Each Memorial Day, cable stations air "The Green Berets" or some other John Wayne shoot-'em-up.

Yet the reality of war is more like a strange low-budget horror movie or tripped-out psychedelic 60s flick -- at least it is in the movies we found. These bizarre tales make you want to stand up and salute.

OK, so they may leave you scratching your head, but after gorging yourself on potato salad, they'll make a lot more sense.

Red Dawn (1984)

The plot: Communist paratroopers invade Colorado, conquering the entire Midwest. A rebellion is formed by heroic teens, including Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen and C. Thomas Howell.

The weirdness: It's the ultimate tale of cold war paranoia -- America invaded by Cubans and Russians. The flick also happens to be a teen male fantasy about dropping out of school, living in the woods and killing commies with machine guns. (It's also weird that Gene Siskel actually called this piece of melodramatic propaganda "terrific.")



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