This past Wednesday, the remake of John Milius’s classic kids-versus-commies action fest hit theaters just in time for Thanksgiving Black Friday, providing the perfect option for those thirsting for some Americanism during the holiday season—which, in case you weren’t aware, is the optimal time to be an American. I reviewed the film for the Reader, a task I happily volunteered for given my fascination with the 1984 original.
- Chuck Norris in Invasion USA
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As Asher Klein notes in this blog post, Milius’s text is ripe for remake in this age of supposed big government. Ailing red staters still hurting from Obama’s reelection will find much to like in this version, as its avowal of rugged individualism by way of militaristic heroism seems ripped straight out of the tea party playbook. But Red Dawn isn’t the only film of its kind. The 80s are brimming with jingoistic action fare—in fact, most genre fans will attest to the Ronald Reagan years as the height of action cinema. The following films are notable by their illogical sentiments toward patriotism, their gleefully irreverent narrative strategies, and value for keeping television networks like TNT or TBS in business. In other words, what Michael Bay would deem “good, clean fun.”
- Commando (Mark L. Lester, 1985, USA) Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger share an intriguingly similar professional biography: both earned a living as actors of marginal ability before being elected major political figures in charge of two of the most important economies on the planet. How both fared at the whole “political leader” thing isn’t a question that’s easily answered, but one thing’s for sure: Reagan was never more famous than when he was POTUS—there was a point in time when Arnold Schwarzenegger was one of the biggest—if not the biggest—movie stars on the planet. Schwarzenegger is in rare form in Commando, a classic ode to militarism, fatherly duty, and, of course, the macho Zen attained by an ex-government employee who finds fulfillment when striking out on his own. Sidenote: Lester also directed Class of 1984, which is more or less than antithesis of this film.
