Red Dawn

               If a fox stole your chickens... Would you slaughter your pig because he saw the fox? No.   

                   You would hunt the fox... You would find where it lives and destroy it! And how  

                                   do we do this? Become a fox.

The prologue of the film explains that communist ideology has taken root in many nations of the world, especially in South and Central America, due to failing economic conditions and food shortages. The Soveit union had experienced its worst wheat harvest in 55 years, and invades Eastern European countries such as Poland, where mass rioting has occurred. Previously West Germany was forced in disarmament when the "Greens Party" came to power there, and as such left helpless to the Soviet onslaught. These events cause global disruption and tensions and NATO and the UN are left political non-entities. With the onset of World War II looming, the United States is left standing alone.

The film begins when a normal September morning in the small Colorado town of Calumet is unexpectedly interrupted by the surprise appearance of Cuban and Soviet paratroopers in the empty fields behind the local high school. As the paratroopers begin their attack and begin rounding up the townspeople, a small group of teenagers grab their weapons and supplies and flee to the nearby mountains where they had previously hunted with their fathers.  When they return to find news on what has happened, they are joined by two girls, Toni and Erica Mason, the granddaughters of an old couple who give the boys sanctuary for a time. Led by Jed Eckert, his brother Matt, and their friends Robert, Danny, Daryl, and Aardvark, who call themselves the Wolverines after their high school mascot, they begin a resistance against the Soviet-allied occupation force.

As the result of escalating guerrilla attacks, the Soviet field commanders now view the Wolverines as a serious threat. Initially the occupiers had tried terror tactics, executing groups of civilians following every Wolverine attack, to intimidate the local population and the Wolverines into halting their attacks. However, this tactic backfired, and civilians lent increasing support to the resistance movement. Following a rise in popular support for the Wolverines, the Soviets decide to stop reprisals against civilians and begin hunting the Wolverines themselves. Spetsnaz commando are sent into the mountains to eliminate the resistance, but the commandos are ambushed and killed by the Wolverines.

The Wolverines are weakened however, by the attacks and other events, and their morale has eroded as the war of attrition takes its toll on their numbers. Even though the civilians are increasingly resistant to Soviet rule, the occupation forces are pushing the resistance to the breaking point. The remaining Wolverines are ambushed by three helicopter gunships, and they are reduced to four: Jed; Matt; Danny; and Erica. The survivors realize that they cannot outlast the Soviets, and if they keep fighting, they will all die. Determined to save at least some of their number, Jed and Matt stage a suicide attack on the Soviet regional headquarters in order to distract the troops while Danny and Erica escape to "Free American" territory. The ploy works: Jed and Matt are killed, but Danny and Erica are free.

The film's epilogue, suggests that the United States successfully repels the invasion some years later; a plague is displayed with "Partisan Rock" in the background, a rock which throughout the film has been a recurring motif as each dead comrade's name has been inscribed upon it by a member of the Wolverines.

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