Red Dawn

After nearly a year on the back burner, moviegoers everywhere finally got to see the North Korean invasion of Spokane, Washington. The rewrites had to be done, as the original remake (is that an oxymoron?) pitted the rural high school kids against the Chinese, which is a much more believable plot. However, with geopolitical alliances and Hollywood economic projections, China makes a much better customer than they do a... villain? So, let's pick on the one kid on the playground without anyone to protect them. North Korea. And let's be honest, there is no sleep being lost on this choice.

The original film, circa 1984, preyed on the cold war fears of the Reagan era. Russians invading Colorado seems absurd until you have Charlie Sheen and Patrick Swayze fight back in letterman jackets. They make it look cool, and with girlfriends Jennifer Grey and Lea Thompson, you have a regular Brat Pack at war with the Reds.

This film is fun for many reasons. The first is that everyone likes an underdog story. The second is patriotism. The third is America. Could it get better than this? Entertaining? Yes. Great filmmaking? No.

The Eckert brothers are living the American Dream in Spokane, WA. One has returned home from the Marine Corps, and the other is the high school quarterback with the cheerleader girlfriend. Their dad is the sheriff of the town. There is a faint hint of tension within the household, but that's back story gibberish. The real take away is that all of them are at least 25 years old. Think 90210, only modernized.

Anyway, we get to know a couple of the characters enough to know that the older brother (Hemsworth) is patriotic, but ran away when his mom died, and the younger brother (Peck) has a chip on his shoulder and doesn't ever listen to advice. Are these traits that will guide their actions over the course of the film? Maybe...

Anyway, the North Koreans attack by setting off an EMP, and then parachuting into Spokane. Let me tell you, I've been to Spokane, and there's nothing militarily strategic about that place. Anyway, the US military is nowhere to be found and the boys have to round up their motley crew of friends and stragglers and go on the offensive.

The original was full of action and intrigue, but the plot just doesn't work today. First of all, the North Koreans could never penetrate North America except through Alaska. Second, Russia would never ally with them. Third, Spokane would not be chosen as a strategic site for any foreign power. Finally, they would not allow citizens to go about their daily lives under "occupied territory". This was my biggest gripe. How better for guerrillas to disrupt operations than by being allowed to walk around town, pretending to not be a revolutionary? The answer is that there isn't a better way.

The original had a darkness to the story. An impetus of mortality. I remember more than one of the main characters falling to a stray Russian bullet. The remake casts them as much more untouchable, and much better looking. It just didn't jive for me, and I never legitimately feared for their safety. Then again, I was nine or ten when I saw the original. Interesting fact; The 1984 Red Dawn was the most violent film ever made at the time. It recorded a violence rate of 134 per hour. Impressive, even by today's standards.

The film is ridiculous, and yet, it is a fun idea. Everyone has a dark fantasy of how they would respond in the event of a catastrophic change in their life. Usually this takes the form of Zombie apocalypse, political meltdown, or airborne virus. This rendition happens to be North Korean invasion. I like that the kids learned how to mobilize and use military grade weapons in an afternoon, and nobody really caves to their nerves, but it made it implausible within a ball of impossible.

The 17 year old I was with said it was one of the best movies he'd ever seen. Enough said. The actors should have been more unknown (and younger), and more of them should have died. The remake follows the original nicely, but I really feel the film makers had a ripe idea and if done in a clever and original way, it could have really been a well made movie. 6/10.