<P> Haig took Milius under his wing, bringing him to the Hudson Institute, the conservative think tank founded by Herman Kahn, to develop a plausible scenario . Milius saw the story as a Third World liberation struggle in reverse; Haig introduced Nicaragua and suggested that, with the collapse of NATO, a left - wing Mexican regime would participate in the Soviet invasion, effectively splitting the U.S. in half . Bart says "Even Milius was taken aback by Haig's approach to the project . "This is going to end up as a jingoistic, flag - waving movie," Milius fretted . Meanwhile, despite Haig's enthusiasm (or perhaps because of it) the Department of Defense flatly refused to extend any cooperation whatsoever . As a result, the budget of this once $6 million movie almost tripled ." </P> <P> Milius later said "I see this as an anti-war movie in the sense that if both sides could see this, maybe it wouldn't have to happen . I think it would be good for Americans to see what a war would be like . The film isn't even that violent--the war shows none of the horrors that could happen in World War III . In fact, everything that happened in the movie happened in World War Two ." </P> <P> The movie was filmed in and around the city of Las Vegas, New Mexico . Many of the buildings and structures which appeared in the film, including a historic Fred Harvey Company hotel adjacent to the train depot, the train yard, and a building near downtown, which was repainted with the name of "Calumet, Colorado", are still there today . An old Safeway grocery store was converted to a sound stage and used for several scenes in the movie . </P> <P> Before starting work on the movie, the cast underwent a realistic, intensive eight - week military training course . During that time, production crews designed and built special combat vehicles in Newhall, California . Soldier of Fortune reported that the movie's T - 72 tank was such a precise replica that "while it was being carted around Los Angeles, two CIA officers followed it to the studio and wanted to know where it had come from". </P>

Where was the movie red dawn filmed at