Red Dawn

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Mum

This one has also been in the news a bit of late. MGM is finally getting out of it's bankruptcy and will be able to release the remake they shot a year and a half ago. But the filmmakers have made the amusing and somewhat controversial decision to go back and digitally change the communist invaders from Chinese to North Korean. I'd only seen this once before a few years ago, right after I had 4 wisdom teeth out, so I though it would be a good time to revisit.

I think the best thing about this film is the opening. It's shocking and brutal. The image of the paratroopers landing on the school grounds is beautiful and foreboding and then BAM the massacre starts. The battle is over and the core group of kids have escaped with supplies into the mountains while the county is overrun by evil communist invaders. All this happens within the first 10 minutes. It's great.

The rest of the film follows them as they become guerilla terrorists fighting back for their land. There are some neat, suspenseful action beats and these kids get mowed down. This ain't Tomorrow When The War Began.

Some of the acting is a little unconvincing, even with the great young cast but they are having to play some really large moments. The quieter moments and action work best. I find entire chunks of the middle section unengaging. The finale is understated and works, but they wrap up so quickly there is no time to process.

There's a lot to like here. I do love extreme violence agains children. This film is pretty mean. I like that Lea Thompson survived and went on to make Back to the Future. I don't like that Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey were both killed but went on to make Dirty Dancing anyway. It's much better than it's modern Australian counterpart, and I'm sure the remake will be a lot of fun, whoever the bad guys are.