This episode on The Deja Review, Mart & Trev head to small-town America where the schools are friendly, the football’s Friday night… and the foreign invasion happens before lunchtime.

They start with Red Dawn (1984) — a Cold War fever dream where a bunch of high-school kids ditch homework, grab some guns, and become the most organised resistance force since last orders at the pub. Mart loves the sheer ’80s confidence of it all: parachuting villains, Patrick Swayze shouting “Wolverines!”, and teenagers surviving in the woods on pure patriotism. Trev agrees it’s bonkers — but in that sincere, “they really thought this could happen” kind of way.

Then it’s onto the 2012 remake, where the same story is rebooted for a new generation with slicker visuals, fewer mullets, and an invasion that keeps changing countries depending on who’s funding the film. Mart finds it watchable enough (“It’s like a greatest-hits remix”), while Trev insists it feels more like a Call of Duty cutscene stretched to feature length.

Expect debates over which version has the better teen soldiers, confusion about international politics, and serious questions like “Who's actually in charge of the invading forces?”

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Mart & Trev

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Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Deja Review

00:42 Overview of Red Dawn (1984)

01:41 Cast and Characters

05:05 Character Dynamics and Tensions

07:29 Plot Inaccuracies and Strategic Questions

12:43 The Deer Blood Drinking Scene

17:01 Powers Booth's Character and Exposition

27:34 Transition to the 2013 Remake

28:04 Overview of Red Dawn (2013)

30:01 Character Changes in the Remake

39:33 Comparing the Two Films

53:12 Final Thoughts

55:55 5 to 1 Patrick Swayze

Keywords

Red Dawn, movie remake, Patrick Swayze, 1984 film, film analysis, Deja Review, Chris Hemsworth, cinema podcast, character dynamics, film comparison