I look back fondly on the year 1984 for a variety of reasons, primarily for music-related memories, which I'm sure I'll chronicle at some point in this space. This time, though, I'm delving into the movie domain ever so briefly, even if the time-frame remains the same.

While Van Halen, The Cars and Billy Idol kept my turntable busy, the movies were a cut above in 1984, too: Footloose, Beverly Hills Cop and Ghostbusters spring immediately to mind. From a kitschy standpoint, even Breakin' holds a special place in my heart since it was the first movie my brothers and I saw in the big, bad city known as Toledo when we moved there from the suburbs.

Amidst all of that, though, Red Dawn still brings the biggest smile to my memory-filled face. Sure, it's always enjoyed a nice cache in my insignifica files for being the first rated PG-13 movie to get released (although I have since found out The Flamingo Kid was the first one rated PG-13, it wasn't released till later that summer). It's more than that, though.

Patrick Swayze and C. Thomas Howell coming off of The Outsiders, to this day one of my favorite book-to-screen adaptations (that could be a whole other column, too); Howell's character getting some cross-movie revenge on co-star and Outsiders soc rival Darren "Bug Eater" Dalton; Charlie Sheen before he went all 9/11 conspiracy theory on us; a pre-Howard the Duck Lea Thompson; Jennifer Grey, pre-nose jobs I & II; and, most memorably, the great Harry Dean Stanton pulling off a line that would have been cheesy (OK, significantly more cheesy) coming from anyone else's mouth with "Avenge me … avenge me!!!" Maybe Dennis Hopper could have made it work, but he probably would have been drunk, which ultimately would have made his Hoosiers performance less effective.

Needless to say, Red Dawn remains a movie that finds its way to my player at least once a year, usually around a patriotic holiday. What can I say? I was a teenager all hopped up on the greatness that marked the Reagan years and I'm one of those people for whom nostalgia holds a certain amount of value, even looking back on an era that had genuine concern over the US and the USSR duking it out to be the toughest kid on the block. To briefly get back into the usual musical landscape of my columns, look no further than Frankie Goes to Hollywood's "Two Tribes" video or Talking Heads' "Life During Wartime" for other reminders. Paraphrasing INXS, truly were the good + bad times.

This year's viewing happened right before the 4^th of July, along with a fellow USA-lovin' friend. All the usual "rah-rah" and "hell yeahs" accompanied movie night, but this was probably the first time I noticed how poor the picture quality was. This apparently happens when you pick up QC habits from friends who work at post-houses. So, when I got word that a double-disc Red Dawn - Special Edition was hitting the shelves shortly, I knew it would have to be my Christmas in July.

Plain and simple, it does not disappoint, despite a lack of feature commentary from director John Milius or any of the stars (something with which The Outsiders - Special Edition treated us 100 percent correctly).

The usual bells and whistles apply -- improved sound and, blessedly, picture (damn, does the picture pop off the screen) -- but the Capo di Tutti Capi of bonus features not only redeems any lack of feature commentary but raises the ante for any future re-issues of Chuck Norris and Charles Bronson movies or the umpteenth re-issue of the Rambo series we know will accompany next year's Rambo IV: The Carnage Counter!!! Yup, with a flick of the switch, the Red Dawn, Mach 2007 viewer is treated to a running count of US vs. Commie casualties, broken down into deaths by grenades, guns and even RPGs. It's so sick and twisted, but, oh, the fun watching the opposition tallies rise over the course of the movie. Hmm, now that I think about it this would be great for GoodFellas, too. Jimmy's Hits, Henry's Whores, Tommy's F Bombs-- Sorry. Where was I?

Disc Two fortunately offers almost everything that would have been in the feature commentary: Red Dawn Rising contains recent interviews with Milius and all the key stars except Grey (what, is she actually busier than Powers Boothe???), reflecting on the great time they had making the movie, even in 40-below temperatures; Building the Red Menace details the extensive work that went into creating an authentic Russian military presence, done so well the CIA came to the set to confirm what was with all the Soviet tanks and walking away wanting to use them for US training sequences; Training for WWIII, a recounting of how the cast learned to credibly portray firing weapons and defending their turf; and WWIII Comes to Town, a sweet but still snooze-worthy and fairly standard walk down memory lane with the residents of Las Vegas, New Mexico, which served as the fictional Midwest city of occupation, and how the crew transformed the town.

Amidst all the featurettes and phenomenal interviews from a mellowed-but-you-know-he'd-still-pull-a-gun-on-you-just-because-he-could Milius, the stars, military advisors and technical teams, one sentiment rings in the ears the most vividly, particularly when we find ourselves facing another, more subtle, invasion, again from our southern border (dammit, made it so close to finishing without getting overtly political … but it's true), courtesy Charlie Sheen: "Screw politics, you know? Let's go kill some Russians!" We all wanted to back then, Charlie. We all did.

Oh, how do I know Red Dawn still works as Milius' vehicle for showing how Americans value their freedom and will defend their homeland when need be? One of my left-leaning and Michael Moore-addicted friends had this to say about a recent viewing, which he stopped watching after about ten minutes: "It's all a bunch of right-wing military propaganda."

Yeah, so what?