Few films released in the ’80s captured the Cold War paranoia felt in the United States as well as Red Dawn. The 1984 cult-classic tells the story of the Soviet Union – aided by Nicaragua and Cuba – paratrooping into a small town in Colorado and placing the townsfolk in prison camps. What the invaders don’t count on is a group of high school students, including brothers Jed and Matt Eckert (Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen), leading a resistance to World War III and Russian occupation.
Next month Shout! Factory, who have been spoiling fans of the pastel-colors-and-coke-vials decade in recent years with expansive releases of guilty pleasures like Road House, Nighthawks and the Bill & Ted films, have announced the North American collector’s edition of Red Dawn. Out March 14 on Blu-ray and coming out as part of the Shout! Select arm of the company, it will feature new interviews and archival material including:
‘A Look Back At Red Dawn‘ featuring brand-new stories from co-star Doug Toby, casting director Jane Jenkins, production designer Jackson DeGovia and editor Thom Noble.
Archival featurettes include:
- ‘Red Dawn Rising’
- ‘Training For WWIII’
- ‘Building The Red Menace’
- ‘WWIII Comes To Town’
- Original Theatrical Trailer
And as an added bonus, those who pre-order Red Dawn through the Shout! Factory site will get the Blu-ray two weeks early, and it will come with an 18″ x 24″ poster of the artwork newly commissioned for this release (pictured below).
In addition to Swayze and Sheen, Red Dawn‘s cast had Lea Thompson (Back to the Future), Jennifer Grey (Dirty Dancing) and C. Thomas Howell (Soul Man) appearing in one of their earliest roles respectively. The John Milius directed – and written – film is rivaled only by WarGames and The Falcon and the Snowman when it came to elevating fears of an already tense relationship with the Soviet Union.
Thankfully the following year, in Rocky IV, Rocky Balboa went to Russia on Christmas Day and defeated boxing machine Ivan Drago, effectively ending the Cold War (whew!).
