"Red Dawn" 2012 Trailer

The trailer for the long-delayed, somewhat cursed remake of 1984's cult classic "Red Dawn" has hit the net... check it yo.



The remake looks unnecessary, but entertaining.

I've been following the bizarre saga of this movie for a couple of years now, for a while it looked like this flick was never gonna come out. It was actually shot in 2009 (!) and was supposed to be released late that year, but the studio that made it (MGM) went bankrupt before filming was completed. At the time MGM went belly up the movie still needed post production work done (i.e. music, sound effects, etc.). So it sat on a shelf for a couple of years, then MGM sold it to another studio so it could be completed.

THEN in mid-stream they had to do major changes to the story... in the original script, the invaders were the Chinese (as opposed to the Russians in the original); apparently there was some outcry in China about that, and since China also represents a rather large chunk of the world wide box office nowadays, the producers decided to change it so that the bad guys are now North Koreans. That required a lot of re-coloring of uniforms, vehicles, and insignias via CGI.

Who knows it might still be sitting on a shelf today if Chris Hemsworth hadn't gone on on to do "Thor" and "The Avengers," and Josh Hutcherson hadn't done "Hunger Games." They were both nobodies when they made "Red Dawn" but they're both hot sh*t box office draws now.

It'll be interesting to see how this one does when it gets released, it's had a hell of a journey!!

Looks like it will makes 10s of dollars. Totally lame, and the Hemsworth/hutcherson connection is exaclty why this thing was finally released.

Oh Dear God another re-make...Holywood films these days are either blatant rip-offs, book adaptations or remakes

Here's some interesting trivia for ya.

There were actually 2 films that got "stranded" when MGM went bankrupt, this remake of Red Dawn and Cabin In The Woods. It took a few years for either film to get released (Cabin was mostly finished and didn't require any reshoots).

By an odd coincidence...Hemsworth stars in both films.

Given that it's 'Red' Dawn, surely the antagonists need to be communist? That was the point of the title after all, though it would limit the options of countries to be the 'bad guys'. Unless it's a reimagining, where everything is changed but the title as an exercise in cynical cash-grabbing.

EmoElmo wrote:

Oh Dear God another re-make...Holywood films these days are either blatant rip-offs, book adaptations or remakes

Book adaptations have been a part of filmmaking since it's inception, so that's hardly anything new.

I know several people in the industry, films cost so much money these days that the studio bosses are afraid to green-light original scripts. Remakes and sequels have a built-in audience and are a lower financial risk.

I don't agree with this tactic and I think it's a horribly lazy way of doing business, but unfortunately I can also understand the reasoning behind it. Many good scripts sit and collect dust in favor of the latest "reboot".

I think the big problem for this movie is they've seemed to have forgotten that when the original came out Cold War paranoia was so strong. I just don't see large numbers of people being scared that North Korea is going to invade their hometown. The original came out at the perfect time for the concept. Plus I always remember it being one of the first PG-13 flicks. So as a kid that seemed pretty cool - not a tame PG but something a little more violent that would be easy to get into.

Let's be honest, the original film was awful. The remake is completely unnecessary and as jstate mentions isn't even mildly convincing in this day and age.

The whole idea of using CGI to change the villains from Chinese to North Koreans is ludicrous. That just means the original studio had the balls to go forward with it and the new studio that purchased the film chickened out...that makes me have even less respect for this vehicle.

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Let's be honest, the original film was awful.

It really is, but it's awful in a totally awesome butt kickin' flag wavin' "Kill a Commie for Mommy" way that appeals to my inner 13 year old!!

Fat Freddy wrote:

Quote :

Let's be honest, the original film was awful.

It really is, but it's awful in a totally awesome butt kickin' flag wavin' "Kill a Commie for Mommy" way that appeals to my inner 13 year old!!

Exactly. Me and my buddies couldn't wait to go see this-mainly because it was the first PG-13 flick that came out (at least maybe the first onre that interested us at all)

007 wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

Quote :

Let's be honest, the original film was awful.

It really is, but it's awful in a totally awesome butt kickin' flag wavin' "Kill a Commie for Mommy" way that appeals to my inner 13 year old!!

Exactly. Me and my buddies couldn't wait to go see this-mainly because it was the first PG-13 flick that came out (at least maybe the first onre that interested us at all)

I had a history teacher in high school who was obsessed with "Red Dawn,". He considered it an educational film; we actually watched it in his class!! He told us that it was a very good representation of what might happen if we were to fall under Soviet rule. Of course, my class full of suburban mall rats kinda rolled their eyes and sez "Uh...yeahhhh, right. Is there going to be a test on this?"

...for the rest of that school year, though, if we ever wanted to get him to go "off topic" and skip the day's lesson plan, all someone had to do was mention "Red Dawn" and he'd be off and runnin'.

Put me in the enjoyable crap group, I liked Red Dawn. I couldn't care less about the remake. However, I am looking forward to about a year down the road when it will be on cable.

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I think the big problem for this movie is they've seemed to have forgotten that when the original came out Cold War paranoia was so strong. I just don't see large numbers of people being scared that North Korea is going to invade their hometown. The original came out at the perfect time for the concept.

I'm gonna start stock piling some automatic weapons. Just in case.

I love the 1st Red Dawn nothing can touch it but the remake doesn't look to bad IMO but then again I am a movie buff with over 500.

Metalwargod

Yeah i love the original also.

I love the original but Id go see that just out of curiosity plus I think the dude who plays "Jed" is a good choice with Robert Patrick as the Dad Ohhh yeah!

The new "Red Dawn" got a one and a half star review in today's paper...which is about what I figured.

The critic makes much of the fact that the villains were originally Chinese and how that probably would've made it a more compelling story (the idea was that Beijing got tired of waiting for the U.S. to repay all the loans they took out from China, so they opt to forcibly re-possess the entire country) ... until the producers wimped out and changed the bad guys to North Koreans so they wouldn't blow their chances at the increasingly lucrative Chinese box office.

It also mentions how odd it is to see Chris "Thor" Hemsworth and Josh "Hunger Games" Hutcherson, who were unknowns when this was shot, both playing second fiddle to... Josh Peck of Nickelodeon's "Drake & Josh" fame (!), who got the lead in this since he was a bigger name than the other two when the film was made three years ago... but since that time, he's fallen completely off the radar. Haha.

Fat Freddy wrote:

The new "Red Dawn" got a one and a half star review in today's paper...which is about what I figured.

The critic makes much of the fact that the villains were originally Chinese and how that probably would've made it a more compelling story (the idea was that Beijing got tired of waiting for the U.S. to repay all the loans they took out from China, so they opt to forcibly re-possess the entire country) ... until the producers wimped out and changed the bad guys to North Koreans so they wouldn't blow their chances at the increasingly lucrative Chinese box office.

It also mentions how odd it is to see Chris "Thor" Hemsworth and Josh "Hunger Games" Hutcherson, who were unknowns when this was shot, both playing second fiddle to... Josh Peck of Nickelodeon's "Drake & Josh" fame (!), who got the lead in this since he was a bigger name than the other two when the film was made three years ago... but since that time, he's fallen completely off the radar. Haha.

I might catch this one...... when it is on cable for free and I have absolutely nothing better to do!!!! Movies that are held back for years usually suck....... I am sure the only reason it is getting a theatrical release is to capitalize on the Avengers/Thor/Hunger Games stars

thejokeriv wrote:

Movies that are held back for years usually suck....... I am sure the only reason it is getting a theatrical release is to capitalize on the Avengers/Thor/Hunger Games stars

Two films were stuck in limbo because of the MGM bankruptcy, Red Dawn and The Cabin In The Woods. So this case is a little different than the usual reason for a film "sitting on the shelf".

The Cabin In The Woods was mostly finished so once it was purchased it easily got distribution. The only real delay was at one point the studio were going to convert it to 3-D and then they changed their mind.

Red Dawn wasn't as far along in the production cycle so it was harder to get that film completed. All the post-production changes to make the bad guys North Koreans instead of Chinese is laughable....that is chickenshit Hollywood studio crap.

WOW. I had no idea about the back story on this. I'm sure a lot of others don't either. Which means it should do a really good first week at the box office.

I'll probably catch it when the DVD comes to RedBox and I can get it for a buck and a quarter...

Funny thing is, Nickelodeon has suddenly started showing re-runs of "Drake & Josh" in the evenings lately, even though it was cancelled a couple of years ago (maybe they're trying to drum up some hype for Josh leading up to his big movie debut?)...when it first started appearing again, I was like "Why did they dig this show up all of a sudden? Did one of them die?" (haha)...anyway, my kids have been watching it and I can't wrap my head around that dorky "Josh" dude playing an action hero type. Haha

I predict Red Dawn is going to tank. The budget is listed at 75 million, I don't see them even getting close to that figure at the box office.

S.D. wrote:

I predict Red Dawn is going to tank. The budget is listed at 75 million, I don't see them even getting close to that figure at the box office.

I don't know. Thanksgiving weekend is the one weekend they may be able to do that.

SpectreFate wrote:

WOW. I had no idea about the back story on this. I'm sure a lot of others don't either.

With all the trials and tribulations this movie has been through, I bet the eventual "Making Of" documentary on the DVD will be more interesting than the movie itself.

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I predict Red Dawn is going to tank. The budget is listed at 75 million, I don't see them even getting close to that figure at the box office.

They'll make it all back when it gets released in China. It's sure to be a big hit there now, since the producers went to all that trouble not to offend them.

SpectreFate wrote:

S.D. wrote:

I predict Red Dawn is going to tank. The budget is listed at 75 million, I don't see them even getting close to that figure at the box office.

I don't know. Thanksgiving weekend is the one weekend they may be able to do that.

Possibly. The film is in direct competition with Breaking Dawn and Skyfall which are already out...plus the new films Life Of Pi and the family film Rise Of The Guardians in the same weekend. We shall see.