Red Dawn (CD)

Shelved in 2010 after a plague of financial troubles befell MGM, director Dan Bradley's remake of 1984's Red Dawn finally saw the light of day in 2012. Released at the height of the Cold War, the original featured a lot of Russian baddies, all of whom have been replaced here with the North Koreans. Composer Ramin Djawadi (Iron Man, Game of Thrones), steers clear of any obvious Asian motifs on his serviceable yet forgettable score for Bradley's update, preferring the kind of propulsive, militaristic atmospherics that dominate most 21st century action films and big box, first person shooters -- some of Red Dawn's better moments owe a tip of the hat to video game composer Inon Zur's excellent work on the popular Fallout series. Djawadi, a Hans Zimmer protege, has an innate talent for programming percussion, and he can effortlessly go from distant and thunderous to downright pugilistic in a matter of seconds, but the overall lack of any memorable sort of goose bump-inducing theme keeps Red Dawn from ever landing a haymaker. ~ James Christopher Monger, Rovi