speaker 1 1:07:19

All our kids have guns too.

Speaker 2 1:07:20

That's, that's the thing.

Speaker 1 1:07:24

So when it, what do you? So? What do you sew the bad. What do you got for the bad?

Speaker 2 1:07:37

mine was acting yeah, that's a bad one Acting in lack of character development that. That and I was, you know. I realized it's 1984 and I know like special effects aren't Weren't like super great back then, but it was still fun, yeah, I.

Speaker 1 1:07:58

Think that looks pretty good. I mean, yeah, they were, they were all right. I just was hoping for more because I was watching, especially on TV, because Watching it like everything looked there's really no CGI or anything right, which is like I was just watching Something with CGI last night and you, it just looked terrible. I was like dude. So when I put red dawn on this morning which was the first thing I watched since after the last movie I put it on I was like ah movies, this is how God intended it to look.

Speaker 2 1:08:30

So maybe they weren't even that bad. I just I don't know. I was just trying to think of something else.

Speaker 1 1:08:35

No, you're good something other than the acting. I should have yes, and instead of no but. No, but so what do you got for the ugly?

Speaker 2 1:08:45

ours are probably the exact school shooting and Erica and Tanner's relationship that Didn't go anywhere in the film and also was just like what. It made. It definitely made it weirder once you told me about the deleted scene.

Speaker 1 1:09:02

Yeah, which you know honestly, like if they just get, I mean if they fleshed out some of these characters, maybe it'd been something would be like you go girl.

Speaker 2 1:09:10

Well, I mean, and girls have crushes on older guys all the time at that age?

Speaker 1 1:09:13

We don't.

Speaker 2 1:09:14

I mean, they don't usually get together.

Speaker 1 1:09:16

We don't know how old she is, we don't know anything, and it's just like.

Speaker 2 1:09:21

It's just like some weird like directors fantasy of what he was like. It would have been nice to know a little bit about it before it happened.

Speaker 1 1:09:31

So for the fine, what do you got what aged well in your head, democracy. I have my boat, like war movies, and of course my boy Patty Sway, love that actor and you know what. Nothing's ever really came out bad about him or anything, so we still got him, except the cancer you know he died from like a terrible yeah but he can't control.

Speaker 2 1:10:00

No, I mean, he could have danced it out, I think.

Speaker 1 1:10:03

I feel anyway, he might have been able to actually he might have been able to. He might not have tried. He's got the moves to do it.

Speaker 2 1:10:12

Just man Didn't have a chance, just have a chance.

Speaker 1 1:10:16

RIP, though, one of our best actors. He didn't even do that much, honestly, no, but he was good, but everything that he did was amazing.

Speaker 2 1:10:24

I didn't really care for ghost.

Speaker 1 1:10:27

We all got bad opinion. All right, we're gonna move to our next category, which is double feature, and it's where we pick a movie that goes well with the movie red dawn. I struggled a little bit with this one, but I ended up picking Another 1980s film, escape from New York. I don't know, I haven't seen that one either. It's just like you got the 80s to it. It's kind of silly. There's not a lot of character development, but it rules. It's way better than red dawn. So I Know it's a John Carpenter. He did it. Cool, I want to do it.

Speaker 2 1:11:09

I'm a little point this year.

Speaker 1 1:11:10

Yeah, I would say, we could do it.

Speaker 2 1:11:13

Next I don't know I still haven't decided mine was not a movie, it was the show. A team.

Speaker 1 1:11:18

Oh yeah. Mr T that does work Equally they always love it when a plan comes together. Yeah, you know, I've never seen that show. I Think I saw the movie.

Speaker 2 1:11:32

It's such a ridiculous show. Yeah, he's the come on. No, I did see a couple episodes. Yeah, there was this block of time when I was in college, or even like a team would come on and then Highlander and then like Some other like crazy shit, I don't know. Yeah, it's the best part of my day.

Speaker 1 1:11:51

Alright, that's the end. That finishes off this film. Join us next week as we finally cover stepbrothers. I've only talked about it on like half of the episodes we've done one of my favorite comedies.

Speaker 1 1:12:04

One of them. There's so many favorite comedy. Yeah, it's great. So, yeah, join us next week for stepbrothers. And If you'd like to leave us an email or something, please do. We have a mail bag, it's called we recommend mail bag at gmailcom. Send us something and if we get anything, we'll read it on the podcast. We don't have to say your name or, if you want us to, whatever. Also, if you want to follow us on social medias, head over to our link tree. At link tree for slash, we recommend movies. It's the easiest way to follow us on social medias or find other ways to listen to us. And Is that all the crap I usually say? I think it is.

Speaker 2 1:12:40

Thanks to Joey Prosser for.

Speaker 1 1:12:41

Thank you, joey Prosser, for intro and outro theme song and this has been the we recommend podcast. Jesse Wolverines baby. I'm with the Wolverines. Bye.