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Red Dawn (1984)

 
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Bogmeister
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 01, 2019 4:02 pm    Post subject: Red Dawn (1984) Reply with quote

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_________________ Red Dawn Trailer (1984)


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Red Dawn, directed by John Milius, gained some notoriety early on, due to both the concept and the violence (back then, this was one of the most violent films, in terms of on-screen death).

It's a war film, taking place in an alternate reality in which Soviets with their allies successfully invade America. The actual story is a rather small-scale depiction of young American guerrilla fighters in the midwest, taking place within the large scale context of World War III. The big stuff, such as nuclear attacks, occur off-screen and are referred to only briefly.

All the action centers on small town Americana and the surrounding American wilderness.


__________________ Red Dawn (1984) Scene


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The main characters are a small group of teenagers. The oldest and the leader is played by Patrick Swayze. His brother is played by Charlie Sheen. C. Thomas Howell plays the member who becomes unhinged by the death of his father and the loss of all he knew and becomes a cold-blooded killer.

The two female members are played by Lea Thompson and Jennifer Grey. The group becomes an effective attack force, dubbing themselves the Wolverines. They know the terrain and Swayze uses hit-and-run tactics, sneak attacks and surprise encounters to whittle away at the occupying Soviet forces.


__________________ Red Dawn-All That Hate


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Powers Boothe plays a real Air Force officer who accidentally joins the group for a brief period. Ben Johnson and Harry Dean Stanton play father figures who pop up briefly in the early going. Soon enough, all older generation Americans fade away from the picture, leaving the youngsters on their own.

The two key figures of the invasion force are played by Ron O'Neal and William Smith. Smith plays a specialist who is brought in specifically to deal with the Wolverines.


____________Red Dawn (1984) Patrick Swayze


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The film becomes less about patriotism and more about the brutal necessities of survival and killing in war. Some viewers might scoff at the concept of teens becoming a feared unit that the invading Soviets cannot handle, but this is a textbook case of individuals rising to meet unusual challenges.

Of course, they would have remained typical American teens if the invasion hadn't happened, but necessity is the mother of invention. The mid-eighties were ripe with American-Soviet conflict in films and TV, most notably the mini-series, Amerika, in 1987. The remake of Red Dawn arrived in 2012.

BoG's Score: 7.5 out of 10

Red Trivia: all of William Smith's lines are in Russian; the actor knew the Russian language in real life.


____________ img]https://i.imgur.com/Wok7iQW.jpg[/img]


BoG
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 02, 2020 10:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

IMDB has several interesting trivia items for this production. Very Happy
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~ Five of the thirty-six paratroopers in the beginning of the movie did get blown as much as a mile off course during filming. One of them got stuck in a tree. He had to convince locals that he wasn't really an enemy soldier.

Note from me: What an embarrassing situation! I hope the actor didn't speak with an accent or the locals would never have been convinced!

~ Real Green Berets helped with the actors' boot camp training. The cast underwent an intensive eight-week military training course before filming started. During their boot camp training, the actors only got to eat when their instructor felt they earned it.

Note from me: Most movie rehearsals don't involve five-mile marches with full backpacks, or pushups on your knuckles! Shocked

~ William Smith, who played the Spetsnaz commander Strelnikov, didn't receive any special language training for his role. Thanks to years of military service, and working with the C.I.A. and N.S.A., Smith was already fluent in Russian and several other languages.

Note from me: I hope that wasn't the guy who ended in the tree, hanging by his parachute lines!

~ Two C.I.A. men came to the set, having received reports of Russian tanks in the area. They were relieved to hear the tanks were just for a movie.

Note from me: "Mr. President, we checked out those tanks, but they're just part of movie about a Russian invasion?"

"What? And you believed that horse manure?" Shocked

~ Writer and director John Milius carried a loaded pistol around on-set with him.

Note from me: "Attention! Dis is your director! You vill do the scene correctly you vill be shot!"

~ Soldier of Fortune Magazine said that the film's T-72 tank was such a good replica that "while it was being carted around Los Angeles, two C.I.A. officers followed it to the studio and wanted to know where it had come from."

Note from me: "Okay, guys, we want know where you got the soviet tank? And don't say it's just for a movie, because we already got in trouble with the president for telling him that!"

~ The production crew built a gas station. Tourists driving by tried to fill up there, thinking it was real.

Note from me: "I'm sorry, sir, but this isn't a real gas station."

"Oh, right! And I guess that Soviet thank down the road is fake too!"

~ Some movie posters for the film featured a long text preamble that read: "8:44 A.M. A full scale military invasion by foreign troops begins. Total surprise. Almost total success. A gang of high school kids become the last line of defense."

Note from me: How 'bout a sequel in which the Soviets learn their lesson and try again . . . this time by sending Soviet high school kids, since they seem to be the toughest folks on the planet. Laughing

~ After the boot camp, in order to get into the mindset of how a guerrilla fighter employs their tactics, John Milius had the cast become an opposing force for the National Guard's exercises.

Note from me: If they'd whipped the National Guard, the Army would have drafted the whole bunch of them! Shocked

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
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Pow
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 02, 2020 12:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

William "Big Bill" Smith (March 24, 1933) is one of my all time favorite actors. And what a resume this gentleman has had.

While in the USAF, Smith was part of the crew that flew secret missions during the Korean War.
Speaking fluent Russian he was an interrogator.

Had C.I.A. & N.S.A. security clearances.

A lifelong bodybuilder, he won the USAF Weightlifting Championship.

Won the 200-pound arm-wrestling championship of the world multiple times.

Record holder for reverse-curling his own weight.

Had a 31-1 record as a amateur boxer.

Competed in downhill skiing.

Competed in motor cross events with the likes of Steve McQueen. Avid motorcyclist.

Played semi-pro football.

Fought California wildfires in the early 1950s.

Honorary Member : Stuntman's Association of Motion Pictures.

Fluent in 5 languages.

B.A. of Arts: Syracuse University.
Masters: Russian Studies.
Taught Russian at UCLA. Studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and at University of Munich.

Favorite author: Fyodor Dostoevsky.

Studied Kung Fu for eight years.

Direct descendant of both Daniel Boone & Kit Carson.
Bill would appear several times as a guest star on the "Daniel Boone" TV series.

Smith filmed an 8-minute test pilot as Caine for the 1972 TV show "Kung Fu."
Executives deemed Bill as too muscular & menacing for the role.

I first became aware of Bill on one of the great TV westerns, "Laredo'' (1965~'67) as Texas Ranger Joe Riley. One of his rare good guy roles.

In 1976, Bill played the notorious villain of Anthony Falconetti on one of the first TV-miniseries ever made "Rich Man, Poor Man."

Turned the role for Tarzan but stunt doubled for Lex Barker who portrayed the legendary hero.

Bill is a fine actor and one of the most intense & intimidating presences to ever be on screen.

Kinda guy who draws your attention in scenes even if you're supposed to be looking at someone else.

What's also nifty about Bill is that he has the reputation of a good guy in real life with all those who work with him.
In other words, he ain't the evil bad guy at all off screen.
He's a gentleman according to those who have met him and worked with him.
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Krel
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 02, 2020 2:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

John MIlius has said that this movie hurt him in Hollywood, and his directing opportunities dried up. They considered the movie too right-wing.

William Smith spoke several languages, and considered a career in the NSA. But he became ineligible when he married a French national.

He was asked why, with his physical development, he wasn't asked to be in any of the Hercules type movies. He said that he had, but although he had upper body development, he could never get his legs to match his upper body development.

He did a movie with Rod Taylor that had a fight scene that turned into a real fight! Just as the cameras rolled, Rod Tayor said, let's see how tough you are, then punched him for real! He said that he had to fight back to save his life, and much of the stage blood was real blood.

He and Rod Taylor became good friends. He did a small part in another Rod Taylor movie along with Richard Harris. After his scenes were finished, he was kept on the movie to keep Rod Taylor from beating the pulp out of Richard Harris, who kept antagonizing Rod Taylor.

He became one of the costars in the last season "Hawaii 5-0" after one of the costars dropped out of the show.

David.
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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 02, 2020 3:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bud, Krel, and Pow . . . BRAVO!

This was one of the BEST reviews and comments on the whole site!

The fact that this is one of my favorite films aside, you boys have outdone yourselves! And Bud . . . your comments were the best and funniest you've done!

Thanks guys!

Now I gotta watch this movie again!

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Pow
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 02, 2020 4:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bill Smith was also recruited to keep things peaceful on his 1965~'67 TV western show on NBC : "Laredo."

Neville Brand who played fellow Texas Ranger Reese Bennett had been a highly decorated WWII hero in real life.

Unfortunately, his war time experiences, including being severely wounded during the war, caused Brand to hit the bottle pretty hard.

At times, Brand's drinking would disrupt the filming of "Laredo." This would cause costly delays and frustration for the cast, guest stars, and director.

On several episodes of the western series Brand's character had to be written out because he was too inebriated.

Bill was assigned to try to keep Neville on the straight and narrow, although that sometimes was a hopeless task.

Bill always respected and liked Neville; and was very proud of Brand when he was finally able to get his drinking under control later on.

Bill was a cast member on "Hawaii Five-O" on its very last season after James MacArthur had exited the show after being on it for years.

Bill was not a fan of working with Jack Lord at all. Smith said that in all his years of working in film and television that JL was one of the few men he really disliked.

Coincidentally, Bill's friend and co-star on "Laredo," Peter Brown who played Texas Ranger Chad Cooper, clashed with Lord when Lord was a guest star on "Laredo."
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 02, 2020 7:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

My goodness, I don't know what to say to all these comments about this movie's on-set commotions — especially the ones about how our beloved Rod Taylor was beating the crap out of people! Shocked

But the comments you folks have added to All Sci-Fi recently — after the board seemed to be slowing down — has renewed my faith in our great members! Very Happy

Please keep up the good work, guys! Cool

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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