In an alternate 1980’s, WW3 has
already commenced and Russia,
back then known as the Soviet Union, is
winning and expanding their armies. They
have taken over major parts of Europe and
are now heading West, towards North America.
The opening scene starts in
the American city of Calumet,
where a boy named Jed drives his
younger brother, Matt, and his friend,
to the local high school. Later, as the
history teacher is conducting the class,
he notices several troops landing by parachutes
outside the school. The soldiers have also
brought heavy weaponry with them, and they
appear to be speaking in a foreign language.
Confused, the history teacher ventures outside to
interrogate the soldiers, but he is immediately
shot and killed. Soon, the soldiers begin firing
at the school, causing havoc throughout the area.
They pelt the place with bullets, and even
missiles, killing several students inside.
Meanwhile, as Matt and his friends; Robert,
Danny, Daryl, Aardvark and Arturo, search for
a way to escape, Jed arrives with his car. The
boys immediately get in, and together, they flee
from the place. By this time, the entire city of
Calumet has come under attack. The enemy soldiers
are killing innocent people for apparently no
reason, and numerous buildings are laid to waste
with heavy artillery. Amidst the destruction, Jed
and the group somehow manage to reach Robert’s
father’s sporting goods store. There, the old man
suggests they immediately leave the place and head
to the mountains, as the condition is very severe
right now. The boys are hesitant to leave their
families, but they have no choice but to agree.
They soon grab weapons, ammunition, and other
necessities for survival. After stocking up, they
get inside the car and head to the mountains. On
their way, they come across a roadblock manned by
Soviet troops, who open fire on them. Fortunately,
a helicopter from the US army shoots the troops,
allowing the group to make their way out.
In the next scene, we get to know that the
Soviet troops along with Cubans and Nicaraguans
are attempting to take over Calumet city, and
then the entire nation. In short, World War
3 has taken place. Meanwhile, a Cuban Colonel
named Bella orders his men to go to a local
sporting goods store and obtain records of
the store’s gun sales. On the other hand,
the boys reach the mountains and start
living there. Since Jed and Matt are
regular campers in the area, they have no
problems adjusting. With days passing by,
the group survives by fishing, hunting and even
eating the vegetation there. After a few weeks,
Jed, Matt and Robert sneak back into the
city, which is now under the total control
of the enemy soldiers. They enter a grocery store
and inquire about their families, to which the
shopkeeper responds that everyone considered
a threat has been imprisoned in a re-education
camp. The shopkeeper also warns the boys to stay
away, as the soldiers had been looking for them.
Later, the boys reach the camp, which is a large
area confined by a cage. After a bit of inquiring,
Jed and Matt finally meet their father,
who appears to be badly beaten. They
also learn that their mother was killed by the
soldiers. Expectly, the boys become emotional,
but the father reminds them of how he raised
them in a tough manner and encourages them to
avenge their mother’s death. Meanwhile, Robert
is unable to find his father in the camp.
Following this, they go to their neighbor, Mr.
Mason’s house, who is very glad to see them
again. The old man reveals that Robert’s father
was executed because his store was missing a few
weapons. Actually, the weapons are the same ones
that Jed and his boys took to the mountains. This
breaks Robert’s heart, and he blames himself
for his father’s death, but the guys quickly
calm him down. Later, Mr. Mason takes the boys
to the basement and reveals his granddaughters;
Toni and Erica, who appear to be hiding
from the troops. He then requests
the boys to escort the girls to a safe
location, to which they agree. After a while,
Jed and his group mount on their horses
and make their way to the mountains.
One day, Daryl notices three Soviet soldiers
approaching the mountains, so he immediately
alerts the rest of the group. Upon reaching the
place, the soldiers start taking photographs
while standing on the edge of a cliff. While
they’re at it, they notice some arrows on the
ground and begin searching the area. Soon after,
they discover Jed and his group hiding behind the
rocks. The soldiers proceed to apprehend the kids,
but little did they know that the kids were armed
and dangerous. In no time, they manage to execute
the three soldiers. Following the incident,
Colonel Bella confronts Daryl’s father, the Mayor
of Calumet, and inquires about his son. Daryl’s
father attempts to save his son by claiming that
he is not violent and cannot harm others. He also
tries to appease Colonel Bella in order to save
the innocent citizens but it all goes in vain.
The next day, Colonel Bella gathers some
civilians from the re-education camp,
including Jed and Matt’s father, and
executes all of them to exact vengeance.
When the youth group learns of the death of their
family members, they are devastated. However,
Jed tells them to not give up and encourages
them to fight for their nation. The next day,
the youth group comes up with a plan and
Erica goes to a gas station where some
Soviet soldiers are filling up their tanks. She
approaches the soldiers and casually leaves a bag
containing explosives. The soldiers simply flirt
with the girl and send her away but shortly after,
an explosion occurs, killing a few men. Enraged,
the remaining soldiers pursue Erica, and as they
are about to reach her, the youth group emerges
from the ground and shoots the soldiers to death.
This gives the group renewed motivation and
from that day onwards, they start executing the
enemy forces with available arms and ammunition.
They also give themselves the alias ‘Wolverines’
The movie then fast forwards by a month, where
the enemy troops are still in control of the
city. One day, Toni discovers Andrew Tanner, a
Lieutenant Colonel of the United States Air Force,
dozing off near their camp. When she
realizes that Andrew belongs on their side,
she brings him to the camp and provides him
with some food. Andrew then updates them on
the status of the war. He claims that nuclear
strikes have destroyed several American cities,
including Omaha, Washington, and Kansas. He
goes on to say that the enemies, mostly Cubans,
came up from Mexico illegally and infiltrated the
SAC bases, wreaking havoc. The Soviet armies have
captured most of Southern America and North West
Canada but American armies have been able to stop
them at rocky mountains and the Mississippi river.
And the lines are now mostly stabilized. According
to Andrew, the Russians are there to capture
American armies intact, which is why they will
no longer use nukes. Americans will also not use
nuclear weapons in their own soil. Furthermore,
he shares that his family was caught behind the
lines down in Texas. He likes to believe that his
family is still alive but he has also heard about
what the Soviets are doing to civilians. The next
day, Andrew joins the Wolverines in one of their
conquests. He assists them with his military
techniques and soon, the group takes down a large
number of Soviet soldiers. In this way, the group
starts taking out more and more enemy soldiers.
They have also amassed a large arsenal of weapons.
In the next scene, Andrew explains his
plan to take over a Soviet base camp.
The group is amazed by how detailed
and smart Andrew’s elaborations are.
Later, the Wolverines carry out the plan and
attack the Soviet base camp from all sides,
eventually leading them to victory. However, their
actions attract the attention of a Soviet General,
who orders retaliation against the innocent
civilians. Now that the Soviet high command
is aware of the Wolverines, the Soviet General
orders the soldiers to eliminate the Wolverines
as soon as possible. Elsewhere, the Wolverines
are enjoying a rugby match after their victory
while Toni is chatting with Andrew. She inquires
about his wife, mentioning that she is curious
about his love life. Toni enjoys Andrew’s
company and seems to be attracted towards him.
The next day, the Wolverines reach a high point
in the mountain, where they witness the Soviet
aircrafts in a state of war against the Americans.
While watching the chaos unfold from a distance,
two Soviet tanks approach from behind. As
a result, the Wolverines quickly take their
cover behind a rock and begin shooting at them.
When the enemies begin to take the upper hand,
Andrew and Aardvark board a tank for
counterattack, but they are fatally shot,
leaving the rest of the group devastated.
Toni appears to be even more heartbroken
because she adored Andrew. Before
any further casualties take place,
Jed fires a bazooka at the enemies, and kills
them once and for all. Following the incident,
the Wolverines bury Andrew and Aardvark’s
bodies and pray for their souls’ peace.
One day, the Soviets deploy a spetsnaz unit into
the mountains and they use portable tracking
devices to locate the Wolverines. Despite this,
the Wolverines, who were well prepared for their
arrival, attack and defeat them easily. They then
capture the Spetsnaz’s leader, along with all
of their weapons. Later, the group interrogates
the Spetsnaz’s leader about their plans but the
latter refuses to reveal anything. He continues
speaking in Russian, but yet manages to say
‘Go to hell Yankees’. This enrages the group,
and they execute him without any hesitation.
Following this, the group examines the dead
bodies of the enemy forces and finds the portable
tracking device. They discover that the tracking
device is pointing at Daryl, indicating that he
is the source of it. Jed confronts Daryl, who
then admits that the Soviets apprehended him
after his father turned him in. He goes on to
say that the Soviets forced him to swallow a
tracking chip before releasing him to join the
Wolverines. Daryl begs for his life but Robert,
who learns that the others don’t have guts to kill
their own friend, shoots him for his betrayal.
Later, the Wolverines reach a new location
from where they keep an eye on a group of
Soviet trucks transporting food. Matt is about to
fire a rocket gun at the soldiers but just then,
the soldiers unknowingly drop
some food boxes. The Wolverines,
who are starving at this point,
decide to abort their mission
so that they can retrieve the food. And as soon
as the soldiers leave, they grab the food and
eat it voraciously. They appear to be happy to
eat normal food after such a long time. However,
their happiness is short-lived as the Soviet
helicopters swiftly approach them. The Wolverines
catch wind of the impending danger, but it is
too late. In no time, they are pelted with heavy
firing, causing Toni to be shot. Although severely
outnumbered the group still manages to fight back.
Soon after, Jed carries Toni on the horse and
all of them begin to escape. In the process,
Robert manages to take down one of the helicopters
but he is soon executed by another one.
Meanwhile, Jed realizes that Toni won’t survive
for long, so he places her behind a rock. The two
then talk about the state of their friendship,
and how war can ravage an entire nation. After
a while, Toni expresses her desire to go out on
her own, rather than being killed by the Soviets.
She requests Jed for a grenade, and after a lot
of convincing, he agrees. He hands her a live
grenade, and leaves the place. Following this,
the rest of the Wolverines escape the place.
After some time, the Soviet soldiers
and their General exit the helicopter
and begin searching for the dead
bodies of Wolverines. Soon after,
one of the soldiers discovers Toni’s body
and confirms her death. In this process,
the grenade falls from Toni’s grasp, causing
an explosion that takes the soldier’s life.
Later that night, the Wolverines devise
a plan in which Jed and Matt decide to
attack the Soviet headquarters in Calumet.
Their goal is to distract the soldiers,
so that Danny and Erica can escape the city and
live a life without fear. Erica tries to convince
Jed that she too wants to join in the attack,
but Jed tells her that someone has to survive.
Wasting no time, the two brothers head towards
the headquarters and begin firing at the soldiers.
They are able to kill several soldiers but after
a while, Matt gets shot on the chest by a Soviet
army commander. Jed takes down the commander,
but he also gets injured in the process. Later,
while a distraught Jed is carrying his brother
away, they are spotted by Colonel Bella. However,
when he senses their loss, he allows them to
leave. The two brothers then sit in a park
and reminisce about their childhood days. Slowly,
both of them pass away, holding each other.
On the other hand, Danny and Erica trek through
the rocky mountains until they reach America’s
safe haven. In the last scene, we see a
Partisan rock and American flag nearby,
indicating the victory of America. In the Partisan
rock, it is mentioned : In the early days of World
War three, guerillas, mostly children, placed the
names of their lost upon this rock. They fought
here alone and gave up their lives ‘so that
this nation shall not perish from the earth’.
