Judge Dredd (1995)

Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Good concept, poorly executed.

All that we are seeing on the screen is happening with real people, real action sequences in the background, forcing the eye to watch as if we were there.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Movie Review: "Judge Dredd" (1995)One of the early real solid graphic novel adaptation with a fulminate cast throughout, starting with actor Sylvester Stallone, embracing his trademarks to comic extensions, creating the title-given character bold and righteous with occasional flight of humour, stroke by his supporting characters Hershey and Fergie, portrayed by Diane Lane and stand-up comedian Rob Schneider respectively, already given recent Marvel comic adaptations the formula of international box office successes without reaching this picture's balance between the dark of suggested-hardcore violence with R-rated visuals and the light of a extroverted costume design for the judges by Jean-Paul Gaultier executed for further set operations by costume designer Emma Porteous, which makes a brilliant figure in enriching texture and character subconsciously in addition to Adrian Biddle's cinematography and Nigel Phelps' production design.That this 70 Million Dollar production directed by a 26-year-old Danny Cannon, who works nowadays in U.S. television for as show-running director for episodes of "Gotham", still hails its relevance 22 years after a disappointing summer release on June 30th 1995 at the box office, and further never quite received the cult status which it might deserve, has been due to some MPAA regulations that certain scene, especially the fight scene between Dredd's nemesis brother Rico, mesmerizing portrayed by actor Armand Assante, had to be cut as rumor has it because of some inconceivable shots of half-breed clones charging for attack in a secret Mega City laboratory. In that sense the 90 minutes cut by under pressure appearing editor Harry Keramidas and substituted by Alex Mackie feels to this very day incomplete with the internal desire to be improved to make "Judge Dredd" an epic as it deserves to be due to a fallen, governmental-judged, desert-abandoned and risen-again storyline of the leading character's arc, Judge Dredd himself.© 2017 Felix Alexander Dausend (Cinemajesty Entertainments LLC)

Two things that jumped to mind while watching "Judge Dredd": 1. The art design on this movie is impressive. Y'ask me, it makes the movie. The most fun I had was drinking in the sets and architecture. The movie has its problems, sure, but you can see where the money went.2. Who the hell was in charge of music? You've got a big Summer action movie - a Stallone actioner, no less - and you bring on the end credits with the muscular sounds of . . . The Cure? C'mon, someone should've been fired for that one.Putting aside those stray observations, I've gotta be honest, I vastly prefer the Karl Urban movie. Now, even I know that it's not really fair to compare them (they're just two completely different beasts), but it still colors my impression while revisiting this one. I think it's more fair to compare this to "Demolition Man", something that better uses Stallone's talents. He just felt more at home there. The humor is also hit-or-miss. Rob Schneider isn't annoying, but most of his jokes don't land.But it all comes down to the look of the movie, and there's a strange apocalyptic vibe coming off of this, while even the opening credits are touting Versace as the costume designer.6/10

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. Judge Dredd is a movie that i wanted to review for a very long time and i can finally do now and i want to start with the great things about it of course Stallone is really good regardless of people making fun of him and the way he said "I Am The Law" Diane Lane, Max Von Sydow and Armand Assante as the villain is something that truly worked he was menacing although they could do somethings better with him especially with the ending and how he dies it's kinda dumb also Jürgen Prochnow was pretty good which brings me to the biggest problem about this film which is the humor one scene in particular is when Dredd blows up this guy's car and the way he said no it was bad but the biggest problem about it was Rob Schneider and look i don't hate the guy as an actor but he was terribly miscasted here he basically put Dredd in danger 3 goddamn times and he did nothing except doing his "hacker" things and destroying the robot (btw the ABC Warrior was badass and one hell of a practical effect and not some out of place cgi) and he was annoying as hell especially in that scene where Sly tries to take this other judge's clothes and he said "what are you doing? we don't have time for that" seriously why did they cast him? Anyways moving on the Theme song of the movie is easily one of the best Themes from the 90's alongside T2, Total Recall, Predator 2 and a bunch of other cool films from that era also that hate about him taking off his helmet is easily one of the most awkward things i have ever heard in my life and the comic doesn't make sense with that what if they shoot him in the head and his helmet breaks or when he jumps from buildings or does something that could easily loose his helmet off and it never happens that's why i thought Dredd 3D was bad. Anyways it has a big problem as a film with it's humor and the character of Fergie but it has a lot of great action, some cool enemies and a pretty good cast i'm going to give Judge Dredd a 9/10

More no-brain thrills and spills from Stallone, who found his popularity on the wane at around this period. On the strength of this film, I can't say I'm surprised, especially as scenes of Stallone walking around like a tree shouting "I am the LAW!" in a supposed-serious manner are frequently laughable and make you feel embarrassed for the actor. JUDGE DREDD is one of those movies that was possibly messed up in post-production, as the disjointed, fragmented narrative and frequently confusing action may testify to. Indeed in one scene we see a bloodless Stallone in action; in the next we see him running down a corridor bleeding profusely, suggesting that perhaps large chunks of the film were cut out due to negative audience reaction? Whatever the reasons, JUDGE DREDD is a shallow, action-packed film totally lacking in any characterisation or deep plot. In this respect it may be a good approximation of a comic book, but as a film it's a failure and makes you wonder why on earth they bothered in the first place. The biggest insult is that the producers have gathered together an excellent cast of famous names and faces, only to mishandle them and let them sleepwalk through their respective roles on autopilot. Apart from the granite-jawed Stallone in the lead role, we have Diane Lane as the superfluous love interest who spends a large amount of screen time missing; Jurgen Prochnow (in his "do anything for the money" period) as the boring, ineffectual and forgettable bad guy; Max Von Sydow as Chief Justice, whose role amounts to little more than a cameo; and Joan Chen whose screen time is also minimal. The only people who seem to be trying are the not-too-irritating Rob Schneider as the comedy sidekick and Armand Assante as the crazed, ruthless villain.It's a shame as this movie is so poor, because the special effects are marvellous. The evocation of a futuristic cityscape is something that is done often in the movies and here it is most impressive. Also impressive are two robot creations (one CGI, one makeup) which act as adversaries for Stallone. The first is a gigantic, ED-209 style bodyguard for Assante, which lumbers through scenes shooting and tearing people limb from limb! Cool stuff and some fantastic CGI work. The second is an equally impressive android-man called Mean Machine who has a metal head and arm; he's one of the evilest robots that I've seen in a film, and it's a shame that he only appears in one scene. Sadly, as a whole JUDGE DREDD is a mess which glamourises death and violence so much that it doesn't mean anything in the end (by the time Stallone finishes slaughtering his 100th bad guy in EXACTLY THE SAME WAY you end up getting sick and tired of it all). COMMANDO this ain't. Instead, it's a time wasting big-budget flick which is impossible to enjoy with the brain engaged.