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In ‘Red Dawn’ remake, wolverines surrender to China?

Laura Donovan Contributor
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In 1984, MGM released “Red Dawn,” a movie that depicted a Soviet invasion of the United States and the subsequent defense mounted by a group of rifle-wielding Colorado teens. With a cast of young unknowns and the MPAA’s first PG-13 rating, the film was one of the top grossing movies of the year. Directed and co-written by John Milius, an avowed gun enthusiast, “Red Dawn” featured so much gunfire that some called it the “most violent movie ever made.” Between the gun violence and the supposed right-wing undertones (or overtones?), it was one of the more controversial movies of its time, a cult hit of the Reagan era.

It was practically preordained, then, that Hollywood would greenlight a remake of “Red Dawn.” The new film is due out later this year, but MGM’s attempt to retell the story in a post-Soviet world, this time with Red China as the aggressor, is already facing its own controversy.

According to movie blogger Jason Apuzzo, who saw an advance screening last summer, this version of “Red Dawn” depicts the Chinese army invading the West Coast of the United States in an apropos mission to collect on the debt we owe. Some young Americans aren’t willing to give up so easily, and the Seattle-based band of “Wolverines” launches their counterattack in the name of freedom. Mr. Apuzzo, founder of the film blog Libertas, writes that the cut he saw was a “stirring, highly patriotic ode to America and its freedoms.”

Full story: Wolverines surrender to China?