1984 Red Dawn as We Remember Let Them Forget So That They Can Be Little Again

May 14, 2022 Post a Comment

"Wolverines!"

"Soviet Matrimony suffers worst wheat harvest in 55 years... Labor and nutrient riots in Poland. Soviet troops invade... Republic of cuba and Nicaragua reach troop forcefulness goals of 500,000. El Salvador and Honduras fall... Greens Party gains control of West German Parliament. Demands withdrawal of nuclear weapons from European soil... Mexico plunged into revolution... NATO dissolves. United States stands alone."

Cerise Dawn is a 1984 war movie written and directed past John Milius. A breathy product of the Ruddy Scare, it was met with mixed-to-negative critical reception at the time of its release, just has attained cult classic status in the years since due to its amusingly unapologetic Patriotic Fervor and surprisingly grim second half.

Prepare in a world where communist revolutions and civil unrest take swept virtually of the U.s.'southward allies, the film opens on six high school students in a rural Colorado town whose school day is interrupted by what they presently realize are Soviet and Cuban paratroopers landing nearby. Panicked after seeing their teacher gunned down, they pile into a truck and abscond into the mountains, led by football star Matt Eckert (Charlie Sheen) and his older brother Jed (Patrick Swayze).

Over the next several months, they are joined by fellow student Toni Mason (Jennifer Grayness), her sister Erica (Lea Thompson), and downed United states Air Force pilot Andy Tanner (Powers Boothe). Trapped far backside enemy lines, hunted past the occupation forces, and armed only with hunting gear and scavenged Soviet equipment, the group forms a ragtag resistance movement known equally the Wolverines, named for their school mascot, and begins a long and harrowing guerilla campaign against the communist invaders...

Also noted for being the beginning onscreen pairing of Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze (who later costarred in the classic Dirty Dancing to the delight of fangirls everywhere), the offset moving-picture show to be released with the PG-13 rating, and (for fans of film music in general and Basil Poledouris in item) the first soundtrack anthology released by Intrada.

For the 2012 remake, see Ruby-red Dawn (2012).

Tropes:

Aborted Arc: According to Lea Thompson, the relationship between Erica and Tanner was originally supposed to become romantic, but this was cut from the film after a few previews.
Action Picture, Repose Drama Scene: When Colonel Bella writes a alphabetic character to his married woman virtually the end of the film. Information technology's a surprisingly touching scene.
Action Girl: Erica and Toni.
Action Survivor: All of the Wolverines. They only went into the mountains to get away from the invasion, not to become insurgents. Only Jed and Matt accept a decent understanding of how to survive in the wilderness, but even they're in over their heads. They only get fighters after a chance encounter with a random patrol. The trope is then downplayed as their successes are the result of Guerilla-way ambushes. Once the Soviets get serious virtually finding them, it doesn't accept long for them to wipe them out.
Analogy Backfire: But if one assumes this was analogous to the USSR invading Afghanistan. Some mujahideen groups backed past the The states and Pakistan gained experience repelling the Soviets, and after forming, the Taliban would later use those skills attacking civilians. And, ironically, Americans.
- Then at that place's this:
Colonel Ernesto Bella: [in the now-occupied Calumet, Colorado] It would seem necessary to win the back up of the people. As our opponents used to say in Vietnam: "Win their hearts and minds."

Full general Bratchenko: And they lost, Ernesto.
Anti-Villain: Colonel Bella, who is an officer in the Cuban ground forces, merely finds himself sympathizing with the Wolverines.
- Spetznaz Colonel Strelnikov is easily the most unsafe and cunning foe the Wolverines contend with. But he is not a psycho or a mass-murderer—hell, he puts a cease to the mass executions of civilians in Calumet. He is a professional soldier doing his duty for his country in time of war. Fifty-fifty using Darryl'due south family to become to the guerillas is just combat pragmatism, using the virtually efficient method available to find and eliminate the enemy with minimal friendly casualties. Pretty much a Designated Villain.
Anyone Tin can Die: Even girls, subverting Men Are the Expendable Gender.
Creative License – Geography: Supposedly, a Soviet-Nicaraguan-Cuban force driving north through the newly Soviet-aligned Mexico links upward with Soviet paratroopers in eastern Colorado. Other Soviet forces are said to have crossed the Bering Strait, Alaska, and Canada, which is just slightly less likely than flying monkeys from Oz.
Attack Backfire: When his Spetsnaz unit is brought in specifically to chase downwards the Wolverines, Colonel Strelnikov calls for an firsthand finish to summary executions of unarmed civilians on the grounds that the executions show that they have no idea how to control the situation and further cements support for the Wolverines and spreads anger at the Soviet occupying strength.
Colonel Strelnikov: If a play tricks breaks into your craven coop, exercise you slaughter the sus scrofa because it did nothing?
Axe-Crazy: Robert slides downwardly the rungs.
Badass Coiffure: The Wolverines
Battle Cry: "Wolverines!" The Wolverines are the school football game team. The protagonists get out the spray-painted symbol of their mascot at the site of ambushes.
Big Bad Ensemble: Colonel Ernesto Bella, General Bratchenko, and Colonel Strelnikov. We starting time meet Colonel Bella, savvy and somewhat noble. Then General Bratchenko, basically the Card-Carrying Villain. Finally Colonel Strelnikov enters the motion picture specifically to hunt down and eliminate the Wolverines, and a vast deviation from our other chief bad guys in that he'south the most cunning, dangerous, and knowledgeable foe they face. Bella knows how difficult dealing with a noncombatant resistance is because he used to exist role of one, but being an insurgent has not prepared him to fight insurgents. Bratchenko just doesn't go that a massive military machine is not, by default, equipped to deal with guerilla forces. Strelnikov both understands what makes insurgents difficult to deal with and knows how to go about eliminating them with the resource available.
Bilingual Dialogue: Cuban and Soviet troops speak Spanish and Russian respectively, with subtitles. Played for laughs in ane scene when a Soviet soldier playing tourist pretends to translate a forestry sign, maxim it commemorates a bloody Indian revolt. What he says is actually a history of the Colorado War. Manifestly he really has Shown Their Piece of work.
Bittersweet Ending, The kids lose their innocence and all but ii lose their lives, though information technology's suggested past the Partisan Rock memorial that America somewhen wins.
- The "sugariness" part is basically the equivalent of half a teaspoon of sugar to a bag of grapefruits. The awkward studio-forced epilogue only provides two bits of practiced news; America won the war, and Erica survived. Merely America was already in a very bad country by the time the picture ended and the narration outright states that the state of war went on for many more than years. It's likely tens of millions of Americans are dead along with hundreds of millions around the world. The world economy is probable in butchery and will probably accept decades to recover. Also due to an implied gang rape, Erica was already an emotional wreck earlier she even appears in the film. The events we encounter her go through only make information technology worse, and many more than years of war can't be much help. She hardly sounds upbeat during the narration. We know several characters dice. The fates of everyone other than Erica are unknown. That bad-mannered epilogue is the merely thing that prevents an outright Downer Ending.
Black Dude Dies Starting time: The history teacher at the showtime of the movie is the very first person killed onscreen when he walks up to some heavily armed paratroopers thinking they're U.Southward. soldiers preparation who landed in the wrong place and goes out to greet them. Aardvark (the sole not-white Wolverine) is the offset Wolverine to die.
Volume Burning: During the Wolverines' commencement incognito visit to Calumet post-invasion, a Cherry Army soldier is seen hurling stacks of books into a called-for dumpster.
Volume Dumb: When Toni asks Colonel Tanner what the capital of Texas is to ostend he's American and non a spy, he correctly answers Austin. She nigh shoots him considering she thinks the correct respond is Houston.
Broken Aesop: The "They tin have my gun when they pry it from my cold, dead fingers" scene is probably intended to be badass just it could but as easily be interpreted as a Stealth Parody about pointless bravado.
Broken Bird: It's strongly implied that one (and probably both) of the girls were raped by Soviet soldiers. It's mentioned Soviet soldiers "tried to have their way with them," implying they failed, however the daughter's reactions to certain events and phrases imply something happened earlier the soldiers were stopped.
The Chains of Commanding: Jed.
Kid Soldiers: The movie does a good job of showing how warfare can psychologically scar kid soldiers.
Chummy Commies: Believe it or not, this trope seems to exist in the course of China of all things, who are allied with the The states against the USSR after being nuked past the Soviets. America really did go through a détente menstruation in the 70s and 80s with China ◊ due to their mutual opposition to the USSR. Even then, notwithstanding, the relationship was of the Teeth-Clenched Teamwork diversity.
Clifftop Caterwauling: Wolverines!
*Click* Hi: "Y'all lose."
Colonel Badass: Both Tanner and Bella authorize. Strelnikov also qualifies by default, being a Spetznaz operator.
Crapsack World:
- Earlier the first of the story, NATO functionally collapses, the Warsaw Pact subsequently expands, and United mexican states goes Communist. It gets a lot worse.
- The unabridged reason the Soviets started the war was considering a disastrously bad harvest was sending them into a famine, then they wanted to seize the most productive farmland on Earth: the U.s.a. and Canadian agronomical heartland. Except that the front lines run correct through the fertile regions of both countries. American and Canadian defenders very likely adopted "Asset Denial" (AKA Scorched Earth) tactics as they retreated, ruining the farms and ranches nether Soviet occupation. Agronomics is badly disrupted, and then America (and all the countries that depend on American agricultural exports) is likely to suffer a famine also. According to the Expanded Universe, the famine ultimately led to the plummet of the USSR.
- Washington and a six other places in the US were nuked on the first day, with millions of lives lost. The Soviets also decided to eliminate the Red Chinese wild carte du jour by going to town on them with nuclear weapons, incinerating iv-hundred million people right out of the starting gate. American and Chinese counterstrikes are never mentioned in the movie, but somebody had to accept done something. That many detonations volition definitely crusade a nuclear winter, which certain as hell won't help with the crops. Plus Communist china is now a post-apocalyptic nightmare, and their downwind neighbors have to have felt the furnishings of the fallout. Also confirmed (and shown to be even worse than you thought) in the Expanded Universe.
- The United states economic system is undoubtedly ruined, and the Soviet economic system will be pretty much nonexistent. Never heed China. Become ready for the new Great Depression, happening worldwide.
Curb-Stomp Cushion: During the initial Soviet assault, an American chopper appears twice to attack and harass the enemy (including a rare example of The Cavalry saving the heroes at the beginning of the moving-picture show). Throughout the residual of the film, the American armed forces is repeatedly referenced to all the same be in the fight, if not virtually plenty to help the Wolverines.
24-hour interval of the Jackboot: The USA has been taken over by the communists. Who will save united states, if not teenagers? Not teenagers.
Death from In a higher place: Early in the picture, a lone American helicopter shows up a couple of times to strafe or fire rockets at Soviet positions, serving equally The Cavalry in a Gunship Rescue at 1 point. Gets an Ironic Echo towards the end when a pair of Soviet Hind gunships slaughter half the group. Likewise, towards the final human action of the film, we see American jets doing bombing runs in "No Homo'south Land".
Deconstruction: Though oftentimes held upwardly as a textbook instance of a patriotic 80s war motion-picture show, it actually deconstructs several key aspects of such movies. For starters, the kids who would become the Wolverines never intended to exist insurgents. Instead, they were just terrified kids desperately trying to find a safety place to hide in the mountains. Their first encounter with Soviet troops is but bad luck by being spotted by a patrol, and that encounter then leads to the horrible reprisal of having several people from their hometown, including the begetter of 2 of them, summarily executed. Their only successful attacks are guerrilla-fashion ambushes, and in one case the Soviet armed forces gets serious about finding them, it doesn't take long to wipe them out. Nobody is made of iron, in fact we don't see anyone actually recovering from an injury. They're all emotionally traumatized past having their lives turned upside downwards and from everything they've had to go through. In fact Robert, Matt, and Jed's deaths could hands be interpreted as suicides. Many things are actually shown from the enemy'southward point of view and they're non all only faceless mooks. And finally, the epilogue (which was but put in at the last minute after the studio forced it) indicates that their actions had very little impact on the overall war endeavour and, while they have a monument, it is rarely visited, and the Wolverines are largely forgotten.
Defiant to the Finish:
- The first grouping of civilians executed by style of reprisal for the Wolverines' attacks dies singing America the Cute in the face of the Soviet firing team.
- As well Robert, facing downwardly a Mi-24 HIND helicopter with only his AK.
- Before a civilian execution an old man amongst the corralled civilians spits at the soldiers. Averted as the human being is saved by the Wolverines.
Dirty Communists: Averted; though the movie doesn't stint in depicting communist atrocities, some of the enemy soldiers are portrayed equally homo beings rather than evil faceless mooks.
Disproportionate Retribution: The Soviets retaliate for the Wolverines' attacks by mass-executing civilians (including Jed and Matt's male parent). Rather than serving equally a deterrent, the reprisals only encourage the Wolverines to fight harder. Colonel Strelnikov eventually ends the reprisals because of their ineffectiveness.
Doomed Hometown: Though the town itself is not destroyed, only captured.
Dramatic Drib: When Matt is sent on a recon. mission following the killing of the Soviet patrol, he drops his binoculars right after the men under Col. Bella'southward command machinegun over a dozen unarmed civilians, including his and Jed'south father, in forepart of a mass grave.
Drive-In Theater: Now used as a POW and indoctrination camp.
Aristocracy Mooks: Soviet Spetsnaz are brought in to rails downward the Wolverines. They're every bit constructive as all the other mooks. They may yet have been the ones responsible for the ambush that got Robert and Toni killed. Colonel Strelnikov is too the 1 who kills Jed and Matt, although Jed kills him besides.
Et Tu, Brute?: The revelation that one of their ain has betrayed them signifies a plough for the worst for the Wolverines fortunes.
Even Evil Has Standards: The Soviets initially react to insurgent attacks by murdering random civilians. Subsequently on, a counter-insurgency expert from the Soviet VDV is sent in to bargain with the insurgency, and the first thing he orders is a halt to the murder of civilians, not so much on ethical grounds, but on the grounds that they're counter-productive past turning the populace against the occupation forces.
- Near the end, the Cuban colonel comes across one of the Wolverines evacuating 1 of their injured. He lets them go.
Verbal Words: Early in the movie, there's a closeup of a "They can accept my gun when they pry information technology from my cold, dead fingers" bumper sticker before the camera pulls back to reveal a Soviet soldier doing exactly that.
Expanded Universe: A thread on Alternate History.com, which got to 335 pages (!) every bit of April 2011 before moving to its current location, is a and so-called "double-bullheaded what-if" in which posters role-play veterans of the state of war depicted in the picture. Much discussion on weapons and campaigns of the war, as well as on the fates of surviving moving-picture show characters; for example, Colonel Bella concluded upward defecting to the Allied side shortly subsequently the events of the movie, became a U.S. citizen and helped U.S. authorities track down war criminals after the end of the war. It has its ain TVTropes folio.
"Facing the Bullets" One-Liner:
- "America, the Cute." existence sung by prisoners every bit they're about to be executed en masse.
- Also the Spetsnaz prisoner virtually to be shot by the Wolverines. "Dogface! I prove you lot how soldier dies!"
Failed Futurity Forecast: The Soviet Wedlock collapsed just 7 years after this film was made. And it's not like it was the top of the Cold War either, despite military overspending... But then again, the movie takes place in an Alternate History anyway.
Fatal Family unit Photo: Averted with Colonel Bella, who is seen writing a heartfelt and moving letter to his wife shortly before the Wolverines assault. He survives the encounter.
Fell Off the Back of a Truck: Part of the terminal trap that decimates the Wolverines.
Gag Sub: There'south a RiffTrax version of information technology.
Graffiti of the Resistance: The Wolverines usually leave graffiti behind at the scenes of their ambushes. They also carved the names of their expressionless on the side of a cliff (resistance Stone) equally a memorial.
Greater-Telescopic Villain: The Soviet Union at big.
Grey-and-Grey Morality: The Red Ground forces does pretty vile things, like executing civilians, simply the Wolverines aren't above executing a caught enemy soldier and ane of their own for selling them out. Many communist soldiers, like Colonel Bella, are very human, and collaborators are merely people trying to stay live rather than evil monsters.
Gunship Rescue: The movie would accept been nearly 30 minutes long if not for an Ground forces helicopter gunship arriving only in fourth dimension to clear a path for the heroes to escape into the wood.
The Hero Dies: Which contributes to several more tropes being played straight.
Heroic Sacrifice: Several.
He Who Fights Monsters:
- From a conversation between Robert and Colonel Tanner:
  Tanner: "All that hate'south gonna burn yous up, child."
  Robert (etching 'kill' notches on his AKM with a balisong): "Keeps me warm."
- Jed too shows signs of it, though he is clearly bothered by what he becomes.
Hope Spot: When a group of Soviet helicopter gunships attacks the Wolverines, one of the kids manages to boom i with an RPG, just for the helicopter to endure just minor impairment.
I'm Common cold... So Cold...: When Action Girl Toni is fatally wounded past Hind gunships, she asks Jed to go out her a mitt grenade to kill herself with, saying "I don't want to be cold". She doesn't utilize it though; just leaves the grenade under her body to kill the commencement Muddy Communist that tries to move her.
Improperly Placed Firearms: Generally averted with mock-ups ranging from machine guns to APCs and helicopters, though a abrupt-eyed weapons buff tin can still tell the difference. Aristocracy Mooks use the AK-74 burglarize (or at least an constructive facsimile, mocked up from the same Egyptian AK copies used by the other "Soviet" extras), rarely seen in movies made before the collapse of the Iron Mantle. A mock-up of a T-72 tank was then authentic it reportedly caught the attending of two CIA men who wanted to know where it had come from.
I Need a Freaking Potable: Tanner needs ane subsequently the kids express their ignorance of mutual armed services tactical terms.
Incredibly Obvious Bug: Averted afterwards the concluding battle where Dirty Communists used ane to rail the Wolverines to their lair past having The Mole swallow the homing device.
Insert Grenade Hither: When the group is pinned downward by a tank (which doesn't see them), one of the main characters attempts this but gets hurt pretty badly when the Soviet tankers reverse this trope with a grenade of their own and is unable to complete the task. Instead he sets off a smoke grenade so that an American tank can spot the camouflaged Soviet tank and blow information technology (and him) up.
Instant Death Bullet: Played straight a few times, just largely averted and becomes very of import at the end when Jed (maybe) thinks it'll happen when he'southward got the drib on Col. Strelnekov only for him to survive the gunshot long enough to shoot him back.
Invaded States of America: A shining case.
It's Up to You lot: Several adults, most notably Jed and Matt's father.
Kicking the Dog: The outset target of the Soviet Regular army is a schoolhouse with no strategic war machine significance. They also needlessly murder not-resisting students and teachers in the process.
La Résistance: The Wolverines after getting their hands on numerous weapons.
Minion with an F in Evil:
- Colonel Ernesto Bella is initially introduced in a way that suggests he'southward the movie's Large Bad. However, not only is he not in accuse of the local occupying force, but is shown to be far more reasonable than his Soviet counterparts (he criticizes them for the stupid tactic of shooting civilians after every Wolverine attack, saying that they're only gaining support because of it, which he knows from having been a Cuban guerrilla during Castro's revolution). He somewhen becomes increasingly disillusioned with the war to the point where after the Eckert Brothers' last stand up, he momentarily holds them at gun point before letting them get and dropping his gun in disgust. In other circumstances, Bella could well have been a classic Worthy Opponent.
- In the scene where civilian prisoners/hostages are executed afterwards the Wolverines brand their beginning kills of Soviet soldiers, Bella is clearly far more than disgusted past the town mayor's horrified reaction than by the disobedience of the executed hostages.
Misplaced Retribution: The Soviets reply to the killing of a Soviet patrol squad, which was done in self-defense afterwards a gamble encounter, by executing more than a dozen unarmed civilians, including friends and family of the Eckerts and the other teens. When they rename themselves the Wolverines, and conduct a guerilla entrada, the Soviets respond by ordering more and more than summary executions of unarmed civilians. This ultimately backfires since the executions only lead to the Wolverines gaining more back up from the conquered population, and when Col. Strelnikov and his Spetznas unit is brought in to hunt down the Wolverines, he admonishes Gen. Bratchenko and the men under his control to stop the executions, since they only serve to farther support for the Wolverines, and it shows that they have no idea how to control the situation.
Col. Strelnikov: If a trick breaks into your chicken coop, do you slaughter the sus scrofa because it did null?
Missing Backblast:
- Averted: In the final battle, two of the American guerillas burn down their RPG-7's at the command trailer used by a Soviet general. An enemy soldier who comes circular the corner behind them at that precise moment falls to the ground screaming as he's been scorched past the backblast.
- Subverted in at least one scene, where one of the Wolverines loses his chapeau while firing an RPG-7.
- Averted in the opening scene, in which a pair of Soviet troops launch an RPG at Jed's truck. The gunner is seen wearing a face covering, while the assistant gunner is visibly shielding himself from the backblast.
- Downplayed during the nighttime helicopter attack on Calumet, in which a soldier is seen firing a shoulder-launched SAM. Flames leap from both ends of the launcher when the missile is fired, even so the soldier, who is kneeling with his trailing human foot dangerously close to the launcher's rear finish, seems none the worse for wear.
Monochrome Casting: Aardvark is the only Hispanic amid the otherwise all-white Wolverines. For that matter, the history teacher is the only black human being in the pic. He lasts all of 3 minutes. Possibly justified due to the rural setting, where minorities are rare.
- The motion picture was filmed in Las Vegas, New Mexico, a town where more than than 80% of the population is Hispanic. The setting is changed to the fictional town of Calumet Colorado, merely many rural towns in the Mountains of Colorado (with the exception of the wealthy ski resorts which Calumet clearly is not) besides have large Hispanic populations.
Mood Whiplash: The picture keeps shifting between pure Narm (oft with lines about patriotism and fighting spirit) and genuinely dark moments.
Mr. Exposition: Downed American pilot Col. Tanner gives the Wolverines an Info Dump on the global strategic situation - which, logically, they know footling about, being isolated upwardly in the Colorado mountains. In summary:
- In the first wave, crack Soviet Spetsnaz units parachuted in, disguised as commercial airliners only similar they did in the invasion of Afghanistan, in lodge to seize key passes in the Rocky Mountains. This is what hitting Calumet in the opening scene. They coordinated with a handful of tactical nuclear strikes meant to destroy primal communication points, including Washington, D.C., Omaha, and Kansas Urban center. Otherwise, the Soviets desire to accept the U.s.a. in ane piece so they won't use more nukes, and the US won't either on their own soil, which is why the war has been generally limited to conventional weapons. Both sides were also afraid to employ more than nukes.
- The Soviets' used their communist allies in Primal America every bit extra manpower/cannon fodder, much as the Germans used the Romanians every bit auxiliaries in Globe War Two. Afterward taking over Mexico, the Cuban and Nicaraguan armies spearheaded an invasion into Texas (supplemented by Soviet special forces units). They're aided by Cuban infiltrators who entered the US bearded every bit illegal aliens, who then raided Strategic Air Control bases when the invasion began. This invasion thrust spread as far w and east equally the Rockies and the Mississippi, and as far due north as Cheyenne/northern Kansas.
- The main thrust of the Soviet Army itself came over the Bering Strait, with 60 divisions organized into three main army groups. They pushed through Alaska, cutting the oil pipeline, and on into Canada. Their goal was a massive pincer motility with the southern thrust to cutting North America in ii — but they were decisively stopped in a massive battle in the Canadian Rockies. Later that, the battle lines stabilized and the war is at a stalemate.
- Globally, due to the dissolution of NATO in their alternate history, Europe is sitting this war out and remains neutral - except for the United kingdom, though Tanner doesn't recall they tin can last long on their own. Meanwhile, Red Red china is the just other major ability on the United states of america's side (apparently as function of the Sino-Soviet rivalry) - but they have paid dearly for it, with 400 million out of 1 billion Chinese expressionless from Soviet nuclear strikes. While Canada isn't explicitly said to be fighting, it's a safe assumption that they're in the state of war too, because the aforementioned invasion through Alaska.
Common Kill: Jed and Strelnikov.
My God, What Have I Washed?: A variation of this comes from Colonel Bella after he spares the Eckerts who are already dying of their wounds; he eventually tosses away his burglarize, revolted by his part in killing such young people equally the Wolverines through all the carnage to follow the invasion.
- Subverted with Darryl's execution. Robert puts a point-blank burst into his chest, causing Darryl to collapse onto him, leaving claret all over his white wintertime camo. Robert recoils momentarily, only the look on his face is not horror, merely rather, "Fuck, it's all over me. At present I gotta wash this shit." Past this point, information technology's been a long time since Robert cared about anything.
Never Trust a Trailer: One trailer shows Toni getting harassed by several Soviet soldiers, and when she tries to run away, they run after her - the implication beingness that they wanted to rape her - before being mowed downward by her young man Wolverines. In the actual picture show, those soldiers were just messing with her. Then Toni surrendered a tiffin basket to them with a bomb in it, which promptly blew upwards their tank - only then did the soldiers give hunt to her earlier existence killed by the Wolverines.
No Delays for the Wicked: The Soviets and their communist allies move incredibly fast in the initial invasion. Airborne troops making information technology all the way to Colorado in the starting time wave? Implausible but possible. That doesn't quite explain how Soviet armored vehicles are already in town to back up the paratroopers and set roadblocks during the initial assault. Mexico is most 600 miles from the eye of Colorado (a 10-hour bulldoze, assuming no stops). Apparently the Soviets were hauling donkey north, ran into no resistance and didn't have to stop to refuel to make it up there without beingness noticed and before the school twenty-four hours ended.
"Not And then Unlike" Remark:
- One of the Wolverines asks this when Jed is about to execute both a captured soldier and the mayor's completely unwilling turncoat of a son.
  Matt: What'due south the difference, Jed? Tell me, what's the difference betwixt usa and them?
- Colonel Bella gets his moment besides when the aftermath of a Wolverines raid reminds him of his own guerrilla fighter by during the Cuban Revolution, and by proxy wars that Republic of cuba was involved in, such as the Nicaraguan Revolution, the Angolan Ceremonious War, and the Salvadoran Civil War.
  Bella: I have seen this before. Nicaragua. San Salvador. Angola. United mexican states. But these are my men!
Nuke 'em: Precision nuclear strikes wipe out silos in the Dakotas, plus key communications points like Omaha, Washington, D.C., and Kansas City (no explanation is given for how this happened with the The states nuclear deterrent, except that the Soviet nukes "were a lot more accurate than we expected"). Further strikes are averted by the Soviets' need to have the U.s. intact. Other countries though...
Jed Eckert: Well, who is on our side?

Col. Tanner: Six hundred million screaming Chinamen.

Darryl Bates: Last I heard, there were a billion screaming Chinamen.

Col. Tanner: There were. (tosses his alcohol on the burn down, and so it gives out a dandy burst of flame)
Occupiers Out of Our State: The whole movie is well-nigh this.
1 Sided Battle: The Wolverines regularly wipe out larger forces, even though guerilla doctrine advises using a large number of guerillas to assault much smaller regular army units. There is some thought given to tactics however, such equally making an ambushed force take cover in an surface area covered past claymore mines, or using the girls to plant bombs. Also by the finish of the moving-picture show all except two of the Wolverines accept been killed.
Overnight Conquest: The Soviet conquest of large parts of the USA is performed in a affair of days. Subverted in that the Americans are said to have rallied and stopped the Soviets cold on every front, leading to a bloody stalemate with a substantial portion of the land under enemy occupation.
Possession Implies Mastery: The Wolverines are instant experts with every weapon they capture from the Soviet troops. Justified, to an extent, considering Jeb and Matt are both experienced hunters and Soviet weapons were deliberately designed to be easy to operate with niggling training.
Pragmatic Villainy: As stated in a higher place, Bella opposes killing civilians not because information technology is morally wrong but considering information technology increases back up for the Wolverines. Strelnikov makes a similar point in his introductory oral communication, decrying reprisals as "impotence" that makes the Soviets look weak.
Precocious Crush: Erica falls in love with older and married Colonel Tanner, though there's nothing physical between them except a scrap of tussling.
The Quisling: Mayor Bates. Unusually for this trope, he's clearly post-obit the enemy out of fear alone, and justifies his actions with the belief that his cooperation volition brand things easier on his people. He is obviously terrified and disgusted past his town's new occupiers. It's an impressively realistic portrayal of a collaborator under an occupation.
Canaille Bunch of Misfits: The Wolverines at peak strength are two high school brothers, a cowardly friend, a bloodthirsty friend, a younger friend, a fix of sisters they pick upward, and a downed airman.
- Plus Arturo Mondragon. Everyone forgets Aardvark!!
Existent Life Writes the Plot: The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan inspired the film.
A Real Human Is a Killer: Robert drinks the claret of the first deer he shoots, and notes he likes the taste (Truth in Television, by the mode. It's an old tradition amid deer hunters that y'all have to drink the blood of your start kill). He eventually ends up the nigh Axe-Crazy of the Wolverines.
"Then you'll exist a existent hunter. My dad said that once you lot do that, there'due south going to be something different virtually you, always."
Recycled IN Space!: The Soviet invasion of Transitional islamic state of afghanistan... in America!
Cherry Scare: You lot'd never guess that the Soviet Spousal relationship was teetering on the verge of collapse while this picture show was in production. Of course, very few at the time predicted how soon it would be gone.
The Revolution Will Not Exist Civilized: Unarmed prisoners and enemy wounded are shot by the Wolverines.
Road Block: The Soviets gear up these upwardly of course as a means of containment. The Wolverines narrowly evade ane with the aid of a U.S. Army helicopter.
Scenery Racket: We are treated to many gorgeous vistas of the New United mexican states Rockies and high plains, while the Soviet Union invades. Plus the scene where Toni and Robert are killed by the helicopters is filmed at iconic Ghost Ranch.
Shmuck Allurement: The Wolverines run into a Soviet truck drop some supplies on the road and then clumsily that it screams as well easy, nonetheless they merits the supplies without suspicion and pay the toll every bit a Soviet helicopter attacks.
Shout-Out:
- An evil Soviet soldier named Strelnikov, for one. His introduction also resembles that of Colonel Mathieu in The Battle of Algiers: offset seen in a military machine parade, then lecturing his staff on counterinsurgency tactics.
- In one scene, Robert imitates John Wayne flinging his scabbard off his rifle in The Searchers.
- The code phrases broadcast by Radio Gratuitous America are a nod to those used to alert resistance groups during World State of war Ii. "John has a long mustache" was too one of the code phrases depicted in The Longest Day.
- Also, a movie theater in Calumet is showing Alexander Nevsky before a Wolverine bombing.
Shown Their Work: A lot of attempt was put into accurately showcasing the Soviet weaponry and equipment of the era. This is especially impressive considering that Soviet weaponry was non as easily available for Hollywood studios in the 80s as it is today. The mock up T-72 used in the picture were so well made that co-ordinate to the product crew, the CIA wanted to know simply where they had managed to larn it.
Modest Proper name, Large Ego: In the grand scheme of things, the Wolverines call up they're far more of import than they are, by and large due Bratchenko'due south overreaction to their activity emboldening them into thinking they're making a huge difference. When Strelnikov arrives and starts treating them similar a pocket-sized insurgency, things showtime going south for the Wolverines and their impact on the state of war ends upward being so little that they are implied to not exist remembered by history.
Sociopathic Soldier: Robert slowly becomes an example. Evidence: machine-gunning Daryl without a word nor remorse while he'south begging Jed to not kill him.
Spot the Imposter: On beingness asked what the capital of Texas is, Colonel Tanner replies "Austin" and is immediately defendant by Toni of being a Dirty Communist. He replies that she's seen as well many movies. It doesn't help that Tanner's answer that Austin was the uppercase of Texas was right, while Toni was sure that Houston was its capital letter. Probable a Shout-Out to a well-known incident during the Boxing of the Bulge.
Suicide Mission: Jed and Matt seem to know they volition not survive their final set on on the town and headquarters.
Tank Goodness: One scene features a long-range duel between ii Soviet T-72 tanks and an American M1 Abrams tank in the distance. One-on-1, the Abrams should have an edge over a single T-72, merely the US tank is outnumbered and in the open. The Soviet tanks are camouflaged, and a mortally wounded Tanner sets off a smoke grenade to marker the Soviet's position for the American tank, while the Wolverines knock out the second 1 with an RPG
Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Colonel Bella conspicuously doesn't like working with the hardhearted General Bratchenko, who disregards all of his advice, and tasks Bella - who admits he has cipher experience in animus - with coming up with a valid COIN strategy on his ain.
3rd Deed Stupidity: Near the terminate of the motion picture, Jed gets the driblet on Colonel Strelnikov by sneaking upwardly behind him. But instead of just shooting him, he first announces his presence with a *Click* Hello and the line, "You lose." This gives Strelnikov enough fourth dimension to open up burn on Jed before he dies, inflicting disquisitional injuries.
Took a Level in Badass: The Wolverines. They start out as fairly normal loftier-school kids, and terminate upwards causing the invaders all sorts of grief.
Villain Ball: The Soviets invade, and the first (on-screen) thing they do is shoot up a schoolhouse?
Villains Out Shopping: As mentioned above, the Soviets act like normal guys between battles. The park scene is a great example, where they not only mis-translate a sign but take photographs before long before the Wolverines kill them.
Voice of the Resistance: Radio Free America.
State of war Comes Dwelling: The very plot is centered on this trope. High school students living in rural Colorado are invaded by the Soviet Spousal relationship and her allies. They are forced to fight a guerilla war against the occupying force as the Wolverines without realizing that this invasion was but another front end in the now raging World War Three.
War Is Hell: Fifty-fifty when things are going well for the Wolverines, World State of war III is a living nightmare. We know that the communists are committing atrocities, and even come across some of them, even so almost every Soviet soldier seen upwardly close is a regular wide-eyed child seeing the earth in the army, non an evil faceless mook, so killing them is non exactly something to feel expert most. Guerrilla attacks are punished by massacring civilians. The Wolverines are starving in the wilderness. The emotional toll on Matt, Aardvark, Toni, Erica, and especially Robert and Jed, is unspeakable. And according to Col. Tanner, it's a lot worse up in Denver.
- Tanner invokes this when the kids inquire him why the war started. He bitterly replies, "Maybe somebody just forgot what it was similar."
War Memorial: The Wolverines carve the names of their fallen allies into Resistance Rock. The epilogue reveals it was turned into a formal memorial afterward the war.
Warrior Poet: When Col. Bella writes home to his sweetheart, information technology's nothing if not beautiful.
Weapons Understudies:
- SA 330 Pumas stand in for Mi-24 Hind-A gunships since the bodily chopper wasn't the sort of matter you lot could borrow back in the day. The mockup ended upward in several other 80s films as well.
- Valmet M78, Jatimatic, Walther PP and mockup Maadi Artillery are used as stand ins for RPK, PM-63 RAK, Makarov PM and AK-74 for the aforementioned reasons.
Nosotros Need a Distraction: The concluding stand between Jed and Matt and the Soviet army was meant to have their burn fatigued on them, so that Danny and Erica can go to the allied occupied territories. It works at the cost of the brothers' lives.
Would Hurt a Kid: The Soviet invaders have no qualms of shooting unarmed high schoolhouse students. Children tin also be seen existence taken prisoner by the Soviets and thrown into detention camps.
Wrong Genre Savvy:
- When Patrick Swayze'due south character sneaks up on the Soviet colonel, he tries to say a clever one-liner rather than just shooting him immediately and gets shot.
- Robert sees a Soviet helicopter approaching. He slowly gets into a Heroic Stance equally the music swells. He raises his gun, aims, shouts "Wolverines!" and starts firing... and the helicopter opens burn down, killing Robert instantly.
- Even the ending, where information technology is implied that the Wolverines are all killed off by the Soviets, though the US even so wins the state of war in the end.
- The teens are able to pull off some early on victories against the Russian conscripts who act mainly as policing forces and run on an inefficient doctrine. The Russians call in a expert to deal with the growing threat they pose, and he turns off the taps on their resource and then deploys special forces with more firepower and proper counter-insurgency training. Most of the teens die this fashion.
You lot Meddling Kids: And the Reds would take won, too.
Your Mom
Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters: The movie substantially transplanted the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan to a dissimilar setting, placing a group of typical American youth in the roles of the Afghan freedom fighters. Which becomes Harsher in Hindsight considering what they caused.
What Happened to the Mouse?: We never acquire the fate of Mayor Bates, who collaborated with the Soviet and Cuban occupiers and even turned his own son over to them.