TOMORROW:  WHEN THE WAR BEGAN is like a remake of RED DAWN in way that just takes place in Australia.   However, it is based on a novel by John Marsden and has spawned a sequel.   It follows a group of seven teenagers who go into the wild from their small middle-of-nowhere town of Wirrawee to go to a wild place everyone refers to as Hell (but it is very beautiful).  While out in the wild, they see planes pass overhead and come back to find the houses of their families deserted.  they go into town at night to discover some unnamed collation of Asian countries have invaded Australia due to the amount of resources and overpopulation in their countries.

TOMORROW: WHEN THE WAR BEGAN is an entertaining backwoods guerilla warfare film.   It is an origin story of how the teens started to fight back.   It is a nice diversion while people wait for the long delayed remake of RED DAWN.  I like the teenagers who feel more real and not like annoying characters you want to rip their throats out of them every-once-in-a-while.   I like the relationships that develop between them and the doubt that Ellie feels.  The film starts out like your average teenager last adventure before school movie only to turn more serious as they must decide what to do.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

THE MAKING OF TOMORROW: WHEN THE WAR BEGAN is a semi-serious 25 minute making of as it takes the viewer behind-the-scenes of the movie from production to post-production.

Also included is an alternate ending that falls a little short and the theatrical trailer.

Then there is a Behind-The-Scenes featurette that goes into the various details that went into a visual effects/ model effects sequence that was finally put together the way they wanted in the editing room.

FINAL ANALYSIS:   TOMORROW- WHEN THE WAR BEGAN is a  nice rental and you may be satisfied enough not to see the long delayed RED DAWN remake after watching this movie.  If not, this movie can serve as something to tide you over until the possibly needless RED DAWN remake. 

this DVD review is (c)4-5-2012 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com