Confirmed: Red Dawn, Robocop, Remakes

Posted by Robert Fure (robert@filmschoolrejects.com) on May 19, 2008

Harry Sloan and Mary Parent of MGM revealed recently at Cannes that two staples of the 1980s may soon get the remake treatment. In 1984 John Milius directed the awesome Cold War gone hot flick, Red Dawn that starred Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, and C. Thomas Howell. The story followed an underground teen resistance movement after a joint invasion from the Soviets and the Cubans. Taking place in Calumet, Colorado, the movie gave us one of films all time great war cries – Wolverines!

Also on the remake slate could be an updated version of Robocop. I’m sure no one needs reminded of how awesome that movie is or how Murphy, a cop, was brutally beaten, shot, and left for dead, only to be saved and turned into a 85% machine, 15% man, and 100% bad ass tool of the law.

Now do either of these films need remakes? No. I’m not even sure how you remake Red Dawn. Is it still set in the Cold War or does it get some awkward and stupid update? Does it remain hard hitting? The original was the first PG-13 rated film ever released, though that was when PG-13 had some balls as the original featured a reported 134 acts of violence per hour. That’s 2.23 violent acts per minute. And it was glorious!

Robocop was also a violent and bloody film, full of action and win. A remake could very easily walk down the wrong path and turn this classic into a joke, so I’m obviously a bit hesitant about this flick as well. But when the remake machine gets turning, lots of classics get steamrolled.

Stick around for more updates on these, and assuredly other, remakes.

Read more articles by Robert Fure