Navy SEALs casts Sheen as Lt. Dale Hawkins, a brash member of an elite fighting force of Navy SEALs. His ways are unpredictable and irreverent, but he usually manages to get the job done and always with a measure of flair. When a rescue mission in the Middle East goes somewhat awry and some deadly missiles are discovered, the team is forced to evacuate before managing to destroy all of the missiles. It then becomes their mission to find those missiles and clean them out before they are launched at the U.S. Michael Biehn (The Abyss, Aliens) stars as Lt. James Curran who always seems to have to reign Hawkins in. When Hawkins’ self-centered actions turn deadly for the group, he realizes that for any of the team to survive, they must all depend on each other.
Bill Paxton turns in an excellent performance as Dane, codenamed “God”, the sniper of the group. While the movie itself is not Oscar winning material, Navy SEALs is a good action flick and one that I really enjoyed.
Now, on to Red Dawn. I first saw this movie when it came out in the 80’s and loved it then. After I saw it again for the purpose of this review, JR Nip asked me if it was as good as I remember. I can honestly say that it was even better. Sure, the acting may be a bit cheesy at times, but back in the day, this movie was chock full of Hollywood’s hottest. Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Charlie Sheen, Jennifer Grey, Lea Thompson - the cast list reads like a who’s who of young Hollywood of the 80’s. But it’s not simply the cast, but the storyline of Red Dawn that was and still is so compelling. Imagine sitting in your desk at school daydreaming while the teacher drones on about history, only to glance out the window and see paratroopers landing on the school lawn. When the teacher goes out to see what the fuss is about, he is gunned down in front of the students’ eyes! This is only the beginning of the movie. Basically, a coalition of Russians, Nicaraguans and Columbians have banded together to invade the U.S. A handful of students jump into a truck, grab supplies at a parent’s store and head into the woods to wait out the danger. Eventually, they come to discover that America has been split and that they are in “occupied” territory and quite far from Free America. As the town is overrun by the foreign menace and their friends, parents and neighbors are shot in cold blood as examples of “troublemakers,” the kids decide to take matters into their own hands and become guerillas.
Unlikely? Sure, probably so. But there’s just something that moves you when you see a bunch of teens defending their country and yelling “Wolverines” (the local high school football team) as they decimate Russians. Yes, it is totally an 80’s Cold War thing, but if you grew up during that time, this movie is must-have stuff.
Both films are nearly vacant in the features department including only the original trailers, so that was a huge disappointment, especially since the trailer for Red Dawn contained a scene I know never appeared in the movie?!? Deleted scenes would have rocked, but quite frankly, even without extra features Red Dawn is a great movie to have in your collection, and Navy SEALs is the icing on the cake. If you were a child of the 80’s, you’ll want to grab this double feature up.
