While the “Red Dawn” remake continues to sit on the shelf, as it was reported a couple of days ago, MGM are looking to sell the film and trying to make it more internationally friendly. As you might recall, the plot of the original film revolves around a band of teens who fight off some evil Soviets. In the remake, the baddies were switched up to the Chinese who, as the plot goes, decide to cash in on the debt the United States owes them. But fearing that the film might be too controversial for the lucrative film market in China, the studio has decided to digitally alter the film scrubbing references to the Chinese as the main antagonists and instead slotting in North Koreans. Needless to say, the move caused some chatter in certain quarters, with some accusing the filmmakers of being pushed around, but producer Tripp Vinson is going to take that sitting down. Because he’s an American dammit.
In a kind of embarrassing, totally Charlie Sheen-esque rant to AICN, Vinson went off about “Red Dawn” telling carrot eaters to people who cry to stay away from the movie because they won’t like it. It’s kind of amazing:
I know there is a lot of interest and questions as to the changes announced regarding Red Dawn.
This movie has been rebooted because the filmmakers all love the original movie. The experience of seeing Red Dawn as a young boy in the middle of a Cold War, was life changing for me and a generation. I assure you that everyone involved with the reboot is keenly aware of the responsibility of delivering a movie that can stand eye to eye with the original.
The changes made to Red Dawn in the last few weeks were made in consultation with military think tanks and people that specialize in game theory. Really smart people that spend their days constructing doomsday scenarios for our military and government. The type of people that know the limitations of the North Korean military. The type of people that can project a series of events that could lead to some very scary things happening to our Country. I can assure you, we listened well to those people, especially with regards to the capability of the North Korean military.
Red Dawn isn’t for everyone. So, if you are interested in seeing a movie filled with preachy political discussions – Red Dawn ain’t for you. If you love movies in which Americans are the bad guys – Red Dawn ain’t for you. If you get emotional watching daytime television – Red Dawn ain’t for you. If you’re a vegetarian – Red Dawn probably ain’t for you.
But! If you like meat with your potatoes, muscle cars that roar, tanks, guns and things blowing the fuck up by American’s kicking some Commie ass – then we have something special coming your way.
WOLVERINES!
Yeah, we’re pretty sure he was on his fifth Red Bull of the morning before writing that. There is a certain insecure, over-the-top bluster in the defense of his film that comes through that nonsense and Vinson might be surprised to learn that criticism of the changes has come from a corner he might’ve expected to be behind him.
Conservative film blog Libertas was given exclusive access to an early screening of the film with the promise that they would hold their review. However, in the wake of the news that significant changes would be made to the film, they filed their spoiler heavy review early, noting the irony of the filmmakers backing down from a nation that very much has a poor human rights record and also actually does have a pretty big stake in the American economy. If “Red Dawn” producers were going for realism, they already had it. If you want to get more details on what’s in store for the film, head over there and check out their analysis, though they do note that “Red Dawn” is basically an action movie first, with the politics second; they also prefer the original over the remake in the end.
Meanwhile, Dan Bradley’s film continues to wait for a release, but Chinese or North Korean villains — will it make a difference? Guess we’ll have to wait and see.
