Dredd (2012)

[CrazyFoxMachine]

I'll always feel slightly cheated

[dweezil2]

I never thought we'd get another Dredd movie, ever. Stallone's awfulness would forever stain the character. But we got one of the most ambitious British indies you're ever likely to see, with the spirit of the comic on the big screen. The writing was tight; the design was smart; the movie was, amazingly, unsanitised. That it didn't immediately gel, primarily with a US audience, is a pity, but it eventually did. This movie isn't being remembered as a box-office flop, but more a case of "Dredd failed at the box-office, but..." Call it a cult film/finding its audience at home. Whatever, the film has become a success, albeit not financially.

As Garland said, that means in the long-term, another Dredd might even be viable for someone else to take on, because the brand has been destinked. More importantly and immediately, it means Dredd in and of itself is now a more interesting prospect. I've no idea about sales figures and the like, but I'd hope there's been an uptick in Dredd interest (and, through the halo effect, 2000 AD) outside of the UK because of this movie. At the absolute worst, it can't have done any harm.

Also, the team smartly gave us a finite story. Dredd didn't end on a cliffhanger. I'm sure everyone would have liked to have seen more (the result of a good movie), but you didn't have to, in order to get a full story. You get arcs for Anderson and Dredd, insight into MC-1, and some little nuggets of 'blink and you'll miss them' future-shock and satire, all rolled into one.

I agree 100% with everything you say. It's just such a shame that we have those insights from Alex Garland about what would have been in any sequels to forever tease the edge of our imagination, and the fact that DREDD seems very much like an introduction to a world and characters that have so much untapped potential.

I hope, a few years down the line, someone else has a crack at making a Dredd film and it takes it's cues from the last one, but I'll always feel slightly cheated out of a continuation of the fantastic interpretation that Garland and Urban gave us.

Don't underestimate Thirlby's and Headey's contribution to the success of the film too!   

[Spaceghost]

I'll always feel slightly cheated

Har bloody har.

To clarify - The prospect, intention to possibly deliver, and indeed rough plot and synopsis, of a continuation of the film's story was dangled in front of our noses by the writer and then, due to poor box office, was cruelly snatched away by circumstance. In that way, I feel we were cheated out of sequel(s) to a fantastic film.

Is that more within the realms of what is permissable to say aloud about the DREDD film?

[Jim_Campbell]

Is that more within the realms of what is permissable to say aloud about the DREDD film?

"Yeah."

[dweezil2]

Is that more within the realms of what is permissable to say aloud about the DREDD film?

"Yeah."

Jim, I think you mean...............

[Goaty]

Nah this;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXzs5nuGNpg

[radiator]

To clarify - The prospect, intention to possibly deliver, and indeed rough plot and synopsis, of a continuation of the film's story was dangled in front of our noses by the writer and then, due to poor box office, was cruelly snatched away by circumstance. In that way, I feel we were cheated out of sequel(s) to a fantastic film.

I hear you.

Though I'm very grateful for what we got, when I watch the film now I can't help but feel a slight sense of bittersweetness at what might have been.

On the other hand, it's nice to have something that leaves you wanting more rather than being run into the ground and milked to death like everything else is nowadays.

Perhaps Dredd standing alone as a brief day-in-the-life, 'one and done' glimpse of the character works perfectly..? Sequels that expanded the world and tried to add a grand mythos may well have fallen flat on their face, especially if the original creative team weren't as directly involved...

Speaking of which:

"I actually find it quite hard to imagine going back to any story I've worked on in the past, personally," he said.

"I worked on 28 Days Later... and then there was a sequel to it and broadly speaking that was made by another group of people, and I didn't really personally want to be too involved.

"If you live with something for two years and you work on it very intensely - and making film is certainly, if nothing else, intense - then you sort of think, 'Enough!'

"I can't believe people who work on these things for 10 years, or 15 years. I mean it's fine, they can do what they want, but I have no idea how they're able to do that... To me, that would be hell, just awful."

http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/news/a622769/alex-garland-rules-out-ex-machina-sequel-i-cant-imagine-going-back.html#~p2dd7dYbOWGaKG

[radiator]

Sequels that expanded the world and tried to add a grand mythos may well have fallen flat on their face

What I mean is they might have Chronicles Of Riddick'ed it.

[Goaty]

Alex Garland: Career in Four Minutes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=od-oCdKlX0I

Even he talk about Dredd (plus it nice edit of Dredd clips!) So what he talk about, as no subtitles...

[Steve Green]

Since you asked, here's a transcript of the Dredd bit.

"I was a big 2000AD fan, I'd grown up reading 2000AD and Dredd was my favourite character in the comic.

Andrew and Allon had realised that the rights to Dredd were becoming available and partly because of the stigma attached to the first film they were going to be affordable, and Andrew, I think we were making Sunshine, we were making Sunshine at the time, and Andrew said do you want to do this?

And it was different from some of the other projects, because it wasn't a spec script where I was coming to them, it was Andrew saying 'Do you want to do it?'

But I immediately said yes, I was super-familiar with Dredd, and you know..."

[Richmond Clements]

There's a fantastic interview with Garland on the latest Empire podcast, where he addresses the Dredd Question head on. http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=43307

[Jim_Campbell]

There's a fantastic interview with Garland on the latest Empire podcast, where he addresses the Dredd Question head on. http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=43307

Any idea how far in? I'm not sure I want to sit through an hour or more...

Ta!

Jim

[Richmond Clements]

There's a fantastic interview with Garland on the latest Empire podcast, where he addresses the Dredd Question head on. http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=43307

Any idea how far in? I'm not sure I want to sit through an hour or more...

Ta!

Jim

Good point! 25 minutes.

[Jim_Campbell]

Good point! 25 minutes.

Brilliant — cheers!

Jim

[Jim_Campbell]

There's a fantastic interview with Garland on the latest Empire podcast, where he addresses the Dredd Question head on.

Yep. That was well worth a listen — thanks, Rich. Haven't managed to get the cinema recently, but hoping to get a showing of Ex Machina in next weekend.

Cheers

Jim