'Red Dawn' (1984): Colonel Ernesto Bella's Pacifist Turn

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by S. P. Honeybunch, May 21, 2023.

  1. S. P. Honeybunch

    S. P. Honeybunch 'The Captain and Me' MFSL SACD #00025 Thread Starter

    Colonel Ernesto Bella's turn at the end of Red Dawn is a great twist to this film. He writes a letter to his sweetheart or wife in Cuba explaining that he is ready to begin his new life and resign from the army. In a few scenes he has the opportunity to kill Jed and Matt Eckert, but lowers his rifle and lets them retreat in peace. This is a real classy touch to the film and helps bring a peaceful ending to a good war film.
     
    eric777, Karnak, jbmcb and 3 others like this.
  2. Kristofa

    Kristofa Enthusiast of small convenient sound carrier units

    Location:
    usa
    I forgot about that part. Thanks for the reminder. I was just thinking today about shedding a lot of my nostalgic DVD/BRD in the library, but this deserves another viewing for sure.
     
    S. P. Honeybunch and 905 like this.
  3. jwoverho

    jwoverho Licensed Drug Dealer

    Location:
    Mobile, AL USA
    One of Milius’ best.
     
    Karnak, jbmcb and 905 like this.
  4. Rich-n-Roll

    Rich-n-Roll Forum Resident

    Location:
    Washington State
    They should make a stand alone film based on that premise
     
    Plinko and 905 like this.
  5. ledzepfan63

    ledzepfan63 Forum Resident

    Location:
    bassett,va
    good flick
     
    Karnak, 905 and S. P. Honeybunch like this.
  6. S. P. Honeybunch

    S. P. Honeybunch 'The Captain and Me' MFSL SACD #00025 Thread Starter

    Siskel and Ebert reviewed this film in 1984. Siskel mentioned that he didn't like the way that the film ended or that it "petered out" at the end.

     
    Plinko and a customer like this.
  7. Kristofa

    Kristofa Enthusiast of small convenient sound carrier units

    Location:
    usa
    Give me a break. How is carrying the dead body of your literal brother in arms through the snow after a suicide assault mission considered petering out?!

    Perhaps he thought First Blood petered out as well because the protagonist ended on the floor in tears… sheesh!
     
  8. agentalbert

    agentalbert Senior Member

    Location:
    San Antonio, TX
    I'm with you. I don't get Siskel's complaint there at all. I think it has has a great ending.
     
    Karnak, jbmcb, 905 and 1 other person like this.
  9. ledzepfan63

    ledzepfan63 Forum Resident

    Location:
    bassett,va
    they made a remake in the 2000s with tom cruises son
     
  10. Scowl

    Scowl Forum Resident

    Location:
    ?
    If there were a thread here named, "The Last Movie You Saw At A Drive-in", this would be it for me.
     
  11. Johnny66

    Johnny66 Laird of Boleskine

    Location:
    Australia.
    If so, it's one of very, very few. Milius is about as subtle as a sledgehammer.

    It would be easy (and obvious) to dismiss Red Dawn as nationalistic Reagan-era masturbation (which it is), but the rise of the far right in America over the past decade would make such an assessment a rather hollow victory.
     
  12. S. P. Honeybunch

    S. P. Honeybunch 'The Captain and Me' MFSL SACD #00025 Thread Starter

    If one wasn't paying attention, one might have missed the universal values of camaraderie, peace, and love of one's own country contained within the film. Further, there is part of the plot that deals with one of the Wolverines betraying their trust. It's sad coming from a friend. The film does well in exploring the passion and emotion of war with good performances from all of the lead characters.
     
    artfromtex, ArpMoog, Karnak and 3 others like this.
  13. Roland Stone

    Roland Stone Offending Member

    The contemporaneous Robin Williams-Walter Matthau comedy, THE SURVIVALISTS, acts as a corrective for RED DAWN.

    RED DAWN is what the preppers and other assorted loonies imagine themselves to be, while THE SURVIVALISTS is what all the would-be Wolverines really are: marks for fascist fantasies sold by snake oil salesman who don't believe a word of what they're saying.
     
    Last edited: May 25, 2023
  14. S. P. Honeybunch

    S. P. Honeybunch 'The Captain and Me' MFSL SACD #00025 Thread Starter

    Rather, love of one's country is a deep bond among the Wolverines. People in general relate to that passion and root for them because of it. Hard to root for Colonel Bella for most of the film, until he decides to spare the Eckerts.
     
    artfromtex likes this.
  15. Johnny66

    Johnny66 Laird of Boleskine

    Location:
    Australia.
    Uh-huh. Milius, a former NRA board member (and effectively the mouthpiece for Dirty Harry), was all about peace. And 'love' of whose country, one might ask? The USA is rendered as incredibly whitebread in Red Dawn...

    Ironically, according to data analysis by Parrot Analytics, the film has seen something of a resurgence in the context of the invasion of Ukraine - even as the current wave of far-right American jingoists would be likely to sympathise with the Soviets in the film, right? Oh, brother!

    https://www.thewrap.com/red-dawn-ri...n-teens-fighting-russian-invasion-is-red-hot/
     
    Hyacinth House and Scowl like this.
  16. Yawndave

    Yawndave Forum Resident

    Location:
    Santa Clara CA
    Wolverines!
     
    S. P. Honeybunch, 905 and Gary like this.
  17. Combination

    Combination Senior Member

    Location:
    New Orleans
    This is the other film where the closing scene features Patrick Swayze being instructed to


    Vaya Con Dios



    [​IMG]


    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: May 25, 2023
  18. Speedmaster

    Speedmaster We’re all walking through this darkness on our own

    Location:
    The Netherlands
    All I took from this flick is that American teens would make great insurgents, like the Vietcong or the Taliban.
     
  19. jbmcb

    jbmcb Forum Resident

    Location:
    Troy, MI, USA
    That's a great premise for a film. Red Dawn from the invader's perspective. It could be a similar setup to Flags of our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima. It would also be an interesting parallel with the Ukraine situation.
     
    Rich-n-Roll likes this.
  20. Bea Jonas

    Bea Jonas Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Red Dawn features my second favorite Basil Poledouris score (after Conan the Barbarian), followed closely by Robocop.
     
    Plinko and Karnak like this.
  21. Bruce Racket

    Bruce Racket Forum Resident

    Location:
    Washington DC
    What are you even talking about? We are discussing a specific scene from a movie, not your political thoughts and theories.
     
    S. P. Honeybunch, Shawn and Karnak like this.
  22. SmallDarkCloud

    SmallDarkCloud Forum Resident

    Location:
    NYC
    I mean, it kind of does. Stallone's half-intelligible monologue doesn't help. The ending of Morrell's novel, where Col. Troutman kills Rambo out of mercy, is much better. I'm not sure if that was filmed, but I suspect not. Kirk Douglas (originally cast as Troutman) left the production because Stallone wanted to change that ending.
     
  23. Karnak

    Karnak "81, 82, 83, 84..."

    I liked the ending too. At least two other spots stood out-the camp fire scene where Powers Boothe describes a siege where fires light up the sky-"It's medieval", and the very short exchange between Matt and Jed "how the mountains pay us no attention at all...".
     
    S. P. Honeybunch and agentalbert like this.
  24. Kristofa

    Kristofa Enthusiast of small convenient sound carrier units

    Location:
    usa
    I like both endings. I never read what Morrell thought about the film ending though.

    As for his monologue, I didn’t quite get it when I was a kid, but it resonates now with my deeper understanding and experience with PTSD. It didn’t end in death, no, but it sure ended in deep sadness.

    but enough about First Blood. How ‘bout them Cubans! :laugh:
     
  25. Judge Judy

    Judge Judy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY, USA
    The movie also features the second-greatest Vladek Sheybal performance of all time.
     

Share This Page

molar-endocrine