Red Dawn Relaunch
Oh boy, I thought as when I heard about this preview. Another reboot of a cult-classic huh? As I’m sure I’ve said a million times before, why doesn’t Hollywood just admit that they are out of ideas. Sure, this relaunch of the movie about a possible Soviet Invasion will star Thor (Chris Hemsworth), and sure they are taking a slightly more realistic take by making at least one of the “Wolverines” an actual combat veteran (as opposed to say, a bunch of teenagers and Patrick Swayze).
However, beyond that, there doesn’t appear to be anything new or remotely realistic about this movie. For one, the plot has been updated so that small town America is invaded by Cuba and North Korea. Really? Two tottering Soviet-era dictatorships that can’t even feeds their own people and are on the brink of collapse manage to circumvent America’s coastal defenses and occupy the United States? Really? This movie sounds like Cold War propaganda, sans the actual Cold War!
At first, I thought I saw some meager potential here. But that was before I read the actual description of the plot. After that, I felt like grabbing the producers and execs who thought this was a good idea and giving them a good shake. “This is why you can’t reboot Cold War Era ideas in the post-Cold War world!” I’d say. The first movie made sense in that it resonated with Americans who were hearing about Russia’s fortunes in Afghanistan. Red Dawn played to the imagery coming out of that war, where young fighters were running around, their heads wrapped in bandanas, and taking out Russian tanks and helicopters with Stingers and RPGs.
But this? This just seems like another excuse by Hollywood producers to do something that’s been done, throw in some cool new action sequences, and sit back and count their money. If they had any guts, they’d have made it China invading instead of Cuba and North Korea. But then again, you gotta hedge your bets right? Can’t piss off the real threats if you’re currently tied at the hip economically. Better to talk about the marginal countries that are under embargo and no one worries about anymore.
Ah well, at least the trailer looks cool. Might even be a good candidate for download.
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Great blog post! As an alternative to this movie, I suggest picking up a copy of the board game "Fortress America" by Fantasy Flight Games (unlss you can find the original by Milton Bradley). Depending on how the game plays out, at least you'll have your own story about a country under siege.
I saw that, back in the day when I used to play Axis and Allies. And if video games are more your thing, Modern Warfare 2 and 3 cover Russia invading the US well enough. They even used Red Dawn as inspiration for some of the missions.
