Rated PG-13
Running time: 114 Minutes
Click below to watch the Red Dawn trailer.
In FilmDistrict's/Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer's Red Dawn, high schoolers must defend themselves and their home - when America gets invaded by North Korea.
In a remake of 1984's Red Dawn, this film starts out with the high school football game with Josh Peck of the Wolverines trying to prove himself during the game to his Police Sergeant father Brett Cullen and his veteran Marine brother home on leave, Chris Hemsworth. When North Korea invades their hometown, Cullen sends the motherless Peck and Hemsworth off to their cabin in the woods for safety and to eventually make war with the Korean troops.
I have not seen the original Red Dawn since it first came out in 1984, but from what I remember I think that the new Red Dawn is a better film than the original and seems more of a regular fun action film. I enjoyed the action in this movie. With stars from current TV shows like Adrianne Palicki, Isabel Lucas, Alyssa Diaz, Edwin Hodge and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, I am sure the young audience can relate to these characters like my generation related to the young stars like Charlie Sheen of the original Red Dawn. The feel was very much like The Hunger Games and the Twilight saga movies, as well as the V TV series, when the teens are out training with the various guns and developing their fighting skills in the woods, especially with Josh Hutcherson from The Hunger Games as one of the teenagers. I liked the family aspect of the movie between the brothers and their relationship, and how all the other Wolverines had family of some kind or another as well.
The opening montage sets up the movie with news clips, including clips of President Barack Obama and Senator Hilary Clinton of the escalating tension from North Korea and it's military and the technological and economic vulnerabilities of America, especially the vulnerability to a new kind of weapon. While the Koreans tried to hunt down the Wolverines, the fact that the Koreans do not take any retaliation against the population, or at least the prisoners located at the stadium for the Wolverines actions was illogical to me.
I have always wondered - both back in the 80's and now - how it would be if my high school, Estancia High School, was the one that was involved in the movie. Our mascot, the Eagles, would have been more patriotic mascot symbol for the city to rally around against the North Korean army as the kids that I went to high school with fight the Koreans. I can imagine everyone crying out Eagles!
Originally the film was made in 2009 and was supposed to be released in 2010, keeping in mind the post-9/11 world that we are in. However, due to the financial difficulties of MGM, the released was pushed back to 2012. As a result, the enemy was supposed to been China, which would have been logical, given their resources - but with the opening up of Chinese availability of Western products, MGM wanted the Chinese box office, all references to China was changed during post production and computer graphics to make the enemy North Korea. With backing from another source, it made it more believable that North Korea could pull off such an invasion. With both Chinese and North Koreans being Asian, it was a simple matter of changing the logos and flags through CGI. With Chris Hemsworth as the leader of the Wolverines, the movie's late release works to the movie's advantage as Hemsworth is a bigger name as an action star now.
Rated PG-13 for violence and language. Running time: 114 Minutes.
Pancho
All people smile in the same language.
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