'Red Dawn' Remake Adds 2 More

Entertainment Weekly delivered some bittersweet news this week concerning the dreaded Red Dawn remake. Actors Josh Peck and Adrianne Palicki have joined Chris Hemsworth in 80's red scare invasion film. Josh Peck has spent most of his younger years on Nickelodeon in the tv show "Drake & Josh," but has more recently made some quality indie films including The Wackness. Peck will play the role of Matt Eckert, originally played by Charlie Sheen. Matt is the star quarterback of his high school and the younger brother to Jed Eckert who is being played by Chris Hemsworth. Palicki will play Toni Mason (originally played by Jennifer Grey) one of two sisters who survive the Soviet invasion and escape to their grandfather's farm. Production on "Red Dawn" is scheduled for September with first time director Dan Bradley at the helm.

I hate the idea of a remake to this film, more so in some ways than the current list of upcoming remakes. The original was perfect for it's time during the Communist Red Scare and Cold War, it was controversial when it came out and it also launched quite a few careers. The remake isn't an update, and having a current film set in the 80's with Russian and Chinese invading American soil just sounds stupid. The Red Scare is over and so is the Cold War, it has been for a long time and most of the younger generation are not too familiar with it's meaning. The generation who watched the original Red Dawn had all of the anti-communist propaganda around and were generally fearful of a possible communist attack. This current generation only knows what they have slept through in history class.

I have been hesitant to cover anything concerning a Red Dawn remake because I love the original, and frankly it makes no sense why Hollywood just keeps remaking great movies only to become lesser features. I will admitt Chris Hemsworth shows potential and I can't wait to see him as Thor. Josh Peck is a good actor, but I am just not interested in seeing this story retold. There have been a few remakes I have enjoyed, but they have been strictly in the horror genre and in franchises that had (to coin a bad term), milked the cow dry, and a reinvention of the characters seemed logical. Most of the recent optioned remakes are absolutely great films that do not warrant remakes. They are timeless films and are still worthwhile viewings. Films like The Karate Kid, Short Circuit, Red Dawn, Videodrome, Footloose, The Birds, Rosemary's Baby, Weird Science and Top Gun, which all are in current remake development, are just fine the way they are and younger generations would enjoy them just as much as we did.

What say you? Does adding Josh Peck and Adrianne Palicki raise your interest of Red Dawn? Strikeback...