Red Dawn (1989)

Good movie but grossly overrated

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

The first must-see film of the year.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

When I saw the film as it was released in the theaters, I thought it was a superb film. More than a decade later, a part of such awe is gone. The plot? A middle-class family undergoes the violent events happened in Tlatelolco, Mexico City, in 1968.The sound recording and editing was most probably done by butchers. Clumsy ones. The firing sounds seem to be stolen from a Pink Panther cartoon episode. I suppose –though– that the budget was small, so I will not insist too much on it.There is nonetheless some VERY good acting in here, performed by Héctor Bonilla, María Rojo and Demián Bichir. My highlight performance happens when Bonilla angrily addresses his sons at the family table, after arriving from work. Sadly, most of the other actors perform poorly (Bruno Bichir, although decently acting,is decidedly overshadowed by his brother). The pamphlet girl's acting is wooden and many other actors seemed to have been simply borrowed from a student theatrical company. The cops (judiciales) are almost a caricature and -even though they can be brutal in real life- suffer from overacting.The scenery is flawless and honest. Lighting is OK, but nothing out of the ordinary. Some dialog lines are marvelously embellished and made "real" by Bonilla's and Rojo's delivery, although the dialog lines in general tend to sound kitschy, biased and overdone when dealing with political issues.Recommended to those who want to analyze the evolution of the recent Mexican cinema and to evil cops who are looking forward into improving their verbal intimidation techniques.

What makes this movie so disturbing as well as impressive, is that it chooses to avoid graphic displays and focuses on the psychological perspective a bit more. This movie demonstrates the effects that took place during the student movement in Mexico city during 1968. A movement that cost the lives of many innocent young people who were trying to gain their rights and fight for what they believed in opposition to the government. Don't expect to see any action packed scenes, any million dollar blowing up scenes, or gore/blood shots in every frame. The setting takes place inside a home, a home with an everyday family that unexpectedly becomes involved with the students and are forced to chose the right way or the human way. The suspense is quite nerve wrecking, although the setting only takes place inside an apartment, it builds up in such a way that you can understand what is going without ever even witnessing the outside. The ending may not be a "complete surprise", maybe it will deceive a bit, but it pays homage to that moment in time and it's not a disappointment in the least. An excellent film that displays the struggles from the different fighting sides, the good and the bad, and the consequences that such actions were capable of.

This is one of the greatest movies I've ever seen. It is, I can't deny, really crude even if it doesn't show images of the killing itself, but it clearly reflects what Mexico and its students went through that year. It is not a political correct movie, and the fact that talents such as Demián Bichir and Héctor Bonilla are in it has to show the magnitude of its quality. It's a pity that still today it's so hard to find and it's not shown on open TV, and it's a pity that still now a days there's so much info that we don't know about the subject, and it's a pity that still now a days some people think that those students and all those people gathered at the Plaza de las Tres Culturas actually deserved what they got. They were students, barely starting to live, for God's sake! Heard Cuarón is doing a new version of the 68 massacre, we gotta see how that goes, but I trust that he'll do justice to it, he is a great director and he was, after all, a kid at the moment all of this happened. He lived through this. I hope that movie does come out. "2 de octubre no se olvida"

ROJO AMANECER shows perfectly the situation that blackened the lives of hundreds of Mexicans back in 1968. People who watch the movie should understand the truth about the events and then watch the movie to get the director's point of view. Even if you think that the events happened in another way you should still watch this film.The killings in La Plaza de Las 3 culturas is the most terrible and violent event in Mexican contemporary story. This film showed what really happened in a crude and realistic way. The story is well crafted, the character development is great, and the explaination of how the events ocurred was perfectly narrated through the dramatic plot.The direction is excelent as it's a dramatic film based on real events, instead of a documentary the dramatic plot fit perfect. The acting couldn't have been better. Consolidated and talented actors like Héctor Bonilla, Maria Rojo, Eduardo Palomo, and Demián Bichir, give the best performances in the film. The score is crude but effective, works perfect with the tension of the film. The cinematography gave a documentary feel, still it worked great.ROJO AMANECER is without a doubt, one of the best Mexican films of all time. Not only for being a great produced film, it's a film that has the intention to show how things really happened, and sadly, nowadays the events shown in the movie are the pure reflection of a decadent Mexican society.Excelent film, recommended for everyone. ACTING 10 DIRECTION 10 SCORE 9 FUN FACTOR 109/10