HistoricNerd: Red Dawn Vs Red Dawn

An in-depth comparison of Red Dawn 1984 to the 2012 remake.
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[@HistoricNerd]

Slava Ukraine!

[@bearbryant3495]

I can sense a remake coming.

[@WhiteSpaceSESH]

@@bearbryant3495 Exactly what i was thinking

[@DrCruel]

РОСОМАХИ!

[@piotrczuchowski1080]

Gerojom Slava!

[@Murderface666]

Fuck Ukraine! Neo Nazi scum!

[@tylerl6400]

"How you get yourself shot down ? " There was five of them .. I got four of them" Best line in the original.

[@Harv72b]

"It was five to one....I got four." RIP Powers Boothe

[@swaghauler8334]

"... and 600 million screamin' Chinamen." "Last I heard, there were a billion screaming Chinamen." "There were..." (throws coffee into the fire causing it to flare)."

[@springbloom5940]

@@swaghauler8334 Yup. I still like 'Whats the Capital of Texas? Wrong, Commie, its HOUSTON!'

[@frankmiller4550]

Tell me what's the difference between us and them? Because ... we live here!

[@longshot7601]

The one that I liked was when the kid gives him the hat and said that he got it off of a dead Russian major. Powers then replies that he guesses that it should fit a colonel.

[@SamuraiPie8111]

i love how the actors in the remake are always clean and wearing designer clothes in their guerilla war. the original was so much better, they went from kids wearing varsity jackets to dirty ass mountian rebels in camo.

[@signs80]

For you

[@SHADOW-xb7ww]

Agent Bill Wilson 😂😂😂😂😂

[@MrChickennugget360]

i know right. the new movie just sucked. utter garbage just like when they have that product placement with the Subway restaurant.

[@MrChickennugget360]

no the new movie sucked. that is why it has already been forgotten. its only reason for making any money is that a far better movie came out 30 years earlier.

[@MrChickennugget360]

can you offer one reason why the new movie is better than the old one?

[@erichelvie8524]

... In the early days of World War III, guerrillas - mostly children - placed the names of their lost upon this rock. They fought here alone and gave up their lives, so "that this nation shall not perish from the earth."

[@jamesmaclennan4525]

Then the rock got torn down by Antifa

[@DeusExAstra]

@@jamesmaclennan4525 Why is there always some asshole like you in any KZbin comments section? Please tell me that, why?

[@hightechredneck8587]

@@DeusExAstra Because of people like you.

[@JAY-tm7lt]

@@DeusExAstra youre right, but it was still funny

[@PaladinSix]

@@jamesmaclennan4525 That's funny, just like the original movie your comment is based in reality. Go away DeusExlax. Semper Fi

[@jordanandrew2786]

Imagine bending the knee to the CCP while making a movie that was supposed to be about the US getting invaded by the CCP.

[@philipgwyn8091]

We live in one of the dumber timelines.

[@jordanandrew2786]

@@philipgwyn8091 Nukes really gotta complicate conflicts between developed nations.

[@JBGARINGAN]

Jordan Andrew it's just a movie, yes the Chinese government is going to be upset about it but what are they gonna do? They're gonna ban it and let it not make a lot of money in their country. They know war over a movie is not going to put up with by the international community and isn't worth it. Worse incidents have happened and there was no war: An American U2 shot down over Cuba, a soviet submarine getting depth charges dropped above it by a US destroyer, another U2 downed over Russia. A lot worse has happened and men died but both sides knew MAD is literally well, mad! Even the botched Bay of Pigs invasion where American troops where directly fighting Cuban soldiers did not grow any bigger to include nuclear weapons or even more armed conflict or the full commitment of forces by either of the superpowers. The submarine in the end didn't fire back and the crew returned to Russia, the U2 pilot that flew over Russia was returned to the US and sadly the U2 pilot over Cuba perished in the crash. No war resulted from the Cuban Missile Crisis even though it was the closest incident to igniting the theoretical Third World War. That being said filmmakers and businesses are spineless regarding China. The Chinese themselves are also scumbags as they do not respect the copyright laws of other countries, many of those trash Chinese mobile games use footage of other actual games in their advertisements and Western companies cannot do anything because 1 the Chinese don't care about western capitalist laws, and 2 because if they did say something they would lose all their business in China as their products will be banned and China will still use the footage anyway. Hell its false advertising since the game is nothing like the commercial and basically all these games are reskins of each other: crap pay to win garbage. Even the people in their advertisements these streamers and gamers are spineless and are forced into doing these cheesy adverts (first of all bad acting) second of all again the footage is trash. They accept because their channel will be banned on KZbin in China. Btw that's another thing, KZbin allows China to do this because they know if they don't comply China will simply ban KZbin and probably create their own bootleg of it. Chinese hackers probably have figured out the code and setup of the website so simply KZbin is held hostage too. Not to say that KZbin is the victim here, KZbin itself is guilty of many things. Them too being a**holes about copyright to content creators though in the opposite direction of China. They take down any video with even a few seconds of a song that is copyrighted. Also not just copyright, KZbin also is quite politically biased and promotes videos and channels of a certain political view while demonetizing or simply taking down videos for hateful speech and such. So in summary, THE WORLD SUCKS

[@__shifty]

GOTTA LOVE THAT CHINA MONEY

[@bcast9978]

A movie exec told me that if you collect enough Chinese Renmimbi you will receive a wonderful reward at the Chuck-E-Cheese prize counter.

[@AudioAndroid]

The Orignal Red Dawn Font Title alone could destroy that remake and some.

[@ianhines2302]

I thought about it, honestly Red Dawn would have been better remade into a TV show than a movie.

[@JB-hz5hh]

It basically was, see: Jericho

[@springbloom5940]

@@JB-hz5hh Jericho was unlike anything else in that genre. I guess thats why it failed. It was probably the most realistic 'post-apocalypse', from its particular perspective. That being a small farming town, where just about everyone knows just about everyone and people are nominally prepared for disaster, being in tornado alley and a hard freeze zone. It made sense that they would cooperate to retain some sense of normalcy, rather than devolve into irrevocable chaos and cannibalism, in 72 hrs.

[@livecatgrenades]

Oh yes... but I also agree Jericho is almost as good.

[@stainless1175able]

With as bad as writing is these days, it would have sucked big doo doo.

[@SuperFunkmachine]

If it was done right, paired with a brutal anyone can die an running arc yes.

[@toracenimarus1769]

north korea with chinese camouflage and american humvees

[@gimzod76]

Cenimarus To be fair the Chinese do have a cloned humvee in their military arsenal Still doesn’t make any sense why the North Koreans would have them

[@DonPatrono]

prolly the movie started production with china as enemy, so they acquired props for chinese bad guys. When they had to switch to NK they simply couldn't afford to refit half the cast with new props, so we have NKs with Chinese gear

[@ClassyPandaOfficial]

Humvees were American they took them during the invasion thats why there's a North Korean military sticker over the US flag

[@ChucksSEADnDEAD]

FusionFilms I think they're invasion flags to mark them as NK vehicles and avoid confusion so that NK forces do not fire on their own vehicles. American Humvees do not have that camo pattern nor a coloured flag so they couldn't just put a red star sticker and call it a day, they brought them in. The Chinese have three Humvee copies made by Dongfeng, Shenyang and Xiaolong so when the nationality of the invader changed, they kept the vehicles and put the invasion flag with the Korean Hangul to replace any Chinese insignia, probably.

[@connorfox1551]

And American tanks, they were moving an Abrams down the highway

[@AIRburst95]

Power Projection: How does the DPRK get it’s troops across the pacific without Aircraft Carriers / Amphibious Assault Ships? Answer: They don’t.

[@RebornV3]

Agreed at best the North Koreans invade Alaska or Hawaii before they get pushed out and nuked back to the stone age even if Korea somehow landed on the west coast it would be an almost impossible task of keeping the skys and seas open to reinforcements and supplies

[@501ststormtrooper9]

HOI4 Teleport cheats and all equipment.

[@BidenCrashenomics]

They shot some of their own civies and used their kill streak rewards.

[@danielmcgillis270]

They tunneled.

[@johnlloyddy7016]

If you ever played a video game titled "Homefront" by Kaos studios from way back 2011, they explain how the North Koreans took over South Korea (which had a lot of military goodies from the U.S.) then all of Asia including China and then used the conquered nations' resources to make the push out west. That video game was way ahead of it's time. So when I saw the trailer for the new "Red Dawn" remake, the first thing that came to mind was WTF, they totally plagiarized the plot from "Homefront".

[@Harv72b]

You missed the most annoying aspect of the Subway scene in the remake: the preceding scene which ended with the Wolverines being chased through town literally took place at a food distribution center where dozens of people were near rioting in an effort to get those supplies.

[@tonypeppermint5329]

Huh. I'm guessing that the Subway was some promo that was added in after the food distribution center was written in.

[@tonypeppermint5329]

@@mthwsisson You raise a great point.

[@tonypeppermint5329]

@@mthwsisson I'll like to add in that it could of brought in a character we saw at the Subway who finds the group and leads the North Koreans to their location because of a tracker they took willing. Scene at the hideout introduces us to them and us the audience feel like we seen them before.

[@xjcrossx]

Don't forget about the fact that in the real movie, (not to be confused with this garbage), people knew about them and what they were doing and were being killed for helping. In this they have to ROB the Subway to get food, instead of being heroes they become criminals, oh yeah this is all while people are sitting down eating their dinner like nothing is going on outside. What a joke of a remake, and totally unnecessary.

[@tonypeppermint5329]

@@xjcrossx That would make more sense too. At least then there would be tension building from the Subway scene.

[@chandlerwhite6529]

What I personally hated about the remake is that it was set in Spokane Washington. I live In Spokane, and I can tell you that the only thing they got accurate about my city is that it is in Washington.

[@AudioAndroid]

The Red Dawn remake was the funniest Thor movie ever.

[@tingley428]

You fully win BEST COMMENT

[@Bsfnelz20]

And sadly Thor died wtf

[@intj7447]

@Skull Crusher Speak for yourself. The original was way better. The fact that it was made around 30 years before the shitty remake is impressive imo.

[@halrun209plays5]

Don't you hate it when they Nerf your favourite character

[@AudioAndroid]

@@halrun209plays5 i remember when Red Dawn first launch we would have to sneak in and out of Town, but now since they nerf it we can just walk in and out undetected, the guards want even stop us and ask us what we are doing or for us to bring a friend back.

[@tomasaleman2724]

“Tomorrow, When the War Began” was an Australian verging of “Red Dawn” not too bad.

[@hoosierhell7456]

A damn good title

[@uncreativename826]

I agree. Read the whole series and it’s by far my favorite. The movie was excellent and I want them to make more

[@ryantaddy4143]

It seemed like it was made on a pretty strict budget but still better then the remake red dawn

[@justtrash2067]

@@ryantaddy4143 even with the budget restraints you could see they cared enough to make it believable.

[@____________838]

I guess I need to find this one!

[@MyGeniusFriend]

If I had been the person responsible for the script, I would have set the film in an alternate reality where the Soviet Union still exists in the 21st century (maybe with cue cards about how they avoid the breakup of 1991 or something). You could still include the North Koreans as lackeys of the Soviets (like Colonel Bella and the Central American troops in the original) or something to play up the still-relevant factor.

[@gladonos3384]

THIS. WTF? This was obvious. Howe ever this would NOT have made the movie good. I can actually look past the NK invading. The REAL issue is this heroism bullshit and ridiculous comedy(@ 7:35 so fucking cringe worthy...)... There is ZERO sense of desperation on the part of the rebels. The original is gritty, grimy, realistic and you get a real sense that they are screwed(And in the end they were)

[@RomanHistoryFan476AD]

You got a better chance of Britain being the villain in the new Red Dawn, still far reaching but you could say Britain turns imperialist again, forces and gets Commonwealth nations on board plus Chinese and Russian support, make up some rubbish why the USA is weakening like economy, bad politics or Americans feel less patriotic the normal bs. then over a few decades the UK is leading a British Empire 2.0 with Chinese and Russia support. With India as the manpower for the British and Canada as the invasion site it is more believable than North Korea being the world superpower.

[@LordDavid04]

An alternate timeline could have worked. Grigory Romanov succeeds as leader of the Soviet Union over Mikhail Gorbachev. The reformations in the USSR do not happen. Hungary doesn't open its borders, the Berlin Wall doesn't fall down. Everything continues as it has been, with key moments being depicted for the movie viewer at the opening montage: I would have gone with brief news report flashes, depicting the style of each year/period, with maybe a single or various different news broadcasters. *1985* - Grigory Romanov being chosen as leader of the USSR over rival Mikhail Gorbachev. *1989* - East Germany begins the process of easing Visa restrictions for its own citizens, as to allow more "freedom" of travel between the East and West, especially West Germany. *1991* - The Soviet-Afghan War formally comes to a close, with the last of the Soviet troops withdrawing from Afghanistan. *1992* - Iraq invades Kuwait, resulting in the several month long "Gulf War". They are subsequently banned from attending the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. Kuwait receives a huge cheer as their small delegation enters the main stadium during the Opening Ceremony. *1995* - Polish food and labor riots, the Soviet Union invades to stop the uprising. *1997* - First McDonald's opens in Moscow, the first American Fast Food chain to do so. *1999* - The German Democratic Republic celebrates its 50th anniversary. *2001* - Socialist revolution in Mexico. *2002* - The Soviet city of Sochi hosts the 19th Olympic Winter Games in February. Czechoslovakia beats the USSR to retain the Gold they won in Nagano, Japan 4 years prior. Team USA beats Canada for Bronze. *2005* - The Greens Party successfully gain control of the West German Parliament, they succeed in formalizing the withdrawal of nuclear weapons from the European continent. *2007* - Cuba and El Salvador reach troop strength goals of 500,000. *2009* - 50th anniversary of the American National Exhibition in Moscow and Soviet Exhibition in New York City. *2011* - NATO Dissolves, the US stands alone.

[@Unertl28]

@@LordDavid04 now that is a way to set up a movie, it really installs a fear of the unknown. And a good rally point for the main characters is that they are the last line of defense for freedom.

[@SpeedyCM]

@@LordDavid04 You could even have the historical divergence later with the August 1991 coup being successful and Gennady Yanayev replacing Gorbachev. This would have the benefit of the leaders of the Soviet Union feeling themselves backed into a corner by the reunification of Germany and the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact already happening.

[@korbell1089]

When I first clicked on this link I was prepared to trash this review, however I found that it actually mirrors my beliefs in the two films. For those not brought up in that time, there was actually a theory that Russia would dominate Latin America and then Mexico so they could attack the US from the south. However they took an implosible theory from the first movie and made a total fantasy of the second! The worst sin though between the two movies is at the end of the original they talked about Partisan Rock and what it cost to fight a foreign invader and any country from France to Poland to Russia could relate to that. But in the sequel I actually expected to see American flags waving from the minigun mounted Prius's which told me that in the search for more money, the studio execs completely missed the message of the first movie!

[@mikhailiagacesa3406]

Thanks for pointing out the minimum patriatism and multi-national appeal the original had. Milius said that was what he was going for.

[@Hiraghm]

Well, if not for Reagan circumventing Congress, Russia _would_ have dominated Latin America.

[@shanek3453]

Also not to mention when the Colonel Ejects and the wolverines find him he gives exposition on whats happening around the country, talks about how Denver is under siege and people are starving and in some cases eating each other.

[@501ststormtrooper9]

American Leningrad, then?

[@mikhailiagacesa3406]

@@501ststormtrooper9 Yes.

[@MeinGoobbyXValorant]

@@Kirkmaximus What does that mean?

[@Kirkmaximus]

@@MeinGoobbyXValorant They were all nuked into oblivion. That's how dangerous the war had become.

[@SvenskaKrig1709]

To be honest the USSR really never had the ability to invade the US, but the in the original they set it up to make it believable. The video game Homefront had an interesting take on how North Korea could have risen to power.

[@VergilDarkslayer]

both the original and revolution whicj explains the control economy and millitary tech thing another game that introduce russiah invasion is cod mw2 when ww3 has started

[@JD1976]

Whoever said the ussr ever wanted to invade the US? Most russians had enough war during ww2.

[@scallen3841]

@@JD1976 The fear was always the USSR taking Europe , hense why nato was formed after ww2

[@ThersitestheHistorian]

Homefront had some of the same writers as the original "Red Dawn", at least from what I have heard.

[@JD1976]

It was fear our own leaders instilled in us. The soviets never had an interest in invading us. They had enough war from ww2. You know. . When they were invaded by the germans.

[@MatthewSmith-to1hz]

these are my exact thoughts. almost word for word. 1. North Korea? they can't even feed themselves or keep the lights on 2. the original at least did a good job showing the passage of time. 3. the characters were more like real kids, the new ones act more like kids trying to be bad ass 4. A fully stocked subway, with fresh food while being occupied by a country that wants to control everything. It just screams product placement, painfully I might add. 5. Yeah no ending.

[@HistoricNerd]

Matthew Smith The remake drove me nuts on all those points to where I actually made this video because no one was pointing them out. Thank you for the comment.

[@MatthewSmith-to1hz]

HistoricNerd do war of the worlds.

[@HistoricNerd]

Matthew Smith That is going on the list. Thanks for the idea!

[@CosbyTheCaterpillar]

Or let alone the fact that the Subway was still open.....and that the workers still had to show up to work.......and the fact that there's PEOPLE EATING IN THE SUBWAY!!!

[@OtherThanIntendedPurpose]

I grew up in a small midwestern town in the 70's and early 80's. I knew people just like the characters in the original film, and when I saw it in the theatres in 1984, I saw people I could relate to. The fear, and determination. the hunger in their eyes... I could see the genuine emotions there. the story was near and dear to me, because growing up in the cold war, we had air raid drills, and nuclear bomb drills in elementary school. We were taught to fear the Red Menace. "be mindful what you say on the phone, Ivan is listening" it was very much a real depiction of small town American people. the remake was so hollywierd, I didn't have any connection with anyone, and as you said, the situation was not a plausible, or real-world fear that we lived with. some movies ( read that as MOST) just should not be remade.

[@civdung1758]

It would appear the remake uses that shaky-camera nonsense endemic in modern films now. That alone discourages me from checking it out.

[@HistoricNerd]

The Shaky camera was used really odd in the remake. Even in scenes where they're just talking the Camera bounces up and down. Now that you've said that I think they might be doing that in every frame of the film. Now I really wish I had noticed this before I published the video.

[@InternetMameluq]

'shaky-camera nonsense endemic in modern films now' UH. STOP MOVING YOUR FUCKING CAMERA. WHY IS EVERY CAMERA MAN USING AMPHETIMINES NOWADAYS??

[@Tronathon242]

It was horrific. It made some scenes borderline unwatchable.

[@johnlloyddy7016]

It was the actor who played Chris Hemsworth's younger brother who ruined it for me. That former Disney show actor tried so hard to distance himself from his Disney persona by overdoing the brooding silent hero bit he ended up looking like a pathetic sulky spoiled brat who got pissed because he couldn't get his way in the movie. When Hemsworth's character died, the movie pretty much ended and died with him and the rest of the scenes after that were basically a very long painful epilogue.

[@MonkeyJedi99]

That and the jump-cutting. If you have to show us a conversation, show us both people, even if one is facing away from the camera. It's not a Broadway stage show, and the audience can hear fine. I really can't stand the fraction-of-a-second jumping around. It takes me out of the story and into critic mode right away.

[@kwiteryabitchin]

1984 version was a masterpiece.

[@gerbenvanessen]

that is a pretty weird way to write right wing propaganda. its decently put together but some kids with no legal authority execute ( murder) another kid because intellectual character coward traitor, jock violence good.

[@Dell-ol6hb]

gerbenvanessen uhh but that’s probably how it’d happen irl tbh, not saying it’s the right thing ofc, but they’re teens after suffering a unbelievably traumatic series of events and thrust into a situation where they have complete power over themselves and no authority, so I’m not surprised something like that happened.

[@gerbenvanessen]

@@Dell-ol6hb still an illegal child murder being depicted as justified execution my dude.

[@Dell-ol6hb]

gerbenvanessen again never claimed it was right, I think it was a wrong thing, BUT as I said it’s still logically consistent with the events happening in the movie, I don’t see how the act itself happening in such a series of events is right wing propaganda. But I can see how if they glorified that execution then it could be considered propaganda. So i think we’re on the same page actually

[@gerbenvanessen]

@@Dell-ol6hbright US alone vs the world and the target the russians target with their paratroopers is a school where they start by randomly killing every unarmed schoolkid. alright.

[@malphone7940]

what really bugs me is that the first film seemed more like a commentary on the horrors of war. The Soviets, though clearly the occupying invading Force, are also shown as human. The ones that they kill on accident the first time are shown conversing about their families back home and having a good time as comrades. The lead villain is shown to have a loved one back home who he writes letters to. And you of course have the famous scene where he has a moment of killing the brothers but lets them go out of a sense of respect for fellow soldiers. it was a perfect way of showing that even though these are the villains they were real and human. The remake did not have any of that, and turned it into a stupid good guys versus bad guys story with no complexity. part of the point of the original is that the wolverines almost become the monsters they're fighting. Their hatred keeps them warm but will burn them out. Here you don't get any of that and it comes off as a more stereotypical 'Merica!' piece.

[@ChucksSEADnDEAD]

That's accurate because Red Dawn was originally pitched as Ten Soldiers, an anti-war film more on the artsy side. Production ended up increasing the budget, crank up the action and the age of the freedom fighters by bringing Milius on board.

[@SavageBunnyGetMoney]

Well yeah the Commander used to be a Parisian in Cuba so he understood the cause of being on the Opposite side there was a mutual respect for the Wolverines

[@kleinjahr]

The Mouse That Roared was more realistic than the Red Dawn remake.

[@herbproductions2813]

kleinjahr no kidding

[@brianpayne4549]

The red dawn remake was horrible.

[@dacosta0656]

Remember when people made original movies instead of ruining old ones? Female Ghostbusters was good though...... Right? Lol

[@sampson9115]

dacosta0656 no

[@DP_KUN]

Suck

[@wizard3z868]

Better than the totel recall remake at least it followed the same story and setting other than that garbage waste of time lol

[@edwardmiessner6502]

Then there's the Star Wars sequel trilogy

[@wizard3z868]

@@edwardmiessner6502 you mean the prequels with jar jar dinks??

[@JasonsDeathCurse]

How does his analysis of these 2 films have over 180 dislikes? He’s 100% correct! The original Red Dawn was a classic! The remake sucked ass!

[@HistoricNerd]

Honestly surprised it hasn't gotten more dislikes this video gets a odd levels of traction.

[@shadowwolf7622]

Perfectly said!

[@johnholliday5874]

Thank you! That's exactly the words I was searching for.

[@stvdagger8074]

Obviously Chinese cyberwarriors pretending to be North Koreans down voted

[@BladeFitAcademy]

I remember back in the early 2000's how excited I was at the possibility of remaking all these great older films. Oh how I have been sorely disappointed. Red Dawn is a prime example.

[@ClassicStreetIron]

I saw the original in the theater. I never got a chance to see the remake. Now I am glad that never happened.

[@afatcatfromsweden]

The ending in the original is pure gold

[@Koasterking212]

The remake could've been such a good movie if they kept China as the enemy. Everything would've made sense.

[@MatthewSmith-to1hz]

Katannabae ikr. North Korea can't even keep the lights on half the time or feed themselves

[@Koasterking212]

Matthew Smith Exactly it would've been better and more realistic if the just put China in as the enemy. We weren't worried about offending the Soviet Union about the original. I mean what are they gonna do nuke us cause we made a movie about them attacking us?

[@googlesuxbigtime1227]

+Katannabae First off. China is a big market for Hollywood. Secondly. China is an ally, that takes offence to a lot of stupid little things. Thirdly. China is heavily invested in Hollywood. You don't want to alienate the people backing your career. The Soviet Union was still enemies with the U.S.. And anything that annoyed the Kremlin, was a good thing. Besides, in the original movie. The soviets were primarily acting as advisors to the Cuban & Nicaraguan militaries. The commander of the town's occupation was, Cornel Bella of the Cuban National forces. North Korea could have been believable, if they would of set that up a bit better. And is hardly the deal breaker for a movie. But the departure from the original storyline. As well as the way it was presented. Coupled to lousy character choices, a bad script, and unbelievable plotline. Are in my opinion, is what doomed this remake.

[@MatthewSmith-to1hz]

Googlesux Bigtime China isn't really an ally. We trade with them, but we're not exactly allies.

[@Koasterking212]

dakotagau China is about to be our enemy soon

[@mattfoley4425]

I grew up in the '80's so I remember the political and economic climate of that time. In the early '80's, the U.S. military was seriously weak. After Vietnam, there was less interest in maintaining a strong military. Standards had fallen and our hardware was old and worn. Now of course the military is strong and our weapons are highly advanced. Also at that time, we were in a serious economic recession. The original was made in the early '80's and we didn't have the economic prosperity of the "Reagan Revolution" yet. Now, we have global control of the world's economic wealth and strength. There was also a great deal of conflict in Central America and there was a very real threat of Central American countries falling to communism. So to add to the points you made very well in your video, there were a whole host of economic and military situations that were non-existent in 2012 making the premise of the remake even more wholly unrealistic.

[@RavenStorm332]

there were situations the film makers just didn't look at them in the right way to figure out how to make them fit into a narrative that supported their story they could have stated that Central America unified then allied with Mexico and some other countries to invade the US even if it's unlikely, but a good storyteller could have made it work out for the main story of the movie and then when it comes to the main "good-guys" they could have made it so that they were in such a shock that the US was invaded that it took awhile to sink in or something like that.

[@isaiasvalladares4210]

Central America was mainly military dictatorships that made deals with cartels and were backed by USA to fight communism. The original made sense because considering the economic situation of Latin America back then and even now, things probably would've been better for these countries to turn to communism considering the choices they had to make: join as allies or be enslaved in treaties that make them more so pawns.

[@bluskies1000]

See my post about 8 up ".Also at that time, we were in a serious economic recession. The original was made in the early '80's and we didn't have the economic prosperity of the "Reagan Revolution" yet. Now, we have global control of the world's economic wealth and strength." The "Reagan Revolution " began to fall apart in 1990- Bush was not a "Reaganomics" believer.. Bush was the Republican " Bill Clinton. " The economy had crashed again, we had the LA Riots, and Clinton's campaign slogan was "it's the economy stupid". We do not have global control of the world's wealth. We had influence. BTW Average incomes were dropping.. Today we have the Trump economic revolution..

[@keithstewart934]

@ I joined the Army right out of High School in the late 70's...big difference between the Carter and Reagan administrations, Peace Through Strength is a good approach in any generation...appesement invites aggression. I actually saw the original Red Dawn at a base theater, it was a big hit with the troops.

[@keithstewart934]

@ 😊

[@neoasura]

Also, the 1984 version had some awesome cinematography and gorgeous shots, the new one everything looked gray and dark and dreary.

[@daviesmith1311]

I was so excited when I heard about the remake then saw it and could not be more disappointed, wished they would have just left it alone rather than do such a piss poor job of it! I saw the original in the theater when I was young and still love today .

[@johnd4348]

Watched the second Red Dawn last week. The original was way better. Had a lot of great up and coming actors. Who went on to do some great films. The original film, you could almost put yourself right there beside the actors fighting along side them. That makes a good film.

[@desertwolf3818]

Good review, I agree the remake was poorly done.

[@spawnpeekcentral1399]

The only remake of red dawn I would love is a remake with realistic use of guns lol that's it nothing else

[@jonwebsterabbott]

The most important point is that in the original the Russians were able to confiscate guns by getting the government background checks. The new movie made no attempt to show how background checks lead to confiscation by enemies foreign or domestic.

[@repthehoosier873]

Remember, the Russians pretty much gave all of there old arsenal to the North Koreans.

[@thelonerider5644]

I thought of that... also thought that if a foreign force ever invaded, and got past the army, it's convenient for them that both coasts have very strict gun laws and a mostly disarmed citizenry...

[@losingit1726]

My kids rented the remake when it first came out; I was cringing and muttering as I watched it. Then I rented the original for them, they were like, "Oh, okay, I see now... yeah." They took the human element out of the movie. It's almost as if the directors gave 2 different sets of directives: Original: You're a bunch of kids whose lives are turned upside-down when you suddenly find yourself in the middle of WW3. You are traumatized trying to come to terms with this upheaval, but you try to survive, even to fight, but react realistically as the horrors of war keep unfolding around you. Remake: You're action stars-- look cool.

[@Gooberslot]

I've never seen the remake and now I'm really glad I didn't. North Korea?! You could have replaced the words "North Koreans" with Koalas and it wouldn't have made any less sense.

[@HistoricNerd]

I think Koala Dawn would have been a considerably better film. You have the character trait with the Koalas having to battle with their addiction to Eucalyptus and becoming increasingly violent as they come down from their High.

[@ButlerianG-Haddinun]

+HistoricNerd hahaha

[@treerat7631]

Gooberslot it sucked waste of time

[@MusicFanatic527]

THANK YOU for putting this all down on video! I love the original Red Dawn and having why the remake was so bad explained is fantastic. I agree with every point you make, although there is one aspect that you didn't mention. In the original, the Commies were certainly bad, yes, but you had Colonel Bella there who at the end of the film becomes so disillusioned by his part in the war that he let's the brothers go instead of gunning them down. Bella was the proof that the enemy could still have a conscience. The remake had nothing of the sort in its storyline at all, and that made me mad. That definitely made for very weak characters and very poor development.

[@HistoricNerd]

Exactly, The remake at no point made even the smallest attempt to explore the north Koreans and their motivations. Made them even more hollow then they appeared in the film.

[@xenophagia]

I'm sick of Hollywood bending the knee to communist China.

[@AndrewAMartin]

It's called commerce. China is a huge market, and Hollywood is a business, they're in it to make money...

[@MarshalRedDog]

USA had Westerns, Yugoslavia had Partisan movies. Milius said that he was inspired by the Partisan movies. Some are really good, with humane stories. I´d say that that´s the difference between 1984 and 2012. Milius wrote a story, with tropes that worked well abroad, and then made a movie. Bradley was commissioned to stack a lot of tropes that would look good, without a story. A thin story was made up to connect the scenes.

[@moritamikamikara3879]

Shit, I gotta watch me some partisan movies.

[@likilikiki]

My take on things: Red Dawn 1984: EPIC! Red Dawn 2012: A steaming pile of DOGPOOP! almost forgot... Jennifer Grey was smoking before she butchered her face.

[@Mikey-ym6ok]

While the first one was amazing I don’t feel the remake was that bad. It just evolved to the times where North Korea felt like a real threat in the early 2000s. Acting yeah sucks but overall I don’t hate it.

[@amyspickard6270]

As an old Boy Scout a pre 2000 survivalist and modern day prepper I can honestly say RD 1984 was a superior film. It showed hardships most people cannot fathom and bravery many will never Know.It also showcased the importance of family and friendship.Great film thanks for the comparison.

[@thekitchenchikens]

I guess in the remake the chinese won before filming xD

[@nastynate4916]

A great point I’d like to add would be the groan-worthy CG effect in the remake. The original used real explosions, muzzle flashes, the lighting didn’t look to tampered with. It actually makes you feel like you’re watching these things happen. You feel like you watched a school bus got blown up with an RPG or a helicopter fired missiles into side street buildings. Meanwhile that clip from the remake when they ram those cars on fire just looks lame. And on an unrelated note, the soundtrack in the original was much more kickass

[@OdileOdile19]

And it's effective with the crappy shakycam

[@willnailer2118]

Thank you @HistoricNerd . I luv'd it. Everything thing you said about the nostalgia of the video shop was exactly the same as my family. Your commentary was great. Thanks again.

[@noticedruid4985]

Man that subway scene, I swear that the remake during that part there was commercial break in the middle of the movie lol, if they wanted to put an ad in they should've made it way way way less obvious lol.

[@GundamFireStorm]

I was SUPPER Excited when I heard Red Dawn was getting a Remake. Because the original starts to show its age at times. in quality of its effects and the military tech. And of course the cold war was over and at the time Russia seemed to be more of a friend then foe. and then when i heard the villain was going to be China I thought "Oh Man! that could really happen" just at the time when My parents saw Red Dawn in 1984 they said the same thing, only about the Russians. then China got mad and I guess we need to appease them in order to get that sweet sweet Chinese box office money. so they changed it to North Korea, which is the next obvious choice of villain. I don't know... You covered everything in this video, good job! I like both versions to an extent but they are not perfect for me but they are both inspiring. That idea of "what if you..." is always a fun narrative. what if you were going about your day then all of a sudden you are thrown into a war! you have no idea what is going on, but this is your home and you are going to defend it. its that Adventure and responsibility story that is thrust upon the unsuspecting heroes. I like that. Red Dawn paints the template for that kind of Story perfectly.

[@HistoricNerd]

+GundamFireStorm If the red dawn remake does anything it shows the changing culture of Hollywood. That I think is the most interesting thing about the film because it shows how even one of the most iconic american 80s action films will be changed to fit a wider audience. That can also be a reflection of our more global society too. It's fun to think about......unlike watching the remake.....

[@Seth655]

R GG Stfu you stupid troll

[@Seth655]

R GG Your not even telling anyone why you think the remakes better

[@Seth655]

R GG And while your at it just give us one reason why the remake was better than the original

[@Seth655]

R GG Just give us one reason why the remake was better, get your thumb out of your ass and anwser the damn question

[@AmericanRailfan-gb8oq]

"They picked an enemy not a threat to the United States" North Korea is a threat to the United States, but not to the extent of the movie

[@brianpayne4549]

AmericanRailfan 2005 North Korea is only a threat to themselves.

[@ryancarroll5488]

Don't agree it is a threat Even if they attacked the US with a nuke the USA coukd flatten them with a quick order to a missile sub captain.

[@gregoriobell2736]

The original Red Dawn was filmed in my hometown of Las Vegas NM.

[@danielmcgillis270]

Them singing America the Beautiful right before getting gunned down has always stuck with me.

[@RavenStorm332]

I can't tell you how much I agree with this, but I didn't mind that they made one of the teens a US Marine they just could have done it better by having him struggle with trying to keep them in line. Also I didn't like the fact that they tried to bate people to get behind it for a second movie

[@HistoricNerd]

Fair enough, I felt that since they went with one of the Characters being a Marine they could have at least explored that more from a dramatic point of view. Its just unfortunate because went the path of playing it too safe and the film ultimately suffered.

[@RavenStorm332]

HistoricNerd me too, also Tomorrow When the War Began is also a book series I can't remember the author

[@mesquiteguy121]

Gender Normal I saw that one. and I liked it too.

[@thetrippedup9322]

The original Red Dawn was actually interesting

[@skeltonslay8er781]

If it has Patrick swayze, it’s clearly better

[@tantraman93]

I was a private in the Army when the original came out. We went ape-shit over it. Seriously...

[@mena94x3]

😂😂😂 I love that Red Dawn (1984) was raiding “old classics” section for you. No judgment, just think that’s cute. I love both versions, BTW. Well . . . I shouldn’t say I _love _ both versions. ‘84 is by FAR the superior, and although the remake certainly has it’s issues, I enjoyed it for what it tried to do.

[@frankmiller4550]

To a pre-teen, a movie from over 3 years ago is old.

[@Csmallo]

One weekend I watched the original with my 13 year old daughter. The next weekend she invited her best friend over to watch it.

[@akforlife2423]

Absolutely perfect synopsis. I hated the remake. I felt like I had been robbed of a childhood fantasy.

[@erwin669]

The reason it was changed from the Chinese to the NorKs was not because people in China got offended, it was because MGM needed money. The film was originally set to release mid to late 2010 and promotions for the movie had started up a year before hand (I have a couple of the Chinese PLA wanted posters that you could get as promotional material), then MGM entered into bankruptcy proceedings in June 2010. By the time MGM entered into bankruptcy the movie was pretty much done. The only people that was interested in investing into MGM was a Chinese company who stipulated that they change the bad guys before they invested money. The movie wasn't even planned to be released on China from what I've been able to find. Basically it came down to change the movie and get the money or don't and let MGM get shuttered up for good. The studio chose the money.

[@Scholar4777]

You hit the nail on the head great job. I was so disappointing I couldn't even finish the film.

[@mschrage618]

As someone who lives in a town much smaller than the one the remake is set in, the lack of law enforcement response to the initial invasion always bothered me. We have a decent sized police force for a rural town, which includes a K-9 unit and a tactical team with an armored vehicle. Civilians with guns aside, I feel the North Korean paratroopers would’ve faced significantly more resistance than depicted, at least early on.

[@christopherdean9684]

just watch the original don't even bother with the remake

[@danielwalker8142]

loved the anti gun contol bumper sticker scene at the start of the original

[@moritamikamikara3879]

I know, I loved the way that was done. The sticker saying "You can have it when you pry it from my cold dead hands" followed by a pan down to the Cuban (I think) soldier, prying the handgun out of his hand as he lay dead on the ground. It was the perfect shot to show just how serious the invading troops are, that just having some bravado wouldn't be enough to stop them.

[@xavi-kun]

If Korea was unified in the world of Red Dawn then we would be looking at Homefront and Homefront: The Revolution.

[@HistoricNerd]

I like to think that could have improved the disbelief of the film. At the very least made it somewhat more plausible, However unlikely Korean Unification might be.

[@sturgis007]

OG Red Dawn, a timeless classic, . good storytelling always holds up!

[@TJHS08]

I absolutely loved what you did with this! You hit basically every point I had when I watched both films! Thank you so much! Original will always be the best!

[@panzerabwerkanone]

Thank you John Milius for the 1984 masterpiece.

[@mikecummings4715]

The worst part of the remake is when they hide in the house in the woods and fire up the generator. Nothing says hiding like having every light in the house on

[@ThisGuysMason]

Love how theres a section dedicated to subway, its beautiful

[@justbecause968]

Original film is so brilliant. Masterpiece in comparison.

[@kilroy5408]

I don't think so, watch it again

[@bluesbrother99]

I know I’m three years late but I just hate how Robert never turned into a hardcore borderline war criminal in the remake. He’s my favorite character in the original and watching his transition is a great part of the 84 movie. In the remake not even his dad’s death causes him to become cold blooded.

[@moritamikamikara3879]

Yeah, that's a really good part. To show just how bad and how ugly warfare, especially guerrilla warfare can get. "All that hate's gonna burn you up kid." "Keeps me warm." Makes you kinda question the morals of the protagonists when they execute one of their own. But you remember that that's REALISTIC! They're fighting an occupying force! They have to kill on a daily basis! It's hardly surprising that'd corrupt some of them.

[@justinriley3096]

1984. way better. the only thing it was missing was more outside the group. nation wide clips but the air force poilet dose a very good story telling.

[@HistoricNerd]

+Justin Riley Yeah the addition of the Air Force pilot in the original made the introduction of information about what had happened more interesting and most of all more believable.

[@beargun8986]

My name justin too

[@IsaiahRichards692]

Let’s not forget that in the remake, the civilians instantly start chanting Wolverines! In the original, they ran away from the sounds of gunfire! I know, dumb, right?!

[@sombojoe]

No wonder in the beginning of the video you said “go watch the original.”, and didn’t say to watch the remake! Haha

[@ericknutson8679]

Saw the original when it came out never thought of seeing the remake

[@emperorconstantine1.361]

Patrick Swayze is ALWAYS the win!!

[@ta_bobizcoolta_bobizcool7735]

I think it's possible for North Korea to be in the remake because of the manpower that they have. I know that both North Korea and U.S have a big distance between them, but china still having a communist party help North Korea to invade by having both Chinese and Korea soldiers and using advanced weapons China is investing heavily on for their military. As well with the Russia it is possible they went back into communism because the beginning talked about an killing of some sort and their government falling because of that (the death of Vladimir Putin). So know the Russians are involved in the invasion because they had both political and military leaders at the sense of the assassination of General Cho (if you looked at a guy wearing a blue beret he spetsnaz). So it kinda does make sense of North Korea invading but the original version is more in an era of where the U.S.S.R is a threat.

[@whiskeycorridor90]

Red Dawn would make a great TV show.

[@HistoricNerd]

+Monnman Fan Yeah, I'd actually watch that. provided they did it semi 80s retro so the Soviets could be the bad guys.

[@whiskeycorridor90]

HistoricNerd id rather it be modern so it will be more relatable. China would be a good enemy, and so would Russia.

[@HistoricNerd]

+Monnman Fan I'd be willing to settle for that. As long as they don't try and convince me that North Korea is any kind of threat.

[@spiderkid7937]

How about no enemies? Make the soldiers have a story, not just mindless killing machines. Make have some humanity.@@whiskeycorridor90

[@zaphodthenth]

The reason why the original Red Dawn was such a hit was because at the time it was made, the cold war was still going strong and "RUSSIA INVADING THE U S OF A!" was being pushed by movies, tv shows, comic books, and so on of the time. In the remake, the invaders were Chinese, and none of the movie distributors wanted this movie because China is a major movie market. And they believed that China would never want this movie. Makes sense: After all, how many movies in the U.S.A. depict all Americans as a nation of sadistic cruel mass murdering inhuman monsters? So the movie was shelved, until it was pulled out because the actor that had starred in the hit movie "Thor" was in it, and CGI was used to change the Invaders from China to North Korea. However, while there had been an intense social fear of the U.S.S.R. which had boosted the original movie, there was no intense social fear of North Korea: North Korea was and still is perceived as a joke of a country. So, the movie failed at the box office.

[@TheSpeedfreak665]

I couldn't watch the remake made it 25 minutes into watching it. But it's okay because it was Netflix UK. I would never want to purchase such poor quality movie. 😬

[@DavidLLambertmobile]

The Red Dawn remake was produced in 2009 but held on the shelf 🎬🎞🎭. In 2012, the film limped into limited release then went to streaming, home video.

[@thatguy22441]

The remake was total garbage. Fans of the original were all disappointed by the remake.

[@M4A1BestGirl]

This video was hilarious yet informative. You totally deserve more subs.

[@HistoricNerd]

D31TA40RC3GAM3R Glad you enjoyed it.

[@jamesSmith-fl5wv]

The new red dawn was horrid!! Even Chris Hemsworth couldn’t save it!

[@moritamikamikara3879]

Honestly I think he made it worse. I mean this might just be my "Live under a rock" motto, but I feel films do better when they use unknown actors, otherwise you see the actor instead of the character, and that's exactly what I saw here. I was super confused seeing Thor from Thor: Ragnarok (Wouldn't have recognised him if this was before that) leading a guerilla insurrection.

[@TheForsakenEagle]

I love that you mentioned the collective punishment from the original film. I knew the filmmakers wouldn't have the balls to show such a scene in the remake. The Wolverines are turned into Marvel heroes. The film was rushed and made to feel like an action/power fantasy movie. The original was filmed like a war movie and draws on real historical realities of invasion, occupation, and partisan warfare. The characters, both protagonists and antagonists, were given depth and, as good war films usually do, show both the humanity and inhumanity of war. The original is still great. The remake... just munch popcorn and feel good when the heroes save everyone.

[@brycevo]

The original is so great. But the remake is just so bad

[@InAltum.]

Original should have been the only one. It is amazing.

[@JohnSullivanEvans]

Isn’t it funny how you were talking about the chances of war with N. Korea was low but now there really high

[@jasonrideout4836]

I was a kid when the first one came out loved it...been watching it every few years since it's been released...also watched the current red dawn movie...both great

[@Jack-lm8ry]

This wasn't an in-depth comparison at all. This was just you bagging on the remakes minor flaws because of your nostalgia boner for the original. The original Red Dawn had plenty of flaws as well, yet I didn't see you take any of those into account.

[@ChucksSEADnDEAD]

Yeah, cramming all the bad things in 2010's action moviemaking trends into a remake is a "minor flaw".

[@tomwisniewski8604]

Chris hemsworth's character could have been exponentially better if they portrayed him as a Dishonored marine vet who, during the events of the film, was able to redeem himself and die honorably. This would have also made the relationship between him and his brother more dynamic as over the course of the movie, as the brothers would start out with a reasonable resentment towards eachother instead of just going off to war, and give the main characters room to grow. just one of the differences i would have made.

[@maxinesutherlin6306]

original is the best

[@robertpolanco1973]

NO! Original was the WORST!

[@treerat7631]

maxine sutherlin yep

[@seven-sixtwo762]

The last biggest time in media where the Chinese were presented as an adversary (from what I know) is Battlefield 4 and of course that was banned there

[@BlackSheeproadstar]

I still have the original on VHS and we watch it once or twice each year.

[@jasonq7504]

I fucking hated the remake.

[@will-de1xg]

same

[@Iampeeb]

I Bet You Hated It Cause Thor Died.

[@trainsofsouthwestmichigan03]

Jason Q it had the russsians of course the original

[@kszirovecz]

Lol. I loved the original but had little hope for the remake after hearing they changed the enemy to North Korea. I didn't even want to see the remake but my wife loves Thor so she's the reason I actually saw it.

[@trainsofsouthwestmichigan03]

Jason Q it was the bset it had the Russians in it xome on notjing can beat that koreans tjey suck if we went to war we will win on there land

[@SEPK09]

Couldn't agree more. The original is true to life of the time, as the remake is just another hollywood CGI flop, with no heart of story.

[@Killerpacman612]

I personally like the remake but that's my opinion and I respect yours

[@HistoricNerd]

Nothing wrong with that at all.

[@urielv2907]

The Anthropologist M there's nothing wrong with having different opinions and hating on something because it is impossible. if that was the case we couldn't enjoy 80% of our movies now days like star wars or superhero movies

[@MrChickennugget360]

what did you like about the new version? i mean if you are young and all you know are these kind of crap movies i can understand. but this movie does suck.

[@ronin7732]

The original one is far the best! I just don’t like the remake because the guy saves the stupid blond bitch and she survives in the end. It was dumb. That should of be dead.

[@mesquiteguy121]

Yeah. Well Done. You hit the nail on the head with your critique

[@rainbitz9835]

Well they predicted North Korea and this.

[@KolchaksGhost]

Not really

[@s.31.l50]

Actually, a conventional Cold War Turn Hot isn’t too far of a stretch, since it would play out mostly as a civil war between West Germany backed by NATO and East Germany backed by Warsaw Pack. In that case, both side would be reluctant to use strategic nuclear weapons since that is just stupid.