Von Richtofen and Brown

Adequate Roger Corman flick about air combat during World War I.  The movie mainly focuses on Manfred von Richtofen (a.k.a. the "Red Baron," who, with 80 confirmed kills, was the highest-scoring pilot during the war) and Roy Brown - a Canadian ace* flying with Britain's Royal Flying Corps/Royal Air Force who supposedly killed the Baron in combat (in reality, it was probably an Australian soldier who fired the fatal bullet).  The acting isn't anything to crow about (everyone speaks English, and individual characters, save for Brown, are difficult to pick out), and there are many, many glaring historical errors.  The flying sequences are the best thing about the film, and feature authentic aircraft (and, in some cases, replicas).  No real surprises, but the film is palatable.

Rating: 70/100

*An "ace" is generally defined as a pilot who has shot down five or more enemy aircraft in combat.  This number varied during World War I, but by the end of the war, the number was generally five.  The highest-scoring ace of all time is Erich Hartmann, a German pilot during World War II with a whopping 352 aerial victories (in second place is fellow German Gerhard Barkhorn, who racked up a mere 301 kills during WWII).

Red Dawn

The Russians are coming!  No really: Russian, Cuban, and Nicaraguan troops invade the United States in the 1980s (the Soviet Union was apparently fairly desperate because of bad wheat crops), with Russian and Cuban paratroopers being dropped in the middle of the U.S., occupying several states (including Colorado, where the movie is set).  A group of teenagers, arming themselves with whatever they can find, form a guerrilla group known as the "Wolverines" (after their high school mascot) and, with the help of a Colonel from the Air Force (who was rescued by the teens after his F-15 was shot down), attack the occupying forces, avenging family members and friends who were killed.

While by no means a bad movie, Red Dawn isn't particularly good, either.  The acting is decent enough (Patrick Swayze stars, and Charlie Sheen also appears), and the battle sequences are excellent (rumor has it that a mock T-72 tank used in the film was so accurate that the CIA became suspicious), but the basic concept seems rather preposterous.  The best thing about the movie is probably the alternate history discussions it has inspired (including a big thread on one forum where people make up stories about what they did during the time of the movie).  Overall, the film is enjoyable enough (as are many stupid movies), and earns its status as a cult classic (although just barely).

Written by John Milius, the basic plot (Russian paratroopers dropped from transports disguised as civilian airliners) was used again in the game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (which features several shout-outs to this movie).  The video game Homefront (also scripted by Milius) and its companion novel feature a similar plot (North Korea invades the U.S. this time).  Also of note: this was the first film to be released with a PG-13 rating (which was introduced the year this film came out - 1984), although it was not the first movie to actually receive the new rating (that "honor" would go to The Flamingo Kid).  If you like war movies, action flicks, Patrick Swayze, or really, really corny plots, you'll love Red Dawn.

Rating: 70/100

Red Dawn: Background Information

The film takes place during "World War III" (even though it's just the USSR, Cuba, and Nicaragua fighting against the U.S., U.K. and China - most of Europe decided to sit this war out, and little is said about Asia [including the Middle East] or South America or Australia).  They use a couple of nukes against the U.S. and China (I think they destroy a couple missile depots, D.C., and maybe Beijing), and drop paratroopers in the American midwest (including Colorado, where the movie is set), occupying several states (including Alaska and Texas) as well as part of western Canada and all of Mexico.  At the beginning of the movie, background information tells us that most of Europe pulled out of NATO (the U.K. being the major exception), a communist coup overthrew the Mexican government, the Warsaw Pact expanded its sphere of influence (to where, I'm not sure), and the Ukrainian wheat harvest failed.  The U.S. is now strategically isolated (except for the U.K. and, for some reason, China [no word on Japan, South Korea, Israel, or some of our other good buddies]).  Someone took the time to make a map of the world in Red Dawn, which is pretty helpful.  There's also a big expanded universe discussion board (although you must be a member of the site to see the board).  Oh, and there's a remake of the movie (featuring North Korean villains) coming out soon (it got pushed back to remove references to China being the invader).

Random Ranting: PG-13

I'm not a big fan of the PG-13 rating.  (WARNING: uncontrollable ranting ahead)  While it originally was actually useful (and didn't cheapen the PG rating), it eventually became too "tame."  Like the PG rating, you could initially have multiple instances of "f--k," nudity (including breasts), and graphic violence (after 1984, a few PG-rated films were released with nudity or f-words, but this quickly stopped).  Now, most summer blockbusters are rated PG-13, and are very watered-down, with the PG rating almost being decried as too juvenile.  Thankfully, the PG rating is getting fixed so as to be less childish (you can now show boobies in an educational context, and you can even say "s--t" again [but nothing stronger]), and there is the occasional PG-13 film that will contain content that actually justifies the rating.  So, maybe there is hope for the ratings board.