Red Dawn

Now this is 1980s nostalgia. Neon-colored glasses of VH1 and That '80s Show notwithstanding, some of us have stronger memories of Reagan's military escalation rhetoric and the nuclear threat than of stupid skinny ties. John Milius' 1984 NRA recruitment feature perfectly captures every right-wing paranoid delusion of the day, depicting a world in which European liberals have disbanded NATO, Central America has all turned commie and lax immigration laws coupled with strict gun control have paved the way for a mostly nonnuclear invasion by the Soviets. Despite the hefty Russian firepower, however, the film chooses to focus on Latin Americans as the primary villains, which seems an odd choice in retrospect. Fortunately, a young Charlie Sheen and Patrick Swayze are around to save the day, walking in and out of enemy camps with impunity and miraculously obtaining all the artillery they need to take on the Red Army. Minus the Cold War paranoia, Red Dawn loses much of its edge (unlike, say, John Badham's WarGames, which holds up), as its character development is slim to none (are we really to believe teenage boys holed up in the woods wouldn't so much as kiss their girlfriends?), but the film is technically proficient and plays like a video game, divided into various missions that require different weapons. Harry Dean Stanton plays Sheen and Swayze's dad, while '80s mainstays C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson and Jennifer Grey round out the rebels, and Powers Boothe is the fighter pilot who assists them.