The Red Dawn Remake: The Chinese Are Coming! The Chinese Are Coming!
Red Dawn was one of my favorite movies as a kid. It starred my girlhood crush, C. Thomas Howell. It was released in 1984, a year after The Outsiders, and it reunited three of that movie's cast members: Howell, Patrick Swayze, and Darren Dalton. Red Dawn was, in fact, a lot like The Outsiders, only this time, the kids were armed with machine guns and RPG's instead of knives and chains, and they were fighting a much bigger enemy than the Socs.
It was also a movie about America being invaded by the Soviets (and the Cubans), and group of all-American teens who become freedom fighters in the resistance against them. If you watch it now, the story seems much more about the mujahideen in 1980's Afghanistan than it does about America. But it seemed so plausible at the time--to me, especially, as a child--that we could be invaded by the Soviet Union, because we were still firmly in the grips of the Cold War, and Russia was our enemy.
A Red Dawn remake is in the works, scheduled to begin production in September. Most of the principal cast has been confirmed, the latest addition being Connor Cruise, 14 year-old son of Tom Cruise. Remakes are generally never as good as their originals, but what really worries me about the Red Dawn remake is that the foreign invaders this go-around are apparently going to be...Chinese.
This isn't entirely surprising, given how much cultural anxiety people feel these days about China taking over everything. Shoot, I even wrote a post two years ago during all of that China toy-recall hysteria and gave it this label: "I Smell a Remake of Red Dawn Only This Time the Invaders Have Slanty-Eyes."
But this is 2009 and not 1984. Everybody knows that if the Chinese are going to take over America, they're not going to do it by military force--they're going to do it by buying up all of our real estate! Which, I suppose, is less exciting cinematically than guerrilla warfare. But I do wonder how the filmmakers are going to pull this off, if there's any way to do Red Dawn with a Chinese enemy without it being totally racist?
All I can say is we'll be keeping an eye on this remake. One very skeptical slanty-eye.
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http://www.beforethetrailer.com/2009/09/red-dawn-2-filming-updates-for-september-1/
Beforethetrailer.com has the latest updates on filming locations and set pictures for the film
Red Dawn 2(Remake)
The original Red Dawn is hysterical. It was so over the top and hilariously bad. And now it's completely dated.
I'm still waiting for the Russians to invade, John Milius. You made it sound like it could happen any day now!
Now the Chinese are going to invade!
Red Dawn was even more retarded than the Rambo movies. I would laugh even before the remake except for the fact that many whackjobs will take it seriously. With the renewed activity of racist violence, anti-abortion terrorism, brownshirt raids at town hall meetings, and rabid leaders manipulating their unstable followers, this film will be an inspiration to the most dangerous and disturbed segments of the public. Rev. Bookburn - Radio Volta
Who put up the photo of my Chinese great grand father and Irish great grand mother?
Great grand mother just fainted after escaping potato famine and great grand father was hunting buffalo and cooking Chinese food for her.
Red Yawn.
seriously - they will have to change the title to Yellow Dawn or it won't even make sense, and they obviously won't be doing that.
man, what a FAIL.
Oh I feel that the SUCK is strong in this remake. Are we truly this desperate for any form of entertainment??????? I weep for the arts.
What about the Mad Mullahs?
Not only overused, but even more farfetched by several parsecs.
Unfortunately China is currently working on obtaining power-projection toys. They even purchased the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne from Australia so they could get a better look at the catapults for when they finally get around to building their own carrier. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/china/index.html has more info on the subject.
Besides, this scenario has already been addressed in the Eric L. Harry novel INVASION.
Oh I hated that movie so much that it just made me apoplectic. The idea that some foreign enemy would be sending parachute missions to our high schools, can you imagine the scale that would be needed to accomplish such a thing?
And the Chinese seem to be working their way into domination without needing to fire any bullets.
they were fortifying a border position in a small town where they thought there would be little resistance. They weren't taking over the country high school by high school. They nuked some of the larger military installations and destroyed coastal cities with surprise nuke attacks from subs. They then invaded through mexico and alaska. But hey, what about the billion screamin' china men that are our allies. hahahah. Loved that movie cause it was so bad. Avenge me, Boys! Boy, all that hate's gonna burn you up. Keeps me warm. Turn it into something else. Turn it. Let it turn. Nobody cries no more. Shoot straight for once, you army pukes. Dieth. hahahah. Can't wait. hope it's as funny as the first one.
ugh...why do they have to re-make every fricken movie?!
I loved Red Dawn when it first came out, and still watch it almost everytime it's on...
Since when does Tom Cruise's Son act?
Gotta love when a "star's" kid gets a role rather than real actors, just like Will Smith's Son in "Karate Kid" remake. Boy is that going to be horrible!
Since when does Tom Cruise act? :)
In all seriousness, the command decisions in Hollywood are made by guys with MBAs rather than MFAs. Their sole knowledge of filmmaking is to greenlight whatever Marketing's focus groups say is good, along with stuff with proven track records.
Personally I'd rather remake THE FINAL COUNTDOWN. BLUE THUNDER also has some present-day relevance and might survive a remake, too.
How about using the idea and making the Birthers the enemy?
I've thrice been to Russia and had a good experience every time.
I admit that China is a totalitarian country, and the world's biggest polluter. But the Birther movement makes it look good. Ditto anyone who believes the earth to be 6,000 years old.
No good can come of this. The original "Red Dawn" formed Republican foreign policy for a generation.
[from Wikipedia]
Operation Red Dawn
The operation to capture former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was named after the movie (Operation Red Dawn), as well as its targets, which were dubbed Wolverine 1 and Wolverine 2. The Army captain who named the mission said that: "Operation Red Dawn was so fitting because it was a patriotic, pro-American movie." Director John Millius said about the operation's name: "I was deeply flattered and honored. It's nice to have a lasting legacy."[5]
Please; the Navy named a carrier USS Shangri-la after the novel LOST HORIZON.
Actually, the original RED DAWN was based on a real Pentagon wargame scenario.
Actually, it was Miliius's comment on the Vietnam War. He essentially reverses the roles so that the Wolverines are in tactical practice Viet Cong, and the Soviets functions as the US.
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