Topic: Red Dawn (2012)

I've saw a few trailers for this, and figured I'd make a thread for it.

Personally, I think the choice of North Korea as antagonist was poorly thought out. They simply don't have the infrastructure to mount a large scale (or any) invasion on U.S. soil, so it comes off as completely unbelievable.

I believe at one point, it was supposed to be China (a much more believable scenario), but they edited all the imagery depicting Chinese flags to North Korean flags, to make it more marketable to the Chinese market. Although, it's still a film about Americans defending themselves from a communist invasion, so I don't get how that change makes it much more marketable...

So, your thoughts on the upcoming flick?

In case you're unaware, the movie is a remake of a film from the 80s (which was actually the first film to carry the PG-13 rating).

I'm skeptical about this remake, mainly because one of the reasons that the original worked so well was because it came out when the global politcal climate was a very different one (during the latter days of the Cold War). I loved the original movie, which although it is a bit cheesy watching it now, is worth checking out. Great 80s cast, including Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, et al.

They filmed parts of this a few miles north of me. They build some fake houses then blew them up. It was pretty sweet.

Based on trailers, it does not look as good as the original, but it'll probably be a decent action/drama.

I thought the first film to carry the PG-13 rating was Indiana Jones: Temple of Doom?

Also, the original Red Dawn was quite frightening when I was a kid. I'm curious of what this one will be like.

@the_shpydar, yeah, I'm aware it's a remake (the reason I marked it as 2012).

Yeah, I get what you're saying about the world's political climate being different. That's also why it's really silly that they decided to highlight NK as the invaders (since China is the only communist nation close enough in power, to be able to pull an invasion such as the one presented in the film).

Okay, so I just looked up the PG-13 thing and Temple of Doom and some other films were the cause of creating the rating and Red Dawn was the first officially to carry it. I stand corrected.

No, that movie along with Gremlins helped create the PG-13 rating.

You don't get how making North Korea instead China the antagonist will make the film more marketable?

The point is, it's a film about people defending themselves from a communist invasion. I highly doubt changing which communist nation is invading is going to make the communist Chinese government (with very strict censorship laws) look at it in a much better light.

I don't care if they made the antagonist Cuba, I'd be extremely surprised if the Chinese government gives this film the OK to air in the nation.

lolpolitics

i really have no opinion beyond this

So, film is film industry capitalising on the mass hysteria and irrational Americans have with regards to anything to do with "communism." Not that it's actually communism at all. It's actually socialism, or in the case of North Korea, despotism, but hey, let's not let facts get in the way of a damned good witch hunt.

In other words? Not the first, not going to be the last.

What really amazes me about films like this is you would have thought the world had realised how silly McCarthy was. But no, that damn "liberal agenda" just can't be stamped out, so we better make films about how evil it is etc etc.

I want to watch this movie just to laugh at it. Teenagers fighting the so-called communists? Classic.

Truer words have never been spoken.

I was really hoping nobody would bring this up, (but he's right).

_{CURSE YOU AFTER THE BOMB!!}

some good points but the reason this exists is because this is part of Hollywood's plan to remake every remotely relevent (to ANYONE) movie ever made. That is all.

@WhiteKnight
You're certainly not wrong at all, but an action film needs a "bad guy". For a movie like this, which i expect to be nothing more than a weaksauce attempt at yet another remake of a film that needs no remake, there's not really any deeper thought that should be put into it other than some producers thought "who can be the bad guy in this?" Considering that (lame) movies like to reflect the time in which they are made, the choice was probably between Iran or NKorea, which are the two nations that are the closest right now to what might be considered "enemies". To badly paraphrase Freud, sometimes a popcorn-movie is just a popcorn-movie.

(However, your perception of "mass hysteteria" that Americans supposedly have is a gross overstatement. Maybe that's how it looks to people outside the U.S., but that's not what the actual climate is in the country.)

I remember the original being effing awesome. They'll probably eff up the remake somehow.

I've never seen the original Red Dawn movie, mainly cuz I don't watch movies.

But I know the year it was released, where it took place, who was invading, and who stared in the movie.

Bring on the remake. I won't watch it, but I guarantee I'll know everything about it.

@Shpy Mass hysteria may not be present now, but when you talk about communism you tap into all the post-Hiroshima anxiety that filled the Cold War.

The reason they pick NKorea is that enough of the population in the west are scared enough of NKorea to make it an easy choice for 'bad guy' - no explanation necessary for the invasion, it's just the kind of thing they would do.

It's also a deeply irrational fear when you're living safely on the other side of the planet.

RE communism; if McCarthy hysteria were genuinely dead than 'Communism' would cease to be a dirty word. Given that something as simple as 'liberal' is now a dirty enough word to sustain a major news network, I would actually argue that the irrational fear of the left has, if anything, gotten worse.

Obviously there are large pockets of people in America that are not so silly, I'm obviously not including these groups with my comments.

The original was so ridiculously idiotic that it became a campy classic. I figure the remake will be ridiculously idiotic but with none of the charm.