I was just telling someone about this movie last week, then lo and behold, it was on Drive-in Classics yesterday. Well, naturally I had to watch it. These are my observations.
First off, this movie is interesting mainly from a political standpoint. It was made at a time when the Cold War was just starting to thaw thanks to Gorby's twin policies of Glasnost and Perestroika. Thus, the theme of this movie is "Russians are people too, and we can all learn to love each other despite our differing political viewpoints". Cheesy? You betcha.
The plot concerns a Russian sailor who gets stranded in Florida and is discovered by three pubescent boys. Things get complicated as these are army brats - two of their fathers are right-wing, anti-commie reactionaries who fought in 'Nam, and one of the kids' fathers was a conscientious objector. Thus, there's a struggle as to whether they should turn the Commie in to the authorities or not. Eventually though, they come to love him, and teach him about all things American. Conviniently enough, he gets stranded right before July 4th - which somehow he's completely unaware of. "Revolution?", he says, when told about the American version. As if...
In any event, this movie is 80s through and through, right down to the vile, wretched soundtrack. It's interesting mainly as an historical curiosity, a period piece.
It's also interesting to note that the Soviet Union collapsed within five years after this movie was made. Perhaps it's time for a remake with either an Iranian or a North Korean in the lead role.
First off, this movie is interesting mainly from a political standpoint. It was made at a time when the Cold War was just starting to thaw thanks to Gorby's twin policies of Glasnost and Perestroika. Thus, the theme of this movie is "Russians are people too, and we can all learn to love each other despite our differing political viewpoints". Cheesy? You betcha.
The plot concerns a Russian sailor who gets stranded in Florida and is discovered by three pubescent boys. Things get complicated as these are army brats - two of their fathers are right-wing, anti-commie reactionaries who fought in 'Nam, and one of the kids' fathers was a conscientious objector. Thus, there's a struggle as to whether they should turn the Commie in to the authorities or not. Eventually though, they come to love him, and teach him about all things American. Conviniently enough, he gets stranded right before July 4th - which somehow he's completely unaware of. "Revolution?", he says, when told about the American version. As if...
In any event, this movie is 80s through and through, right down to the vile, wretched soundtrack. It's interesting mainly as an historical curiosity, a period piece.
It's also interesting to note that the Soviet Union collapsed within five years after this movie was made. Perhaps it's time for a remake with either an Iranian or a North Korean in the lead role.