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I remember Red Dawn. I remember it as an embodiment of our nation's worst fears at the height of the Cold War. America's spirit if independence and resistance boiled down to it's most basic and poetic element, a band of kids fighting the invading horde. Awesome.
Then I caught the original Red Dawn on cable a few weeks ago. It's amazing how my subconscious dismissed the 80s film's flaws and carried forward the larger issues the film portrayed. (That and Powers Boothe as the downed Texan pilot. He was great.) But the rest of the film is overwrought and a bit silly by current filmmaking standards. If you have a fond memory of the film, don't ruin it by trying to watch it today.
Now, the current film. It looks exciting. The cast look good and the crew accomplished. Even the plot sounds good. Swapping the Chinese for the Cuban/Russian Communists makes sense, but without the backdrop of a second Cold War I think the film is going to have a hard time finding a resonant frequency with today's audience.
