Judge Dredd (1995)

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.

Director:

Danny Cannon

Writers:

John Wagner (characters), Carlos Ezquerra (characters)

Stars:

Sylvester Stallone, Armand Assante, Rob Schneider

2 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sylvester Stallone	...	Judge Dredd
Armand Assante	...	Rico
Rob Schneider	...	Fergie
Jürgen Prochnow	...	Judge Griffin (as Jurgen Prochnow)
Max von Sydow	...	Judge Fargo
Diane Lane	...	Judge Hershey
Joanna Miles	...	McGruder
Joan Chen	...	Ilsa
Balthazar Getty	...	Olmeyer
Maurice Roëves	...	Miller (as Maurice Roeves)
Ian Dury	...	Geiger
Christopher Adamson	...	Mean Machine (as Chris Adamson)
Ewen Bremner	...	Junior Angel
Peter Marinker	...	Judge Esposito
Angus MacInnes	...	Judge Silver

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

based on comic book | cult film | judge | police | police brutality | 

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Taglines:

One man is the law

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for continuous violent action

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official Site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 June 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

El juez

Filming Locations:

Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$70,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$12,291,536, 2 July 1995, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$34,693,481

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$113,493,481

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hollywood Pictures, Cinergi Pictures Entertainment, Edward R. Pressman Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS (8 channels) DTS SDDS Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the film Mega City One is shown to be much smaller than it was in the comics. In the first scene featuring the Council Judges, a map of North America is shown and Mega City One doesn't spread out much further than the current New York metropolitan area (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut). Maps from the comics have shown Mega City One covering most if not the whole of the U.S. Eastern Seaboard. It is also stated in this scene that it has a population of 65 million, in the comics it is usually around 400 million (although it varies), this is after the Apocalypse War has halved the population from 800 million.

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Goofs

When Hershey asks Central to analyse an old photo of Dredd with Rico at the academy, Central gives the description "Unknown male, approximately 200 centimetres tall". 200 cm is nearly 6 feet 7 inches, Armand Assante (who plays Rico) is nowhere near this unusually tall height, his height is less than 6 foot.

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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.

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Connections

Featured in The Spoony Experiment: Lords of Magick (2011)

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Soundtracks

Release the Pressure
Performed by Leftfield
Produced and Mixed by Leftfield
Published by Hard (U.K.) Hands Publishing Ltd.;
Lamps on Your Ears Music; BMG Music Publishing Ltd.
Leftfield appears courtesy of Columbia Records U.K.

User Reviews

Got all the basics of some challenging material right

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!