Red Dawn (1984) vs Red Dawn (2012)

I always suspect most remakes are made in order to make the original look better. This is sound logic, considering that probably a half dozen people or so have a huge influence over any movie. At least one of these will have an interest in the original.


Like most remakes, 2012 makes the original look like a classic in comparison.


Red Dawn 1984 6/10

Red Dawn 2012 1/10

Between the two, the '84 movie.

I thought both were good. I saw the remake in theatre with my mom who had never seen the original. We may have been the only one in the theatre.

You really need to change your user name to "Lucky"

The original was superior in so many ways. When it came out it definitely played on the fears of a lot of Americans (and probably much of the Western world). We came pretty close to a big war in '85, tensions were high.

The remake was a joke in so many ways, especially when they changed the "bad guys" to the North Koreans when it was originally supposed to be Communist China. The North Koreans would never have the ability to attack the US in a conventional manner.

That being said, I had a history professor as an undergrad (and a Vietnam veteran) who used to always make jokes about the original Red Dawn. He was pretty dismissive about the idea of the Soviets being able to land enough troops in the US to make any kind of headway into the interior even with the aid of tactical nukes.

Remake - 1/10
Original - 0/10