Encore showed THREE of my all-time favorite movies tonight. Predator, Mad Max and Red Dawn! I know the first two by heart, but it's been a few years since I sat through Red Dawn, so I watched it.

This was THE movie for Boy Scouts in the mid 80's. If you were a Boy Scout and in Colorado, even better. Growing up, we all wanted to hide up in Grand Lake and fight off the commie bastards. Everytime we were on a campout and played capture the flag, we'd summon the spirit of the Wolverines. I remember one kid would even wear a scarf over the lower face of his face-- like Charlie Sheen and C. Thomas Howell did.

It's weird, but as a kid my dad watched WAY too much TV. I always thought he'd either end up in the army, in prison, fight a guerilla war, become a slave to the apes, or have to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. After all, most movies were like that! It wasn't until he was 18 that he realized he'd live a normal, boring adult life.

Looking at it now, Red Dawn's almost a propaganda film for gun ownership. Hilarious how the Cubans/Russian instantly burn books, take over the town, set up "re-education camps" and enlist the KGB!! There's even an armed security guard who patrols the 5&10 cent store! Pretty stereotypical portrayal of the Russians, too.

Yeah..let's take over a small po-dunk town in Colorado. Great strategy. The director includes an early schoolroom piece about Genghis Khan in an attempt at foreshadowing. The teacher mentions that the Monguls would create a massive miles-long semi-circle, then slowly march across the land and kill everything. Ridiculous that we thought this was a realistic movie when it came out.

I also like the old guy who helps the kids out. Everyone of his line starts with "You boys...".

Still, this movie is alot of fun. I learned much later that the main theme song is a re-working of "Fanfare for the Common Man". Also found out that it was actually filmed around Las Vegas, NM... just north of Santa Fe. Still, the geogrpahy's the same as some of the mountain towns on the Western Slope and plateaus of Colorado. Supposedly, most of downtown Las Vegas is easily recognizable from the movie. Cool...next time we head down to Arizona, well have to stop off in Las Vegas. We've stopped there to get gas before, but have never headed into the actual town. Might get a kick out of that.

If you don't want to kill some Commies after watching this, then you're a coldblooded weenie, chester!