Dope Island: Better Dead than Red Dawn?

The remake of RED DAWN is now in theaters, a notoriously belated release. Really, any longer on the shelf and it would have been older than the 1984 original. Movies are stupid, they distort time and space, they can do that.

 

I'm in no hurry to see the 2012 RED DAWN, which I am given to understand concerns an invasion/occupation of the United States by North Korea. I am given to understand the Marxist enemy was actually the Peoples' Republic of China in the early drafts, but, given economic realities (the Chinese probably purchased half of Hollywood while this thing moldered in the cans), the material was hastily redone to make the villains North Korean. At least I HOPE that's what went down. Anything else is absolutely ludicrous. The thought of NK paratroops making it across the Pacific and holding the USA in chains is a concept that could only sell as MOUSE THAT ROARED-style comedy, perhaps by Matt Stone and Trey Parker (and they already sort of did it in TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE).

 

Red Dawn

Review by Bob Ignizio

Having finally given up on their nuclear program, North Korea decides instead to attack the United States of America by using EMP bombs and paratroopers in RED DAWN. The portion of the invasion we witness takes place in Spokane, Washington where a group of high school kids and one twentysomething marine (Jed Eckert, played by Chris Hemsworth) fight back against the Asian invaders in a ninety minute commercial for the NRA. You know how they're always saying we need assault rifles so we can fight back against tyrannical invaders/Democrats? This is that fantasy brought to life. And lest you think the rather high number of casualties suffered by the patriots might put a damper on said fantasy, just remember that to some, there is no better way to go out than a hero's death.

The original 1984 RED DAWN may not have been a great movie, but it captured the tenor of its times and exploited it well. It was the height of the cold war era, and the possibility that the USSR might attack America at least felt like a legitimate fear. And it was a fear that crossed party lines; whether you were a Democrat, a Republican, or an independent, chances are you believed the Russians were our enemies and intent on doing us harm. In such a climate, a story about a few well armed American teenagers waging guerrilla war against Soviet invaders held fairly wide appeal.