DREDD (2012) The thread of less Sly and more helmet!

edited February 2012 in General Movies & TV Posts: 268
Alex Garland has hired Pete Travis and made a new Judge Dredd film, named simply Dredd. This one sees Karl Urban as Dredd, Olivia Thrilby as Psi-Judge Anderson and Lena Headey as the mob boss Ma-ma in a more gritty and down to earth Mega City One.

The most important part here is to notice what Garland has said: Urban won’t be removing his helmet at any point

:D

The story: Judges Dredd (Karl Urban) and Anderson (Olivia Thrilby) are deployed to investigate homicide in the apartment high-rise named Peach Trees, a violent area ruled by Madeline "Ma-Ma" Madrigal (Lena Headey), a sadistic drug dealer who has put a new substance in the market: Slow-Mo, a drug that alters its user's brain's chemics, making it appear as if time is in slow-motion.

They capture one of Ma-Ma's men in the process but in order to prevent him from being taken to the Judges' headquarters, where he'll surely crack under interrogation, she has her skilled team of Hackers cut Peach Trees of the grid and activate the Nuclear Attack continency program locking down the building inside a titanium dome. Ma-Ma then puts a bounty on Dredd's and Anderson's heads: Either they die, or the dome doesn't get lifted.


Pics: (They are large, so I'll put them in spoilers as to not ruin the forum layout hehe)
d1-1.jpg
d3-1.jpg
d2-1.jpg
d4-1.jpg

So, what do you think about this project? I myself is psyched as hell! Urban looks really badass and I think setting it in a closed environment is the best thing to do with this kind of concept - it keeps it action focused and also saves a lot of money as opposed to if they were going to show the whole of MC1 and risk it looking awful and cheap.
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Comments

  • Posts: 7,653
    Liked the Stallone "camp" version, but are really looking forward to this version. If it ever gets a release in my part of the woods.
  • Posts: 2,107
    I too liked the Stallone version, even if he wore the helmet about 15 minutes max. Still felt , to me , like a Dredd film. Going to see this one too. It's shame they don't show more. All pictures I've seen here and on magazines, are taken from basement. I hope the whole movie doesn't revolve around basements. Would look too cheap and fan film like. Like the look of Dredd and Anderson.
  • edited May 2012 Posts: 12,837
    Looking forward to this. I liked the Stallone version but felt it could've been better.
  • HASEROTHASEROT has returned like the tedious inevitability of an unloved season---
    Posts: 4,399
    glad to see the love for the Stallone version... I don't think it was that horrible of a movie... it's Stallone, so you know what your going to get lol - but I thought the action was good... and Stallone with helmet on looked exactly like the comic images of Dredd that i've seen (though i confess, i've never read the comics)
  • Posts: 268
    I'll join in in the Sly-version praise! It could have been miles better but it is still a campy fun actio adventure that sort of works! Though when it gets bad, it gets really bad :/
    SharkBait wrote:
    I too liked the Stallone version, even if he wore the helmet about 15 minutes max. Still felt , to me , like a Dredd film. Going to see this one too. It's shame they don't show more. All pictures I've seen here and on magazines, are taken from basement. I hope the whole movie doesn't revolve around basements. Would look too cheap and fan film like. Like the look of Dredd and Anderson.

    I agree with that it will look very cheap if they dont change the enviroments enoguh. But I think that will be difficult considering the majority of the movie will take place in an apartment complex hehe :P
  • Posts: 2,107
    Still, get out of your parents basements filming crew! :P

    @haserot ; Dredd has looked a bit different from comic to comic. Depending on who's drawing, Dredd could be a guy with a small chin and be a bit leaner, and in some comics he'd be like Stallone with a big ole chin pointing out under the helmet.
  • SharkBait wrote:
    @haserot ; Dredd has looked a bit different from comic to comic. Depending on who's drawing, Dredd could be a guy with a small chin and be a bit leaner, and in some comics he'd be like Stallone with a big ole chin pointing out under the helmet.

    It does really depend on who's drawing Dredd and at which particular point a story's meant to take place, since unlike other comic characters, the guys at 2000AD have made the decision to actively let Dredd age; Which is a great move if they've the guts to kill him eventually.

    As for Urban.. This does look a little bit closer to the stories in some respects, and at the same time looks almost like a Nolan take on the character, especially in the armour; The uber-fascist leather isn't there, but at the same time, a visored hulk in heavy-SWAT-looking armour has some of it's own connotations and resonance in the modern day. To me, it looks better than the Stallone take, which tried to invoke visually similar stuff, but didn't have the guts to follow through entirely.

    I also like that they're bringing in a character like Anderson, which.. Could be a clever move. Cassandra Anderson's a big character in her own right in the 2000AD stories, so if this is big, it could be interesting to see her in her own films and the like. The old film naturally brought Hershey in, which was a nice move to give Dredd a female foil, but she was employed entirely wrong, as were some of the other nods to the existing stories, such as Rico, Fargo, and Fergie. It was a little too cluttered and a little too.. Well, superheroey, what with the origin being dumped in the middle of the film.

    This is to say nothing of bringing in a character from an entirely different 2000AD series with the ABC Warrior robot.

    So I think starting out with what's basically a standard issue Dredd story with some blok-war going on, and hopefully keeping it simple and relegated to Dredd and Anderson is a good idea. They've already suggested bringing Judge Death in for a sequel (having originally wanted him in this movie), which is never a bad idea if he's employed right.

    But.. Yeah. I'm cautiously optimistic about this one. It doesn't have a huge star like Stallone attached to it (which kind of made the original reek of a vanity project, or Stallone was trying to claw back his credibility after Stop or my Mom Will Shoot!), and although I don't particularly like Nolan's Batman, there's a kind of edge to Urban's Dredd, at least visually, that seems to fit in with the kind of hyper-real comic book movie Nolan's brought to prominence.
  • Posts: 268
    TJg2f.gif

    Thats some mighty fine fascism right there! Mussolini would have been proud :D
  • edited February 2012 Posts: 2,107
    Where's that from? I mean where did you find that one?

    If it's from the new movie, then goddangit! That looks like the Dredd I know. Fascism at it's best. (meaning in the comics... other way fascism is a no no)
  • edited February 2012 Posts: 268
    SharkBait wrote:
    Where's that from? I mean where did you find that one?

    If it's from the new movie, then goddangit! That looks like the Dredd I know. Fascism at it's best. (meaning in the comics... other way fascism is a no no)
    Found it via 2000ad's forums that got it from a spanish karl urban fan site.
    I think it has to be from a trailer, a teaser trailer at least. I feel we should get one any week now.

    Yeah, obviously real fascism is wrong (although I am very intrigued by the whole utopian dream of "Everyone should per default think the same and work for a common goal") hehe.

    Anyways, that gif sort of removes all of the Sly-movies feel in an instant! I just wish it was a better quality so we could make out what the judge is saying?

    And also, all the qualms about the helmet being too big seems moot now, it looks perfect in motion imo.
  • edited February 2012 Posts: 1,661
    Huge Judge Dredd/2000AD fan. Loving the current Dredd epic Day of Chaos in 2000AD.

    Having had reservations about the images up till now, I'm very happy to see that clip. It's cool - the look, the background, the overall feel. Certainly restored some faith in the film. I've read the leaked screenplay and it's a tad dimensional, not much depth and no satire, but the action scenes read well.

    On the subject of fascism, the screenplay establishes the fact early on that Mega-City 1 is a fascist state and the Judges have absolute control. You know straight away that the Judges are the law and Dredd enforces it with iron discipline. However, it's very much an action screenplay in the traditional sense. This isn't a V for Vendetta or 1984 type Judge Dredd storyline. It's basically Dredd vs perps in a huge block.

    Dredd 2012 has the potential to be a very strong, hard action film. I think the teaser trailer could be within a month or so. Let's hope it rocks!
  • QsAssistantQsAssistant All those moments lost in time... like tears in rain
    Posts: 1,812
    Stallone's helmet is way better than the one Urban has, but Urban's armor is much better than the one Stallone had. I'll have to see a trailer before I decide if this will be good or not.
  • edited February 2012 Posts: 268
    fanbond123 wrote:
    Huge Judge Dredd/2000AD fan. Loving the current Dredd epic Day of Chaos in 2000AD.

    Having had reservations about the images up till now, I'm very happy to see that clip. It's cool - the look, the background, the overall feel. Certainly restored some faith in the film. I've read the leaked screenplay and it's a tad dimensional, not much depth and no satire, but the action scenes read well.

    On the subject of fascism, the screenplay establishes the fact early on that Mega-City 1 is a fascist state and the Judges have absolute control. You know straight away that the Judges are the law and Dredd enforces it with iron discipline. However, it's very much an action screenplay in the traditional sense. This isn't a V for Vendetta or 1984 type Judge Dredd storyline. It's basically Dredd vs perps in a huge block.

    Dredd 2012 has the potential to be a very strong, hard action film. I think the teaser trailer could be within a month or so. Let's hope it rocks!

    I havent read the screenplay but can you tell me if Dredd is portrayd as a pure hero (like he was in the Slyfilm) or as a person doing and believing in the fascist cause as he is in the comics (which makes him alot more interesting than the ordinary runof the mill antihero)
  • edited February 2012 Posts: 1,661
    He's less of a pure hero. He believes in the fascist cause.

    There's a major development in the story which makes you root for Dredd and you know he's an (anti)hero. I won't reveal what happens but the screenplay does make you think "this Dredd is not that nice" and then later on as the plot progesses you think "this guy is the hero." I think it gets the balance right between hero and antihero. At the end of the story you know Dredd is trying to maintain law and order, to make Mega-City 1 a better safer place.

    And you'll be happy to know Dredd does not have touchy feelings for other people. He doesn't take off his helmet - Karl Urban said he won't remove the helmet - and Dredd won't be kissing any other Judges. ;)
  • Posts: 1,661
    Here's a treat for all Judge Dredd fans - some post production footage including the lawmaster bike!!!!




    The bike can be seen turning the corner - left side of the screen - during the daylight road scene. :)
  • Posts: 1,661
    Dredd chasing a 20th century van is a bit sad and laughable.

    Oh well, that's the way it goes. :( Perhaps Skyfall will be better.
  • edited February 2012 Posts: 268
    The thing about that footage that I thought was best was the dialogue!
    "20 years in the cube"

    "Sometimes I have to kill to preserve the law"


    Urban has the perfect pitch on the voice!
  • Posts: 12,526
    This certainly seems alot darker than the stallone version. Certainly worth a look!
  • edited February 2012 Posts: 1,661
    "The thing about that footage that I thought was best was the dialogue!
    "20 years in the cube"

    "Sometimes I have to kill to preserve the law"

    Urban has the perfect pitch on the voice!"


    That's not his voice. It's actor Toby Longworth. The music and dialogue is not from the film.

    Wikipedia:

    'Toby Longworth - He has also appeared in many audio dramas by Big Finish Productions including their Doctor Who spin-off range and taking the lead role as Judge Dredd in their line of audio plays based upon the 2000 AD series.'
  • Posts: 268
    really? whats the audiobook that is the source of that dialogue?
  • edited February 2012 Posts: 1,661
    The audio comes from various audio plays. Big Finish 2000AD audio plays.

    http://www.bigfinish.com/2000-AD
  • edited February 2012 Posts: 1,661
    fanbond123 wrote:
    ""The thing about that footage that I thought was best was the dialogue!

    "20 years in the cube"

    The full Judge Dredd song:



    ;)
  • edited May 2012 Posts: 268
    I didnt know this was at Cannes, but apperantly they just hjad a screening of it and recieved great reactions :D

    http://www.deadline.com/2012/05/cloud-atlas-dredd-looper-magic-mike-cannes-screenings/
    Deadline wrote:
    Of today’s Dredd screening, IM Global’s Stuart Ford says, “The reaction was great. It was as packed as any screening I’ve seen in Cannes. There were people sitting on the floor in the front and the back of the room.” (And that was after the air-conditioning had gone on the blink just ahead of the movie; Ford says there were no walkouts, “even though it was about a hundred degrees.”) Dredd, directed by Pete Travis, stars Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby and Lena Headey. It’s a project that would also normally have been set up at a studio, but instead, Reliance Big Entertainment and IM Global financed DNA Films’ $40M adaptation of the UK comic created by John Wagner and illustrated by Carlos Ezquerra. Today’s screening allowed “people who bought it for a lot of money 18 months ago” to get a look at what Ford says is “an edgy, cool film with a rocking soundtrack.” Compared to other superhero pictures coming down the pike, Ford says it “appears very fresh and distinctive. It’s Dirty Harry meets District 9.” Lionsgate is releasing in the U.S. on September 21 and there are two territories remaining that Ford expects to close possibly “before the evening is out.”

    Dirty Harry were good films, District 9 was awesome, this sounds very promising!
  • Posts: 268
    And here it is folks, the first trailer:


    Bad cgi aside, it looks pretty badass!
  • I'm prepared to give it a go (as a massive Dredd fan, I grew up with 200AD), but I just can't see Urban in this role, he's not big enough for one thing, and I'm really not sure about the voice, maybe it would be easier if I'd never seen him in anything else, but like I said, I'll certainly go and see it before passing judgement..... See what I did there.. ;-)
  • Posts: 7,653
    Here is a comic I am curious about.

    The last try at Judge Dredd wasn't bad, it wasn't good either, but definetely had its moments.
  • edited June 2012 Posts: 371
    I may be in a minority here, but I liked Stallone's Dredd, physically the right build, facialy i thought it worked, the voice was good, very enjoyable, the new one seems to be taking itself a lot more seriously.

    Sylvester-Stallone_Judge_l.jpg judge-dredd.jpg
  • Posts: 12,526
    I keep having images stuck in my head of Stallones Dredd and comparing the two? Not sure if i will go and see it? It looks promising though!
  • Posts: 268
    I'm prepared to give it a go (as a massive Dredd fan, I grew up with 200AD), but I just can't see Urban in this role, he's not big enough for one thing, and I'm really not sure about the voice, maybe it would be easier if I'd never seen him in anything else, but like I said, I'll certainly go and see it before passing judgement..... See what I did there.. ;-)
    re Urbans voice: I think he sounds like Clint Eastwood in the trailer, which to me is the perfect voice for Dredd :)

  • Posts: 5,767
    Yeah, the trailer has something of an Eastwood-y Rambo feel, I like that :-) .
    I´m not a comic book reader, but the ambience reminds me somehow a bit of Escape from NY. Would be cool if that were all throughout the film.
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