In a dystopian future, Joseph Dredd, the most famous Judge (a police officer with instant field judiciary powers), is convicted for a crime he did not commit and must face his murderous counterpart.
In the year 2139, the Earth has changed into a virtually uninhabitable place called the Cursed Earth. All of the Earth's population have crowded into the cities across the planet, now known as Mega-Cities. The crimes in these Mega-Cities became so violent and so powerful, that the regular justice system was powerless to contain, then it collapsed completely. However, a new justice system came from the ashes, there were three justice systems in one (police, jury and executioner), they were called Judges. In Mega-City One (formerly, New York City), there was a Judge, named Joseph Dredd, who was the toughest and most stringent Judge in history. One day, he was charged with murder, and was tried and sentenced to life in prison because of it.Written by
John Wiggins
In an interview, Rob Schneider claimed that the film crew gave Sylvester Stallone extra fire retardant on the back of his costume for the fiery exhaust shaft scene, while Mr. Schneider got no fire retardant at all. See more »
Goofs
All the Supreme Council Judges wear shoulder rank devices. Chief Justice Griffin's (Jürgen Prochnow) are on backwards most of the time. A notable scene is in which the Janus files are unlocked; his shoulder devices flip flop depending on the angle. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Narrator:
In the third millennium, the world changed. Climate, nations, all were in upheaval. The Earth transformed into a poisonous, scorched desert, known as "The Cursed Earth". Millions of people crowded into a few Megacities, where roving bands of street savages created violence the justice system could not control. Law, as we know it, collapsed. From the decay rose a new order, a society ruled by a new, elite force. A force with the power to dispense both justice and punishment. They ...
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Alternate Versions
The UK video version has been cut by almost 4 secs by the BBFC in three places. Two headbutts have been cut from the fight between Dredd and Mean Machine, as well as Stallone shooting an enemy right after he breaks free. A headbutt has also been cut from the fight between Hershey and Ilsa. The UK cinema version was uncut. A photograph in an SFX magazine article in 1995 showed Dredd shooting a Judge clone, but this scene isn't in the US or UK versions. This scene was also featured in the serialized comic strip adaptation of the film that was printed in Sunday Magazine in 1995. See more »
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.
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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.