Film Friday: Red Dawn (1984) v. Red Dawn (2012)

The original Red Dawn was a fantastic film. The new one isn’t. . . not even close. It’s not that the new one is a horrible film, it’s just a dull, stupid and pointless film that will leave you wondering why anyone bothered. Said differently, it’s par for the modern course. Let’s discuss.

The Original

As I said, the original Red Dawn was a fantastic film in every way. It had a gripping plot that felt realistic enough to scare people that such an invasion really could happen. It was well-shot, well-paced and well-acted. The action felt real. It was exciting. And what really made the film was the story itself. At its core, this was a story of a group of teens who needed to grow up much faster than anyone ever expected in the worst possible circumstances.

The story begins with paratroopers dropping into the small, isolated Colorado town of Calumet. At first, no one knows what’s going on as the paratroopers come down outside the local high school. Within minutes, however, they start shooting and they leave no doubt about what is going on: this is an invasion.

As the movie progresses, we learn that these are Cuban, Nicaraguan and Russian troops who have come up through Mexico (after a communist coup in Mexico) or been dropped from planes which had been disguised to appear like commercial airliners. They are part of a Soviet invasion after the Ukrainian wheat harvest fails and the Soviets face starvation. As part of the invasion, a limited nuclear exchange took place between the US and Russia. That wiped out some of the bigger cities and a good part of China. Now battle lines are fixed with the Soviets holding part of the Western United States and the US getting ready to fight back. But that’s just the backdrop.

The real story involves brothers Jed (Patrick Swayze) and Matt Eckert (Charlie Sheen), who flee into the mountains as the Soviets secure Calumet. They are now faced with the question of what to do next. Do they sneak back into town and live under occupation? Do they continue to hide out? Do they fight back? In making this decision, they face a great many difficulties: being responsible for their friends who have come with them (C. Thomas Howell, Jennifer Grey, Lea Thompson), being responsible for each other, their father being put into a re-education camp, spotting friend from foe, surviving in the wild, and being hunted. Naturally, they decide to fight back and they form a guerrilla team (calling themselves the Wolverines). The film then follows their exploits until Jed and Matt die. The film ends by telling us that this was the early days of World War III, and that these kids helped defend and protect America.

Three things made this film work. First, the plot was totally believable. In 1984, the Soviets had a massive numerical superiority, they were highly aggressive, our European allies were worthless, and we believed the Russians were capable of something like this. So this was the stuff of nightmares in the 1980s. The way the Soviets act in the town was highly realistic too: confiscating guns, rounding up community leaders, putting troublemakers into camps. But even more importantly, the way the kids slowly turned into competent guerrillas was realistic. These were just regular high school kids who needed to learn to use their weapons, needed to learn battle tactics, and needed to learn how to fight and how to hide. This was all new to them and the actors (and director/writer -- Hollywood conservative John Milius) did a great job showing their growth throughout the film.

Secondly, the story worked because you felt for the characters. These kids faced impossible choices and real trauma. They had to deal with death, fear, anger, loneliness and isolation, lack of knowledge, guilt, disloyalty, and learning the difference between hubris and confidence. This presented a tremendous emotional range, and the fact you could see yourself in their place pulled you in and forced you to wonder how you would respond.

Finally, the story ends the right way: America prevails and sets the world right.

The new film has none of this.

The Remake

The remake is a competent modern movie. That means that visually, it’s well done: the images clearly convey what is happening and it’s pretty to look at. The CGI is barely noticeable, which is a nice bonus. The actors are pretty. And if you like to see images of people firing guns for two hours, then this film is for you. If you want more out of a movie however, then skip one. Why?

Well, for starters, it’s impossible to buy into this one. Indeed, the plot couldn’t be less believable. According to the film, the Russians have become hyper-nationalistic and they fire something called “a laser” an EMP pulse at the US, which completely wipes out our military (“our subs drowned”... I think you meant “sank” Mr. Writer) and our power grid. The following morning, North Korean paratroopers (as if there was such a thing) take over the Pacific Northwest as the Russians take over the Eastern seaboard. Only flyover country is left free.

Uh... no. The Russian economy and military are sclerotic. The only way they’re getting troops to the US is on American Airlines. Their equipment is rusting in the field and has proven to be no match for ours. The North Korean military is worthless and probably can’t make it to Seoul, much less the West Coast. The film says, “they had help,” but there’s no one out there with a big enough military to pull this off... we couldn’t pull this off. As for this EMP, the writer apparently doesn’t know this, but for decades now, the US military has been buying electronic equipment that is hardened against an EMP. So claiming that an EMP weapon stopped our military is just stupid. Plus, the only way to stop our entire military would be to use this EMP all over the planet, which would cripple the bad guys too. Not to mention that anything that wasn’t running at the time wouldn’t be affected by the EMP. And even if you can overlook all of that, the entire North Korean and Russian militaries are not enough to hold even one state, much less two thirds of the country. And if they tried, our EMP-hardened nuclear missiles or our hidden subs would turn North Korea and Russians into smoking husks.

Then it gets really stupid. After the “kids” form their guerrilla group, some Marines show up to tell them that they need to capture an EMP-hardened telephone the Koreans are using so that the American military can use it to coordinate a counter-attack. WTF? First of all, our military has lines of communication that don’t rely on the iPhone, so they don’t need to get their hands on a special EMP-hardened phone because they have one. Secondly, what’s the point in having a single phone? Do you speak into it and then rush it to the recipient so they can hear the message? Third, despite this EMP attack, the lights are on, i.e. the power is working (heck, even Subway restaurant is working and seems to have no problem getting their normal supplies despite the country being chopped up and invaded). If the power is working, why can’t they just make a regular call? Or how about building a new radio now that the EMP blast has passed?

Beyond the plot, the film suffers from uninteresting characters. The Wolverines are led by Thor, who is a Marine who was on leave. So think about this. The heart of the original was seeing this group of teenagers come together and grow into an effective unit. You get none of that here. Here you have a designated leader in a Marine with combat experience who quickly trains them in military tactics. So much for growth. They even eliminate any distractions by killing the boys’ father at the opening and never showing you what is happening in the rest of the community. And having wiped out the growth and the emotional content, the film becomes just a series of attacks and counterattacks until the credits roll. Essentially, the film is little more than a first-person shooter with a minor subplot involving Thor repeatedly telling his brother Nerdki that he needs to put the group before his desire to save his girlfriend. Yawn.

The film finally ends with Thor getting killed and Nerdki giving the same speech Thor gave to the group originally as he inducts new members into the group. There’s no resolution to the invasion or even a suggestion of a resolution. I guess the steal-a-phone plan didn’t work.

Blech.

Here’s the thing. Like so many other films these days, this one is pretty to look at and the action is ok until it gets really, really dull and repetitive. There isn’t a single moment that you care about any of the characters. I can’t even name them and I knew the names going in! The plot is total nonsense and feels like nonsense. The bad guys are cardboard, but so are the good guys. There are no highs and no lows, and the film ends rather than resolves. This is a clinic on how not to make films: a nonsense story that no one in the audience can buy into, characters you don’t care about, and a plot that is little more than a rambling series of action sequences with no actual climax.

Compare that to the original, which was a clinic on how to make a compelling film – a plot that forces you to put yourself in the position of the characters, strong characters who need to overcome increasingly difficult obstacles (both emotional and physical), high stakes that keep rising, and a climax that is the most tense moment of the film. Skip the new one, watch the original.