What was missing from the Judge Dredd film (1995)

[JayzusB.Christ]

Haven't seen it - but I will now! I wasn't too impressed by his glorification of that nasty little shit-heel Martin  'the General' Cahill, but I forgot he did Deliverance - and fucking ZARDOZ! - so fair play to him.

[Colin YNWA]

Now normally we shouldn't drag things off topic but well when we're talking '95 Dredd it ain't such a crime.

Anyway this chat has led me to discover there's a directors cut of Excalibur - should have known. Alongside 'Bridge too far' (is there a directors cut of that? Will check in a sec) one of the great films of my youth that I think didn't get the praise it deserves.

[Steven Sterlacchini]

Yep, sorry for continuing the off topic, but after meeting Terry English on Sunday, I think I'll have to watch Excalibur as well.

[ZenArcade]

 What was missing from Judge Dredd: Spaceghost...'Judge Dredd'     

[vzzbux]

What should be missing is Sylvester 'bastard' Stallone and Rob 'fucking' Schneider.





V

[Professor Bear]

Now normally we shouldn't drag things off topic but well when we're talking '95 Dredd it ain't such a crime.

To be fair, even if this one goes off topic badly, there'll be another Dredd '95 thread along soon enough.

[Tiplodocus]

Now normally we shouldn't drag things off topic but well when we're talking '95 Dredd it ain't such a crime.

Anyway this chat has led me to discover there's a directors cut of Excalibur - should have known. Alongside 'Bridge too far' (is there a directors cut of that? Will check in a sec) one of the great films of my youth that I think didn't get the praise it deserves.

I'd love a longer cut of "A Bridge Too Far" (even though the critics at the time railed against it as being "An Hour Too Long"). The whole Arnhem thing is fascinating - I'd love to see more of the individual moments of heroism (which got cut at script stage so they could concentrate on "the cavalry coming to the rescue but oh, too late!".

[Bubba Zebill]

What should be missing is Sylvester 'bastard' Stallone and Rob 'fucking' Schneider.

I'm no fan of that film...but I wasn't reading the progs then either when I saw it...and I've since read a bunch. And (...ok, now ducking for cover) I can see how people, bean counters, who don't know the earlier work could get the impression it should be a certain way, a bit of a mess, considering Dredd itself seemed to go through a period of being not-so-tremendous....
Thankfully it got over that odd time and is as good as ever.

[The Corinthian]

There's a scene towards the end of Excalibur that I remember particularly well, you know the one, where Arthur and his knights ride across a barren field, only for the land to come to life once again in their wake, flowers coming into bloom and everything.

You know what?  It's not in the film.  That's particularly annoying as that was my favourite bit...

It's in every version I've seen (BBC broadcast, UK VHS, US and UK DVDs).

According to the always unimpeachably correct Wikipedia: "The film was originally put into theatrical release in 1981 as an R-rated film in the USA. Later there was an announcement of a PG-rated version, but it was not widely released. The original R-rated cut is 140 minutes, with more graphic sex and violence. Most home video releases are the R-rated version, but commercial TV channels may use the PG cut, which is 119 minutes." So maybe it was trimmed from the PG cut?

One story about something left in Judge Dredd: the shoulder eagle, which apparently Stallone insisted on at the last minute. They only had enough money to make one, which is why you only ever see one be-eagled Judge in any scene. (This story may well be apocryphal, but I really can't be bothered to rewatch it to check.)

The Angel Gang scenes always feel a bit abrupt, but I think that might have been down to how much they could shoot - the studio apparently not being keen on this sequence - rather than stuff being chopped from the finished cut.

[Frank]

One story about something left in Judge Dredd: the shoulder eagle, which apparently Stallone insisted on at the last minute. They only had enough money to make one, which is why you only ever see one be-eagled Judge in any scene. (This story may well be apocryphal, but I really can't be bothered to rewatch it to check.)

I'm pretty sure that's correct, even in the final crowd scene of hundreds of judges gathered on the steps of Lady Liberty. The first time you notice the eagle swapping, it's hilarious; by the time you get to the scene where Stallone has to mug a guy to get the eagle back, it's pathetic. I hadn't heard that the eagle was a last minute innovation before, but that makes sense.

[Jim_Campbell]

One story about something left in Judge Dredd: the shoulder eagle, which apparently Stallone insisted on at the last minute. They only had enough money to make one, which is why you only ever see one be-eagled Judge in any scene. (This story may well be apocryphal, but I really can't be bothered to rewatch it to check.)

I understood it to be a conscious decision not to give the other judges shoulder eagles because it meant that Dredd (ie: Stallone) looked like 'just' another judge*... I assume they thought they could handwave it away with some bollocks about rank if they ever needed to, but were left with the astonishingly convenient way that the first judge that Dredd mugs for a replacement uniform just happens to be the same singular rank as Dredd himself...

Cheers

Jim



*Which, of course, he is. In terms of the story's internal-world-logic, obviously.

[Lobo Baggins]

There's a scene towards the end of Excalibur that I remember particularly well, you know the one, where Arthur and his knights ride across a barren field, only for the land to come to life once again in their wake, flowers coming into bloom and everything.

You know what?  It's not in the film.  That's particularly annoying as that was my favourite bit...

It's in every version I've seen (BBC broadcast, UK VHS, US and UK DVDs).

According to the always unimpeachably correct Wikipedia: "The film was originally put into theatrical release in 1981 as an R-rated film in the USA. Later there was an announcement of a PG-rated version, but it was not widely released. The original R-rated cut is 140 minutes, with more graphic sex and violence. Most home video releases are the R-rated version, but commercial TV channels may use the PG cut, which is 119 minutes." So maybe it was trimmed from the PG cut?

Hmm, I've checked my DVD and it's NOT on it - however, there's a slight audio blip after Arthur orders Kay into battle and then they're all riding through the apple trees.  So, either I've got a faulty disc that just happens to cut out the BEST BLOODY BIT or it's some sort of weird TV version cut for time...

I also note that although you were all able to check the Excalibur scene within a matter of minutes, no one as yet has checked my memories of the Stallone film... does anyone even own it?

[dweezil2]

There was a still printed in The Meg around the time of the film's release that showed Stallone taking out a clone that didn't appear in the released film.

[Jim_Campbell]

no one as yet has checked my memories of the Stallone film... does anyone even own it?

Just fast-forwarded through it... as far as I can tell, Dredd's the only judge we see with a shoulder eagle until he mugs the guy towards the end, as discussed. In the final scene, however, there are multiple judges with eagles, so it definitely wasn't a case of them only having made one...



Cheers

Jim

[Steve Green]

It's possible that the other ones weren't hero props and his was the only one that stood up to scrutiny.

A friend of mine works with a guy who made a few helmets for that film, I'm not sure if he'd know about the armour though.