RedDawn Tagged Articles at Cinematical

We live in a time when war movies based on toys (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra) are better received by the public than those that have a basis in truth (The Hurt Locker). G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, out on DVD and Blu-ray today, dances around its origins as military action figures by positioning its heroes as an elite unit, more like well-armed spies than anything resembling common soldiers. The aim appears to be similar, though: provide heroic figures that inspire others to follow in their footsteps.

Back in the 80s, movies that could be mistaken for recruitment propaganda became surprisingly common. The film industry, which had firmly resisted anything related directly to the Vietnam War while it was being waged, became schizophrenic in the 80s, releasing anti-war and pro-war flicks side by side into theaters. Here are seven key films, listed chronologically, that helped shape the public's perception of the military during that decade.

Private Benjamin (1980)
Nancy Meyers began here, co-writing and co-producing the tale of Judy Benjamin (Goldie Hawn), a bride who wears black after her husband (Albert Brooks) dies on their wedding night. A spoiled woman-child, Judy enlists in the armed forces; basic training toughens her up as she realizes she can deal with the rigors of military life. As a budding feminist, she still had miles to go to learn that she didn't need a man or the military to be all she could be; as a poster child for plucky women in the armed forces, Private Benjamin was a positive-reinforcement milestone.

Is it just me, or are there any other children of the '80s out there experiencing a strange case of Déjà Vu right about now? As we speak, those brilliant Hollywood innovators are currently churning out remakes and re-imaginings for films like Footloose, The Karate Kid and Red Dawn, while old TV shows like The A-Team are also feeling the big-screen love. And because it's our job to sicken (or, heck, excite?) you on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, we've brought with us some bodacious images from The A-Team and The Karate Kid, both of which are now right smack in the middle of production and due out next year.

We'll begin with the first image from off the set of The A-Team (courtesy of Splash News, see above), and, naturally, it's a shot of the new A-Team van, which, thankfully, greatly resembles the old A-Team van. Growing up I had a toy version of the A-Team van (with its awesome sliding side door), but lost it at some point -- so I'm actually looking forward to a potential A-Team van toy comeback, if only to watch my kid play with (and enjoy) something that's so totally mid-80s.

This new version of The A-Team is due in theaters on June 11, 2010, and stars Liam Neeson as John "Hannibal" Smith, , Sharlto Copley as Capt. "Howling Mad" Murdock, Bradley Cooper as Lt. Templeton "Faceman" Peck, and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson as Sgt. "B.A." Baracus. Joe Carnahan (Smokin' Aces) directs, and Jessica Biel also stars as a general/love interest on the hunt for the renegade team, while Entertainment Weekly tells us that Patrick Wilson has joined the cast as a CIA operative.

Images and art from The Karate Kid remake after the jump.

The terribly handsome Jeffrey Dean Morgan clearly has a thing for action, adventure, and DC comic books. Collider sat down with him last weekend, and Mr. Morgan let slip that he's stepping into the Red Dawn remake. (He also let slip a few f-bombs that he shouldn't have told anyone, but we're glad he did, aren't we?) "I guess I'm more or less the old Powers Boothe character ... I'll be the old guy in it, which is cool ... I'm very much looking forward to it. But I'm going straight from here to Detroit which I can't imagine at this point."

Morgan also planted the first flag when it came to playing the part of Lobo, soon to be the star of a Guy Ritchie film. "That would be cool. Lobo would be very cool. I don't think that I'm as big as Lobo is, but if you could, like, transplant Mickey Rourke's body on my head, that would be just great. But I don't know. It's an untapped world for me as well. Every time I kind of hear about something I go out and get the book or I look it up on one of your guys' sites. We'll see."

Well, if he's reading this one -- Mr. Morgan, I suggest that you try to nab an audition for Jesse Custer. He's one of the few American actors that has the right amount of grit. Or do a reversal on The Comedian and play the ever-so-good Captain Marvel / Shazam. Or jump the DC ship and try out a little Dark Horse with Fear Agent. Lobo sounds cool from afar, but you've already got the biggest DC badass under your belt with the Comedian. Go with something more charming.

Since I'm resigned to the fact that everything is going to be remade sooner or later, the best I can hope for is that at least studios will hire people who know what they're doing. On that note, there's a ray of hope for MGM's Red Dawn remake because Latino Review reports that Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton) has been hired to do a rewrite. I've got nothing against the project's original scribe, Carl Ellsworth, but if I had to choose between the two, I would much rather go with the writer of those Bourne films than the writer of Disturbia.

Yesterday, it was announced that Josh Peck and Adrianne Palicki will star alongside Chris Hemsworth (Star Trek) in the tale of a group of teens turned militia men better known as the Wolverines. According to THR, Hemsworth will play the group's leader, Jed Eckert (originally played by Patrick Swayze), and Peck will be reprising Charlie Sheen's role as Jed's younger brother, with Palicki filling in for Jennifer Grey as the tough-as-nails fighter and love interest for Jed. In the original film, our heroes went up against invading Communist hoards, but for the update it has been changed from Communists to a more generic threat of Russian and Chinese military.

Now I've decided that I won't get worked up about a remake unless the movie was good in the first place, and unfortunately my love of Dawn is more about nostalgia than the film itself. But you can't deny it's become a little outdated over the years (is anyone that worried about Communist invaders anymore?) -- but Gilroy has a way with smart action films, so I'll remain optimistic that he can pull it off ... how about you?

Red Dawn is scheduled to arrive in theaters in 2010.

Even though it's Saturday, that doesn't mean the big news waits till Monday -- Nikki Finke over at Deadline Hollywood has once again come through on yet another Marvel casting scoop; this time it would appear as if actor Chris Hemsworth -- who played Kirk's father in the opening scenes of Star Trek -- has been cast as Thor in Marvel's big-budgeted, live-action film due out in theaters on May 20, 2011. Kenneth Branagh is set to direct, with production currently scheduled to begin early next year.

Hemsworth is a bit of a departure from the big, familiar names Marvel has been using to populate its superhero films -- but he's a solid choice; a bright, young pretty face who, like Chris Pine, seems destined to break out in the next year. Not only did he land a pretty sweet role in Trek, but he's currently shooting the horror flick The Cabin in the Woods (written by Joss Whedon, directed by Cloverfield's Drew Goddard), was just cast in the Red Dawn remake and starred on the popular Aussie show Home and Away. Hemsworth joins a production that doesn't have anyone cast as of yet, and since they're going with a relative unknown in the lead role, look for Marvel and Branagh to stick some known faces around him (Josh Hartnett has been rumored to be up for the part of villain).

What do you think of Hemsworth? Is Marvel taking a risk by casting an unknown in the lead role, or is this the best way to go when it comes to Thor, the Viking God of thunder?

Erik Davis ordered me to come up with a new approach to summer movies, and he demanded that the concept be intelligent, engaging, and jam-packed with vowels and consonants. (One out of three isn't bad.) And since I'm a childish movie nerd who had a deep affection for all things nostalgic, my first idea was "Hey, let's have the writers pick their favorite 'movie summer' and write a piece about it." And since my next eleven ideas stunk, he said "Ugh, fine. Do your Favorite Summers thing. But don't forget the vowels."

Nearly all of the Cinematicaleers will be penning their own pieces, but since I like to lead by example (when I'm not leading by guilt), I figured I'd get the ball rolling first. (Special thanks to Box Office Mojo for displaying OLD release dates in very handy fashion.) Also, for the sake of this series, let's say "summer" counts as "May through August," even though May is technically spring and part of September is definitely summer.

5/4 -- The Bounty // Breakin' // Hardbodies // Sixteen Candles -- So which one of these would be the big "Iron Man" release? We got Gibson and Hopkins in a nautical remake; a whole lot of pop-lockin' looneys; a leering sex comedy that helped to kill the sub-genre of mid-'80s sex comedies; and the directorial debut of one John Hughes.

5/11 -- Firestarter // The Natural -- Robert Redford knocking the cover off a baseball and Drew Barrymore immolating George C. Scott. Now THAT's summer!

5/18 -- Finders Keepers // Making the Grade -- A pair of justifiably forgotten farces, yes, both of which I saw theatrically.

5/23 -- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom -- Even back in 1984 Indiana Jones demanded his very own weekend ... one that starts on a Wednesday, no less! I distinctly remember seeing this on the afternoon of opening day, and while I was waiting for Mom to come pick us up, there was a woman BERATING the box office girl. Honest! Something about the heart-tearing scene had upset her small child. And just like that, the PG-13 was born.

Hollywood isn't known as a place for a 'conservative' frame of mind. I think Sean Penn reminded us of that quite nicely during his Oscar acceptance speech when he endearingly referred to the crowd of tinsel-town elite as "You Commie Homo-Loving Sons of Guns". But that doesn't mean our Red-state friends don't like to go to the movies just as much as their liberal brethren -- so what's a Conservative to do? Well, the National Review has come to the rescue and compiled a list of The Best Conservative Movies. And how does a movie arrive on such a list? According to NR, "Conservatives enjoy these films because they are great movies that offer compelling messages about freedom, families, patriotism, traditions, and more" -- because I guess it is impossible for someone with Liberal political views to care about those things. So even though the political leanings of the cast and crew reportedly did not come into play for the list, I'm not sure I believe the addition of David Mamet's The Edge wasn't inspired (if only a little) by the filmmakers political 180 earlier this year.

Now for the list itself, well, there are the obvious choices like Red Dawn, 300 and The Dark Knight that are praised for their themes featuring individuals fighting against a terrorist, invading hoards, and a chorus of naysayers (sound familiar?). But the rest of the list isn't so obvious, and there are some weird selections in the bunch. Juno was noted for being pro-life (but punished for its heroines "unrealistic level of self-confidence"), Brazil for its tale of bureaucracy run amok, Groundhog Day for promoting small town values, and The Incredibles was even noted for bringing a little Ayn Rand back to the kiddie set. Personal politics aside, I have to wonder just what, exactly, some of these people were on when they included Ghostbusters on the list (I know, I know, an EPA guy is a bad guy, but c'mon, leave Dr. Venkman out of this).

The original was a sea of '80s names we grew to love over those ten years -- Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, Charlie Sheen, and Jennifer Grey. A year after The Outsiders stood up to the socs, Ponyboy and Darry were facing the Russians. But facing them again all these years later? Scott shared news of the plan in May, and now we're one step closer to this sucky idea becoming a reality.

The Hollywood Reporter posts that this remake will be written by Red Eye and Disturbia scribe Carl Ellsworth and directed by Dan Bradley, a stunt guy who has also worked as a second AD on flicks from Three Kings to Quantum of Solace. Ellsworth says: "The tone is going to be very intense, very much keeping in mind the post-9/11 world that we're in. As Red Dawn scared the heck out of people in 1984, we feel that the world is kind of already filled with a lot of paranoia and unease, so why not scare the hell out of people again?"

Um ... maybe because Cuba and Russia never invaded, so as much as it touched on Cold War fears, it was still outside of reality? If they're playing up 9/11 fears in the world, I think the outcome could prove to be a little different -- more reliving horrors than tapping into fears, and who wants to pay to see that?

What's truly scary: "As the studio regroups, its executives have realized that the strong MGM library has numerous classic and cult properties it can exploit for a new audience." I think it's time to stage a coup, or a hostile takeover.

I heard Wednesday is the new Tuesday ...

We never thought it would happen, but Hollywood has finally invented a time machine and is using it to resurrect a number of old franchises. From indieWIRE comes news that MGM's Mary Parent and Harry Sloan are interested in finding out whether audiences want Sly Stallone to return for another Rocky installment. The article adds, "Parent asked for a show of hands from the audience who might be in to that. Though there were a few very enthusiastic responses, many kept quiet." Hmm, maybe they were just pretending not to listen.

During the same MGM panel, Parent mentioned the recently-announced Robocop remake and said it "would be great in 3-D, as would something we're hoping to announce soon." Announce soon? What is it? Could it be Rocky vs Robocop: The Future Ends Here ... in 3-D? Fingers crossed. Here's our earlier story on the Robocop remake, which also includes a remake of Red Dawn. God help us. [via Moviehole]

Finally, on the Star Trek front, a few possible spoilers have leaked out over at TrekMovie.com. I won't go into many details here, though I will say the spoilers have to do with the several different ships featured in the film. Speaking of, what's the official title for this flick? Do we have one yet? Is it just Star Trek? Star Trek XI? How about Star Trek New Beginnings: The Future and the Past Together At Last? On a separate note, MTV spoke with William Shatner who -- wait for it -- is still pretty upset about not being included in the new film. His words (not mine): "I'm solidly behind being disappointed that I'm not in it." Next week Shatner re-phrases things and notes: "I'm not not devastated, though I am positive about being negative."