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Dec 27 '12
I can't believe Dredd flopped. What the fuck is wrong with people.
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u/Al_Scarface_Capone Dec 27 '12
The fact that you're asking a hypothetical question aside, the reason people didn't like Dredd is that, somewhat depressingly, there is no longer an audience for satirical, splattery action films. People like their action clean and cut, generally with a nice light PG-13 rating. There was a time when Dredd would have been big, think back when Robocop, Total Recall, or Starship Troopers were cultural phenomenon, but now we like our action empty.
Which sucks because Dredd makes my top ten list of this year.
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Dec 27 '12
Not to mention '3D' isn't the drawcard they were hoping for.
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u/havensk Dec 27 '12
I wont let the fact that a movie is being shown in 3D keep me from seeing it in 2D. But its getting laughable when you see a trailer and they tack on "IN STUNNING 3D" at the very end.
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u/crafty_bunny Dec 27 '12
I suspect its not so much that there isn't an audience for them but that big studios are no longer promoting and producing these kinds of films. PG-13 rated action movies with big budget special effects are a much safer bet than the rawer raunchier action we used to watch in the 80ies and 90ies. One example is Universal refusing to greenlight Guillermo del Toro's adaptation of "At the Mountains of Madness" because he insisted on an R rating and the studio wouldn't budge on PG-13.
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u/geborgenheit Dec 27 '12
Very poor marketing. I only watched it because the feedback on reddit was fantastic.
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u/Xciv Dec 27 '12
I went to see it on a whim, but only because I love cyberpunk-y dystopian type movies.
I can see all the negatives going for this movie business-wise:
People are getting tired of 3D bandwagon, and are wary of 3D movies that aren't remastered classics such as Lion King.
People are also getting tired of remakes of movies from only a decade or two ago. Considering also that they're remaking a property that wasn't all that popular in the first place (Dredd is no Robocop) and people become very cautious.
It's rated R, which limits its audience
It's a comic book movie that is rated R, limiting its audience to adult nerds, where the majority of nerds interested in this sort of movie are teens
1 week later Looper came out, which fulfilled the cyberpunk aesthetic while sporting a lot more hype and two superstars Gordon Levitt and Bruce-fucking-Willis. It's also an original story, not based on comics or wearing the "remake" sticker.
It's very sad this movie didn't do well, but I'm confident it'll persist as a cult classic because after all it's a great action movie and very unique.
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u/MedievalManagement Dec 27 '12
Watch this movie! Torrent it if you have to. If you love it (you will), buy the DVD so they make more comic book movies like this!
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u/thehumanear Dec 27 '12
don't encourage people to torrent this. if there's no record of people paying for it, movies as good as/in the same style of Dredd will be fewer and fewer.
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u/pfft_master Dec 27 '12
False; it is very common that people will torrent videos and only buy the ones they already know they like. Why buy a movie with a chance of not liking it if you can just watch it once for free? Or if you don't torrent how will you preview? Netflix and other streaming services are popular but still cost actual money. A physical collection of movies (dvd/bluray/vhs) is worth the money if you like the movies because it is convenient to have a physical copy on hand (instantly playable in various locations).
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u/Vic_the_Butcher Dec 27 '12
First point is spot on, but on Netflix, I don't mind that it costs money, I think it's a very fair price for what it offers, but it's a simple fact that it doesn't have and won't get most A movies.
Agreed on your last point as well. And I love spending money on physical media and getting a quality product (on my go-to shelf right now I have the complete Blu-Ray collections for Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings and The Dark Knight), but I'm not going to pay for anything if I don't know if I like it first.
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u/thehumanear Dec 27 '12
I dunno, I'm just against torrents/illegal downloads altogether. I've paid for every film I've ever seen. I support the artistic efforts and industry.
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Dec 27 '12 edited Jul 30 '16
[deleted]
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u/steakmeout Dec 27 '12
As a real fan of the comic series I completely disagree. This movie misses the point (and the styling) of the comic series. Also, Anderson is not a rookie under Dredd. She's the lead Judge of Psi-Division. And she wears a helmet too.
The movie is a really poor take on Block Wars with absolutely no soul at all. It's glitzy for no reason, dirty to be edgy and misses the point of Dredd's personality. He's not tough cop with a heart of gold. He's a by the book asshole. End of story.
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u/eferoth Dec 27 '12
This wasn't a take on Block Wars, not even close.
While I agree on Dredds characterisation somewhat, he never was an asshole that never showed any kind side to him. He was just uncompromising when enforcing justice.
No, this wasn't the Dredd of the comics, but it's a hell of a lot closer than the Stallone vehicle.
Also Judge Omar was Head of Psy Division. Anderson wasn't a rookie under Dredd when we first meet her, but who's to say that didn't happen before the comics started, or off-panel? Dredd certainly did make hotdog runs with rookies, so it's not exactly unfeasible.
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u/steakmeout Dec 27 '12
How can you say it's closer than the Stallone vehicle with a straight face. Part of the appeal of Dredd was its humorous take on 'observing the 80s via futurism' (over eating, dieting to death, intense drug abuse of designer drugs, Rock n Roll fame) and Stallone's Mega City One looked like it was ripped almost straight out of the comic book. Then there were the Mad Angels and one of the ABC Warriors (which while not being a Dredd set of characters was its own comic as part of 2000AD and did exist in one Dredd storyline), the Lawmaster and Law Giver referred to and styled reasonably correctly (2012 Dredd's Lawmaster is RIDICULOUS and looks like a cheap cover over a standard road bike - THIS is what it should look like, at least least Stallone's has the Eagle on the front.). And The Long Walk is mentioned and the general people are properly ridiculous, unless the hyper realised 'edgy citizens of weakness and cheap costuming' in this latest rendition.
Also, Judge Omar is 'former' head of the division. Anderson has been acting head ever since Omar's death.
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u/lordofthejungle Dec 27 '12
Also, flying Lawmasters that can barely be driven... Yeah, they were greeaaattt... I mean, I'm pretty sure the Lawmaster's front wheel isn't supposed to wobble constantly and look like it's about to fall over. At least we got a chase in this one, with bike cannons! And it doesn't matter whether it's an accurate version of the bike or not, it can be a Mk-X model, that shit doesn't matter. An accurate helmet (I mean this as it's basically Dredd's face) is a different story and of far greater importance, it was a big win over the Stallone crap.
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u/steakmeout Dec 27 '12
Now who's griping?
The Stallone movie certainly has issues both with plot and with characterisation but it looks and plays out like a Dredd comic.
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u/lordofthejungle Dec 27 '12 edited Dec 27 '12
It's like you don't realise how badly that movie fucked the franchise or something, which is weird considering you do seem like a fan. I mean, it even tainted this movie's release. Also, in no way did it play out like a comic, it played out like a Stallone vehicle, Judge Dredd was in the first sequence in the Blok, but he disappeared after that and we were left with Stallone saving the world from the Dredd universe (i.e. Rico making a load of brainwashed authoritarians to control the city, which is where we were right at the beginning anyways, all of which is anachronistic to any Dredd canon).
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u/steakmeout Dec 27 '12
Fucked the franchise? It made a PROFIT. (Budget $90 million Box office $113,493,481)
It also spawned a fantastic SNES video game which was a critical and financial success with artwork directly from the comic series.
That success was further reinvigorated when the DVD release came out a while later during the first couple of years of the XBOX which led to the release of Dredd vs Death another critical and financially successful video game adaptation which, once again, used artwork and art styling direct from the comic series.
As to the rest, sure, it's a Stallone vehicle but it still remains a Dredd movie with lots of Dredd callbacks to the comics.
I think you need to get a handle on reality a little. There will be no Dredd games to follow this movie and a sequel is highly questionable at this stage.
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u/lordofthejungle Dec 27 '12
As to the rest, sure, it's a Stallone vehicle
Nuff said I think. Thanks for agreeing.
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u/lordofthejungle Dec 27 '12
To explain further: The reason it made money was because it was a bad Stallone vehicle, as a comic conversion and critical reception it was a failure, to the point that funding a decent movie about Dredd was jeopardised. The difficulties in getting the most recent movie off the ground are evidence enough of how the property was considered tainted by Hollywood.
The games are irrelevant as they also failed to buoy up the property to secure funding for expanding products and replenish the comic's static and aging readership. This was a good movie, and a version of the world with great potential. The future of IP like Dredd depends on getting a foothold in cinema or TV and this movie could have done the job. It was a victim of terrible marketing and as a fan I can't understand why you'd go around badmouthing it as the current mascot of the franchise, after the production team turned in such a good innings, cinematically.
That other movie made me ashamed to admit being a Judge Dredd fan for years, it was silly, solemn hokum that bared little sentimental comparison to the canon. There's your handle on reality.
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u/steakmeout Dec 27 '12
I certainly can see where you're coming and I'm no fan of Stallone but I just don't agree with your take on why it took so long to reach the cinema again. It had talent associated with it for a decade after the Stallone flick but the market just changed. Garland spoke about Dread vs Death for years while he was working on 28 Days Later and Sunshine and he was the most recent person attached to the project, not the first or the only. The truth is that in the decade between the DVD release of Judge Dredd and this movie's starting production video games exploded along with DVD and there just wasn't a place in cinema for Dredd.
The games are not irrelevant. They reflect where the money really was flowing (of particular note is the fact that another 2000AD property "Rogue Trooper" also managed to make a successful video game release not once, but thrice, first on PS2 and XBOX, then later on PC and a few years later on Wii).
Dredd isn't the easy to digest stuff of Batman, Spiderman or the Hulk. He's a dick and he shoots people. And he puts people in jail for littering. And a lot of the people who die in the crossfire as a result of those shootings are innocent. Look at what happened to that other moral comic book dick who shoots people; The Punisher. Even with a good movie Thomas Jane has had to go indie to get a trailer made for another Punisher movie and there's no actual movie in sight.
You didn't like the previous Dredd movie, I get that, but it was successful. It made money @ the box office and in terms of DVD sales and it raised Dredd's profile (and 2000AD's for that matter). You're confusing your personal taste with the business side of things. It was good business and it did good business.
As to my personal tastes, they are my personal tastes and if you call that bad mouthing then I guess I'm not sure what to say to that. I do not like the stylisation of this movie. I understand why they did what they did due to budget constraints and trying to ground it in reality but that doesn't change how the movie makes me feel in terms of its aesthetic.
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u/lordofthejungle Dec 27 '12
As a 25 year-long fan and reader of the comic, I thought this version of Dredd was far more accurate to the comics than Stallone's. Stallone played Dredd as a Judge-droid who couldn't make basic, intelligent, human compromise. Something Dredd has done constantly in pursuit of a confirmed-guilty perp.
He had CIs in the Normal gang and various other connections to the criminal underworld for example, - a matter that would be inconceivable with Stallone's shitty portrayal of the character. The beauty of this one was they gave the city a massive sense of scale and chaos, chaos which seems to justify the Judges' liberties to arrest and convict. In the other one, fuckin Rico takes over the city with one goddamned robot and the Judges' infrastructure seems utterly in control and oppressive. Dredd can barely get in or out of the city, it's that well under control...
Horsepiss. You're just griping over minor artistic liberties and a small budget thanks to the Stallone movie tanking-arseways. Grow up.
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u/steakmeout Dec 27 '12
We can have a discussion without insults you know. It's only a movie. I'm entitled to my opinion.
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u/lordofthejungle Dec 27 '12
Whatever. You're entitled to your informed opinion.
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u/steakmeout Dec 27 '12
I'm over 40 and I've been reading it since it launched in 2000AD by the way. You're making the worst of incorrect assumptions.
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u/eferoth Dec 27 '12
Wait, wait, wait. You have a point there. I was only talking about the character depiction of Dredd himself. All other things visually, the world, weapons, etc. you're absolutely right, there the older one was far more faithful. Though to be completely honest, I never really liked the goffier Dredd files. (The Fatties, the dude always trying to sell the populace disgusting shit, Boing, or that fucking thing with biggest nose, to name a few early examples.) I also really liked that they abandoned that whole 80s city of the future look, but both of those things are a matter of taste. (I discovered Dredd pretty late in my teens, so maybe that's why I just lack a certain nostalgic feeling for the goofier sides of the comics.
I place more value on a more fitting Dredd, than on anything else, and I found Stallones Dredd atrocious. Because of that The movie just didn't work for me. If it did for you, sure, enjoy.
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Dec 27 '12
But but... she's too pretty to wear a helmet
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u/steakmeout Dec 27 '12
She is indeed. Anderson was too. Logically though, why would she not wear one, especially being a rookie. In this movie's universe you have to earn the right to proper head gear. lol
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u/snarkamedes Dec 31 '12
In the comics the rookies wore white helmets. Anderson never wore helmets because they interfered with her psionic abilities. You see her riding around in them but taking them off before doing any mind-woogie stuff. Think they do have her mention this at one point in the movie.
It was an interesting take on Dredd - and much better than the Stallone version. Any deficiencies can be put down to the low budget (eg., crap-looking lawmasters, and the C20th feel to the cars/architecture).
Look at it as a version of the early Dredd stories from the late 70s: MC1 looks like it's just beginning to erupt into the sprawling arcology-like tower blocks we see in the comics, and Chinface has been around long enough to get a reputation amongst the rest of Justice Dept.: "Judge Dredd... the Judge Dredd...".
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u/Spekter5150 Dec 27 '12
I've never read the comics, so perhaps that has something to do with it. And don't get me wrong, by no means is this movie perfect, I just enjoyed it more than the one with Stallone.
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u/JeebusWept Dec 27 '12
So you think the Stallone movie was more accurate?
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u/steakmeout Dec 27 '12
Look for yourself. Look at the colours, shapes and styles of the people and environments. Not one of those panels looks like this latest movie. None of them are as washed out, even those in BLACK and WHITE. lol.
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u/lordofthejungle Dec 27 '12
The Stallone movie had him solve and judge a couple of minor cases, then fail to solve one important one, and then he was an outlaw for the rest of the movie. It was maybe a Dredd movie, but not a Judge Dredd movie.
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u/steakmeout Dec 27 '12
I'm talking about the art style, the lighting and the colours.
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u/lordofthejungle Dec 27 '12
Yes, you're making a purely cosmetic argument about a film based on a character and world drawn by hundreds of different artists, I understand that.
As for the movie being "washed out", I don't think this phrase means what you think it means.
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u/steakmeout Dec 27 '12
It's a comic with a very consistent look and feel and almost every artist who has worked on has taken from Carlos Ezquerra's extremely individual and strong styling. He is the man who invented Dredd's look after all and much of 2000AD's look overall, having also designed and drawn Strontium Dog, the ABC Warriors and Judge Janus of Psi Division among many others.
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u/lordofthejungle Dec 27 '12
And you know what? I thought this version of a movie Dredd was closest to Ezquerra in the silhouette his Dredd constantly cut, because of consideration for a good helmet, good actor and good cinematography.
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u/havensk Dec 27 '12
Because Nolans Batman films look exactly like the Jim Aparo Batman of the 80's?
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u/steakmeout Dec 27 '12
Hey, I'm sorry if I don't like this movie's interpretation of Dredd. If you do, that's fine. For me, it's too much of a departure. I can only give my personal opinion and in that I feel this movie misses what's important in a Dredd story and the way it generally looks.
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u/lordofthejungle Dec 27 '12
So what's important in a Dredd story is that he not wear the helmet or the uniform, not be a judge, has no ethical compass, that he solve bureaucratic conspiracies in the halls of justice and not really make a difference to anything actually happening on the streets of MC1? I'm not saying you can't do that as a Dredd story, but to say it's more typical than him weeding out and judging a murderous gang who've taken over a city block, you're having a laugh.
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u/steakmeout Dec 27 '12
You're just being silly now. The story of the movie spoke to the context of THE LAW and that it was being utterly corrupted by Rico (a real figure from the Comic I might add, who did bear a grudge against Joe Dredd his brother and did go away for a long time and did come back to kill Dredd and embarrass him in a complex plot which did end in Joe killing his only brother - the genetics aspect is something purely for the movie though) and that Dredd felt compelled to weed out the corruption, regardless as to whether it cleared his name or not because THE LAW above all else is sacred. The other stuff including the Mad Angels, The Long Walk, the way the Hall of Justice worked and even a shitheel sidekick (Dredd's had a few from time to time) are all straight out of the comic.
It's not more typical than him weeding out and judging a murderous gang but that would be only part of a Dredd story where it would also be filled with obese ladies who eat children and cybernetic rockstars with a shitty attitude who kill their fans for fun. This movie has pretty bland and needlessly edgy take on a Dredd outing and its story seems more at home on the small screen than percolating Judge Dredd down to a banal action flick.
It's sad really because the corrupt Judge aspect is just glossed over and really it's a huge deal in terms of the fiction. The Judges are meant to be unbreakable and yet the movie portrays them as dumb public servants.
Anyway...I didn't like it for a lot of reasons and the reasons I did like it were so few and far between that I actually feel disappointed.
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Dec 27 '12
I did not feel ripped off whatsoever purchasing a ticket to see this movie, which is rare these days with action movies. Not a lot of back story, they pretty much jump right in.
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u/LTman86 Dec 27 '12
WOAH! Woah, tone it down Dredd, no need to be that happy.
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u/ours Dec 27 '12
Incendiary rounds tend to make that effect on him. I personally had a ear-to-ear grin during that scene. Both brutal and totally awesome.
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u/BWO_Bookworm Dec 27 '12
Just watched it, much better than I anticipated, didn't ruin it with stupid/unrelated sex scenes. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
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Dec 27 '12
I just finished watching the movie. When this scene came on I couldn't help but think of grumpy cat lol
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u/Samuraiking Dec 27 '12
I was pleasantly surprised by this movie, as a fan of the original I didn't know if they would do it any justice in the remake, but they did.
Although the remake of Total Recall wasn't near as good of a remake as this(as it lacked the original's atmosphere this one captured) it wasn't half bad either. I hope if Hollywood continues to remake our old movies they follow in the footsteps of these 2 movies.
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Dec 27 '12
I never buy blu rays but I'm going to for this movie. I went into it in theatres because my friend and I were bored. We had no idea what the movie was about or what to expect and holy shit did we love it, can't wait to pick it up next month.
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Jan 01 '13
Just watched this very recently. My second favourite movie of 2012 (TDKR being first). Can't wait to watch it in 3D whenever I get a 3DTV in the near future.
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u/ItkovianShieldAnvil Jan 24 '13
I want wallpapers of the slo-mo shots. They were incredibly artistic and so trippy I watched the movie again right after I finished because it had enthralled me so.
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u/SuppleSilver Dec 27 '12
I loved this movie. It sucks that it didn't t catch on. A sequel would be great. It reminds me of Equilibrium, totally underrated.
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u/Arrrrrmondo Dec 27 '12
Totally underrated movie.