Red Dawn (2012)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2012
	Director: Dan Bradley (first-time director but stunt coordinator on three Bourne movies two Spider-mans, Donnie Darko...)
	Actors: Chris Hemsworth (Thor 1-2, The Avengers), Isabel Lucas, Josh Hutcherson (Detention, Voyage to the Center of the Earth), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Watchmen)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action, War, Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 17.03.2014, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: When their town and the whole country is invaded by communists, a bunch of high-school students finds refuge in the mountains.
Review: This is a remake of the 1984 classic Red Dawn by John Milius (Conan the Barbarian) that I had recently discovered. I had heard that it was a poor copy apart from the special effects, so I was actually pleasantly surprised. The special effects actually consist of little CGIs but many explosions and gunfights that are indeed very powerful (maybe thanks to the career of stunt coordinator of the director). At the beginning the movie seems to only copy the marking scenes of the original with some changes. I didn't like the fact that the elder brother (Hemsworth) is a soldier, it decreases the feeling that it is just a group of kids fighting this war. I also preferred the original introduction of the parachutists next to the school (and killing a teacher) instead of above the town. Cubans have been replaced by North Koreans, a more actual threat. But after some time Red Dawn manages to find its own character and deliver something different from the original. It also does not compromises on violence like I could have expected, or in killing its heroes. The meeting with "real" soldiers is different from the original movie but as good (Jeffrey Dean Morgan replaces efficiently Powers Boothe). Not so bad after all.
Rating: 6 /10