Tonight's marathon is both exciting and patriotic as hell. The message behind it is to do what's right when the situation presents itself and be the best that you can be. This is a marathon that is about patriotism, brotherhood, friendship, love, sacrifice, and banding together to fight for one's freedom. It's done in a tastefully entertaining way where you get pumped with reading this blog but also get a full understanding of the message behind it. It plays on the theme of an act of war or patriotism but carries typical Hollywood formulas such as boy meets girl and boy falls in love with girl. A boy shares a friendship or bromance that ends with sacrifice or the two working together to defend what they love most which is their country. Other cool twists are what if the two friends share the same kind of love for the same girl? Whether its two friends or a group of young civilians, heroic acts of patriotism and brotherly love are witnessed tonight. Here's this evenings exciting marathon:
Top Gun 1986, Red Dawn 1984, Pearl Harbor 2001, and Red Dawn 2012
They say you should follow your heart and my heart tells me that this is a strong Friday night marathon that would get just about anyone pumped. Themes that run rampant throughout this marathon are friendship, brotherhood, love, standing up for what's right in the face of adversity or danger, and striving to be the best. The first film of the night is the 1986 blockbuster classic titled Top Gun starring Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer, and Anthony Edwards. Directed by the late Tony Scott and nominated for four academy awards and winner of Best Song of 1986 titled Take My Breath Away, Top Gun centers around a group of students competing for the best in the class at a United States Navy fighter weapons school. While striving to become one of the best, one daring and cocky pilot played by Tom Cruise begins to fall for a female instructor in which they hide their relationship from the rest of the crew. Top Gun to this day remains one of the defining fighter pilot films of all time, and a blockbuster that continues to be influential with today's filmmaking. The movie made stars out of Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer, and Anthony Edwards and spiked the highest number of Navy recruits in the history of the United States upon the first several years of it's release One of the themes that makes Top Gun a classic is the friendship between Maverick and Goose which parallels the friendship between Rafe and Danny in Pearl Harbor almost identical. Other factors that made Top Gun a classic is the appealing cast, stunning visuals with the usage of fighter pilot planes, the theme of boy meets girl being utilized with the boy winning the girl in the end, and making it cool to join the Navy after watching it. The film's ending leaves you pumped and wanting to get in a fighter jet of your own and take off to the stars The second movie of the lineup is the 1984 classic titled Red Dawn starring Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, Jennifer Grey and Lea Thompson. The film also drives home the theme of patriotism with the setting taking place in a small town in 1984 where the world is on the verge of experiencing World War lll. In the mid-western part of America, a group of teenagers attending high school witness their teacher murdered by Soviet invaders and are forced to band together to defend their town and country from outside forces. Red Dawn's greatest treat besides it's original concept is it's cast of up and coming stars that ran rampant in the latter portion of the 1980's and 90's. The film and the marathon poses questions such as what would you do if the United States experienced a Red Dawn scenario or a Pearl Harbor tragedy? Would you run and hide or stand and fight? Red Dawn is the ideal Friday evening film that's become a true classic after 31 years and plays off the Reagan era. The third movie of the marathon is the Michael Bay blockbuster and mixed received epic titled Pearl Harbor starring Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, Kate Beckinsale, Jon Voight, and Alec Baldwin. Nominated for four academy awards and one of the biggest blockbusters of 2001, the film centers around two Naval pilots falling for the same girl whose a nurse during the era of World War ll. When one of the friends played by Affleck goes off to war to fight the Nazis and gets shot down, the opposite friend played by Josh Hartnett looks after his beautiful girlfriend Evelyn played by Kate Beckinsale. While he does so, he begins to fall for he girl and when Evelyn realizes that Rafe is still alive and returns to her, Dec 7th rolls around the corner. Pearl Harbor is a film that's remembered for it's visuals more so than it's storytelling. The film received criticism for placing too much emphasis on the visuals and romance rather than the history behind the event. As a summer blockbuster, Pearl Harbor works as a movie but as a piece of history the film fails. However, the patriotism that runs rampant throughout the film can't be denied and makes it a worthy successor to the classic films that come before it such as Top Gun and Red Dawn. Regardless of what audiences say about Pearl Harbor, the film remains a visually stunning achievement and one of the most popular World War ll films ever made. The fourth and final movie of the marathon is the 2012 remake to the 1984 classic titled Red Dawn. Whereas the original films centered around the Soviets invading a small town and seizing control of it, this time the Koreans invade and force a group of young teenagers into hiding and ultimately formulating a rebellious group bent on fighting back. Replacing Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen is Chris Hemsworth leads the group who pledges to save their town from North Korean invaders. The remake was critically panned by critics upon release but in retrospect was a decent remake to the original with the ultimate twist being the switching of the brothers in the lead roles by the films end. It is a great parallel that works brilliantly for this lineup just like Pearl Harbor and Top Gun compliment each other nicely. Patriotism is a dominant theme that is a huge part of this marathon while also providing great entertainment and asking audiences to carry the suspension of disbelief.
So what is the message behind all of these films when you lay them all out and access the lineup? The message is to stand up for what you believe in and what's right in the face of danger. Defend not just the people close to you but your own country. Never let the enemy win and the strength of a volunteer, a soldier or a fighter pilot can go a long way. True love is not going to be blocked nor neglected no matter what rank those involve hold. The worst moments in history like the event of Pearl Harbor or the events in Red Dawn can lead to a nations greatest glory. The love between two friends can run deeper than blood and be that of real brothers.
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