Cold War aftermath: Chinese villains in Hollywood remake ‘Red Dawn’ replaced with N. Koreans

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Published time: November 23, 2012 15:31
Edited time: November 23, 2012 19:36

Hollywood filmmakers behind the remake of “Red Dawn”, the 1984 Cold War classic about young Americans waging a guerrilla war against Soviet-led invaders, have changed the origins of the new villains. The new ‘bad guys’ are now North Korean.

­Originally it was filmed with Chinese invaders, the villains were changed in postproduction to preserve China's lucrative box office market, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Although the invaders are not Al Qaeda terrorists but the North Korean military, one of the film’s producers Beau Flynn told the newspaper the remake was actually inspired by the post-September 11 anxiety.

"Red Dawn" directed by Dan Bradley (Image from kinopoisk.ru)

­Fellow producer Tripp Vinson, meanwhile, said he still remembered the time when his country was up to its neck in the Cold War with "an evil empire”, the USSR.

"I remember as a kid there were times when we had to get under our desks and do those types of things to prepare for God-knows-what," Tripp Vinson, told the Los Angeles Times.

Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen in "Red Dawn" (Image from kinopoisk.ru)

­"It was very much a part of that time period. In this country, we were the good guys, and the Russians were the bad guys. That movie tapped into that and played into that, and I think that's obviously one of the reasons why it affected so many people."

Flynn, meanwhile, has described the new “Red Dawn” as “very apolitical”.

"I feel like we live in a global world more than ever now, and I feel like this story could be applicable to anyone on the bigger themes and values," he told the Los Angeles Times.

"Red Dawn" (Image from kinopoisk.ru)

­The original "Red Dawn" starring young actors Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen grossed $38 million at the box office becoming the first film to be released in America with a PG-13 rating.

On top of it, the blockbuster was considered the most violent film by the Guinness Book of Records and The National Coalition on Television Violence, with a rate of 134 acts of violence per hour. The cast underwent intensive eight-week military training course to get ready for the filming.

The new Dawn directed by Dan Bradley and featuring the star of "Thor", Chris Hemsworth, has also been rated PG-13.