Chris Hemsworth's Forgotten 2012 War Flop Was A Remake Of A Superior '80s Movie

Chris Hemsworth's rise to stardom was just about as swift as it gets. Unless you're from Australia (and, if so, congratulations), you'd likely never seen the handsome young actor before he up and stole the opening scene of J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek" in 2009. Two years later, he would become a global superstar as the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Thor. From there, it's been smooth sailing for the hotsy-totsy Aussie.

Interestingly, had it all gone according to schedule, "Thor" wouldn't have been Hemsworth's first starring role. In 2009, prior to the release of "Star Trek," Hemsworth was cast as the hunky, jockish Curt in Drew Goddard's "Cabin in the Woods." The hilarious genre mash-up was really more of an ensemble piece, but Hemsworth came on strong — which was completely intentional given the character's surprising death early in the film. Had Goddard's movie been released as originally planned on February 5, 2010, Hemsworth's profile would've sharply ascended in Hollywood. And this would've naturally led to his next mainstream studio film.

This plan was scrapped because Hemsworth had the remarkable misfortune to make two movies at MGM during one of the studio's recurring financial crises. In this case, the film's shelving (it was initially slated for release during the fall of 2010) wasn't the worst thing to happen to Hemsworth. Not only did it wind up being a massive flop when it was finally released two years later, but it was also a remake of a 1984 escapist classic that failed to make much sense in its updated form.

John Milius' "Red Dawn" is a blood-spattered relic of the Cold War era. The rousing tale of Colorado high school students who wage guerilla warfare on an invading horde of Russian and Cuban soldiers shamelessly capitalized on the U.S.' fears of World War III. The timing of the film's release couldn't have been more perfect. Americans desperate to shrug off the great big L of Vietnam were lining up for action movies that championed the country's military might or warrior spirit. "Red Dawn" accomplished this while also attracting teenagers to the multiplexes, who were tantalized by the movie's newfangled PG-13 rating.

There had been talk of remaking "Red Dawn" for years before producers Tripp Vinson and Beau Flynn stepped up in the late 2000s with a pitch that would work within our post-9/11 reality. In this film, the invasion of the United States would be hastened by a financial crisis in Europe that left America's military spread too thin at home. It's a lot to swallow, but Milius' premise wasn't exactly plausible either. The movie's creatives just needed to assemble an appealing cast of young actors and work up a script that opportunistically preyed on our 21st century fears as effectively as the original film did in the 1980s.

Milius and legendary casting director Janet Hirshenson ("The Outsiders") hit the bullseye across the board with an ensemble that included Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, Lea Thompson, Jennifer Grey, and C. Thomas Howell. 25 years later, the "Red Dawn" remake's director Dan Bradley (a second-unit veteran known for his action-orchestrating expertise) and the casting team of Deborah Aquila and Tricia Wood landed some terrific talent in Hemsworth, Josh Peck, Adrianne Palicki, Josh Hutcherson, and Isabel Lucas. There was no reason this group couldn't earn the audience's rooting interest.

They just couldn't nail the script. Factor in MGM's inability to release this film and "Cabin in the Woods," and both movies were, rightly or wrongly, viewed as troubled productions.

"Cabin in the Woods" and "Red Dawn" both tanked at the box office, but the former quickly became a cult favorite and streaming mainstay. We don't talk much about Bradley's "Red Dawn" anymore, and there's a very good reason for this: it's thoroughly forgettable. I covered the movie when it came out and interviewed two of the actors (Palicki and Hutcherson), and I cannot recall a single thing about it. I just had to look up the plot synopsis to remind myself that Hemsworth's character (modeled after Swayze's Jed Eckert) buys it in the third act.

For this reason, I'm not sure I can call Bradley's "Red Dawn" a bad movie, per se. I remember walking out underwhelmed, but feeling as though I'd at least watched a competently crafted action flick. It just didn't have the sense of patriotic purpose (for better or worse) that fueled Milius' movie, which left its game cast scrambling to give the film something resembling a pulse.

Hemsworth skipped the aforementioned press day and also declined to attend the film's premiere at Fantastic Fest in 2012. If there was a contractual obligation to promote the movie, he obviously got his representation to negotiate him out of it. The best I can say is that "Red Dawn" exists, which means craftspeople of all stripes got paid to make a film. As long as everyone got paid, I have no quarrel with the "Red Dawn" remake.