SUMMER OF SWAYZE: Red Dawn Double Feature
WOLVERINES!!!
Find us at: iTunes Spotify Patreon
MAJOR CONTENT WARNING: This episode was recorded prior to the recent wave of shootings in Gilroy, El Paso, and Dayton, and the ensuing wave of white nationalist violence. Our discussion touches on issues of white nationalism and armed insurgency, which may be harmful to some listeners. Please stay safe and avoid this episode if you need to.
This week's movie is…complicated. First of all, it's a double feature that literally no one asked for, except maybe MGM needing to stay afloat. Yet more importantly, these movies were literally pieces of propaganda, sometimes unwittingly, and sometimes coldly calculated. The original film is a wild movie to watch - despite the best efforts of former Nixon staffers to infiltrate Hollywood, the arch-conservative, libertarian John Milius did his best to make an anti-war movie out of a teenage Rambo poisoned by GOP war hawks. It gets a little ridiculous after a while, but there are moments of pure genius in Milius' vision, and pitch-perfect action with some very green actors. As for the remake…well, it did a few things right, but a lot of things wrong. This week, we're tackling 1984 and 2012's…or 2009's…Red Dawn!
Macintosh & Maud have a Patreon! Any little bit you can contribute helps, and we have special contributor-only content if you donate at the $2 level, including an upcoming review of Swayze’s surfing classic with the majestic Keanu Reeves, Point Break!
You can email us with feedback at macintoshandmaud@gmail.com, or you can connect with us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
If you like the podcast, make sure to subscribe and review on iTunes, Spotify, or your favorite podcatcher, and tell your friends.
Excerpt taken from "Main Title" from the soundtrack to the film Red Dawn, composed and conducted by Basil Poledouris. Copyright 1984 Blackwood Music, Inc. (BMI), United Lion Music, Inc. (BMI); 1985 United Artists Corporation.
Clips from 1984’s Red Dawn are copyright 1984 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. All rights reserved.
Excerpt taken from “Do You Love Me,” written by Berry Gordy, Jr. and performed by The Contours. Copyright 1962 Gordy Records.
Intro music taken from the Second Movement of Ludwig von Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Hong Kong (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 HK) license. To hear the full performance or get more information, visit the song page at the Internet Archive.
