Red Dawn to (re)Rise in Michigan

Parts of 'Red Dawn' remake will be shot in Pontiac

A southeastern Michigan community will be doing its best Spokane, Wash., impression next month.

That's when crews will be in Pontiac to shoot scenes for the upcoming remake of the classic 1980s film "Red Dawn." The city is about 20 miles north-northwest of Detroit.

Downtown Development Authority director Sandy McDonald tells The Oakland Press filmmakers will be in Pontiac for two weeks at the end of September and a few days in October.

The original "Red Dawn" portrayed a Soviet invasion of a small town in the U.S.

Had they wanted some more realism, and the benefit of a free-fire zone, not to mention the ability to blow up some abandoned buildings, they could have shot it in Detroit.

Had they wanted real "Wolverines" they could have based the film in Ann Arbor, where the collective townsfolk would joyfully collaborate with their new communist overlords (We don't call Ann Arbor the Berkeley of the Midwest for nothing folks).

But Pontiac looking like Spokane, Washington? Not so much, although with the weather we've been having we can probably arrange for some rain during the shooting.

Pontiac as an invasion spot would be a pretty lousy choice. The invaders may very well get mugged in Pontiac, and unless the Arts, Beats and Eats Festival is going on they're going to get bored and sally forth pretty quickly for a more interesting and economically productive location.

Now if the filmakers had wanted real Wolverines, along with an homage to the old film, they could have filmed it in Calumet, Michigan (The town in the original film was named Calumet). Those yoopers would give any invader hell and Calumet has that nice small-town classic feel to it.

I'm not much for this constant stream of remakes coming out of Hollywood these days, which seems to be a result of a lack of original story ideas and compelling movies that people would actually want to watch.

Red Dawn was a classic All-American action film.

The remake with its revised invasion premise doesn't promise to come close, nor do today's circumstances resemble the state of the world in the 80s when the mighty Soviet Bear with its allies in South America and elsewhere around the world were on the march and a real worry. The remake seems to be about a Chinese invasion of the US (given the Chinese don't have near the power-projection ability the Soviets had in the 80s its a little far-fetched how this would work, never mind why they would want to invade their largest market for exports). There's no current American / Chinese military face-off like they was in Berlin or at the Fulda Gap of yore and relations are pretty cordial with China these days. Thus, I'm not having great expectations for this remake.

I will also be really, really, annoyed if the American guerrilas in the film start shouting "Bulldogs!" instead of the classic Wolverines!.

That is all.