by Joe Gillis, Aug 10 2012 // 12:15 PM

Yesterday, if you can remember that far back, we brought you the first poster for the reboot of the 1984 action cult classic Red Dawn. And now, as promised, there’s a new trailer today and we, of course, have it for you.
In it we get a good look at all the action, drama and even a little sexual tension that goes into your average angry hordes invade the Pacific Northwest and teenagers have to defend America movie. Gotta say, it doesn’t look horrible.
Sure, we still have a soft spot for the original and, if we’re being really critical, we know the original movie was such a product of its time it probably won’t translate to modern audiences and that Chris Hemsworth is really 29, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that this new movie just looks entertaining. And sometimes that’s all you can expect from a movie.
We don’t always need them to be masterpieces, just check-your-brain-at-the-door entertainment. Mission accomplished it seems.
Judge for yourself and check out the trailer after the break. Red Dawn hits theaters this Thanksgiving.
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Posted in: Movies · News · Trailers
Tagged: Action, Adrianne Palicki, Chris Hemsworth, Dan Bradley, Isabel Lucas, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, John Milius, Josh Hitcherson, Movies, Reboots, Red Dawn, Trailers, Wolverines!
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by Joe Gillis, Aug 9 2012 // 5:00 PM

Some of you, if you’re old enough, may remember an 80’s action movie called Red Dawn, which was directed by John Milius and written by Milius and Kevin Reynolds. It featured a pretty good cast including Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, Jennifer Grey, Harry Dean Stanton and Powers Booth.
The film told the story of a band of High School students who fight against a Russian invasion of middle America and when it came out in 1984, it wasn’t exactly a blockbuster hit. Still, it did well enough and over the years it’s developed a pretty large cult following and many of us here at The Flickcast have a soft spot for it.
And now there’s a reboot. This time around the cast includes Chris Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson, Adrianne Palicki, Isabel Lucas and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Dan Bradley is directing this time around and we’ve got the first poster for the film to share with you today.
Check out the full version after the break. Look for Red Dawn to hit theaters in November. Wolverines!
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Posted in: Movies · News · Posters
Tagged: Adrianne Palicki, Chris Hemsworth, Dan Bradley, Isabel Lucas, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, John Milius, Josh Hutcherson, Movies, Posters, Red Dawn
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by Douglas Barnett, Jul 2 2012 // 10:15 AM

Jaws (1975) is the first summer blockbuster and is considered by critics and fans alike as one of the greatest films ever made. After success with the TV thriller Duel (1972) and his first theatrical release of The Sugarland Express (1974), director Steven Spielberg set out to adapt Peter Benchley’s novel about a Great White shark which terrorizes a small New England beach community. The screenplay was co-written by Benchley, actor-writer Carl Gottlieb (M*A*S*H*), and an un-credited John Milius who helped with some of the film’s most memorable dialogue like “You’re gonna need a bigger boat” and the legendary U.S.S. Indianapolis speech.
The film opens with one of the greatest sequences ever shot. A young woman leaves a bonfire beach gathering to go skinny-dipping in the ocean while being chased by an inebriated young man. The young man ends up passing out in the surf while the woman swims out to the middle of the channel. An underwater low angle shot represents the point of view of the shark as it begins to stalk its prey. John William’s haunting score builds as the young woman is thrashed around and is pulled under by the shark. This scene did to ocean night swimming, what Psycho (1960) did for women’s showering.
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Posted in: Academy Awards · Blu-Ray · Books · Box Office · Classics · Directors · DVD · DVD Reviews · Horror · Monday Picks · Movies · Netflix · Thriller · Universal Pictures
Tagged: Carl Gottlieb, David Brown, John Milius, Murray Hamilton, Richard Dreyfuss, Richard Zanuck, Robert Shaw, Roy Scheider, Steven Spielberg
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by Douglas Barnett, Sep 19 2011 // 8:30 AM
This week’s pick is the John McTiernan thriller The Hunt for Red October (1990). Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Scott Glenn, Sam Neill, and James Earl Jones star in this Cold War classic about a Soviet naval commander and a new invincible Soviet sub which threatens peace between the two super powers.
Set in early 1984 before Gorbachev came to power as the new Soviet premier, the new ballistic missile submarine Red October sets sail from port in the arctic and makes its way to the north Atlantic for a training exercise. Its captain, Marko Ramius (Connery) selects his officers and the crew for a daring mission that they believe will test the might of their old adversary, The United States navy.
The Red October is equipped with a new type of propulsion system, a caterpillar drive, which renders the sub virtually silent to sonar. This feature and its nuclear payload, represent a clear and present danger to U.S. policy in the north Atlantic at the height of Cold War tensions between both the U.S and Soviet Union.
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Posted in: Academy Awards · Blu-Ray · Books · DVD · Mystery and Suspense · Netflix · Paramount · Thriller · War · War Movie Mondays
Tagged: Alec Baldwin, Donald Stewart, James Earl Jones, John McTiernan, John Milius, Larry Ferguson, Richard Jordon, Sam Neill, Scott Glenn, Sean Connery
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by Douglas Barnett, Apr 11 2011 // 11:30 AM
This week’s pick is a salute to U.S. Navy pilots during the Vietnam War with director John Milius’s (Red Dawn, The Wind and the Lion, Rough Riders) Flight of the Intruder (1991), which was based on the novel written by former A-6 pilot Stephen Coonts. The film stars Brad Johnson (Lt. Jake ‘Cool Hand’ Grafton), Danny Glover (Cmd. Frank ‘Dooke’ Camparelli), and Willem Dafoe (Lt. Cmd. Virgil ‘Tiger’ Cole).
The title of the film is based on the A-6 Intruder which was an all weather, low altitude, twin jet engine bomber which was the U.S. Navy’s workhorse throughout the Vietnam conflict. Its primary function was to destroy road junctions, radar and missile installations, and to assist ground troops in combat.
The bomber had no defensive weapons and was vulnerable to other attack aircraft. Certain variations of the fighter are still in use today with the U.S. Navy and it is considered to be one of the finest attack aircraft ever produced for the American military.
The film opens with news audio clips of American involvement in Vietnam since the mid 1960s and how the war has escalated to a standstill, especially for pilots who are restricted to enter North Vietnamese airspace since 1968 during the final months of Lydon B. Johnson’s presidential term.
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Posted in: Blu-Ray · Books · Drama · DVD · DVD Reviews · Editorial · Lionsgate · Netflix · Paramount · Reviews · War · War Movie Mondays
Tagged: Brad Johnson, Danny Glover, David Schwimmer, Fred Dalton Thompson, John Corbett, John Milius, Rossana Arquette, Stephen Coonts, Tom Sizemore, Ving Rhames, Willem Dafoe
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by Douglas Barnett, Jan 3 2011 // 3:00 PM
Happy New Year to all you faithful War Movie Monday fans, and thank you for a fantastic year of classic war films. This week’s pick to ring in the start of a new year is the John Milius 1975 classic The Wind and the Lion, which was loosely based on an international incident which led to possible war between the U.S. and European powers in 1904 Morocco. The film stars Sean Connery (Raisuli), Candice Bergen (Eden Perdicaris), Brian Keith (President Theodore Roosevelt), John Huston (Sec. of State John Hay), Geoffrey Lewis (American Ambassador to Morocco Samuel R. Gummere), Steve Kanaly (Captain Eugene Jerome, USMC), and Vladek Sheybal (The Bashaw of Tangier).
The film open up with a sweeping score from famed composer Jerry Goldsmith, who sets the stage for a fantastic adventure film with a tone of modern era warfare between desert tribesmen and the imperial powers of Germany, France, and Great Britain who are trying to establish their own spheres of influence throughout the Arab world.
Mulai Amhed er Raisuli (Connery) is the leader of a band of Berber tribesmen who are opposed to the Sultan and his Uncle (Sheybal) the Bashaw of Tangier who are corrupt and easily influenced by the European powers. The Raisuli plans to embarrass the rulers of Morocco by having his men kidnap an American woman, Eden Perdicaris (Bergen) and her two children from their home in Tangier, and hold them for ransom for gold, rifles, and sovereignty from the Europeans.
Milius wrote and directed the film which was loosely based on an actual account which was known as the “Perdicaris incident” in 1904. An American man and his stepson were kidnapped by Barbary pirates and were ransomed. Both were unharmed and the incident gave President Theodore Roosevelt a platform to wield the “big stick” of foreign policy for his re-election to office that year in November.
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Posted in: Academy Awards · Biopic · Columbia Pictures · Drama · DVD · DVD Reviews · Editorial · MGM · Netflix · Reviews · War · War Movie Mondays · Warner Bros
Tagged: Brian Keith, Candice Bergen, Geoffrey Lewis, Jerry Goldsmith, John Huston, John Milius, Sean Connery, Steve Kanaly, Steven Spielberg, Vladek Sheybal
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by Douglas Barnett, Nov 8 2010 // 2:30 PM
This week’s pick is the 1979 least known and only comedy from director Steven Spielberg, 1941 which stars Saturday Night Live originals Dan Aykroyd (Sgt. Frank Tree), and the incomparable John Belushi (Capt. “Wild” Bill Kelso, U.S. Army Air Corp.) Other supporting actors include Bobby Di Cicco (Wally Stephens), Ned Beatty (Ward Douglas), Lorraine Gary (Joan Douglas), Murray Hamilton (Claude Crumm), Christopher Lee (Capt. Wolfgang von Kleinschmidt), Tim Matheson (Capt. Loomis Berkhead) and Toshiro Mifune (Cmd. Akiro Mitamura).
Also on hand are Warren Oates (Col. Maddox), Robert Stack (Maj. Gen. Joseph W. Stillwell), Treat Williams (Cpl. Chuck “Stretch” Sitarski), Nancy Allen (Donna Stratton), John Candy (Pvt. Foley), Slim Pickens (Hollis P. Wood), and Count Floyd himself, Joe Flaherty (Raoul Lipschitz).
The opening of the film informs the audience about the infamous Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 which hurtled an unsuspecting America into World War II. The West Coast of the United States was fearful that the Japanese would attack California next. These were actual fears that were quickly realized by its citizens, and that extreme caution and observation was needed to thwart any attempt which made invasion possible. The film is set just six days after the Pearl Harbor attack.
In the first few opening minutes of the film, Spielberg, and writers Bob Gale, John Milius, and future director Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future trilogy) fantastically lampoon Spielberg’s Jaws opening by using the very same actress to re-create her skinny dip scene in the early morning hours. Veteran Spielberg composer John Williams even re-creates his famous theme music. The female swimmer is instantly caught on the periscope of a Japanese submarine which is prowling the California coastline for a worthy military target.
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Posted in: Academy Awards · Classics · Columbia Pictures · Comedy · Cult Cinema · DVD · DVD Reviews · Universal Pictures · War · War Movie Mondays
Tagged: Bob Gale, Bobby Di Cicco, Christopher Lee, Columbia Pictures, Dan Aykroyd, DVD, Joe Flaherty, John Belushi, John Candy, John Milius, John Williams, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton, Nancy Allen, Ned Beatty, Netflix, Robert Stack, Robert Zemeckis, Slim Pickens, Steven Spielberg, Tim Matheson, Toshiro Mifune, Treat Williams, Universal Pictures, Warren Oates
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by Douglas Barnett, Oct 25 2010 // 3:00 PM
This week’s pick takes us back into the heart of darkness with Francis Ford Coppola’s riveting Vietnam classic Apocalypse Now (1979). The film was written by Coppola and John Milius, along with brilliant narration written by Michael Herr. The movie was based off of Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness about a man who is sent on a mission to kill a rogue ivory trader in the heart of nineteenth century Africa.
Coppola and Milius loved the story and decided to set the film during the Vietnam War. The film stars Martin Sheen (Captain Benjamin Willard), Marlon Brando (Col. Walter E. Kurtz), Dennis Hopper (Photo Journalist), Robert Duvall (Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore), Albert Hall (Chief), Frederic Forrest (Chef), Sam Bottoms (Lance Johnson), Laurence Fishburne (Mr. Clean), Harrison Ford (Col. Lucas), and G.D. Spradlin (Lt. Gen. Corman).
Apocalypse Now has always been considered the quintessential Vietnam war movie not only for the sheer scope of the film, but because the production was just as massive as the war itself. Coppola had raised over twelve million dollars (eight million of which through his own company American Zoetrope) through investors and outside sources to begin producing the film in late 1975 after the release of the highly anticipated The Godfather II.
Coppola’s two friends George Lucas and Steven Spielberg contacted their friend and fellow film maker John Milius to see if he would be willing to write a story that blended most of Conrad’s themes, and the horrors of the Vietnam conflict into one solid script. Milius had written a Vietnam story in the late sixties and had shelved the idea once his directing career had taken off. Coppola told Milius to “put everything you ever wanted in a war movie before into the script.” The result was an absolute masterpiece.
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Posted in: Blu-Ray · Classics · Drama · DVD · DVD Reviews · Lionsgate · News · War · War Movie Mondays
Tagged: Albert Hall, Blu-Ray, DVD, Francis Ford Coppola, Frederic Forrest, G.D. Spradlin, George Lucas, Harrison Ford, John Milius, Lionsgate Home Video, Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall, Sam Bottoms, Steven Spielberg
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by Douglas Barnett, Sep 20 2010 // 1:00 PM
This week’s pick salutes the heroes of a forgotten American war, The Spanish American War which until the First Gulf War, was the shortest war in American history. John Milius (Red Dawn, Flight of the Intruder, The Wind and the Lion), directs Rough Riders, which stars Tom Berenger as future American president Teddy Roosevelt who commanded the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry unit during the war.
Originally aired as a three hour mini series in 1997 on TNT Networks, the film is a fantastic look at the men who made history against Spanish hegemony in 1898 Cuba. The film stars a who’s who of great actors and characters who would help to shape history. Gary Busey (Maj. Gen. Joe Wheeler) commander of all cavalry units during the war, and a U.S. Congressman as well, Brian Keith (President William McKinley), Dale Dye (Col. Leonard Wood) Marshall R. Teague (Lt. John “Black Jack” Pershing), and Adam Storke (Stephen Crane).
As the United States was entering the twentieth century, its presence on the world stage was beginning to take hold. The Spanish American War was what allowed the U.S. to become a major player in world events, and allowed the U.S. to forever wield the “Big Stick” of foreign policy. The film opens up with a brilliant montage of newspaper headlines which depict the defenseless Cubans battling their Spanish masters, while Uncle Sam looks on with a sense of anger and an overwhelming desire to help the oppressed.
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Posted in: Biopic · Drama · DVD · Editorial · Reviews · War · War Movie Mondays · Warner Bros
Tagged: Adam Storke, Bob Primeaux, Brad Johnson, Brian Keith, Chris Noth, Dale Dye, DVD, Gary Busey, George Hamilton, John Milius, Netflix, Sam Elliot, Tom Berenger, War Movie Mondays, War Movies
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by Douglas Barnett, Aug 2 2010 // 1:00 PM
Red Dawn is the ultimate “what if” Cold War movie. Set some time in the mid alternate 1980’s, Red Dawn depicts a world which has fast been assimilated into the sphere of Soviet influence. After NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) which was established by western powers after World War II to halt the advance of the Soviet Union rapidly dissolves, the United States is alone and left vulnerable to the threat of communist invasion.
Acclaimed director John Milius (The Wind & the Lion, Farewell to the King, Flight of the Intruder, Rough Riders), and future director/screenwriter Kevin Reynolds helm this 1984 cult classic.
Patrick Swayze (Jed Eckert), Charlie Sheen (Matt Eckert), C. Thomas Howell (Robert Morris), Lea Thompson (Erica Mason), Jennifer Grey (Toni Mason), Powers Boothe (Lt. Col. Andrew Tanner USAF), Harry Dean Stanton (Tom Eckert), Ron O’ Neal (Col. Ernesto Bella), and screen great Ben Johnson (George Mason) round out the cast.
The fictional town of Calumet, Colorado serves as the backdrop for the World War III invasion of the U.S. On a typical September morning as students are listening to their teacher’s lecture on the Mongol conquests of Asia, his attention is drawn to the sight of Soviet paratroops landing on the high school varsity football field. As violence erupts as the enemy quickly gains control of the town for more troops to be dropped in, six teenagers (Swayze, Sheen, Howell, Brad Savage (Danny), Darren Dalton (Daryl), and Doug Toby (Aardvark) flee to the mountains in order to avoid capture.
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Posted in: 20th Century Fox · Cult Cinema · Drama · DVD · DVD Reviews · Editorial · MGM · Reviews · War · War Movie Mondays
Tagged: Ben Johnson, Brad Savage, C. Thomas Howell, Charlie Sheen, Darren Dalton, Doug Toby, DVD, Harry Dean Stanton, Jennifer Grey, John Milius, Kevin Reynolds, Lea Thompson, MGM, Neflix, Patrick Swayze, Powers Boothe, Ron O' Neal, War
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