First Look: Red Dawn

We've been talking about the remake of Red Dawn for a long, long, long time. Usually when a film is shelved this long, it's because it really sucks. That's not (entirely?) the case here: they did go back and do some reshoots, but ultimately the delay came because the studio making the film (MGM) filed for bankruptcy and things got all tied up in court and blah blah no money blah blah. Ironically, the delay may actually help the film because the leading men, virtual unknowns when they filmed the thing several years ago, are all having a moment: Chris Hemsworth (Thor) and Josh Hutcherson (Peeta in the Hunger Games) are both pretty hot right now.

Anyway, they've finally got a release date (November 21st), a poster, some images, and the first trailer. So here goes, the first look at the remake of the '80s flick Red Dawn! Wolverines are go!



So yes, it's still commies invading, but it's North Koreans and not Russians (or Chinese as it was in the original draft of the remake). Yes, it's some American kids (played by a couple of Aussies) fighting to take back their town. And yes, it did say Connor Cruise, Tom Cruise's adopted son, was in it. Oh and it's the directorial debut of Dan Bradley, a veteran stunt choreographer. Oscar nominee, am I right? Ah well, more Thor isn't a bad thing (according to my mom).

Stealing From The '80s Continues

In Hollywood, "what's old is new" seems to be the mantra. Great movies from the '80s seem to be a treasure trove of great ideas for the studios to reboot, remarket, and unleash upon a nostalgic audience.

There's a difference between a long-awaited sequel and a remake. Take Tron and Tron Legacy, for example. I enjoyed the updated sequel and thought it was a great continuation of the original storyline. And then there's Karate Kid 2010, which was a complete bastardization of a film I hold sacred (bowing my head and saying a prayer to Mr. Pat Morita). And don't even get me started on Arthur, Clash of the Titans, Miami Vice, and The A-Team.

A remake of Red Dawn is already in the works and I really don't know how they're going to pull that off. The film was released during the Cold War, so it made sense. Originally, they had the Chinese invading us, but they've since changed it to North Koreans coming to take us over--but not before a group of high school kids foil their plans (think Home Alone but with machine guns).

Here's just a tiny sample of '80s movies that are being planned for a complete reboot:

1. The Last Starfighter (1984): still speculation whether it's a sequel or reboot
2. Footloose  (1984): will be released in October of this year
3. Poltergeist (1982): "They're baaaaaack..."
4. Weird Science (1985): this one makes me want to cry
5. WarGames (1983): not the same without the telephone modem and floppy disk
6. Robocop (1987): this project has changed hands so many times. It'll be a CGI bonanza for sure. Yuck.
7. Ghostbusters (1984): absolute outrage!
8. Short Circuit (1986): Johnny 5 is alive... again
9. The Goonies (1985): they are spreading the original over 4 new films. That's so wrong.
10. Dirty Dancing (1987): this has gotten a lot of press lately. They should just leave this one in the corner.

And if they even think about rebooting The Breakfast Club, I will personally lead a public protest.

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Red Dawn Redux

Eons ago we told you that there's a remake of the film Red Dawn in the works. It kind of dropped off the face of the Earth for a while because the film's being made at MGM which has had a lot of financial issues lately: they filed for bankruptcy at the end of 2010 and are going through restructuring. It also ran into a bit of trouble because the film casts China as the new big bad guy and the Chinese took a bit of offense to this. Anyway, all the troubles may be clearing up because a cast photo recently appeared online.



It's presumed that the film may now get a 2011 release as the film is reportedly more or less filmed and needs little work to get out the door.

As an interesting side note, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman's adopted son, Connor Cruise, is now listed among the cast members on team Wolverine.

Who's ready for the new Commie invasion?

Red Dawn Revisited

I'm a late bloomer. I joined Netflix only about 6 weeks ago. What can I say? I'm old-fashioned. Or just old. Whatever. It was fun for me to start putting movies in my queue. We don't go out to movies much at our house. I'd say once every 3 years and we're good. So I had several movies that I'd wanted to see that I added immediately. Then I started thinking about old school movies. Movies I haven't seen in a while and thought I might like to see again.

One of those movies was Red Dawn. I haven't seen the movie in probably a couple of decades. The movie stuck with me over the years, probably because in the '80s we all had that fear of a Soviet invasion ingrained in us from an early age. The images of those kids getting shot in the opening sequence is enough to scar a young kid for life probably.

With a cast starring such breakout stars as Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, Lea Thompson and Jennifer Grey among other (now) big stars in supporting roles, the movie was a treat to watch again just to see these stars before they were stars.

Thankfully, watching the movie some 25 years later it is not as disturbing as it was when I was a kid. It is still disturbing if you let yourself see your own kids in that situation, but thankfully the fashion and the cheesiness allow you to see some humor in the movie. If you can't laugh at the '80s hair styles, you have no sense of humor.

Red Dawn Remake Coming

Back in the mid-1980s when the US was still afraid of the Commie Pinko Russkies, a whole slew of movies came out to prove the American superiority over the scary U. S. S. R. One of those movies was Red Dawn.

Red Dawn tells the story of a joint Cuban/Soviet invasion in Colorado. A plucky group of high school kids calling themselves the Wolverines decides to fight the red menace themselves. The cast was pretty good: Patrick Swayze, Lea Thompson, Charlie Sheen and Jennifer Grey. I'm not sure I've actually seen this film since the late 1980s/early 1990s when it hit cable but from what I recall it's VERY dated feeling and really had that heavy-handed mid-'80s fear of Soviet attack thing going on. And, you know, Colorado high school kids are totally laying professional soldiers to waste. USA! USA!