Red Dawn is a 1984 American war action movie. It was released in August 1984 with both good and bad reviews. It starred Patrick Swayze, Lea Thompson, Charlie Sheen and Jennifer Grey. The film is set in an alternative 1980s in which the United States is invaded by the Soviet Union and its Cuban and Nicaraguan allies. World War III is mentioned in the movie, but is not fully explained. The story follows a group of American high school students who resist the occupation with guerrilla warfare, calling themselves Wolverines, after their high school mascot. The movie was the first to use a rating of PG-13. The movie did very well at the box office.
![]()
Approximate map of the events described in the movie:
Blue: The United States and its allies Canada, the United Kingdom and the People's Republic of China.
Red: The Soviet Union and its allies Cuba and Nicaragua.
Green: The neutral countries of Western Europe.
The arrows show the invasion routes, and the red dots show the cities that were destroyed by nuclear weapons which are Washington D.C., Omaha (Nebraska), Kansas City (Missouri) and Beijing (China).
Other websites
