Director of Cold War film ‘Red Dawn’ said movie’s success taught him lesson about liberal Hollywood
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the iconic Cold War thriller "Red Dawn," a film by a Hollywood conservative that showcased patriotism, a love for the American military and warned of the dangers of gun control. Yet, it also taught the man behind the movie a deep lesson about the mentality of liberal Hollywood.
Amanda Milius, the daughter of the film’s director, spoke to Fox News Digital about the film’s 40th anniversary, its legacy, and what the movie revealed to her dad. Released in 1984, "Red Dawn" told the story of the Soviet Union invading America and fighting a conventional land battle within the USA. It starred some of the most popular actors of the day and has gone on to be regarded as a cultural touchstone of the Cold War era.
Regarding the film’s unabashedly patriotic stance, Amanda Milius told Fox News Digital, "I don't think Hollywood liked that too much."
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The younger Milius, a filmmaker and former Trump administration official, related what her father learned from making the movie.
"The lesson that he told myself and my brothers … was Hollywood says all they care about is if the thing makes money, like they'll, you know, support it," she said. "Not true. That movie made a great deal of money and they were like, ‘You're never getting your hands on a camera again until you calm down.’"
She added, "A lot of people claim that ‘Red Dawn’ is the reason that he never got to really finish his career in as prolific of a way as he should have because of its politics … It was not the kind of movie that Hollywood was interested in putting out at that moment."
John Milius, who also co-wrote "Apocalypse Now," and directed "Conan the Barbarian," suffered a stroke in 2010. Asked about his health, Amanda told Fox News Digital that he "can't speak as well as he used to." But overall, "He's doing well … He is doing his thing. He is stable, happy."
"Red Dawn" premiered on August 10, 1984, and stars Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey, Charlie Sheen, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson and Powers Boothe. The film revolves around a mostly high school-aged bunch of teens who fight back after the Russians invade.
Asked to define why the film struck a chord and has resonated for more than a generation, the younger Milius referenced a line from the movie where Swayze’s character sums up why the young people are fighting so desperately to defend America against steep odds. "Because we live here," he simply explains.
"That [scene] means, ‘We have to do this. We have to take care of the country… This is our responsibility,'" she said. "It's like this very American idea of, I'm going to go and I just know in my bones that if somebody were to invade my land, I would go and protect it in whatever way I could with my high school friends in a truck."
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John Milius is a former board member of the National Rifle Association (NRA) and "Red Dawn" featured a scene where the Soviets use gun registration lists to confiscate weapons. The younger Milius said of her dad and that scene: "I think ‘Red Dawn’ is the movie where he got to do the most of what he wanted without interference, because there's so many things that he gets away with in that movie that you could never do today. I mean, just never."
She called the gun confiscation moment her dad’s warning to "watch out for government overreach" and added, "I think most people love that scene. I love it. I think it was, you know, pretty on point."
The film instantly created a bond with many conservatives. Former Secretary of State to Ronald Reagan Al Haig complimented the movie, saying to the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner on August 15, 1984, "It captures the stresses of patriotism, the emotions of love and, above all, the futility of war."
But liberal Hollywood did not respond so well. Famous critic Roger Ebert seethed in his review at the time: "I think this movie is corrupt from beginning to end. And one of the problems I had with it is that it makes a very definite political statement … There was a whole right-wing ideology that the picture itself doesn’t deserve."
Regarding that take, Amanda Milius wondered, "Can we even imagine a movie that is so left-wing Hollywood would have a problem with it? I mean, I can't even think of a movie that would be too left wing for Hollywood." As for the film’s disdain from the left, she added, "That's exactly what Hollywood thought of the whole thing. Way too patriotic."
The 2012 remake of "Red Dawn" infamously changed the villains of the movie, after it was shot, from the Chinese to North Koreans. Asked about her dad’s response, she described herself as "under direct orders" not to see it and added, "None of us have even paid a dime to even glance at a frame of it."
She added they don't even acknowledge the remake in her house.