Not a joke - Hollywood is remaking "Red Dawn"

[Hugabear]

http://movies.ign.com/articles/887/887348p1.html

<snip>
"The tone is going to be very intense, very much keeping in mind the post-9/11 world that we're in," explains Ellsworth. "As Red Dawn scared the heck out of people in 1984, we feel that the world is kind of already filled with a lot of paranoia and unease, so why not scare the hell out of people again?"
<snip>


Great, just what we fucking need. A remake of one of the worst movies ever made, a fucking nationalistic "Amurika" feel-good movie for the masses. What are they going to do this time, I wonder - have Al Qaeda terrorists parachuting out of a C-130 over some small town in Kansas? Heck, maybe they could get Fred Thompson or Ted Nugent to play C.Thomas Howell's role.

[Subdivisions]

1. Psyops. n/t

[YOY]

2. So Iran is going to invade us? China?

China "could" actually happen but why would they bite the hand that feeds then? If it's 'the teerwrists' then I gotta say "give me a break". If they are going to act like a bunch of terrorists are going to get organized enough to plan a massive assault on American soil I'm going to laugh my ass off in public at the lack of sense in it.

FReepers are going to watch this film as if it were scripture.

[dysfunctional press]

97. if it were china, it could be a remake of "battle beneath the earth"..

http://www.amazon.com/Battle-Beneath-The-Earth/dp/B0002VAZ66

[BobRossi]

3. Too late.

The fascists took over 8 years ago.

[HereSince1628]

4. Will it be Venezualans and Chinese this time instead of Russians and Cubans?

[LiberalFighter]

6. Iraq and el quada(sp)

[crikkett]

17. AL-CIAda (sp)

just sayin' :eyes:

[fascisthunter]

5. more propaganda

[liberal N proud]

7. I think we are living the prelude to that story line

[Hugabear]

11. Honestly, if any country deserves to be invaded and occupied, it might just be the US

After all the shit that we've caused since the end of WWII, sticking our noses into pretty much the entire world's business, and using our military to inflict our will upon weaker countries. Notice that we only bomb countries like the Sudan, Afghanistan, Panama, Grenada, Libya, Iraq, Iran, Serbia, etc. Countries that we know can't really hurt us. Notice that we really haven't fucked too seriously with North Korea, and that we don't dare do anything to really piss off Russia or China.

[Journeyman]

8. I remember a comic from when the original film was made . . .

it was a family standing in front of a monument that marked the spot in Texas from which President Reagan had declared that invaders from Nicaragua were only a couple of hours away if they decided to attack. The family were all getting out of the car and the wife was calling to her husband,

"Oh, look, dear -- an hysterical monument."

[kpominville]

9. Original was Cuba and soviet union

Who is it going to be now, India and China?

[YOY]

14. Wouldn't it be completely NOT in their best fiscal interests to do that?

I mean I know the nationalistic RWers are writing the script here but why would those countries attack us when were all perferred trade partners?

Even a FReep would have to admit that!

[newmajority]

15. No way. Those are Chimpy's business partners.

Going by the right wing fear tactics of the decade, I'd say the invaders this time will be Liberal Muslim Homosexuals Opposed to "Free" Trade.

Maybe they'll name it "Rainbow Dawn"??

[Clovis Sangrail]

10. maybe rather internal rather than external 'invaders' ?

maybe about shredding the constitution in the name of 'security' leading to a new american revolution?

:shrug:
one can hope...

[datasuspect]

12. AVENGE ME! AVENGE ME!!!!!!!!!

[newmajority]

18. Avenge Meeeeeee!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ooy0GFMYafY

[datasuspect]

27. that thar is some moving hollywood film jankering

[EOTE]

20. Wolverines!!!!!!!

[kpominville]

13. Fear Mongering and Nationalism

Just what we need.
:sarcasm:

[theboss]

85. No...it is AWESOME fear mongering and nationalism

Big difference.

Wolverines!!!!

[marmar]

16. Sequels, comic book films, remakes of oldies and not-so-oldies .......

..... and films based on video games and consumer brainwashing (American Girl)......

I think it's safe to say that Hollywood is pretty much devoid of creative ideas. That's why I stick to documentaries and art-house movies.

[mikeytherat]

90. Back in the mid-80s, I was in a theater to see a movie, and one of the

promos was for an awful movie called "Out of Bounds." The promo really, really played up the "out of" meme, and then beat it into the ground - "Anthony Michael Hall is out of luck. He's out of time, he's out of his element...etc." Which was when I stated, loud enough for the entire theater to hear, "And Hollywood is officially out of ideas." Everyone in the theater was laughing!

mikey_the_rat

[DavidDvorkin]

19. Perhaps they'll call it "Green Dawn" or "Brown Dawn"

Green for Islam, but they could also include some attacks on those traitorous environmentalists. Brown for the obvious racist implications, but it could also refer to a substance which will reflect the quality we can anticipate in the movie.

[Hugabear]

40. It's going to be "Crescent Dawn", silly

Wasn't "Crescent Jihad" the name of the terrorist group in that other uber-nationalist, hate-the-Muslim movie, "True Lies"?

[DavidDvorkin]

70. I don't remember, but for an interesting resonance, see this link:

http://www.dvorkin.com/dawncresc/index.htm

[Posteritatis]

72. Plaid Storm Rising, a terrifying tale of invasion by Scottish hypernationalists! (nt)

[Hugabear]

93. They already made that movie - Mel Gibson starred in it

[Iggo]

21. But, but, but...

...that movie is already perfect!

[EOTE]

35. Damn straight.

If only all Patrick Swayze/Jennifer Grey vehicles could have been that awesome.

[newmajority]

22. My favorite scene from Red Dawn: The Russian soldier "translating" the national monument sign

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xY66A_5WHdg

[caraher]

26. Sounds like a neocon reading Middle Eastern history

[knitter4democracy]

88. God, his Russian is awful.

I had to turn it off. *shudder* Just awful.

[laststeamtrain]

23. I've always thought Red Dawn was misunderstood.

It's about People's War.

A remake may be timely in an unintended way.

I'm listening to David Sirota on the radio at the moment talking about his book The Uprising.

Just thinkin'...

[newmajority]

29. Well, the movie did teach some valuable lessons

Lesson #1: Don't sing horribly off key in front of Commies with machine guns!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRxr_vzc5m4

[RaleighNCDUer]

57. My thoughts, too.

There were secondary story lines that are always overlooked in the kneejerk response to the primary one:

The Russian draftees, who were just kids themselves, terrified in the shootout with the Wolverines;

The Mayor's son betraying the resistance;

The kids going into the the thing as if it was an adventure - and most of them dying before the end of the film;

The Nicaraguan Commandante shown as a sympathetic family man, writing home to the wife his misses, musing about how he has become what he started out fighting against;

and so many others.

It is a much more nuanced film than people give it credit for.

[laststeamtrain]

67. Yeah.

John Milius is no dummy. It's not a white hat/black hat film. None of his films are. It seems that all films must be marketed as such, though.

I love his very personal film Big Wednesday.

I'm really crazy about Farewell To The King, too. I'd love to see what was left on the cutting room floor in that one.

'Manly' films that give you something to think about. My favorite kind of film. That & a quote from The Wild Bunch makes me a happy film viewer.

:hi:

[SidneyCarton]

100. I particularly remember the scenes with the Nicaraguan Commandante

The scene where he ruefully admits he has become a "policeman" stands out.

Also, one must remember that in the last scene he refuses to shoot resistence fighters, as he finds himself identifying more with them than his allies.

This film is indeed more interesting than we give it credit for.

[TCJ70]

24. WOLVERINES!!!!

[joeglow3]

25. Wow, I am the minority here.

I was born in 1977, so I did not see this when it came out. However, I still saw it in the 1980’s and loved it. Granted, it is not some masterpiece or something I will set out to watch. Rather, it is a nice lazy Saturday afternoon movie.

Rocky IV could be said to have had similar political undertones, but it is another movie I love to see when it shows up on a rainy day.

Thus, I feel like an outcast for being interested in seeing what a remake would be like. Oh well……

[LanternWaste]

46. Naw... you're not in a minority...

Naw... you're not in a minority. Heck, I was only a year or two out of high school when I saw it over at a friends apartment (on Beta! the horror... the horror.). We drank some beer, smoked some pot, watched the movie and enjoyed it-- granted, I also enjoyed Excalibur at the time, so my tastes weren't quite yet as... refined as they are now :rofl:

These days, Red Dawn is replaced by The Matrix-- six of one, half a dozen of the other (a "them" to root against, an "us" to root for, and the inevitable conflict to give your eyeballs a few wows).

But yeah-- depending on the director, the cinematographer and the actors recruited for this project, it may actually be fun to watch. :)

[newmajority]

52. The best way to watch "Red Dawn", for the truly authentic experience

...was to watch it in a theater in some redneck town, surrounded by Freepers clapping and cheering whenever some Commies got killed.

It was like a "Rocky Horror Picture Show" from Hell. :evilgrin:

[RaleighNCDUer]

125. "...on Beta! the horror..."

Now, don't you go dissing Betamax. It was the top of the line - the only VCR with 4-heads, freeze frame, slo-mo play.

I've been pissed for 25 years that it lost out to VHS.

I have 80 Beta tapes, still, but can't find anything to play them on since my Beta was stolen by some moron burglar who didn't realize it was an obsolete platform - he'd have probably gotten more for my toaster.

[LanternWaste]

128. I also remember Laserdisks

I also remember Laserdisks. My roommates and I rented 'The Longest Day' on Laserdisk.

My rapier-sharp prognostication of the day was that Laserdisk would become the preeminent vehicle for watching movies at home.

Why? Because, I would explain between bong hits (being hits being the the common thread of my youth)-- they're shaped like record albums, and can be stored in the same way, and since vinyl will *never* get replaced, Laserdisks are here to stay too.

Yeah-- I wasn't too bright at forecasting trends :)

[Recursion]

51. Similar birth date; same impression

It's a pretty emblematic late-cold-war movie and the sort of thing you might watch on a sunday after mowing the lawn. It's not going to make it to your queue on netflix, but you won't change the channel from TBS if it comes on. Some of the iconography is interesting ("Aardvaark!!!!! No!!!!"), and I think most 13-year-old American males at some point dreamed of being in the woods with Jennifer Grey fighting off the Russians.

[LanternWaste]

74. The 80's-- heydey of the post-apocolyptic thriller...

The eighties I think, were the heyday of the the "realistic" pre- and post-apocolyptic drama. From the big budgets of Red Dawn, War Games, Terminator, Blade Runner to the low budgets of Mad Max, Cherry 2000 and Def Con 3, we seemed to simply seemed to have given the Bad Aliens (personification of Commies and the dread of nuclear annihilation) of the pulp science fiction cinema thrillers of the forties and fifties a human body-- giving up on the metaphor and transposing our fears into a more realistic setting.

However, I have noticed that many of the most popular video games of the past ten to fifteen years also play into the the post-apocolyptic scenario in one way or another. And from I've been told, there's a lot of Manga out there set in post-apocolyptic worlds in addition to the flash-in-the-pan CyberPunk movement of the nineties.

It's all very, very fascinating (well, being in the woods w/ Jennifer Grey would be pretty fascinating too I suppose.... :evilgrin: )

[RaleighNCDUer]

127. Cherry 2000!

I don't think I've EVER heard anyone else mention that movie. What a hoot. I loved it.

[Bill219]

138. Is that the movie with Melanie Griffith

that revolves around her trying to find a replacement for some guy's broken sex robot?

I haven't seen that movie in years

[RaleighNCDUer]

152. That's the one.

Got it out and watched it today after it came up in this conversation - surprised me how good much of it was. Tim Thomerson's 'Lester' character is classic. Laurence Fishburne and Brion James had bit parts. And the soundtrack, by Basil Poledouris, is of much higher quality than the film itself is, extremely well done - an appropriate sountrack can really help make a film, and this was good.

Side note: Poledouris also did the soundtrack for "Conan the Barbarian" - another film in which the supporting cast outshone the stars and the music added immeasurably to the overall product. Conan was directed by John Milius, as was Red Dawn,which brings us full circle back to the original subject.

[theboss]

86. I OWN Red Dawn on DVD

I do not fuck around when it comes to Swayze and/or movies about shooting lots of Russians.

[Dogtown]

91. Why

do you hate Russia, Tovarich?

[Hugabear]

94. Yes, actually that is a good question

Especially when he added "shooting lots of Russians" in there.

[NeedleCast]

102. Because a minority of people on DU

are able to distinguish between reality and a shoot-em-up movie.

Aliens, Zombies*, Russians, Nazis, Robots, Cyborgs, Evil Mutants, Hordes of Minions, Animated Plants, Animated Machines, and Anyone With a Handlebar Mustache (black and white film only) should be shot on sight, regardless of the movie genre (this is only a partial list).

*Head shots work best.

[Hugabear]

103. You forgot to add Muslims to that list

I always enjoy watching Muslims get killed, whether it's on TV or the big screen. I know it's not real, I just enjoy watching them die, especially after 9/11.

:sarcasm:

[NeedleCast]

104. Don't let me infringe

on your humorless existence.

[theboss]

117. Just a reminder: movies are not real

Please return to your normal everyday delusions.

[Hugabear]

131. Really? I had no fucking idea...

That makes me feel so much better now. All this time, when they've been making movies with Muslims as the bad guys, I thought they were actually killing Muslims. Silly me.

So a movie is always just a movie, and can never be used as propaganda, eh? Thanks for that newsflash.

[theboss]

135. Of course a movie can be propaganda...but I don't think Red Dawn ended the Cold War

Though it would be awesome if it did.

[theboss]

116. I actually like Russia

But shooting Russians in 1986 was the height of fun.

[Dogtown]

139. Too obscure for me

Either you're talking about a video game or playing some personal RPG.

I'm afraid I'll have to decline further conversation.

[theboss]

140. I'm talking about the goddamn movie the thread is about

In Red Dawn, Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen shot 6,725 Russians. And it was awesome.

[Douglas Carpenter]

28. I wonder what ethnicity and what religious preference the new film's villains will be?

Something consistent with the post-9/11 world?

This sounds truly Goebbelsesque.

[Jack Rabbit]

30. Perhaps it should be remade

It was a lousy movie and someone else is sure to do better.

[Iggo]

48. The only thing good about it...

...is its complete and utter badness.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

71. I usually like John Milius' stuff

He's written some great screenplays over the years, like The Wind And The Lion, Apocalypse Now, Dirty Harry, Jeremiah Johnson, and Geronimo and even some of the episodes of the cable TV series Rome. He's one of the Coppola and George Lucas generation of filmmakers, but he's known for films that celebrate rugged individualism with a kind of libertarian slant.

But I agree with you that Red Dawn was not one of his best films, along with Conan The Barbarian. With the exception of The Wind And The Lion, he hasn't always been able to successfully transfer his writing to the screen when he's tried to step up to direct his films like Red Dawn.

[tuckessee]

31. Great movie. I loved it.

If the remake is half as good as the original it'll still be a fine flick.

[Speck Tater]

32. On the positive side...

... don't we all love a move where the bad guy's stuff gets blown up by the good guys?

Come on. Fess up. You know you LOVED that movie.

[crikkett]

34. watched it 17 times - an excellent recruiting film.

it's a large reason I enlisted.

Gotta catapult the propaganda.

[Recursion]

96. I liked the cuban and russian officers' conversation about insurgency

I actually quoted it in my essay on insurgency when I was taking classes at the war college (they let enlisted people stationed in DC take classes there). It's an aspect Clausewitz never considered, that there's an inherent moral supremacy of insurgency that really, really wears on occupiers.

So, my guess is that this movie will be a pretty stinging critique of the Iraq war.

[MinM]

33. Time to 're-heat' the Cold War?

[Bill219]

36. Hell..while they are at it

Why not just make a new version of the mini series Amerika from the 80's

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZy6SDrdyOM

[jakefrep]

80. I say...go for it!

Or better yet - "Amerika II: After The Fall of The USSR"

[lumberjack_jeff]

37. Maybe they could have the US taken over by fascists.

Rich fascists. Fascists who subvert our economy to their own ends. Stupid, evil rich fascists who do anything to further their totalitarian agenda, including destroying our economy, our democracy and our self-respect.

I could be a screenwriter. But my movie wouldn't be a remake of red dawn, it'd be a remake of Farenheit 9-11.

Red Dawn sucked.

[MrCoffee]

38. I love me some Red Dawn

WOLVERINES!!!!!

[Midlodemocrat]

120. Me, too. Great flick.

[Blue_Tires]

39. it would be hard to make a full-scale invasion believable today

unless it was from china -- i think that's the only army big enough

it was hard enough believing the invasion got as far inland as nebraska without anyone knowing about it...i'm not sure how a remake would happen...

[Oregone]

43. Military coup is the only realistic scenerio I could think of.

[Hugabear]

45. Maybe it will involve Muslim sleeper cells

'Cause they're everywhere, you know. Never know when all these so-called peaceful Muslims are going to turn on us, and stab us in the back. Haven't you heard the freeper spin, that it's okay for Muslims to lie in order to accomplish their goal of global domination?

:sarcasm:

[RaleighNCDUer]

59. No, that's a remake of some awful Chuck Norris movie -

I remember it well, but have blanked on the name of it. Hundreds of commie terrorists in rented panel trucks taking over the country.

[Hugabear]

77. You're giving Hollywood too much credit for originality

I think you're thinking of "Invasion USA". I caught a few minutes of it when I was staying in some hotel back in the early 90s.

[RaleighNCDUer]

78. That's the one!

Probably the silliest premise of all the Chuck Norris actioneers.

[DearAbby]

121. Manchurian Muslims...

just a code word sets it off...in a sleepy town in northern Minnasota...scratch that...Idaho. Begins in a 7-11, someone is "Wheezin the juice" at the ICEE machine, and the clerk (who is obviously middle-eastern decent, the turban is the clue) goes off..."No wheezin the ju-uice!"

Raises a huge curved sword from behind the counter

So it begins, the battle for Amurika!

[DearAbby]

123. Maybe I have my Movies mixed -up

did they run out of ideas...I was so hoping for a senior-citizen version of RAMBO

[Recursion]

79. An invasion wasn't feasible in the 1980s, either

Neither the US nor the USSR seriously contemplated a large-scale invasion or occupation of the other country (except AK/HI and far eastern Siberia).

[Renew Deal]

132. Thank God for the 2nd Amendment

:hide:

[Oregone]

41. Hm, I actually liked the original (I'm a minority)...

Though it was a tad 80's and cheesy.

Its a movie you can throw in a fundies face to confuse them when they are calling Iraqi freedom fighters terrorists.

I didn't see it as a patriotic movie, but rather an anti-occupation scenerio...it asks that questions, what would you do? Of course they used Russia shamelessly during the cold war, but what are they going to use Canada or something? Canadian Bacon was much less of a scary movie. With a good writing staff and a good director, the concept could form the basis of a really incredible picture. Then again, there are a variety out there based on true events that are already good (Wind that Shakes the Barley, for example). But if something isn't about America, are Americans really going to pay attention?

[Iggo]

54. Most people I know LOVE this movie.

We love it BECAUSE it's cheesy. Not in spite of its cheesiness. This movie is soooooo lame, it's great.

We like it in a Plan 9 kind of way.

[Hugabear]

56. IMHO, that's the only way to enjoy this movie

You don't like it because it's a great, pro-American, anti-Commie movie. You like it because it's so easy to laugh at the awfulness of it.

[knitter4democracy]

89. Like all 80's movies, it was mostly about being cool.

A friend in college remarked that Top Gun was a little about airplanes but mostly about being cool. We then started going through all the 80s movies we could think of, and the rule pretty much applies to all of them, even the darker ones like Red Dawn.

[semillama]

124. Congratulations!

You are the first person in history to compare the movies "Red Dawn" and "Canadian Bacon" and therefore have made my day!

[backscatter712]

42. Can we have Bush & Cheney as the villains this time?

I wouldn't mind seeing the Wolverines taking on Blackwater and the Feds this time...

[zbdent]

44. wait a minute ...

a country gets invaded by a superpower, and a group of people pull terrorist attacks on the occupying forces?

Which is this - Reagan's 80s, or Iraq? I'm confused ...

I like to think that the Repukes would love to forget this movie ... the fact that they were glorifying what would today be considered terrorists would go against what they're trying to sell us about Iraq ...

[Hugabear]

49. Good point. Maybe they'll make it from an Iraqi or Iranian point of view

In which case, it could be a good movie.

Somehow, though, I doubt it.

[Jack Rabbit]

50. Any view but that of an American right wing moron

Of course, that would pretty much destroy the premise of the story.

[tuckessee]

55. But the metaphor will always be there.

Just like when the Italians under Il Duce made an anti-communist Ayn Rand novel into a flick for propaganda purposes but quickly pulled it because they realized audiences were seeing it as an anti-fascist movie as well.

Red Dawn will always be the story of grassroots irregular fighters grappling with a conventional, foreign inavsion/occupation army.

[newmajority]

47. I actually read somewhere that the original Red Dawn was based on the invasion of Afghanistan

And the lead Commie colonel in the movie pretty much says something along those lines - that the resistance of the "Wolverines" is the same thing he's seen in every invasion he's been involved in. Which leads him to question the futility of the whole thing, and ultimately allows Patrick Swayze and his wounded brother to walk away when he could have easily killed them both.

Of course this is the lesson that would fly right over the heads of the Freepers. Along with the fact that the insurgents in Iraq right now are the equivalents of the "Wolverines".

[Sheets of Easter]

53. Considering "John Rambo" went over like a fart in church,

I wouldn't get too worked up over the blockbuster potential of this film. I don't think it'll be reaching out to too many people.

[newmajority]

60. Now there's a movie franchise that lost the plot!

The original movie, "First Blood" was actually well done, in my opinion. You have this Vietnam vet who shows up in this small town, hoping to find his last remaining buddy from the war, only to find out the guy died from cancer (a direct result of Agent Orange). Before he can even deal with that loss, he's harrassed by the local redneck sherriff, and then treated even worse by some of the nazi asshole cops that work for him.

Is he gonna be a little pissed off about that? Sure he is. Granted, his reaction might have been a little over the top, but nobody could say he wasn't justified in wanting revenge on those dickheads.

Even the second "Rambo" movie was as much about him being betrayed by the US government (Reagan administration, naturally) as it was the body count.

Then came "Rambo III" which was all about cheering on the Afghan rebellion. Funny how they don't show that one on TV anymore. Probably because the "good guys" in that war are now the "bad guys" who allegedly fly planes into buildings and shit like that.

I didn't even bother watching the 4th movie.

[theboss]

58. I loved the original

I have no idea how you would remake it though.

Chinese invaders?

(When I was 12, I saw this movie and WANTED the Russkies to invade so my friends and I could go into the woods with guns and shoot people and impress girls. It seemed awesome).

[MrCoffee]

61. Dude...we played Red Dawn too

:headbang:

[Recursion]

62. And Jennifer Grey

Don't forget the Jennifer Grey aspect. Nobody puts baby in a corner, but they do leave her on a rock with a live grenade...

[RaleighNCDUer]

68. LOL -

saying shit like that is going to get me in trouble, since I'm reading this at work.

[theboss]

82. She has so harsh

God, I loved her in that.

And Lea Thompson diggin' on Powers Booth.

[Kazak]

64. I remember, it was the first ever PG-13 movie.

And, coincidentally, I was 13 when it came out, so it was an east match for me at the time. I certainly don't see any need to remake it though. :shrug:

[Recursion]

69. You sure? I thought that was either Gremlins or Temple of Doom...

...depending on which side of the Mississippi you lived on.

[theboss]

83. I think they created the rating for Red Dawn, but other movies beat it to theaters

It's the most violent movie in history...but there was no sex and little bad language. So, they were confused what to do with it.

[JHB]

92. Gremlins & Temple of Doom prompted creation of PG-13...

...since they had too much violence/scary stuff for small kids, but were not in R territory.

I think the first PR-13 to hit the theaters was Dreamscape.

[Kazak]

99. That's the way I remember it, but...

that was 20+ years and many doobies ago... :shrug:

[Dukkha]

111. The studio intentionally released it a week early to be the first

to get the PG-13 rating, because they knew that's all it would be remembered for. I was in high school when that came out, went to the theater to see it after our football practice was dismissed early.

[beevul]

149. Ya made me go check...

I had to go read the inside cover of the dvd, because I couldn't remember.

From the inside cover:

"Red Dawn was the first film to recieve a PG-13 rating. (Dreamscape, starring Dennis Quaid, is the second, having recieved the ratingt 5 weeks later.)"

You remembered right. Coincidentally, I also saw it in the theater at 13.

[bikebloke]

63. Jericho

It's a TV series, but probably more in tune with the times.

There's a book by John Hersey called White Lotus. China invades the US unopposed, then takes slaves back the China. though it's more of an allegory about slavery and race.

[Selatius]

101. If they remade Red Dawn using an internal enemy like Jericho, it might actually be a better movie.

Jericho operates on that premise, that a faction within the government engineered their takeover by nuking US cities and then blaming it on Iran and North Korea. After wiping out every living Iranian and North Korean with US nukes, they take over or try to anyway in the name of restoring order.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

65. Why so many remakes?

And particularly a remake of a completely unrealistic movie. And why a movie than plays on our fears instead of our imaginations?

If they want to make a film about the occupation of America by a foreign power, why not bring The Man In The High Castle to the screen?

[kestrel91316]

66. Hey, I LOVED that movie...........

But what are they gonna call it now that the spread of communism is no longer a world threat? Please don't tell me they are gonna make poor little old Cuba, or Venezuela, or China the bad guy? Invading us???

Oh, THAT will be helpful in rehabilitating our national image post-Bush........

[Iggo]

76. If they make China the bad guy...

...then that takes the 600 million screamin' Chinese line out of play.

Nobody wants that.

[theboss]

84. So bad ass

So who's on our side?
600 Million Screamin' Chinamen.
Last I heard there were a billion screamin' Chinamen.
There were.
<FLAMES>

[Iggo]

107. WHOOOOOSH!!!!

Now THAT'S some melodramatic punctuation, nome sain?

[Dukkha]

73. Couldn't they just remake Radhouse instead?

[dawgman]

75. I loved the original Red Dawn.

I thought it was great. Used to jump out of the barn and pretend to ambush the ruskis.

Cheesy and nationalistic? Yes.

Entertaining? Thoroughly.

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

[iamthebandfanman]

81. i never minded the movie

the scenerio of cuba invading the states was to far fetched for me to take seriously. even in the 80s.

p.s.

i hate people who say the world changed after 9/11. the world didnt change, you did. you decided to notice, thats all.

[knitter4democracy]

87. No! I like it the way it is.

Can't they come up with some new ideas for once?

[JHB]

113. Maybe they can give it the Psycho-remake treatment....

...and make a shot-for-shot copy of the original.

[LSK]

95. are they going to base it in Iraq about focus on an invasion in that country???

More like a documentary with real footage?

:shrug:

[NeedleCast]

98. Sweet

Wolverines!

I watched Red Dawn recently and as long as one can completely suspend disbelief for 90 minutes, it's totally watchable in a chees-ey sort of way. It's important to remember that a lot of movies aren't about winning awards at Cannes. Sometimes a little vegetation material is okay with me.

Red Dawn didn't scare anyone with more than a few brain cells to rub together.

[DailyGrind51]

105. The first one was fear mongering at its best. It touched all the buttons,

even the gun registration forms thing. However, the Bella character, portrayed by Ron O'Neal, was sending the message that there was a difference between a "war of liberation" and an "aggressive occupation" and when it was obvious that his was an occupation, he wanted out!

[ileus]

106. Red Dawn, on of the all time greats. n/t

[TexasObserver]

108. Avenge me, boys!! AVENGE ME!!

Harry Dean Stanton.

[Orrex]

109. The first one had Michael Ironside; no film with Michael Ironside can be good

Total Recall
Scanners
Red Dawn

and, if those three weren't proof enough: Highlander II

[theboss]

119. I tend to believe that no film WITHOUT Michael Ironside can be good

He was so awesome in V.

[Orrex]

134. Yeah, but behind that Guy Fawkes mask, you couldn't tell that it was him

Oh, you mean the other V...

[theboss]

137. The movie with the not naked Natlie Portman is the other V

V with Freddy Krueger as a queer reptile was awesome.

[beevul]

147. Who did Michael Ironside play in Red Dawn? N/T

[Orrex]

153. Er. Uh... Well....

He played, um, Powers Boothe.

:yoiks:

[carlyhippy]

110. oh good grief.....why???

I didn't like the first version

[Redstone]

112. "One of the worst movies?" No, THE worst ever made.

Redstone

[theboss]

118. Please...it's not even in the list of top five worst Charlie Sheen films

Any movie where a teenager shoots down a helicopter with an RPG has at least one redeeming quality.

[TexasObserver]

114. I thought the original made a good point, unintentionally: Invaders create freedom fighters

It was a good example of why US invasions around the world the past 50 years have often created among the locals freedom fighters who are forced to use extreme measures, measures that don't seem unreasonable at all when you're the home team instead of the invaders.

[mnmoderatedem]

115. Sure. Why not?

One of the best comedies of all time...

[Enrique]

122. it actually is a joke

they just don't know it.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

126. I'll wait for the more literate comic book version.

[Evoman]

129. Lol....they should set in in Iraq if they really want to make waves.

[ToeBot]

130. "scared the heck out of people", What? The movie was laughably trite.

The only remake should be a satire, in the vein of Dr. Strangelove.

[theboss]

136. My friend Chad had an arsenal in his house; that was our meeting place when the Russians invaded

I don't think we were going to be the Wolverines though. We had a different nickname that I forget.

[anonymous171]

133. So America will be turned into a Corporatocracy?

That's the threat we face in a post 9/11 world.

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

141. Al Haig loved it.

but then, he was the military advisor to the film.

[blindpig]

142. What a piece of garbage, Cold War propaganda.

now, if they made it from the Iraqi/Afghan point of view.....

[rucky]

143. They're renaming it... "OOGA BOOGA SCHMOOGA!"

[ThoughtCriminal]

144. I'll wait for the MST3K version

way better with the bots.

[ThoughtCriminal]

145. Best "Red Dawn" Double Feature

Watch it and then watch:

"The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060921/

Best - "Cold War" - Movie - Ever
(OK, maybe Dr. Strangelove)

[MrCoffee]

146. The next person who posts "post 9-11 world" in this thread gets a lead salad.

[beevul]

148. Having grown up in the 80s...

Having grown up in the 80s, I saw them all. All of Ahnulds, all of Stallones, all of Segals, all of the old Norris stuff,(no I didn't watch walker texas ranger lol), old Bruce lee, seen everything jackie chan, even seen those cheesy michael dudikoff movies...I really have seen them all.

Red dawn was nowhere near the worst of them, and as other posters have pointed out, was a highly nuanced movie. Its one of those movies that you can pretty well take what you want from. You can take propaganda from it, if you want to. You can take strictly entertainment value from it as a movie with a cast largely made up of people who later went on to become big names - before they were big names - if you want to. Or anywhere between those things, if you want to.

Its interesting to note that many of the details in the movie were portrayed accurately...such as the mention of the federal form 4473 at the sporting goods store, and the replica of the soviet t-72 tank - apparently accurate enough that it attracted the attention of the CIA.

But yeah, Red Dawn was by far not the worst of its era.


It should be interesting to see a remake, but most remakes are never as good as the original - IMO.

[deutsey]

150. The original was a joke. How anyone then took it seriously is beyond me.

That they're remaking it just confirms for me that stupidity remains an eternal verity here in America...

[dave29]

151. Nobody Puts Baby Under a Bush

...