Red Dawn/YMMV


 * Applicability: This film could also be seen as an anti-war movie; it shows the painful effects that war has on innocent civilians, how it makes killers out of children, and it actually does an excellent job of humanizing the regular Joe Soviet soldiers, even in light of some of the things some of them do.
 * Just because it portrays War Is Hell doesn't mean it's anti-war. Even though war is obviously Dirty Business, it's still depicted as necessary to fight back.
 * Complete Monster: None of the named enemy officers seem to fall under this trope, with the possible exception of General Bratchenko, who presumably ordered reprisals and massacres against civilians. The more horrifying acts against civilians are instead done by the various unnamed Mooks
 * Crowning Moment of Funny: "The elite paramilitary organization... Eagle Scouts."
 * Crowning Moment of Heartwarming: Toward the end, as Jed is carrying his wounded brother over his shoulder, Colonel Bella walks up with his gun ready... and lets them go.
 * Discredited Meme: If you grew up after the Cold War, the entire premise seems a bit silly. If you grew up during the Cuban missile crisis, it seems horrifically implausible that anyone would have survived the nuking long enough for the premise to happen. Lastly, any detailed knowledge of the sheer logistics involved in an invasion of territory as big as the United States may very likely break one's Suspension of Disbelief.
 * The remake premise also seems rather silly once you realize that the United States spends more on its military than the next fifteen biggest military spenders combined. China, by the way, is just one of those fifteen.
 * We're also trying to cover as much territory as the next fifteen biggest military spenders combined. The US has a lot of foreign defense commitments; most everybody else is only worried about home. So, its all kinda spread out.
 * A hasty retcon for the remake pushes it well past rather silly by having China replaced by tiny, resource-poor North Korea.
 * In all fairness, this was mostly done because the subject matter of China attacking America scared off distributors, changing the setting to North Korea was pretty much the only way to guarantee that the film would get released anytime soon. Also China isn't being removed from the film entirely, North Korea's role is just expanded.
 * One wonders how much longer North Korea can remain a credible villain especially after their recent highly-publicized satellite launch resulted in the rocket falling apart after a minute of flight.
 * Hilarious in Hindsight: In the Riff Trax for the original Red Dawn, the characters survey their wrecked town while the commentators say "They replaced our town with Detroit!" Guess where the 2010 2012 remake was filmed?
 * This combines Hilarious in Hindsight with The Great Politics Mess-Up. Even funnier is that they were invited.
 * Tear Jerker: Several moments, including scenes where Wolverines (or their family members) get killed (and subsequently buried), and when when Col. Bella is writing home.
 * Values Dissonance: The whole premise.