Bad guys changed from Chinese to North Korean in Red Dawn remake at the height of Hollywood appeasing China in 2012 – but it still flopped
- The post-Cold War remake of 1984 film Red Dawn needed a new enemy, and China was chosen, but it was later changed to North Korea
- Full of plot holes and overdubbed dialogue to appease Chinese audiences, Red Dawn was an international flop and never made it to cinemas in China
“North Korea,” muses rebel teen Matt Eckert (played by Josh Peck) to his brother Jed (Chris Hemsworth) as they survey the forces invading their hometown of Spokane, Washington, in the 2012 action movie Red Dawn. “That doesn’t make sense.”
He’s right, of course, it doesn’t.
But look closer and you’ll realise we don’t even see Peck saying the line. It’s ADR (automated dialogue replacement), which means it was recorded after the fact to fill in gaps in the plot. And Red Dawn has enough of them to drive an entire fleet of tanks through – North Korean or otherwise.
Directed by Dan Bradley, the stunt coordinator on The Bourne Ultimatum and Quantum of Solace, the film is an update of the gung-ho 1984 original, which pitted young Brat Packers Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen and pals against Russian invaders.
The 2012 version sees Matt, Jed – an Iraq war veteran – and friends taking to the woods, calling themselves the Wolverines after their school football team, and learning to fight back against the occupying forces.