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Bill-Lee
09/30/09

In reply to Red Dawn Remake's Anti-American Propaganda Posters
The makers of this movie obviously haven't been paying attention to geopolitics or economic trends. Russia is a capitalist country run by gangsters not the Communist Party, China is a major trading partner, Fidel Castro is almost dead, and the North Koreans are starving to death. The "commies" just don't make good straw man bad guys anymore. A more "realistic" movie would be about Christian fanatics duking it out with Islamic fanatics for oil and nuclear power.
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Edited by Bill-Lee at 09/30/09 2:03 PM Bill-Lee was starred Bill-Lee was unstarred

Sunshineyness
09/30/09

@Bill-Lee: This pretty much sums up exactly what I've been thinking since hearing about this remake. Why would China invade us? It's entire economy is so entangled with ours that it WANTS us to keep living the way we live and to invade us and cripple our infrastructure and destroying our communications (to my non-military trained understanding I assume is the best way to invade) would hurt their economy too much to justify it.

And, I haven't seen the original in awhile but I believe one of the conceits wais that the South American countries rally and invade north through Mexico which, at least, makes sense given their animosity towards us in our meddling in their revolutions at the time. Without any neighboring allies how exactly are the Chinese supposed to GET their military forces here?

And China may have the power to take us on but ALL of NATO? Because surely our allies would come to our aid? And, frankly, China hasn't got anyone else really powerful to back them up. Cuba hasn't got anything and N. Korea is mostly back with little actual bite. Back in the 80's Russia at least had allies that could back them up.

Or I'm most likely overthinking an incredibly ill conceived remake of a movie that so very much a product of its time and the reason it's a cult classic more for camp and its insanely dated appeal? Unless they are going the Reefer Madness: The Musical route making the remake a film AGAINST the type of propaganda the first film was I just don't get this.

Though, I'll be there to watch it just to see what they do.
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Edited by Sunshineyness at 09/30/09 9:25 PM Sunshineyness was starred Sunshineyness was unstarred

Anekanta - killed by a cacodemon
09/30/09

In reply to Red Dawn Remake's Anti-American Propaganda Posters
Living in Canada, it's hard for me to get a sense of this, but this seems like a strange time for a movie like this. Is there really a fear that the Chinese and Russians will invade? I realize the economy is in a slump and people get afraid when their country is weak, but movies like this just seem like cold war paranoia.
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ShyamalPraeconinus
09/30/09

In reply to Red Dawn Remake's Anti-American Propaganda Posters
When I was a kid in High School, "Red Dawn" wasn't just a paranoid fantasy. The cold war was pretty warm with the Soviets building a ton of biological weapons and the Americans focused on SDI. I fully expected to die in the Fulda Gap stopping the Red Army from taking Western Europe. It would be easy to say it was paranoria in hindsight, but I don't think it was. It was a reality that we lived with just like the threat of a full out nuclear war.

I did join the Army a few years later and saw the Berlin wall come down. A few years later, I was in college with former East German soldiers (in the U.S.) I am truly amazed at how much and how quickly things changed. I wouldn't have believed it was possible. Red Dawn is a milestone representing real fear (which was true on both sides) and is a "what if" of what might have been.

It's funny that in the original, the Chinese were on our side (despite being communist). I don't think this remake can capture the underlying fear that the original did. Even when it came out, no one really believed that another power or group of powers could invade the U.S. (although "Fortress America" was a lot of fun). Losing Europe or the Middle East was very real though. Death by nuclear war was also very real.

I glad I didn't die in the Fulda Gap.
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Dirk Anger promoted this comment ShyamalPraeconinus was starred

Dirk Anger
10/01/09

@ShyamalPraeconinus: Meh... why would the Chinese, who own maybe 1/3 of Asia, want the Soviets, who pretty mcuh owned another 1/3 to also own Europe? They'd try to take the rest of Asia first, it's closer and they had fought before
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Ahz
09/30/09

In reply to Red Dawn Remake's Anti-American Propaganda Posters
The secret twist ending is that it's a documentary, not a remake.
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Voyou_Charmant
10/01/09

@Ahz: I'm rolling my eyes as hard as i can.
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nygenxer
09/30/09

In reply to Red Dawn Remake's Anti-American Propaganda Posters
"Deceitful leaders.
Greedy corporations.
This is not a democracy."

and

"Your freedom has been a lie."

IMO, that's the situation we've been in since the 1970s and the war on the middle class.
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Anekanta promoted this comment nygenxer was starred nygenxer was unstarred

Godmars
09/30/09

In reply to Red Dawn Remake's Anti-American Propaganda Posters
Anyone know why they're remaking this at all?
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gorehound promoted this comment Godmars was starred Godmars was unstarred

gorehound
09/30/09

@Godmars: Because big studios are greedy and suck and love to rape our past.
just dont watch it like me.you can always watch the original.
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0kami
09/30/09

In reply to Red Dawn Remake's Anti-American Propaganda Posters
But like....why China? Aren't we on good terms with them now? I mean, I know we're not buddy-buddy, but wasn't the point of the original movie to capture the spirit and fear of Communist Russia that the US was still obsessed with back then? I know people say that China has a risign economy and whatever, but I don't think any of them would want to take over America to begin with let alone the state we are in now.
Heck, even thogh it reeks of post-9/11, wouldn't a Middle Eastern for or even a made-up terrorist org/country make more sense in this context?
But China? That's so...ugh...50 years ago.
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farcedude
09/30/09

@0kami: China is (by my understanding) the only country with an army large enough to reasonable invade and occupy the US. However, there is the slight problem of getting that army here. Last I check they (or we for that matter) don't have that kind of lift capability. And I don't see anybody invading anyone else anymore - everyone has seen what sort of a mess we've been in in Iraq and Afghanistan. It'd be even worse in a country like the US where there are a large number of people with guns. Like them or not, the crazies up in the hills wouldn't stand for any of that s**t, and it just wouldn't work.
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disatess
09/30/09

In reply to Red Dawn Remake's Anti-American Propaganda Posters
if were to happen ,a true full scale war would and change the face of this planet ,

i didn`t buy with the original , why would I with a remake.
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Partially Bigoted Zealots
09/30/09

In reply to Red Dawn Remake's Anti-American Propaganda Posters
After seeing countless "Be Disturbed, Not Understanding" banners on my drive through Pontiac (and a tank or two) I'm gonna go out on a limb, and say that subtlety isn't Red Dawn 2's strong suit. Or quality.
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WLDaywalker
09/30/09

In reply to Red Dawn Remake's Anti-American Propaganda Posters
Um, so this is about a gang of unruly American teens who fight a revolution against Chinese capitalism to make it safe for American capitalism again? (scratches head) Why?

...And does Baron Underbheit control Michigan in this implausible world?
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stereobot
09/30/09

@WindowlickinDaywalker: Did you even see the original film? Because it didn't work out quite like that from what I remember.
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WLDaywalker
09/30/09

@stereobot: Oh, I've seen it several times. It just seems to me that this remake is going to focus more on an economic invasion than a political one, with the "repairing your economy" and fighting corporate corruption" propoganda.

Guess that makes a wee bit more sense than Powers Booth's explanation of "Two toughest kids on the block...Sooner or later, they're gonna fight."
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Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.
09/30/09

In reply to Red Dawn Remake's Anti-American Propaganda Posters
As one red blooded severely liberal American who adores the original in a not too ironic way I can't friggin wait to see the streets run red with commie blood again. But this better be hard R.

And no. There is no way this will match the original. "DON'T YOU CRY FOR ME!!!"
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d_r_e
09/30/09

In reply to Red Dawn Remake's Anti-American Propaganda Posters
Why in the hell is someone remaking this movie?! It was perfect to begin with damnit! These fucking YARMs are killing me.
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ceti
09/30/09

In reply to Red Dawn Remake's Anti-American Propaganda Posters
Aah, more American paranoia run amok. The irony of this bit of projection is that the US has actually had boots on the ground in Russia and China in the past, not to mention that the US has invaded and intervened in more countries than any power in the half-century.

Red Dawn itself, with all its terroristic action on the part of the American insurgents is echoed in the Iraq and Afghan insurgencies.

So also, where are the troops from the over 700 US military bases scattered around the world? Caught napping??

A read of seminal article, The Paranoid Style in American Politics, is in order, lest this, and V, feed into that crazy bit of paranoia that is resurgent these days.
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Boas_MC promoted this comment ceti was starred ceti was unstarred

Franklin Harris
09/30/09

In reply to Red Dawn Remake's Anti-American Propaganda Posters
Ironically, the Chinese are better capitalists these days than we are.
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Jim Topoleski
09/30/09

@Franklin Harris: Capitalism works really well when you have your population beaten to a pulp and working 80 hours work weeks for 100 dollars a week.
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Asen
09/30/09

@Jim Topoleski: Well, duh. That's how it worked on our side before labor organization and political reform. Back when you could make kids work right alongside their moms, dawn 'til dusk. A paradise.
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Anekanta promoted this comment Asen was starred Asen was unstarred

Franklin Harris
09/30/09

@Jim Topoleski: Nice straw man. Obviously, then, North Korea is the most capitalist place on Earth.
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Dayburner
09/30/09

In reply to Red Dawn Remake's Anti-American Propaganda Posters
The real science fiction here is the Chinese and the Russians working together. In the original the Chinese became American allies.
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