How ’90s Sci-Fi’s Biggest Superhero Failed and Why It Deserves Better
By Drew Dietsch | Published
Judge Dredd a film almost no one wants to defend. A box office flop and critical disaster, the big-budget sci-fi action film is remembered as little more than a footnote in the memories of many film fans.
Twenty-five years later, Judge Dredd it deserves a shot at re-examination for a number of reasons. And as the world realizes the brutality and unchecked power used by the police during this time of global protest, it seems appropriate to look back at a movie that actually addressed some of these issues.
What Judge Dredd Got Right
Before getting into the inevitable politics of Judge Dreddwe have to pay for the service in some aspects of the 1995 film. Because as a piece of pure production, this is a film that needs to be beaten.
Production designer Nigel Phelps, his career begins in 1989 Batman to Pokémon Detective Pikachuit takes incredible inspiration from both 2000AD source material and sci-fi world-building epics alike Blade Runner. With a reported budget of $90 million, Judge Dredd a film that knew it had to drive its futuristic look across all platforms. And it does.
Judge Dredd it belongs to an era when genre blockbusters were more expensive than ever. Many new technologies and movie techniques will never reach the filmmakers. Before studios felt that most of the effects work could be handled by CG alone, there was a time in the mid-’90s when digital effects and physical work were married in very effective ways. This film is one of the best examples of that. It is a beautiful and touching product that needs to be celebrated as such.
There are additional technical features for Judge Dredd who need to have their time in the sun. Credit to legendary composer Alan Silvestri (Back to the Future, A hunter, Avengers: Endgame) excels in that Basil Poledouris flamboyance that is asked of films like it RoboCop again Starship Troopers. Director Danny Cannon and his cinematographer Adrian Biddle shot the movie with colorful gusto, enjoying the vast world in which they will play. The costumes are fantastic, especially Gianni Versace’s take on the iconic Judge outfit. It’s a film that enjoys all the comic art it has. This is not possible because of the base or gritty. This is a Comic Book Movie and a well crafted one at that. The fact that the movie opens with a bunch of colorful images from the comic books should tell you what it’s going for.
Now, here is where things will get controversial for many reasons. One of those reasons has to do with the 2012 film, Dredd. That movie was highly praised by critics and fans, but when it came out again it did both The Judge Dredd movies, the 2012 version fails in a big way where the 1995 version (mostly) succeeds: being a faithful satire about armed police.
In Judge DreddDredd is eventually implicated in the murder of a journalist, Vartis Hammond, who plans to expose the Justice Department as corrupt. Hammond is beginning to believe that the Justice Department is helping to fuel violent crime in order to create policies that give it more power. This is a film that clearly wants to explore the concept of systemic issues when it comes to policing. The idea of making Dredd, a character who treats the law like a religion, the victim of this corrupt system is great drama and commentary. It sounds like the best story to tell if you want to be true to the source’s critical comments about police work.
And while that element is present unlike the 2012 version, it ends up being given a shorter font. Because when Judge Dredd works like a light popcorn sci-fi action piece, it fails in a few key ways.
What Went Wrong With This Mega-Budget Comic Book Adaptation
There are a lot of things that just don’t work Judge Dredd. I say that as someone who still gets a lot of joy out of the movie. As usual, many fans found it insulting that Dredd ever removed his hat (which he never did in the comics). They don’t like all the “remaking” of the voice so it’s something that can appeal to a wider audience. Those aren’t the problems I have with the film.
Yes, it is worth talking about Judge Dredd as Sylvester Stallone’s star car. Like most movies made to fit the personality and vision of a certain celebrity, the content of this movie is often changed to something more unusual. Stallone has to have a catchphrase, a funny sidekick in the form of Rob Schneider, and he has to be portrayed as the square-jawed hero who saves the day. Stallone isn’t bad in the movie, but he’s being asked to fit a square peg into the round hole of satire the movie wants to achieve.
On the other hand, you have Armand Assante as the villainous Rico. Although equally naive, Assante gets bigger and bolder here. He plays the role as if it were a tourist attraction in the ’60s Batman television show. That’s fun in a campy way but it undercuts the brutality his villain has to bear. In fact, most of the best actors – Diane Lane, Jürgen Prochnow, Max von Sydow! – they do a really great job with what they are given, but what they are given ends up not working out.
And while many will complain about the cheesiness of Judge Dredd as a negative, it’s not where the movie deserves your disdain. In fact, the cheese actually helped keep this movie as a rewatchable piece of entertainment. The real biggest criticism is about how the film ends.
After the revelation that Dredd and Rico are partners of Chief Judge Fargo (Max von Sydow) and that Rico wants to take over the Department of Justice and replace all the Judges with clones who will do his bidding, Dredd is able to kill Rico and stop. his plan. At this point, the Department of Justice is fully revealed to be built on lies and the entire council of Chief Justices has been killed. The system was exposed and severely burned. The Judges look to Judge Dredd to see what he will do. They want him to be the new head of the council.
His response? “I’m just a traffic judge.” Although he recommends that his partner Judge Hershey (Diane Lane) take over, Judge Dredd wants to get back to business as usual. It is here that the movie fails in its attempt to convey a strong message about police reforms. It pays lip service to the idea of change but doesn’t commit to making a big enough statement.
This is where it is Judge Dreddkowtow’s decision to make common sense undercuts anything distracting it might be doing. While that means it actually works on a lot of broad levels, it never succeeds in putting together the things that make it stand out.
Twenty-five years later, Judge Dredd it serves as a reminder of how to make big-budget films. As a piece of pure production, it deserves to be heralded as one of the greatest achievements of the ’90s. Everything about the texture of the film is an amazing achievement. And even its cheesiness has helped solidify this film as a piece of polished silliness. If the movie’s satire worked, it might have grown even better.
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