Marina Antunes [Celluloid 08.10.12] action thriller



We had a few concerns with the first look at the teased trailer that popped up last week for Dan Bradley's Red Dawn remake and now that the full trailer has appeared, they've pretty much been cemented.

Beyond the fact that writers Carl Ellsworth and Jeremy Passmore have changed the invading force and no doubt made some additional changes to update the story about a group of teens determined to protect their town from the invading North Koreans, everything about this movie just seems... off. The original Red Dawn came out at a time when politics made it seem timely but this... it's just a money making grab that appears vacant of anything meaningful beyond a group of cute boys with guns being all protective of their territory, along with a girl or two thrown in for good measure. That's good and all but I hope they're at least prepared to deliver on the action because it's going to take a lot of explosions and fighting to make this interesting.


Quite frankly, I'd much prefer to watch a sequel to the Australian indie Tomorrow, When the War Began (review) but I must admit I'm curious to see what Bradley, a long time stunt coordinator and second unit director, has to offer as a director. And yes, admittedly I do like this cast which includes Josh Hutcherson, Josh Peck, Isabel Lucas, Adrianne Palicki and the God of Thunder himself: Chris Hemsworth.

Red Dawn will invade theatres November 21st.

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Michael Allen (9 months ago) Reply

What?! No Charlie Sheen screaming "Tiger Blood!"

This film looks *&%^ If they had at least made the attacking force China, then this would be more believable and controversial. Chickenshits.

Marina (9 months ago) Reply

Indeed!

That would also mean they *really* couldn't sell it to China. At least like this they can still try.

agentorange (9 months ago) Reply

I thought for sure those parachutes were going to come down over the football game. Can't help but think that would have been a bit more of a movie moment... then again, it may have seemed a little redundant after Dark Knight Rises.

As a huge fan of the original, I hope this one retains that reckless fascistic edge. Somehow I doubt it will.

chuck (9 months ago) Reply

There is so much wrong with that trailer!
Oh well, at least I can look forward to WWZ... oh yeah, never mind.

masque36 (9 months ago) Reply

God why even bother making this retread. I will stay home so the Hollywood machine loses money.

Noname (9 months ago) Reply

What's with all the Australians. Just seems funny when this is such a patriotic movie. :)

USERNAME (9 months ago) Reply

Trojan Horses...

Beppe (9 months ago) Reply

Why do they mass drop paratroopers over a suburb? It's not a great idea, imho.

donc48 (9 months ago) Reply

Not a great idea really. I still can't get over the NK as invaders? These guys would be hard pressed to invade South Korea. The logistics alone needed to invade the US would be mind boggling. If I'm not mistaken the Germans had two and a half million men when they invaded Russia. You would need at lest that along with a good size navy and air force, and the ability to keep them supplied. China would have been a much more plauseable invader.

Zaphod (9 months ago) Reply

Awful, on every level.

Charles Widmore (8 months ago) Reply

Tomorrow When The War Began looks better. Still waiting to get that one from Netflix.

Keith (8 months ago) Reply

Yea I will watch this simply for the action and premise and try to forget that its a crappy remake of a great film. North Korea could never invade the US alone. Now if it was an "Axis of Evil" with say North Korea, a few South American countries, and Iran or something I'd believe it a little more.

Brian (8 months ago) Reply

This movie has been finished for over a year. Originally, China WAS the invading force. But since they're also one of the major financiers in Hollywood right now, they re-shot a lot of the scenes with NK propaganda inserted into it to change the antagonist and avoid pissing off the Chinese. At least, that's the story. Maybe the Chinese insisted they change it so no one would suspect they're really contemplating doing it? Given a long enough look, I can tell the difference between Chinese and Korean script, and I am really going to be looking for all the Chinese leftovers.