All enjoy the classic movies but sometimes Hollywood decides to take it in their hands and recreate it with a modern technique. The remake of Red Dawn, released Nov. 21, 2012, brings you to Spokane, Washington, which was different from the original that was set in Calumet, Colorado. This action war film packed with explosions and gun fights; It follows a group of teenagers that use guerrilla warfare against a foreign nation and an ally invading the United States. The high school students fight against the Soviet Union and Cuba in the original; but in the remake, it’s the North Koreans and Russia. Both movies have different ways of introducing the story; the 1984 version has text scrolling past on the screen that explain the events leading up to the invasion. While the 2012 version has news segments, perceptively real, including segments of President Obama and former Sec. of State Hillary Clinton.

“Not as well because the new movie actors looked older,” photography teacher Craig Godderz said about the differences between the actors, “They didn’t come across as teenagers.”

Remakes of movies feature new actors and actresses.  The most known actors from the original are Patrick Swayze (Dirty Dancing), Charlee Sheen (Two and a Half-men) and Lea Thompson (Back to the Future). The remake has well known actors as well, like Chris Hemsworth (Thor),  Josh Hutcherson (The Hunger Games), and Josh Peck (Drake and Josh).

“I think Chris Hemsworth did a really good job,” senior Shelby Lawon said. “I liked the dynamic between Chris Hemsworth and Josh Peck, I felt like the brotherly relationship that they portrayed was very believable.”
With some changes to the plot, comes a new experience and with any remake the occasional reference from the original.  Set in the Cold War era, the 1984 story starts out with Soviet Airborne Troopers landing in a field next to the high school. Then confronting and shooting the teacher and students. Jed Eckert (Patrick Swayze) and his brother Matt (Charlie Sheen) get away in their truck with their friends, escaping to their friend’s father’s sporting goods store. The remake carries you through a football game and a party where the power goes out, sending everyone home. The next morning is when the invasion initially starts with North Koreans dropping down. One of the things the teenagers were looking for in the new one, was a box, which the North Koreans used to communicate with each other.

“The special effects were better in the new version but the story in the old was better,” Godderz said.
The years in between the old and new version, new technologies have come out to enhance the movie experience. Special effects in the old were not so great, leaving watchers with a feeling of disbelief. With the new version and it’s opportunity to use better special effects gave it a look of reality.

“It was legit,” senior Mirial Howard said.

You have two kinds of people. Ones who don’t like the remake and those being that they love the movie. Both movies have their pros and cons but the verdict is that the remake was a successful reedition of the original.

-Jason Sanabria