From rec.arts.sf.reviews Mon Jul 10 16:18:50 1995 Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Path: news.ifm.liu.se!liuida!sunic!sunic.sunet.se!trane.uninett.no!Norway.EU.net!EU.net!howland.reston.ans.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!uwm.edu!lll-winken.llnl.gov!fnnews.fnal.gov!gw1.att.com!nntpa!not-for-mail From: JBERARDINELL@delphi.com (berardinelli,james) Subject: REVIEW: JUDGE DREDD Message-ID: Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Summary: r.a.m.r. #03785 Originator: ecl@mtgp003 Keywords: author=Berardinelli Sender: ecl@mtgpfs2.att.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Nntp-Posting-Host: mtgp003.mt.att.com Reply-To: JBERARDINELL@delphi.com (berardinelli,james) Organization: - Date: Wed, 5 Jul 1995 13:38:16 GMT Approved: ecl@mtgpfs2.att.com Lines: 92 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3163 rec.arts.sf.reviews:794 JUDGE DREDD A film review by James Berardinelli Copyright 1995 James Berardinelli RATING (0 TO 10): 5.1 United States, 1995 U.S. Availability: wide release 6/30/95 Running Length: 1:36 MPAA Classification: R (Extreme violence, profanity) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Armand Assante, Diane Lane, Rob Schneider, Jurgen Prochnow, Joan Chen, Max von Sydow Director: Danny Cannon Producers: Charles M. Lippincott and Beau E.L. Marks Screenplay: William Wisher and Steven E. De Souza from a story by Michael De Luca and William Wisher Cinematography: Adrian Biddle Music: Alan Silvestri U.S. Distributor: Hollywood Pictures Some two decades ago, Sylvester Stallone actually did a little acting in a movie called ROCKY. Since then, he's pretty much strutted his way through film after film, grunting convincingly and occasionally uttering a line or two of dialogue. He probably has more range than Steven Seagal, but that's not saying much. RAMBO, CLIFFHANGER, and THE SPECIALIST have been box office successes, and now Stallone carries an impossibly large price tag. His latest, JUDGE DREDD, based on a popular British comic book, comes across pretty much as a retread of DEMOLITION MAN, right down to the basic quality of the production. DREDD has a serious tone problem. Sometimes, it's rather amusing, but it's impossible to decide whether this is accidental or on purpose. Is the director playing with the audience or is the picture an exercise in campy seriousness that would make Ed Wood smile? There are few clues. Often, JUDGE DREDD appears to be a parody, but my guess is that Danny Cannon was aiming for an action/adventure flick with a humorous edge. At least visually, this film aspires to be BLADE RUNNER, but aspirations are all it has. Ridley Scott's science fiction classic gave a unique visual look to the future. DREDD's Mega-City One (formerly New York) is a glitzy replication. In fact, just about everything in this silly, sub-par science fiction farce is derivative. For example, there's an air speeder chase lifted directly from RETURN OF THE JEDI, and DREDD is littered with nods to ROBOCOP. Those hoping for a coherent story would do better to stay away. When the film's narrative makes sense, it's only because of hard-to-swallow contrivances. It's the twenty-second century on Earth (now called "The Cursed Earth", as James Earl Jones informs us in an introductory monologue), and crime is out of control. A new breed of law enforcement officer has been born. With the power to apprehend, convict, and carry out sentences, the Judges have become rightfully feared. Dredd (Stallone -- who else?) is the best of the bunch. Emotionless and rigidly devoted to the Law, he doesn't cut anyone any breaks, not even a petty crook just trying to save his own life (Rob Schneider). Then the tables are turned. Dredd is framed for murder and, when his chosen defense counselor, Judge Hershey (Diane Lane), can't contradict some DNA evidence (no, this isn't the O.J. Simpson trial), he is sent to prison. And, while Dredd is on his way up the river, an irredeemably vicious ex- Judge, Rico (Armand Assante), returns to Mega-City One to wreak havoc. Performance-wise, there isn't much that's memorable here. Stallone is Stallone; need more be said? Diane Lane is pretty bland, and she and her beefy co-star don't threaten to start any fires with their sparkless relationship. Rob Schneider is fitfully funny as the comic relief, but that's his job. Armand Assante seems to be having a whale of a good time, though. Like any actor playing a solid, over-the-top villain, he's fun to watch. Respected thespians like Max von Sydow and Jurgen Prochnow have relatively brief appearances. And Joan Chen again wins the "most underused performer of the film" award. In the STAR WARS movies, we had "May the Force be with you." Schwarzenegger is known for saying "I'll be back." The tag line for JUDGE DREDD appears to be "I knew you'd say that." Catchy, huh? Of course, all the "best" lines go to Stallone, and he half-bellows, half- grunts them in typical fashion. These include: "I AM the Law!" and the Spock-like "Emotions: there ought to be a law against them." Now, we're not meant to take this sort of dialogue seriously, are we? The problem is, no matter what you expect from JUDGE DREDD, you're likely to laugh at it more often than with it. It is frequently diverting, but this is entertainment of the lowest level. Other comic book characters (most notably Superman and Batman) have weathered the transition to live action far better. Dredd is pure Stallone and, irrespective of all the sci-fi trappings, that statement is probably all that's needed to define exactly what kind of movie this is. - James Berardinelli (jberardinell@delphi.com) From rec.arts.sf.reviews Mon Jul 10 16:20:34 1995 Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.kth.se!nac.no!ifi.uio.no!news.sics.se!eua.ericsson.se!erinews.ericsson.se!news.algonet.se!news.uoregon.edu!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!nntp.crl.com!pacbell.com!gw2.att.com!nntpa!not-for-mail From: rafferty@otc.fsu.edu (Stephen Rafferty) Subject: REVIEW: JUDGE DREDD Message-ID: Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Summary: r.a.m.r. #03795 Originator: ecl@mtgp003 Keywords: author=Rafferty Sender: ecl@mtgpfs2.att.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Nntp-Posting-Host: mtgp003.mt.att.com Reply-To: rafferty@otc.fsu.edu (Stephen Rafferty) Organization: Florida State University Date: Fri, 7 Jul 1995 21:01:09 GMT Approved: ecl@mtgpfs2.att.com Lines: 61 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3154 rec.arts.sf.reviews:792 JUDGE DREDD A film review by Stephen Rafferty Copyright 1995 Stephen Rafferty * - Very Poor ** - Bad, not much here. *** - Good. **** - Very good, see this. ***** - Excellent, a must see. One of the years best ____________________________________________ ** Directed by Danny Cannon Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Armand Assante, Rob Schneider, Max Von Sydow. Written by Bill Wisher, Walon Green, John Fasano, Steven De Souza. Cinematography by Adrian Biddle, BSC. Edited by Alex Mackie Completely disappointing is the only way for myself to describe JUDGE DREDD. I've collected Dredd comics for close to ten years now, and unfortunately this film is not a good depiction of the comic. However, this is not for the obvious reasons an avid comic collector might have. Stallone plays Dredd, a Judge in the 21st century who is the complete package: Judge, Jury, and Executioner. The Earth is split into basic two parts: the Cursed Earth which is a barren wasteland where savages exist, and a few Mega City's spread throughout the world. Mega City 1 where Dredd's beat is, is not a far cry from the futuristic world of BLADE RUNNER, but a little bigger and a little lighter. Block wars, where a whole block of inhabitants of Mega-City basically go on a rampage, are the norm. Dredd is constantly quelling these outbursts in his usual calm, unemotional manner. He is the quintessential steel nerved man; he Judges with no connection to the humans involved. Basically the plot is this: bad old Judge comes back and tries to take over Mega-City 1, he tries to kill his old brother Dredd, and Dredd battles him until the slam-bam climax. Guess who wins? My problem is that the script is just poorly written, and never challenges the viewer once. The plot follows the course you think it will after you've seen the first twenty minutes. The script being so bad makes the film a let down because Stallone is actually good in the lead, and the film does a great job of depicting Mega City 1 as it is in the comic. In fact, when I first saw the matte shot of Mega City at the beginning of the film I was very impressed with it's almost perfect version of the crime ridden metropolis. He will have his detractors, but Stallone is perfect for Dredd, who is really a man turned robot. Even though he is unmasked unlike the comic, for most of the film he keeps the stoic posture that is Dredd. He Judges and executes without remorse. Stallone only fails when the character as written fails; when too much emotion is involved. If Director Cannon, a self confessed Dredd fanatic, had stayed truer to the comic's campy, satirical tone with a stone-faced hero, he'd have made a much better film. Stephen Rafferty From rec.arts.sf.reviews Mon Jul 10 16:21:53 1995 Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.kth.se!nac.no!ifi.uio.no!news.sics.se!eua.ericsson.se!erinews.ericsson.se!news.algonet.se!news.uoregon.edu!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!nntp.crl.com!pacbell.com!gw2.att.com!nntpa!not-for-mail From: null@utxvms.cc.utexas.edu (Christopher Null) Subject: REVIEW: JUDGE DREDD Message-ID: Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Summary: r.a.m.r. #03796 Originator: ecl@mtgp003 Keywords: author=Null Sender: ecl@mtgpfs2.att.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Nntp-Posting-Host: mtgp003.mt.att.com Reply-To: null@utxvms.cc.utexas.edu (Christopher Null) Organization: Null Publishing Co. Date: Fri, 7 Jul 1995 21:02:01 GMT Approved: ecl@mtgpfs2.att.com Lines: 57 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3155 rec.arts.sf.reviews:793 JUDGE DREDD A film review by Christopher Null Copyright 1995 Christopher Null You know from the first *second* what you're getting into with this movie. The opening to JUDGE DREDD, Sylvester Stallone's new sci-fi action vehicle, is not a smash-bang action sequence, but rather a montage of comic book covers from old the Judge Dredd series. This comic book movie intro is getting popular (the third time I've seen something like it this year), and it's getting really, really old. After the comics are laid out, we have a screenfull of text, explaining the mind-numbingly unoriginal premise of JUDGE DREDD, which is this: in the future, the world sucks. At first I didn't know why there was a voice-over attached to this text, but then I realized that most of the audience of the film probably couldn't read. In this happy land, Sly is a genetically-enhanced "Judge," a super-cop who dispenses judgments to criminals on the spot of their crimes. When his psychotic, also-enhanced brother (Rico, played by Armand Assante) returns from prison to get his revenge on Dredd by framing him, Sly finds himself on the run in an attempt to save himself and the world from Rico. Yawn. Full of crappy digital effects, JUDGE DREDD looks like a bad B-movie from Roger Corman. Armand Assante is pathetic as the giggling villain who is supposed to be Sly's *brother*--I mean, Armand Assante, the guy who danced in red heels in FATAL INSTINCT? Yeah, right. Basically, Assante grimaces his way through 91 long minutes of this schlock so we can get to the inevitable showdown. JUDGE DREDD does clear up one minor mystery for me. It answers the riddle, "How many times can one film use the plot device, 'Someone sneaks up behind someone else.'" The answer: about 20. Everything about the movie is just ridiculous. The ultra-high tech cops don't seem to notice Rico and his 8-foot tall robot traipsing around the city. And of course, the only way to fix a flying motorcycle is to beat it with one's fist. Dialogue saves DREDD from one-star hell. Sly's got a few good one-liners, and Rob Schneider is often funny as the comic relief sidekick. Fellow Judge Diane Lane also seems to be able to act. But that's about it. If you want to read a comic book, save the price of the movie ticket and buy a real one. RATING: ** +---------------------------------------+ |* Unquestionably awful | |** Sub-par on many levels | |*** Average quality, hits and misses | |**** Good, memorable film | |***** Perfection | +---------------------------------------+ From rec.arts.sf.reviews Fri Jul 14 10:29:41 1995 Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.kth.se!sunic!sunic.sunet.se!trane.uninett.no!nac.no!Norway.EU.net!EU.net!howland.reston.ans.net!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!lll-winken.llnl.gov!fnnews.fnal.gov!gw1.att.com!nntpa!not-for-mail From: jlyons@haven.ios.com (John Lyons) Subject: CHILDREN'S REVIEW: JUDGE DREDD Message-ID: Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Summary: r.a.m.r. #03808 Originator: ecl@mtgp003 Keywords: author=Lyons Sender: ecl@mtgpfs2.att.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Nntp-Posting-Host: mtgp003.mt.att.com Reply-To: jlyons@haven.ios.com (John Lyons) Organization: Iffy Online Services Date: Tue, 11 Jul 1995 19:44:51 GMT Approved: ecl@mtgpfs2.att.com Lines: 31 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3170 rec.arts.sf.reviews:797 JUDGE DREDD [Spoilers] A film review by Owen Copyright 1995 Owen [Note: this review is from a 12-year-old's perspective. -Moderator] A WORD FROM THE O-BOY I saw JUDGE DREDD and it didn't suck. No, really, it was about how in the Third Millennium people realized police couldn't do crap so they got ripped brain-stems and made them judge, jury, and executioner. So they train this one dude who worships the law and blows away baddies and announces, "I yam da laaaaaaaaaaawwwww!" People get peeved at his "law" and he has to take course in ethics then is suspected of killing the head of the judges, is found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. In the ship taking him to prison he meets someone he sentenced and Christian rednecks blow up all but one portion of ship and capture Dredd and his little friend. The friend claims he's a believer, and it turns out the rednecks are cannibals. Dredd kills all but the stupid, ugly cyborg who kills the Chief Justice who tells Dredd he was a experiment and had a evil brother who killed the head. Dredd-2 makes a zillion clones who are mysteriously sucked out of the plot. Dredd beats the crap outta Dredd-2. Dredd is assigned to head (headredd, har, har.) refuses, kisses lawyer, movie credits. R for violence, 8 for cliches (2 cliches within movie.) -- Owen. From rec.arts.sf.reviews Mon Jul 17 10:51:09 1995 Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Path: news.ifm.liu.se!liuida!sunic!sunic.sunet.se!trane.uninett.no!nac.no!Norway.EU.net!EU.net!howland.reston.ans.net!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!lll-winken.llnl.gov!fnnews.fnal.gov!gw1.att.com!nntpa!not-for-mail From: jeff@pixar.com (Jeff Pidgeon) Subject: REVIEW: JUDGE DREDD Message-ID: Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Summary: r.a.m.r. #03807 Originator: ecl@mtgp003 Keywords: author=Pidgeon Sender: ecl@mtgpfs2.att.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Nntp-Posting-Host: mtgp003.mt.att.com Reply-To: jeff@pixar.com (Jeff Pidgeon) Organization: Pixar Date: Tue, 11 Jul 1995 19:44:34 GMT Approved: ecl@mtgpfs2.att.com Lines: 67 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3177 rec.arts.sf.reviews:802 JUDGE DREDD A film review by Jeff Pidgeon Copyright 1995 Jeff Pidgeon JUDGE DREDD seems to be another example of what can happen when a Big Star attaches him/herself to a project. The Big Star begins to bend the content and tone of the project to better suit what he/she thinks the audience wants or expects from them, and before you know it, it's just another vehicle, the content reduced to a candy coating around the same old gumball. I've never read a single issue of JUDGE DREDD, but I can't imagine fans of the comic enjoying the film very much. I've heard tell of JUDGE DREDD fans boycotting the picture , though if this is so, I don't know what they intend to accomplish. I can't imagine there can be enough JUDGE DREDD fans to make a box office dent one way or another, though the character has been around for a while, so who knows? One of the oddest things about the film is the central idea. We're in another one of those futuristic societies where everything has gone to Hell in a bullet train. This society's solution was to gather most people up into great big huge cities policed by Judges--who are judge, jury and executioner in one tight-leather, golden-eagle-shoulder-pad package. Most of the denizens of the Mega-cities spend most of their time rioting, and the judges spend most of *their* time shooting them or getting shot. The Judges are presided over by one of those High Councils that sit around in rooms that look like they were designed by fascist architects. They argue a lot about how many Judges are getting greased, and discuss what a maverick-type-legend Dredd is. Considering how much authority the Judges are given, it's unclear what Dredd is doing that's considered outside the bounds of good judgement. Further, it's more than a little odd that we're supposed to accept this society as normal. In MAD MAX, for example, it's pretty clear that everything's pretty messed up, and the people involved with the story would definitely like things to be much better. Here, however, most of the plot concerns itself with whether or not some nasty fellow will take over what is a pretty fascist set-up in the first place. Dredd himself seems to be an "upholder of the Law," but has little problem with the system he works in. I've heard that the comic's intent was satirical in asking us to accept the Judges in the first place, but here it seems to come off more like, 'Oh No! That villain almost took control of our police state! Thanks goodness Dredd was here to prevent it from becoming a *really bad* police state!' Most of the rest of the film is accomplished but derivative. Everything feels familiar and tired. The pacing is decent and the effects are shiny but not especially diverting. The production design feels like Albert Speer, Ralph McQuarrie and Syd Mead teamed up to re-make BLADE RUNNER. Stallone feels inappropriate for a role that would seem to require more steely fanaticism that his usual lovable-lug bit. The comedy relief sidekick comes off as rather irritating most of the time, and every single line written for him punctures the reality of the world we're supposed to be in with lots of pizza delivery and ATM gags, with no adjustments made to remind us that we're in a different culture. There are sequences that (like CASPER) seem to be footage for an upcoming simulator ride at Disneyland. Max Von Sydow dignifies this effort with a performance that rises above the script-by-numbers. Joan Chen looks good but is wasted in a supporting role. Alan Silvestri's score has a moment or two but mostly overplays its hand. The main villain in the piece seems to be doing an extended Anthony Hopkins imitation. Overall, I didn't find JUDGE DREDD as irritating as BATMAN FOREVER, but I doubt if I'll remember much about it at all a month or two from now. Not recommended. -- Jeff "Doh!" Pidgeon From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Jul 19 14:14:20 1995 Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Path: news.ifm.liu.se!liuida!sunic!sunic.sunet.se!news.sprintlink.net!hookup!nntp-hub2.barrnet.net!pacbell.com!gw2.att.com!nntpa!not-for-mail From: legeros@cybernetics.net (Michael J. Legeros) Subject: REVIEW: JUDGE DREDD Message-ID: Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Summary: r.a.m.r. #03823 Originator: ecl@mtgp003 Keywords: author=Legeros Sender: ecl@mtgpfs2.att.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Nntp-Posting-Host: mtgp003.mt.att.com Reply-To: legeros@cybernetics.net (Michael J. Legeros) Organization: SAS Institute, Inc. Date: Sun, 16 Jul 1995 01:09:47 GMT Approved: ecl@mtgpfs2.att.com Lines: 48 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3192 rec.arts.sf.reviews:804 JUDGE DREDD A film review by Michael John Legeros Copyright 1995 Michael John Legeros Directed by Danny Cannon Written by William Wisher and Steven E. De Souza, from a story by Michael De Luca and William Wisher Cast Sylvester Stallone, Armande Assante, Diane Lane, Rob Schneider, Jurgen Prochnow, Joan Chen, Max von Sydow MPAA Rating "R" (presumably for violence and profanity) Running Time 96 minutes Reviewed at Wynnsong 10, Durham (30JUN95) == Despite handsome casting and sharp production values, last month's second comic-book-to-film is a failure from the get-go. The tone problems start in the very first scenes, after James Earl Jones' somber narration introduces the judicial system of the future, where "judges" roam the streets of Mega-City One, acting as judge, jury, and executioner. The toughest judge is Judge Dredd (Sylvester Stallone), who's emotionless commitment to "da law" strikes fear in the hearts of evil men. Boasting a great set-up, JUDGE DREDD sounds tougher than it really is. The screenplay--by William Wisher and Steven E. De Souza--tries to cover too many bases at once, as if someone at Disney decided that a Facist character in a graphic comic book could have some sort of mass audience appeal. So they "humanize" the movie by giving Dredd a hollow sense of humor, a female Judge/love-interest/sparring-partner (Diane Lane), and even a comic sidekick (Rob Schnieder, who obviously didn't learn *his* lesson after appearing alongside Stallone in DEMOLITION MAN). Actually, *that* film is much more enjoyable than the wasted work here. Director Danny Cannon has visualized correctly, but the story contains too much absurdity to be taken seriously. Sci-fi hillibillies; malfunctioning motorcycles; and, yes, even a cat-fight (between Lane and Joan Chen). Sigh. The whole thing is actually not awful until the last twenty minutes, when Stone and Armande Assante (who plays the villain) are standing and shouting in each other's faces, their respectively flawed diction trying to work their mouths in the direction of north by northwest. BOTTOM LINE: Dreadful. Grade: D+ From ../rec.arts.sf.reviews Tue Nov 14 14:34:20 1995 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Fri Jul 14 10:28:45 1995 Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.kth.se!sunic!sunic.sunet.se!trane.uninett.no!nac.no!Norway.EU.net!EU.net!howland.reston.ans.net!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!lll-winken.llnl.gov!fnnews.fnal.gov!gw1.att.com!nntpa!not-for-mail From: jlyons@haven.ios.com (John Lyons) Subject: CHILDREN'S REVIEW: JUDGE DREDD Message-ID: Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Summary: r.a.m.r. #03808 Originator: ecl@mtgp003 Keywords: author=Lyons Sender: ecl@mtgpfs2.att.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Nntp-Posting-Host: mtgp003.mt.att.com Reply-To: jlyons@haven.ios.com (John Lyons) Organization: Iffy Online Services Date: Tue, 11 Jul 1995 19:44:51 GMT Approved: ecl@mtgpfs2.att.com Lines: 31 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3170 rec.arts.sf.reviews:797 JUDGE DREDD [Spoilers] A film review by Owen Copyright 1995 Owen [Note: this review is from a 12-year-old's perspective. -Moderator] A WORD FROM THE O-BOY I saw JUDGE DREDD and it didn't suck. No, really, it was about how in the Third Millennium people realized police couldn't do crap so they got ripped brain-stems and made them judge, jury, and executioner. So they train this one dude who worships the law and blows away baddies and announces, "I yam da laaaaaaaaaaawwwww!" People get peeved at his "law" and he has to take course in ethics then is suspected of killing the head of the judges, is found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. In the ship taking him to prison he meets someone he sentenced and Christian rednecks blow up all but one portion of ship and capture Dredd and his little friend. The friend claims he's a believer, and it turns out the rednecks are cannibals. Dredd kills all but the stupid, ugly cyborg who kills the Chief Justice who tells Dredd he was a experiment and had a evil brother who killed the head. Dredd-2 makes a zillion clones who are mysteriously sucked out of the plot. Dredd beats the crap outta Dredd-2. Dredd is assigned to head (headredd, har, har.) refuses, kisses lawyer, movie credits. R for violence, 8 for cliches (2 cliches within movie.) -- Owen. From ../rec.arts.sf.reviews Tue Nov 14 14:34:36 1995 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Jul 19 14:13:55 1995 Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Path: news.ifm.liu.se!liuida!sunic!sunic.sunet.se!news.sprintlink.net!hookup!nntp-hub2.barrnet.net!pacbell.com!gw2.att.com!nntpa!not-for-mail From: legeros@cybernetics.net (Michael J. Legeros) Subject: REVIEW: JUDGE DREDD Message-ID: Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Summary: r.a.m.r. #03823 Originator: ecl@mtgp003 Keywords: author=Legeros Sender: ecl@mtgpfs2.att.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Nntp-Posting-Host: mtgp003.mt.att.com Reply-To: legeros@cybernetics.net (Michael J. Legeros) Organization: SAS Institute, Inc. Date: Sun, 16 Jul 1995 01:09:47 GMT Approved: ecl@mtgpfs2.att.com Lines: 48 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3192 rec.arts.sf.reviews:804 JUDGE DREDD A film review by Michael John Legeros Copyright 1995 Michael John Legeros Directed by Danny Cannon Written by William Wisher and Steven E. De Souza, from a story by Michael De Luca and William Wisher Cast Sylvester Stallone, Armande Assante, Diane Lane, Rob Schneider, Jurgen Prochnow, Joan Chen, Max von Sydow MPAA Rating "R" (presumably for violence and profanity) Running Time 96 minutes Reviewed at Wynnsong 10, Durham (30JUN95) == Despite handsome casting and sharp production values, last month's second comic-book-to-film is a failure from the get-go. The tone problems start in the very first scenes, after James Earl Jones' somber narration introduces the judicial system of the future, where "judges" roam the streets of Mega-City One, acting as judge, jury, and executioner. The toughest judge is Judge Dredd (Sylvester Stallone), who's emotionless commitment to "da law" strikes fear in the hearts of evil men. Boasting a great set-up, JUDGE DREDD sounds tougher than it really is. The screenplay--by William Wisher and Steven E. De Souza--tries to cover too many bases at once, as if someone at Disney decided that a Facist character in a graphic comic book could have some sort of mass audience appeal. So they "humanize" the movie by giving Dredd a hollow sense of humor, a female Judge/love-interest/sparring-partner (Diane Lane), and even a comic sidekick (Rob Schnieder, who obviously didn't learn *his* lesson after appearing alongside Stallone in DEMOLITION MAN). Actually, *that* film is much more enjoyable than the wasted work here. Director Danny Cannon has visualized correctly, but the story contains too much absurdity to be taken seriously. Sci-fi hillibillies; malfunctioning motorcycles; and, yes, even a cat-fight (between Lane and Joan Chen). Sigh. The whole thing is actually not awful until the last twenty minutes, when Stone and Armande Assante (who plays the villain) are standing and shouting in each other's faces, their respectively flawed diction trying to work their mouths in the direction of north by northwest. BOTTOM LINE: Dreadful. Grade: D+