It's Just Movies

— by ADAM POYNTER —

If you say the title of this article and thought to yourself “Oh yeah, I forgot about this movie,” then you are not alone. Although I have been eagerly anticipating the arrival of the “Red Dawn” remake for years now, most casual movie-goers might not have even heard about this project or may have completely forgotten about it at this point.

Either way it is finally time for the first official trailer and the final release date, so mark your calendars for Nov. 21, 2012, because “Red Dawn” is finally coming to town.

Here is the official synopsis of the film released by the studios:

In “Red Dawn,” a city in Washington state awakens to the surreal sight of foreign paratroopers dropping from the sky – shockingly, the U.S. has been invaded and their hometown is the initial target. Quickly and without warning, the citizens find themselves prisoners and their town under enemy occupation. Determined to fight back, a group of young patriots seek refuge in the surrounding woods, training and reorganizing themselves into a guerilla group of fighters. Taking inspiration from their high school mascot, they call themselves the Wolverines, banding together to protect one another, liberate their town from its captors, and take back their freedom.

From what I’ve seen, “Red Dawn” is a linear remake of the 1984 film of the same name that starred the like of Patrick Swayze, Lea Thompson and Charlie Sheen. While it is a remake, there have been minor alterations to the story. Instead of fighting an invading force of Russians, this time it is the North Koreans — changed in post production from Chinese due to political and sociological implications — and then there is also advancement in technology that allows the film to take on a far grander scale and amped-up action.

I seem to recall that in the 1984 original the “Wolverines” seemed to hide more in an effort to survive the invasion, but now it appears that there will be a far more proactive approach to defeating the foreign intruders. I do know that the original holds a near and dear place in the hearts of many people who grew up in the ‘80s, so it has a lot to prove to the fans and also a new generation ready to discover this action-packed adventure.

Here is the first official trailer:

And now, here are some interesting facts about why the movie has taken so long to make it into theaters. The movie was filmed in September 2009, but in June 2010 it was evident that due to MGM’s financial difficulties there would be major alterations to the scheduled release and even production of “Red Dawn” and “The Cabin in the Woods,” which were already finished shooting and were shelved. Other projects that were in varying stages of development got put on hold — “The Three Stooges” and the “Robocop” reboot among them — but now, three years after production, “Red Dawn” will be finally making its way into your local theater.

This delay has actually helped this movie due to the fact that a few of its starring actors and actresses have sky-rocketed to superstardom since the movie was made. Chris Hemsworth has gone from relatively unknown Australian actor to Thor, thanks to his role in multiple Marvel films. Josh Hutcherson also has exploded thanks to being cast as Peeta Mellark in the hugely successful “The Hunger Games” franchise. Even Isabella Lucas has gone from only a few small, re-occurring role on a television series, to starring in films like “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” and “Immortals.” And while Adrianne Palicki’s “Wonder Woman” series never got off the ground, the process certainly raised her name recognition.

In addition, the cast also includes many other known and unknown talents such as Connor Cruise, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Josh Peck, Edwin Hodge, Alyssa Diaz, Brett Cullen, Matt Gerald and Will Yun Lee.

As I said, I have been looking forward to this remake for a while and I am glad that it will finally be released just a few short months from now. So tell me, did you know about this remake and if so, are you anticipating it or does it look like another cookie-cutter easy payday for the studios? Leave a comment and let me know what you think.

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