Well, it’s only taken three years to see the light of day, but today we finally have our first look at the remake of RED DAWN, starring Chris Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson, Adrianne Palicki, Josh Peck, Isabel Lucas, Connor Cruise, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Edwin Hodge. Directed by veteran stunt coordinator Dan Bradley, the film follows the pattern set forth by the 1984 cold war classic starring Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen, with an invasion of the United States by a foreign country.
The invaders of the original film were the Russians, which kind of made sense back then. The remake sees the U.S. facing off against North Koreans, who may be a threat, but certainly not for an invasion. The original “invaders” for the remake were the Chinese, which is actually the most realistic, but seeing as there’s a lot of money trading hands, especially in Hollywood, the filmmakers opted to change it up. Ah, politics.
Check it out:
It looks pretty decent and could possibly recapture a little bit of the original’s spirit, but it’s just so damn unnecessary. Just as I said yesterday with the poster premiere, the cast is an ace in the hole for the studio, since Hemsworth and Hutcherson especially have made names for themselves with two of the biggest franchises in Hollywood. It doesn’t hurt RED DAWN’s chances of being successful, but it’s not a shoe-in, either.
Also, whoever decided that it was time to regurgitate Filter’s “Hey Man, Nice Shot” song for this trailer needs to pack away their CD collection for good. Talk about making something feel dated.
RED DAWN invades theaters this Thanksgiving on November 21, 2012.