Dredd (2012)

[Frank]

Has anyone played a role in a film series for so long? Bruce Willis is getting there with Die Hard..

Ignoring the four-movies-or-less lightweights like Harrison Ford...

• Clint Eastwood was Dirty Harry for 17 years (*cough* Judge Dredd *cough* Karl Urban's voice in Dredd) in 5 movies, although they got gradually worse.
• Charles Bronson did Death Wish for 20 years and 5 movies.
• Bruce Willis did John McClane for 25 years in 5 movies (fifth due 2013).
• Stallone did 6 Rocky movies in 30 years.
• But, technically speaking, I believe that Desmond Llewellyn holds the record at 17 Bond films spanning 36 years.

Sticking with features, rather than shorts, Rasil Bathbone and Nigel Bruce did fourteen Holmes films in seven years. I can understand the argument that Dredd's episodic adventures and lack of character development make him suited to a series of sequels, but it should be noted that all the series listed above demonstrate the law of diminishing returns.

There's something about the nature of mainstream film making that means features tend toward three part story telling structures- within individual films, and across trilogies. I think HBO TV shows have demonstrated how their format and production values allow different kinds of stories to be told and quality to be maintained across many instalments and several years.

[CraveNoir]

Speaking of Holmes, Peter Cushing played him in The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959), the TV series in 1968, and The Masks of Death (1984).

[Bubba Zebill]

It should be an HBO mini-series. HBO if they can do GOT they can apply the same level of sofiticaticaion to a scifi series like DREDD.

[Steve Green]

This been done yet?

Bit more of the panel here, on the question about the costume

http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/2012/07/11/alex-garland-comments-on-costume-changes-in-dredd/

[JOE SOAP]

Nice flash-frames. Glad Garland didn't pull his punches.

[Steve Green]

Yeah, not sure what they did there...

He did a good job, the line about the vehicles made me smile. I don't think anyone dared ask about them after that...

[Frank]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXjECK3xVQQ&feature=player_embedded

Not sure what the subliminal messages contained in that clip were, but I no longer care about the vehicles and I want to buy Jaffa cakes.

[Fisticuffs]

Loved that little clip, thanks! Is there a video anywhere of the whole panel?

[Steve Green]

Not that I know of - there are a few scattered around, but not seen any of the whole thing...

[CYCLOPZ]

http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/2012/07/11/alex-garland-comments-on-costume-changes-in-dredd/

This line of questioning at this point is just a bit Naff.

[Steve Green]

Still better than one waste of a question asking about film projection on Sunday...

[karlurbaninternational]

@goaty: about the 5USA tuesday thing: Today on wednesday Karl was spotted at LAX so I assume it only was the piece of Reuters. No need to hunt that piece down.

[CYCLOPZ]

http://www.scifinow.co.uk/cinema/dredd-3d-is-an-improvement-on-stallone/

[MR. ELIMINATOR]

Ha, Garland got that punk good!

[Beaky Smoochies]

I think it would be cool, lots of action movies have long running series, Rambo, Death Wish, Die Hard, Dirty Harry, etc.  Sure, the later instalments sometimes aren't very good, but I think it quite suits the episodic style treatment rather then a story that spans three films.

Y'know what, I stand corrected on something I said here, there is a fourth installment of a long-running franchise that was as good as the others; 2008's Rambo, a worthy follow-up to First Blood - forget the first two cartoon sequels - and also an appropriate coda for Stallone's signature role, forgot about that film, cheers Mr Eliminator...

Great Empire article with Alex Garland and John Wagner, this movie is going to blow the (bloody) doors off, I know it, very heartening to see just how enthusiastic John Wagner is for this one, must be something of a cathartic experience after seeing his creation so mangled and sullied with the 1995 debacle, by October, no-one will even remember that travesty, Karl Urban will own that role from here on in...