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:

In the future, 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

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 June 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Judge Dredd

Filming Locations:

Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$90,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$12,291,536, 2 July 1995

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

The Coen Brothers were offered the chance to make the film. They turned it down in favor of Fargo (1996). Coincidentally, Max von Sydow's character is named Fargo.

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Goofs

In the desert, when Dredd and Ferguson are on a hill looking at the garbage tunnel, Dredd walks away. In the next shot they are standing next to each other, as if Dredd never moved.

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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

Referenced in Dead Rising 2 (2010)

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Soundtracks

Darkness Falls
Performed by The The
Words and Music by Matt Johnson
Produced by Matt Johnson and Bruce Lampcov
Engineered and Mixed by Bruce Lampcov
Published by Lazarus/Sony Music
The The appears courtesy of Sony U.K.

User Reviews

The Great Sly Stallone Is Judge Dredd Down To A Tee

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.