Красный Рассвет над Колорадо

1984 action film directed by John Milius
the 1984 film

In the 1980s, the United States becomes increasingly isolated after a green political party gains power in West Germany and successfully persuades Western Europe to remove its nuclear weapons. Subsequently, NATO dissolves. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union is devastated by a failed wheat harvest and invades Poland to suppress food and labor riots. Soviet allies Cuba and Nicaragua build up their military strength while El Salvador and Honduras fall under Soviet influence and a communist coup d'état seizes control in Mexico. In the town of Calumet, Colorado, a high school class is interrupted by a Soviet led invasion. Some of the students, including brothers Jed and Matt Eckert, escape the chaos as Soviet paratroopers attack. Combined Soviet, Cuban and Nicaraguan soldiers then occupy Calumet. Jed, Matt, and their friends Robert, Danny, Daryl, and Arturo flee into the countryside after procuring supplies and weapons from a store run by Robert's father. When they encounter a Soviet roadblock they are saved by a U. S. helicopter gunship. After several weeks hiding in the forests, the group learns that Mr. Eckert is held at a re education camp at Calumet's drive in. Visiting the camp, they speak to him through a fence and learn that Mrs. Eckert is dead; he tells the group to avenge him. The group visits the Mason family in occupied territory and learns that Robert's father was executed by the occupiers. The Masons ask Jed and Matt to take care of their granddaughters, Toni and Erica. The group begins launching guerilla attacks on the occupational forces, calling themselves the "Wolverines" after their high school mascot. The occupiers respond with brutal crackdowns resulting in the executions of Mr. Eckert and Arturo's father, but the Wolverines are not deterred. They meet crashed USAF pilot Andrew Tanner, who informs them of the current state of the war: Several American cities, including Washington D. C., were destroyed by nuclear strikes, Strategic Air Command was crippled by Cuban saboteurs, and paratroopers were dropped from commercial airliners to seize key positions in preparation for the main assaults via Mexico and Alaska. Most of the southern United States and Northwestern Canada are occupied by the Soviets, but American counterattacks halted their advances between the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River. Continental Western Europe has decided to remain neutral. America's only remaining foreign allies—China and the United Kingdom—remain active against the Soviets, but are militarily crippled. Tanner assists the Wolverines in their guerrilla operations, which leads to increased reprisals by occupational forces against civilians. Visiting the front lines of the war, Tanner and Arturo are killed in the crossfire of a tank battle between Soviet and U. S. forces. Daryl is arrested by the KGB after his father betrays him. They force him to swallow a tracking device and release him to rejoin the Wolverines. Soviet troops track the group to the forests using radio triangulation equipment, but are ambushed by the Wolverines, who trace the source of the signal to Daryl; confessing the truth, he pleads for mercy but is shot dead by Robert. Shortly thereafter, the remaining Wolverines are ambushed by Soviet helicopter gunships, which kill Toni and Robert. Jed and Matt decide to attack the occupational forces in Calumet to distract them while Danny and Erica escape. The plan works, but Jed and Matt are mortally wounded. They are discovered by Cuban Colonel Ernesto Bella who, disillusioned with both the war and Soviet ideology, lets them go; the brothers sit on a park bench together as they die. Danny and Erica trek through the mountains and reach American held territory. In the closing scene, a plaque is shown in the mountains. It is fenced off and a U. S. flag flies nearby, implying that the U. S. won the war. The plaque states that: In the early days of World War III, guerrillas, 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."

Originally called Ten Soldiers, it was written by Kevin Reynolds. It was set in the near future as combined Soviet and Cuban forces launched an invasion of the Southwestern U. S Ten children take to the hills when their small town is captured, turning into a skilled and lethal guerrilla band. Producer Barry Beckerman read the script, and, in the words of Peter Bart, "thought it had the potential to become a tough, taut, 'art' picture made on a modest budget that could possibly break out to find a wider audience." His father Sidney Beckerman helped him pay a $5,000 option. Reynolds wanted to direct but the Beckermans wanted someone more established. Walter Hill briefly considered the script before turning it down, as did several other directors. took the project to Yablans. The script's chances increased when Reynolds became mentored by Steven Spielberg, who helped him make Fandango.

Bart recalls that things changed when "the chieftains at MGM got a better idea. Instead of making a poignant little antiwar movie, why not make a teen Rambo and turn the project over to John Milius, a genial filmmaker who loved war movies. The idea was especially popular with a member of the MGM board of directors, General Alexander Haig, the former Nixon chief of staff, who yearned to supervise the film personally and develop a movie career." Milius was signed to direct at a fee of $1.25 million, plus a gun of his choice. Milius set about rewriting the script. He and Haig devised a backstory in which the circumstances of the invasion would occur; this was reportedly based on Hitler's proposed plans to invade the U. S. during World War II. Haig took Milius under his wing, bringing him to the Hudson Institute, the conservative think tank founded by Herman Kahn, to develop a plausible scenario. Milius saw the story as a Third World liberation struggle in reverse; Haig introduced Nicaragua and suggested that, with the collapse of NATO, a left wing Mexican government would participate in the Soviet invasion, effectively splitting the U. S. in half. Bart says, "Even Milius was taken aback by Haig's approach to the project. 'This is going to end up as a jingoistic, flag waving movie,' Milius fretted. As a result, the budget of this once $6 million movie almost tripled." There was also the addition of a sequence where some children visit a camp to find their parents have been brainwashed. Milius later said, "I see this as an anti war movie in the sense that if both sides could see this, maybe it wouldn't have to happen. I think it would be good for Americans to see what a war would be like. The film isn't even that violent – the war shows none of the horrors that could happen in World War III. In fact, everything that happened in the movie happened in World War II."

Milius wanted Robert Blake to play the US pilot but Frank Yablans overruled him. Powers Boothe was selected instead.

The movie was filmed in and around the city of Las Vegas, New Mexico. Many of the buildings and structures which appear in the film, including a historic Fred Harvey Company hotel adjacent to the train depot, the train yard, and a building near downtown, which was repainted with the name of "Calumet, Colorado", referencing the town in Michigan, are still there today. An old Safeway grocery store was converted to a sound stage and used for several scenes in the movie. Before starting work on the movie, the cast underwent an intensive eight week military training course. During that time, production crews designed and built special combat vehicles in Newhall, California. Soldier of Fortune reported that the movie's T 72 tank was such a precise replica that "while it was being carted around Los Angeles, two CIA intelligence officers followed it to the studio and wanted to know where it had come from". Powers Boothe later claimed that "Milius cut out the emotional life of its characters. Originally, my character was anti war, as well as a rightist. I was supposed to be the voice of reason in that movie. But certain cuts negated my character." Lea Thompson said the original cut featured a love scene between her and Powers Boothe but it "was cut out after some previews because of the age difference. And that was the main reason I took the movie—it was such a terrific scene." Some of the weaponry devised for the film did not work. Futuristic helicopters created for the film did not have FAA approval to fly over people. The budget increased from $11 million to $15 million.

The film's score was composed and conducted by Basil Poledouris; it was the first soundtrack album to be released (on LP and compact disc) by Intrada Records. The label issued the complete score in 2007.

Red Dawn has been variously released across a variety of formats. In 1985, Red Dawn released on VHS. It was also released at the same time on PAL and Betamax. Also in 1985, Red Dawn released on LaserDisc. The film was released several times on this format, with the latest in April 1994. In 1998, Red Dawn released on DVD. In 2007, a two disc DVD Collector's Edition was released. Unusual among the "extras" are interviews of residents recalling the filming of the movie. In 2015, a DVD release featured Red Dawn with the 2012 remake. Another release the same year excluded the remake. In 2017, the Collector's Edition was released on Blu ray. In 2022, Shout! Factory released Red Dawn on 4K Ultra HD Blu ray.

The movie being shown to American prisoners at the re education camp is Sergei Eisenstein's Alexander Nevsky (1938). Much of the story is set in the Arapaho National Forest, and a group of Soviet soldiers refer to the Colorado War, which was fought there between the Arapaho and Cheyenne tribes and the U. S. government. During one scene, the young freedom fighters sit and listen to a radio playing messages meant for guerillas behind the lines. The message played, "John has a long mustache. ", is one of the messages that was used before D Day in Normandy to signal French partisans of the imminent invasion. The broadcast of this message is dramatized in the 1962 film The Longest Day.

The operation to capture former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was named Operation Red Dawn and its targets were dubbed "Wolverine 1" and "Wolverine 2". Army Captain Geoffrey McMurray, who named the mission, said the naming "was so fitting because it was a patriotic, pro American movie." Milius approved of the naming, saying "I was deeply flattered and honored. It's nice to have a lasting legacy."

Red Dawn has been reference for and influence on a number of other media, including music, books, film, and video games. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine 'Wolverines' graffiti was reported on a destroyed Russian APC.

Numerous references occur in the movie Hot Tub Time Machine, including the movie playing in the Ski Patrol station and being watched by Blaine, who considers it one of the best movies of all time. "Grey Dawn" is a South Park episode which parodies Red Dawn where the old people of the town, fed up with how they are treated, take over the quiet Colorado town. The 2017 American military drama series SEAL Team episode "Rolling Dark" contains numerous references to Red Dawn, such as the one scene where a SEAL operator shouts the Wolverines motto to the Russian pursuers.

Rock musician David Rosenthal formed the prog rock group Red Dawn in 1992 with drummer Chuck Burgi and bassist Greg Smith.