Recreating a classic hit movie is never easy, but sometimes the remake can be better than the original. This is definitely true for Red Dawn.

Originally released in 1984, the remake hit theaters on Nov. 21.

The new film stars Chris Hemsworth and Josh Peck as Jed and Matt, respectively. These young brothers, along with a group of friends, band together to fight North Koreans who invade their Pacific Northwest town.

This recreation of the classic, which starred Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen, expertly portrays an action-packed, war-like invasion in a modern setting.

The cast also includes Josh Hutcherson as Robert, Connor Cruise as Daryl and Edwin Hodge as Danny.

The film begins with Matt reuniting with Jed, his elder brother, after a six-year separation while Jed was serving in the U.S. Army.

Within the first 15 minutes of the film, their town is invaded by North Koreans who immediately take over and begin to capture anyone they see as a threat, including the boys’ father, who happens to be a police officer. The boys escape in a car chase, much like the original film, and hide out in the mountains where their father has a cabin for vacationing.

The new film, unlike the original, is fast-paced with loads of action. The first-person point of view that the film is mainly shot in makes the audience members feel as if they are part of the scene.

The new film also has its share of romance. It uses characters from the original and mixes them into different aspects of the film. In the original, the boys are asked to take care of Erica (Lea Thompson) and Toni (Jennifer Grey), two young girls who are granddaughters of a family friend. There is no real romance involved.

In the new film, the two girls are used to put more romance and drama into the story. Matt struggles with being away in the woods because his girlfriend, Erica (Isabel Lucas), has been captured by the North Koreans. The other original female character, Toni (Adrianne Palicki), is placed in the story as a childhood friend of Jed’s who joins the boys in their fight and eventually becomes Jed’s love interest.

The best part of the new film has to be the action. In the original, the story moved very slowly, where this new fast-paced film takes all of the action up a notch.

Overall, the new film included a little bit of everything for all types of movie lovers: action, drama, romance and a classic war story. It is all balanced by great cinematography and graphics that show exactly what it would look like if this were to happen in today’s society.