My article, The guns of Red Dawn 30 years later

[Trebor]

Here's my latest Michigan Firearms Examiner article on the guns of Red Dawn (the original, not the crappy remake).

I can't believe it's been 30 years. I remember seeing that in the theater with my girlfriend.



The guns of Red Dawn 30 years later

This years marks the 30th Anniversary of the Cold War classic “Red Dawn.” The story of a group of high school students fighting a guerilla war against Communist troops first invaded theaters on August 10, 1984.

The movie was co-written and directed by John Milius, a Hollywood veteran known for bringing his love of firearms to his work. Before “Red Dawn” Milius created a pop-culture icon when he armed Clint Eastwood with a Smith & Wesson Model 29 .44 Magnum in first Dirty Harry movie. In fact, Milius asked for, and received, a high end shotgun as payment for co-writing the first script.

For “Red Dawn” Milius made sure the weaponry appeared as realistic as possible. Stembridge Gun Rentals, “Hollywood’s armory” since the 1920’s, provided around 10,000 firearms for the production. These included both standard and fully automatic firearms."

 

[1KPerDay]

Red Dawn (the crappy original, not the crappy remake).

Fixed that for you.

 

[NOMI WASP]

I like the remake. I've looked for a version of the original online to watch but cannot find it. Maybe I would like the original more if I seen it. I was still in diapers when it was made.

 

[Tommygunn]

Red Dawn (the crappy original, not the crappy remake).

Fixed that for you.

​

Speak for yourself. The original was a pretty good movie and the re-make, while not quit as good, was still very viewable.

 

[jmr40]

I can find no fault with the original movie. I need to watch the remake.

One question I would like to have answered is the type of bolt rifle used by Jed for most of the movie. It appears to be a 20" barreled Winchester Carbine which would have been a current production rifle in the mid 80's. If not a Winchester, Ruger made a 20" carbine at the same time with a similar profile.

 

[hso]

Cold War classic

provided around 10,000 firearms for the production

That is enough zeros to be challenging to accept. Red Dawn probably didn't have a big enough cast, even with extras, to require that many firearms.

 

[mac66]

Nice article as usual Rob.

 

[tarosean]

provided around 10,000 firearms for the production

That is enough zeros to be challenging to accept. Red Dawn probably didn't have a big enough cast, even with extras, to require that many firearms.

Extras don't get billing.... However, I do recall reading somewhere, that the movie was responsible for most of the AK's in the NFA DB..

 

[Ryanxia]

One of my favorite movies

Fun to see everything they used. http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Red_Dawn_(1984)

 

[RustyShackelford]

Imfdb.org ....

I agree that the newer Red Dawn was not that bad.
In fairness, Red China was the main bad guys but the Red Dawn producers & studio didn't want to offend any Asian officials or foreign government groups.
The CGI & action scenes of the re-make were decent. The big - is that it will always be compared fairly or not to the 1984 Red Dawn.

As for the firearms & weapons of both movies, see: www.IMFdb.org .

FWIW; the screenwriter/producer of Red Dawn(1984) was John Milius. He is a strong 2A supporter and gun owner. Milius is on the NRA board too.
He once said Red Dawn isn't about the USSR or the Cold War but the way a tyrannical government or anti-gun force could roll over a populace quickly & strip them of their rights and liberties.
The war & USSR/Warsaw Pact elements were just symbols of Milius' intent.

Note; there is a doc on Netflix about John Milius and his Hollywood career/life.

 

[1KPerDay]

I can find no fault with the original movie.

*cough**choke**splutter*

 

[Destructo6]

You know, the, "RPK" that was used in the original Red Dawn was actually a Valmet and appeared in several different movies, including Commando.

The original Red Dawn was great for what it was: an action adventure for the kids of the latter part of the Cold War.

 

[mac66]

It should also be pointed out that Red Dawn was made during the height of Reagan's presidency. There was a lot of sabre rattling going on with the Soviet Union at the time. The left was peeing their pants. For the rest of us it was the best of times.

 

[Trebor]

The info that 10,000 guns were provided by Stembridge is from Long Mountain Outfitters. I have a link to their old "Red Dawn" page (now archived) in the article.

I was questioning the figure a bit myself. I wonder if it included non-functional dummy guns in addition to actual firearms.

 

[IlikeSA]

Nice article!

 

[Sergei Mosin]

The film also served as a warning about the Soviet-backed insurgencies that were active in a number of South and Central American countries at the time.

 

[jmr40]

Ryanxia,

thanks for the link. The bolt rifle I was asking about was a Ruger Ultra-lite

Originally Posted by jmr40 View Post
I can find no fault with the original movie.


*cough**choke**splutter*

Sorry you didn't like it. How about educating us instead of just making curt remarks. Seriously, I'd like to hear your views.

It's no academy award winner and the special effects are a bit cheesy by modern standards. But it was entertaining and had a powerful message.

 

[hso]

I was questioning the figure a bit myself. I wonder if it included non-functional dummy guns in addition to actual firearms.

I like the movie and have watched it a bunch of time (yes, I admit it), but I just can't think of any scene that would call for that many firearms in the scene, so like you I'm very skeptical of that number. A thousand? Sure. Ten times that??

 

[scaatylobo]

# 1

First movie IS a classic to those that enjoy his work.

And it was a very political statement too,sadly it could now come true !.

The remake was weak,and I did not like it as much.

 

[ourichie]

One of the most distinctive weapons in the film is the Finnish Jatimatic submachine gun used by the Cuban Colonel who hunts the boys.

I am pretty sure that this guy is a Russian Spetz.

 

[lxd55]

I wonder if 1Kperday received a warning from the moderators. I know that I have been warned multiple times for making remarks that were far less offensive than his. Given the number of posts he has I would wager that he has a get out of jail free card......

I did like the original movie a lot due to the storyline and the scenery, but I have no compulsion to watch the remake. As a rule, I generally don't watch remakes of anything.

yes it is interesting how this seems to work, or just work, on the high road.
hey I thought it was a decent patriotic movie, fight for and with what you have until you cannot.
read history......

 

[JTHunter]

The thing I found more interesting in the original was that the characters seemed to have more depth to them. They had more "personality" than the people in the remake did.
While the technological advances in the remake were "interesting", I find it hard to believe that these untrained teens would have had the strength or stamina to do what they did. The "stunts" in the original weren't as "over-blown" as the remake.

 

[119er]

I kinda felt ripped off by the remake. I watched it on Netflix or Hulu. It seemed like the movie ended abruptly with loose ends, almost like it ran out of budget. I can't remember specifics because it wasn't that memorable for me. I do remember wanting that blue truck from the original!

 

[Field Tester]

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=759869

And yet my thread was closed down and no reply from the mods when asking why or possibly to edit.

 

[Field Tester]

"Can I get a second opinion on this please?
I think it speaks about the subtle nuances of writing and directing in Hollywood and how they're affected when one is a gun owner and supporter of Second Amendment rights.
I don't feel my thread needed to be closed"

My appeal.