It Can't Be Worse Than The Stallone Version, Right? First DREDD Images Appear

Todd Brown, Founder and Editor

It has not been an easy road bringing Judge Dredd from the page to the screen. Sure, the comic book has been adapted once before with Sylvester Stallone as the titular character but most would prefer to pretend that never happened. So those disappointed by the previous attempt have been looking forward to the Pete Travis directed version with Karl Urban in the lead. At least they were until word broke in October that the film was delayed, director Travis was not involved in the editing process and writer-producer Alex Garland was overseeing all post and planned reshoots. Talk at the time was that Garland was so involved that he may seek a co-director credit, which does not appear to have happened as of yet.

But soon we'll be able to judge the product rather than the process. Dredd is currently slated for a September release and the first poster and a pair of stills have been released.

The future America is an irradiated waste land. On its East Coast, running from Boston to Washington DC, lies Mega City One- a vast, violent metropolis where criminals rule the chaotic streets. The only force of order lies with the urban cops called "Judges" who possess the combined powers of judge, jury and instant executioner. Known and feared throughout the city, Dredd (Karl Urban) is the ultimate Judge, challenged with ridding the city of its latest scourge - a dangerous drug epidemic that has users of "Slo-Mo" experiencing reality at a fraction of its normal speed.

During a routine day on the job, Dredd is assigned to train and evaluate Cassandra Anderson (Olivia Thirlby), a rookie with powerful psychic abilities thanks to a genetic mutation. A heinous crime calls them to a neighborhood where fellow Judges rarely dare to venture- a 200 story vertical slum controlled by prostitute turned drug lord Ma-Ma (Lena Headey) and her ruthless clan. When they capture one of the clan's inner circle, Ma-Ma overtakes the compound's control center and wages a dirty, vicious war against the Judges that proves she will stop at nothing to protect her empire. With the body count climbing and no way out, Dredd and Anderson must confront the odds and engage in the relentless battle for their survival.

The endlessly inventive mind of writer Alex Garland and director Pete Travis bring DREDD to life as a futuristic neo-noir action film. Filmed in 3D with stunning slow motion photography sequences, the film returns the celebrated character to the dark, visceral incarnation from John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra's revered comic strip.

Check the images in the gallery below.

Around the Internet:

Ard Vijn

"Filmed in 3D with stunning slow motion photography sequences,..."

Oh boy, is that still considered mentionable in today's marketing, thirteen years after THE MATRIX?

Mr. Cavin

Well, I believe that the slow motion is part of the plot, a side effect of the popular new drug that is causing all the trouble. Not that my eyebrows didn't go up, too.

MarsHottentot

Whose didn't, but I'm guessing it's the R-rated gory results in 3D that they're selling here. No, not a selling point to me either, but I'm not a stoned 16 year old boy.

MarsHottentot

The script is really good. Simple - it read more like a typical 2000 A.D. thrill than some summer blockbuster. They've changed some of it (character descriptions don't match what was filmed), but it's pretty damn good. Much closer to the source than Stallone's version - while still being it's own thing. It feels a lot more grungy / Mad Max than the book - not a bad thing, particularly if you're trying to get people to believe the concept.

Mr. Cavin

Does it still work on the level of social and political (and US) satire like it does in the book? Judge Dredd was always sharpish, but also really really funny and inventive. A gritty, MAD MAXy, "neo-noir action film" doesn't seem as likely a screen translation as a colorful, DICK TRACEY-esque, neo-procedural action film might. Comparisons to ROBOCOP above seem apt, since Verhoeven's original movie was way more Judge Dredd than JUDGE DREDD turned out to be.

Mr. Cavin

Thanks for the considered reply. "Nolanized" --barf. Sounds like they are taking this in a way that I'm not that interested in going. I understand, of course--there's nothing to suggest that filming a largely cartoony but adultly violent version of Dredd, as fully arch and playfully ridiculous as it appears on the page, would make a dime in this stultified new world.

MarsHottentot

A little in regards to the wars, but not as much as you'd hope and fairly oblique - it's there if you want it, but you can easily ignore it.

There's humor, but not in the 2000 A.D. "This city is Ker-Razy!" manner, which, in the style they've chosen makes sense. Most of it is from Dredd himself.

Judging from the wide variety of stills I'm going with "Definitely Not" to the cartoony side of Dredd. In fact, some of the more fantastical aspects in the script seem to have been excised from the film - probably to distance it from Stallone's admittedly wacky version. It didn't get much right, but the crazier stuff was on. It's still in there - psychic powers, for instance, and mentions of weirdness, but there's a definite agenda being met in this story and the wilder pieces of Mega City 1 are not it. Maybe in a sequel?

Like I said, this feels more like a typical thrill than even a Judge Dredd epic. It's very simple in scope and I suppose the "Nolanized" description is somewhat fair.

Todd Brown

Cool. I would expect good writing from Garland. That guy's pretty solid.

dac1138

Those shots make it look more like a ROBOCOP remake than the ROBOCOP remake likely will.

mightyjoeyoung

"So those disappointed by the previous attempt"

Well.....I wonder if they shouldnÂ´t have adapted Batman/Judge Dredd: Judgment on Gotham instead...?

Maybe Warner Bros animation plans do that in the future.

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