John Milius’ follow up to Conan the Barbarian marked quite the departure for the filmmaker, and in turn produced a film that would stand the test of time as the ultimate afternoon guilty pleasure.

Patrick Swayze leads a group of high school kids into the mountains of mid-west America, as World War 3 begins in their humble slice of Americana town. Over the course of several months we see the gang develop guerilla militant tactics and fight back against the Soviet invaders. Its very much a hyper-fantastical piece, but is a great deal of fun, even when the harrowing nature of the situation comes to light. Its trashy high concept filmmaking, that perhaps could only have been produced in the 1980′s (I have very little hope for the currently in-production remake).

“Boys? Avenge me! Avenge me!!!”

The film reminded greatly of Rambo: First Blood, and I would be surprised to hear that Ted Kotcheff’s film didn’t inspire the concept of Red Dawn. There is a great deal of violence, which, although largeless bloodless, outdoes Rambo: First Blood in that respect (many forget that there is only one casualty in the first Rambo film). I guess in a way it more closely mirrors the third Rambo flick, another 1980′s action film that relies on a simple action hook.

While the film is largely over the top fantasy, there are a number of effective moments. The opening scene, in which we see Soviet paratroopers landing in the school football field as the children are taught history is actually genuinely awry-inducing, as is the moment where the group first head back into the twon following the invasion, only to find that the walls are coated with Soviet propoganda. Of course each effective moment is countered by a bout of ridiculously brilliant over-acting, be it Harry Dean Stanton’s cry to his son’s of “Boys? Avenge me! Avenge me!!!”, or the manner in which Swayze constantly seems to be over-emoting at any opportunity possible. Its great, B-movie stuff, but is hardly going to change the world. Indeed I rather enjoyed the irony of the way in which the American’s resorted to terrorist tactics themselves, in order to rid their land of the Soviets. I look forward to seeing how such a thing is handled in the remake.