Original ‘Red Dawn’ Star Says North Korea Is A ‘Stupid’ Enemy

C. Thomas Howell originally shouted “Wolverines!” in 1984’s Red Dawn. Though he himself hasn’t yet seen the 2012 Red Dawn remake, he already has a point of criticism: North Korea is a “stupid” villain.

In the original Red Dawn, which saw C. Thomas Howell portraying a member of the US guerrilla resistance group “The Wolverines,” it was Russia that invaded the United States. In the upcoming remake, the invading villain is North Korea. In Howell’s opinion, North Korea just wouldn’t be able to pull an invasion off.

“Quite frankly, we all know North Korea cannot afford to invade (itself). How is that going to happen?” asks Howell. “That’s already stupid in my book.”

“There are already some fundamental differences that are a little funky,” Howell told USA Today. “Maybe there’s good acting, maybe there’s some great dialogue so we can all overlook that giant leap that any Asian can play any Asian and it doesn’t matter — just (change by computer) any flag on there and get the movie out. I think it’s pretty ridiculous. if you really want to know the truth.”

The enemy was changed from Russia for the Red Dawn remake to reflect the current political climate. The 2012 film version has actually been delayed several times, because the original enemy of the remake was China (changed in post-production to North Korea) and MGM’s financial difficulties.

“The movie was changed because we couldn’t get distribution for the movie from any of the distributors here,” says producer Tripp Vinson. “They didn’t want to offend the Chinese, I am assuming.”

Howell also said that he’s planning on seeing the new Red Dawn to see if it measures up to the original. “I don’t know how it’s going to hold up,” says Howell. “But I’m going to go see it and I’m looking forward to seeing it. And I hope it’s awesome.”