Let's get one thing out of the way right off the bat; this isn't a very
good movie. The story has plot holes the size of the Rockies--why
are the Soviets attacking a high school in Colorado anyway? The acting
is pretty weak, especially the youngsters--including Patrick Swayze, C.
Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, Charlie Sheen, and Jennifer Grey--though
several great character actors turn in decent performances--including Ben
Johnson, Harry Dean Stanton, Powers Boothe, and Superfly
himself, Ron O'Neal. Dialogue is risible; emotions are overdone;
etc., etc., etc.... All that said, it contains a great truth at its
core and is ultimately powerfully affecting in a way that far exceeds what
we'd expect in a film of this quality, or, more accurately, lack of quality.
The truth of the movie is that, for all that certain political forces
in America decry the prevalence
of guns and the gun culture that pervades much of the country, for
so long as the situation obtains there is fairly little chance of the nation
ever being taken over by any hostile force whether foreign or domestic.
We're all familiar with pictures of German armies marching down the avenues
of Paris. Any such army trying the same thing in America would more
than likely find itself pinned in a crossfire. In fact, when Charles
Whitman began sniping at people from a Texas tower, locals ran and
got their guns and returned fire. Nowhere else in the Western world
would such a thing happen.
The part of the film that''s affecting is at the very end and it quite
honestly took me by surprise. After an attack on the Russian compound
that appears to have turned the tide of the invasion, the story dissolves
to a voice over describing the subsequent course of events and zooms in
on a memorial to the kids who led the American resistance :
PARTISAN ROCK
IN THE EARLY DAYS OF WORLD WAR III
GUERILLAS, MOSTLY CHILDREN,
PLACED THE NAMES OF THEIR LOST
UPON THIS ROCK
THEY FOUGHT HERE ALONE
AND GAVE UP THEIR LIVES
"SO THAT THIS NATION
SHALL NOT PERISH
FROM THE EARTH"
Perhaps it's absurd, but I find that deeply moving. And given
the context of the film, which is very much a relic of the Age
of Reagan and the revival, after the dismal post-Vietnam era, of American
patriotism and military pride, you can imagine how it was received
at the time the film was made--with enthusiasm by the right and horror
by the Left. In the end perhaps we can say the movie is at least
a guilty pleasure and maybe even one of the better
bad movies you're ever likely to enjoy despite yourself. At any
rate, you can get it on DVD for $10 at Borders, so you won't be too upset
if you don't like it.
RECOMMENDED FILMS of :
<a href=http://us.imdb.com/Name?Milius,+John>John Frederick Milius</a>
*<a href=http://us.imdb.com/Title?0118453>Rough
Riders</a> (1997) (TV)
*<a href=http://us.imdb.com/Title?0097334>Farewell
to the King</a> (1989)
*<a href=http://us.imdb.com/Title?0087985>Red
Dawn</a> (1984)
*<a href=http://us.imdb.com/Title?0073906>The
Wind and the Lion</a> (1975)
as Writer :
*<a href=http://us.imdb.com/Title?0078788>Apocalypse
Now</a> (1979)
*<a href=http://us.imdb.com/Title?0068853>The
Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean</a> (1972)
*<a href=http://us.imdb.com/Title?0073195>Jaws</a>
(1975) (Indianapolis monlogue) (uncredited)
<a href=http://us.imdb.com/Name?Boothe,+Powers>Powers Boothe</a>
*<a href=http://us.imdb.com/Title?0089087>Emerald
Forest, The</a> (1985)
*<a href=>Red Dawn</a> (1984)
*<a href=http://us.imdb.com/Title?0083111>Southern
Comfort</a> (1981)
*<a href=http://us.imdb.com/Title?0080832>Guyana
Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones</a> (1980) (TV)
American gun owners wouldn't let their country be taken over? Hell, the neo-cons have effectively overturned the Constitution, are building internment camps to hold millions. And your gun owners? They're a bunch of whiny little bitches primly reminding everyone how we need Bush 43 et. al. to "protect" us from Bin Laden. Maybe Americans were once brave. They are now a gang of candy-assed bullies and cowards.
