There was something fascinating about the Red Dawn movie from 1984. As a young adult, the young stars of the film pulled me in – Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, and Lea Thompson. Yet there was something about the film that has stuck with me for nearly thirty years, perhaps the plotline revolving around these kids who were hell bent on saving themselves, their family, and their country. Imagine my delight in finding that iTunes is now showing the trailer of a remake of this movie.
The first question I had was how are they going to re-introduce the storyline behind Red Dawn. The original story focused on the Russians attacking. That is no longer as big of a worry or focus as terrorism. Instead, this modernized version of the story will feature an attack from North Korea. They attack a town in Washington and take the citizens prisoners. It’s left to the high school kids to defend their town.
These high school kids, who nickname themselves the “Wolverines” after their high school mascot, are being played again by big names. The two brothers will be portrayed by Chris Hemsworth and Josh Peck. I always think of Hemsworth as Miley Cyrus’ boyfriend’s brother, but he’s also been in Thor and Snow White and the Huntsman. Peck is the goofy chubby kid from the Nickelodeon show Drake and Josh. He retained his goofiness throughout the series, but lost the extra poundage he sported at the beginning. This film finally allows him to show his acting chops, and not just how goofy he can be. Josh Hutcherson from The Hunger Games stars as well.
Red Dawn will premiere in theaters November 21, 2012.
