When Red Dawn was released in 1984, film critics seemed like they were trying to outdo each other to convince the movie-going public that the film was not only bad, but also ludicrously improbable.
“As it stands, the film is simply too ridiculous for words,” wrote one. “[I]f nothing else, Red Dawn plays like a Reaganite masturbatory fantasy,” sneered another.
For some reason, many “progressive” male movie reviewers can’t seem to just talk about a movie without imposing sexual fantasies of their own (one Red Dawn review I looked at actually had a sub-section titled “Homoerotica”). Without getting too deep into psychoanalysis, I liked the movie for what it was and know plenty of others who did as well. And while we don’t pretend it’s the greatest cinematic masterpiece ever…