Happy Birthday 'Red Dawn' - The Greatest Pro-America Film Ever Made

It's officially been 39 years since "Red Dawn" hit theaters and millions of Americans celebrated the most patriotic film ever made.

The classic film with Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, Jennifer Grey, Lea Thomas and Powers Boothe hit theaters August 10, 1984 and nearly four decades later still lives on as a cultural icon in cinema.

The plot is simple. Dirty, disgusting communists invade America during a time of intense tensions between east and west, they take over Calumet, Colorado and a group of high school students take to the mountains to carry out guerrilla warfare against the invaders.

If that doesn't get your blood pumping, you might want to check your pulse to make sure you're alive.

"Red Dawn" has withstood the test of time.

Most movies hit the theaters, do well or don't and then are quickly forgotten about. Not "Red Dawn." Not at all.

It's been almost 40 years, and people still talk about "Red Dawn" all the time. Mostly because I try to bring it up in literally every single conversation I'm in, but the reason for it being brought up doesn't matter.

All that matters is it's the kind of pro-America film Hollywood would never make these days. It's very literally the dream of so many young kids.

Get a group of friends together, get some rifles and hunt the commies. What could possibly be more American than that?

I was about six-years-old the first time I saw "Red Dawn." My uncle showed it to me, and I was immediately hooked.

It was instantly clear to me that it was the coolest movie I'd ever seen at that age, and now 25 years later, Red Dawn remains the coolest movie I've ever seen.

There have been more than a few nights were the light beers are flowing and that means only one thing:

"Red Dawn" is coming on.

The classic 1984 film makes you proud to be an American.

Unfortunately, most of what Hollywood releases is garbage these days. It's woke anti-American trash that preaches politics instead of just entertaining.

The 1980s were different. Back then, Hollywood just wanted to tell fun stories and not much else. Nothing did the job better than "Red Dawn."

Ronald Reagan was President, the country was trending up and people were proud to be Americans. Yet, the Soviet Union still existed and was still incredibly menacing.

The film was a perfect fit for the time. Communists come, start a war with America and it's left to Jed Eckhert and a ragtag team of teenagers to save the country.

Anyone who watches the scene where they go to the store and load up and doesn't immediately feel pride for America should be put on a watchlist.

So, on this fine day, crack open a cold one, fire up the TV and watch a bunch of teenagers kill communist invaders. Happy birthday, "Red Dawn." It's the one film you can always count on to remind you how awesome America is.

Written by
David Hookstead is a reporter for OutKick covering a variety of topics with a focus on football and culture. He also hosts of the podcast American Joyride that is accessible on Outkick where he interviews American heroes and outlines their unique stories. Before joining OutKick, Hookstead worked for the Daily Caller for seven years covering similar topics. Hookstead is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin.