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The Dawn of Red Dawn
July 11, 2007

Was the 1984 right wing adventure Red Dawn by John Milius a modern classic? I personally don’t think so—and I don’t remember it being lauded upon release or gathering all that much revisionist respect as the years have gone by—but you’d never know that after taking a look at the extras on Fox/MGM’s new two-disc Red Dawn: Collector’s Edition (street: July 17).

 

Writer/director Milius is joined by a good number of Red Dawn’s cast and crew for the set’s featurettes, including cinematographer Ric Waite and military advisor Dale Dye and cast members Patrick Swayze, Powers Boothe, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson and Charlie Sheen, who remembers his initial joy in learning he was cast in the film by declaring, “Screw politics—let’s go kill some Russians!”

 

There’s lot of talk and remembrances about the sub-zero temperatures on location in the Rockies, the film’s weaponry and extensive training rehearsals, but the best bit comes from Ms. Thompson and doesn’t have anything to do with the film’s tough-talk and posturing. Rather, it’s a gossipy aside that the only co-stars who didn’t get along on the set were Patrick Swayze and relative newcomer Jennifer Grey. And this three years before they became internationally famous on-screen lovers in Dirty Dancing!

Posted by Laurence Lerman on July 11, 2007 | Comments (1)