Judge Dredd

This film, and its generally poor reception is a good example of what happens when huge marketing mistakes are made. Take a look at the cover of the DVD package: "Stallone: Judge Dredd". The film should have been titled "Judge Dredd" - even in the packaging - and the emphasis for the marketing of this film should have been less Stallone, more content. On the flip-side, when the most consistent complaint you can find among IMDb psychofants is "HE TOOK OFF HIS HELMET!", you really have to wonder if the film is quite as bad as so many believe.

Eagle Comics 2000 AD character Judge Dredd was one of the most original, entertaining and intelligently written and interestingly drawn sci-fi comics of recent times. With story arcs varying from 2 pages worth of panels to 4 or 5 episodes, and sometimes multi-threaded plots, this violent, political and tough cyberpunk version of Dirty Harry set some pretty high standards for adult comic authorship both in its native UK and in the USA, once the imports started flowing in. It freely traversed from film noir to flat-out wild sci-fi action to nihilistic hard justice, and did so with style and originality rarely seen in the comic medium. Hence, although I like Stallone in this film, it's not only misleading but a little insulting to call this 'a Stallone film'. The producers had very big shoes to fill, and though I am in the minority here, I believe they did well.

The production team chose a story arc which I was never very fond of, but one of the more do-able ones to be sure. Any Dredd-based film would necessitate a huge special effects budget, and most of them, even with the best special effects available, would likely be nearly impossible to pull off and might look ridiculous. To their credit, the Return of Rico story arc was rightfully recognized as good film material - it involves more emotional content than the usual Dredd fare, and actually required fewer outrageous special effects, than, say, the many Judge Death arcs might have.

Dredd is a "street judge" - and the judges are the closest thing to a government in a post-apocalyptic future where nuclear war has concentrated all of the world's population into mega-cities - hotbeds of crime and chaos, surrounded by mutagenic wastelands called The Cursed Earth. Dredd is the best of the best, a very tough cop who knows method, theory, and has an incorrigible sense of ethics and dedication to the law. Dredd is also mentor to an entire generation of judges, including the brilliant Hershey (Lane). Rico, Dredd's former best friend, and a psychotic murderer escapes from a high security prison with some help from a fascistic leader of the judges who is bent on securing power and a new world order with himself in charge. Soon, Dredd is framed for murder and exiled to the wastelands, and judges start to die all over the city. About midway through the film, Dredd learns the truth of his relationship to Rico and begins to figure out the sinister plot. Of course, there is only one thing for him to do - return to Megalopolis to stop the conspiracy before it plays out.

The film features good performances by a really nice cast. Armand Assante brings the character of Rico to life better than the comic book ever did. Diane Lane, Jurgen Prochnow and Max Von Sydow are always good, and though I had my doubts to begin with, Stallone pulls off Dredd very well. While some folks complain about Rob Schneider's irritating behavior, I found that his goofy character took a little of the edge off of Stallone's depressive performance of the most stoic law enforcement officer on planet earth. This is not one of Joan Chen's better roles. If you're a big Chen fan, you might think twice about seeing this.

All considered, I see Judge Dredd as a under-rated and mis-marketed film, which, through its fast pace, sophisticated sci-fi plot, Excellent special effects and very good cast, took all of the screenable elements of the comic book and made them accessible to an audience a bit wider than its original fan-base. If this review peaks your interest, see it!

Continuing my plan to watch every Sly Stallone movie in order, I come to 1995's Judge Dredd.

Plot In A Paragraph: Judge Dredd, (a blue eyed Stallone) is convicted for a crime he did not commit, and he must fight to clear his name.

Armand Assante (an actor I normally like) tries too hard and over acts awfully, but he is not alone. Diane Lane and Max Von Sydow apart, the acting is bad, bad, bad (Stallone included)

In the Dredd comics, tradition dictates that Dredd does not off his helmet, thus his face has mostly only fleetingly appeared in full, but this mean Stallone would never show his face clearly, so to placate his ego, 15 minutes in to the movie and the helmet is off. It's a shame this movie doesn't work, as Sly looks the part, and it could have been a franchise. However the ball is dropped and he must take the lions share of the blame.

In interviews, Stallone said he felt the film was supposed to be a comedy/action film, and demanded rewrites to make it even more comedic. The director and screenwriter, however, had intended a darker approach, which led to many difficulties behind the scenes.Director Danny Cannon was so disheartened over his constant creative disputes with Stallone that he swore he would never again work with another big-name actor. He also claimed that the final version was completely different from the script, due to the changes Stallone demanded.

JUDGE DREDD

Now the thing about this movie is everyone hates it… except me.

The movie is about a law enforcer set in the future that gets falsely accused of murder and is sentenced to life imprisonment. He escapes and is on a mission to try and find the person who set him up.

Anyone that has read the comics hated this film due to the fact that is apparently so different to the comics. From what I have been told, Dredd never takes off his helmet and reveals his face. Not in this film. His helmet is taken off within 15 minutes of the movies start. I never read the comic so I don't know any other differences, but that is probably why I enjoyed it.

This film has a very 90s feel to it. It reminds me in a way to Demolition Man. They are both set in the future and are both really good action movies, although Demolition Man is better. I do love the action films from the 90s. They have a good over the top feel to them.

The acting is alright in it considering it is a cheesy action movie. The movie stars Sylvester Stallone as Dredd. He looks uncomfortable in this role some of the time, but then Stallone does not suit some roles. A young Diane Lane plays his partner. She does a pretty good job. I was very surprised to see a cameo from one of my favourite singers… the legendary Ian Dury. He only had a very small part, but he was really good.

The effects and explosions were really good and well done. But that is what was expected from the action films of that era. The gun fights were completely over the top too… in a good way. I also loved the giant robot in the film. It was one of my favourite characters.

If you like cheese, Sly Stallone, futuristic films and never read the Dredd comics… then I can't see why you would hate this.

I will give it 7 out of 10.

"I am the law!"

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I would hardly call this a Judge Dredd movie. While it starts off promising with an intriguing premise and great production design, the film quickly devolves into a typical Stallone action film. It's cliched, lacking in a good story, and missing something special. This is an interesting character that gets tossed aside pretty quickly so Stallone can take his helmet off and do his usual shtick. I don't dislike Stallone, but he seemed like an odd choice for this film.

Sylvester Stallone did a great job as the stern Judge Dredd from the 2000 A.D. comic book.

I used to read a lot of the early Judge Dredd stories in 2000 A.D. Dredd was a law enforcer in a future time where there were no juries, no trials, just instant justice dispensed on the spot. If you were guilty the emotionless Dredd would issue whatever punishment he saw fit.

Back to the movie anyway. It's not always easy to translate a comic book hero to the big screen without changing things but they did a great job with this movie. If you were to look at a photo of Stallone in this movie and compare it to a drawing of the comic book Dredd you would see no difference. Stallone was Dredd down to a tee.

The story is great as well. Dredd is accused of a crime he did not commit and he must prove his innocence. The action scenes in the movie were fantastic.

All in all, a brilliant film. I just wish there'd have been a sequel.