Remaking a classic movie is like a battlefield; you don’t know how it may turn out or what might happen. When I heard Red Dawn was being remade, I decided to go see it and compare the original with the remake. It was a disappointment.

While for obvious reasons the special effects are far better in the new of Red Dawn than in the one that came out in 1984, the acting and ending were not up to par with the original.

Red Dawn tells the story of a group of teenagers, who call themselves the “Wolverines” after their high school mascot, fighting against the invasion of the United States. In the original, the invading countries were Cuba and the Soviet Union; today’s found the teens fighting against the North Koreans.

Unlike during the Cold War, where there was widespread fear of the Soviet Union, Americans are not building bomb shelters to protect themselves from North Korea. The invasion is unrealistic to me.

Directed by Dan Bradley, the stunt coordinator for Spider-Man 3, and starring the lead actor from Thor, Chris Hemsworth, the acting skills in this movie fail to meet the standards of those set in the original Red Dawn.

There are some key differences between the two films, such as the relationship between some of the characters. It did change the tone and plot of the movie slightly, but it didn’t affect the movie negatively.

Without releasing any spoilers, I will say the ending is different in the remake than it is in the original. In the remake, the ending feels incomplete; it’s as if the director had accidentally shut off the camera during filming. The original -while sad- had a more satisfying conclusion.

Despite all the negatives, the action scenes were awesome, and I was on the edge of my seat while watching them.

While the remake fails to meet the creative and interesting angle the original set, it’s not a complete waste of time. It had great action scenes and special effects, and would be a great weekend flick to see with your friends.