DREDD reviews. (SPOILERS!)

[Bat King]

Excellent review Darnmarr!!

[radiator]

It really is a tight script, and going back to the leaked draft, you can see how much better the final product is.

The filmed version has lots of motifs and lines of dialogue early on that are called back to later on in the film, making for a really satisfying narrative.

One of the reviews slated the opening voiceover, but I love the way it bookends the film - "...Judges" as Anderson rides off into the distance is a great moment - so much better than the leaked version which just sort of ends abruptly.

Though I liked the scene in the leaked script where Dredd fires through the hostage to get to the fleeing perp, it was perhaps a little too close to Robocop, and their reasons for changing it - that we needed to see Dredd being genuinely heroic and rescuing a citizen - makes total sense to establish Dredd as a character we are supposed to root for.

[SmallBlueThing]

What- that bit's not in the film? That was seriously the only bit in the script that i liked!

:-(

SBT

[Goaty]

What- that bit's not in the film? That was seriously the only bit in the script that i liked!

:-(

SBT

Oh trust me, it most better!

[Steve Green]

Nope, it was re-shot as something else.

I see why they did change it though, it's a) similar to a scene in Robocop and b) it's probably too harsh even for Dredd as an introduction.

May be a deleted scene though, I think it was shot.

[Spaceghost]

What- that bit's not in the film? That was seriously the only bit in the script that i liked!

:-(

SBT

The only bit? You've got to be fucking kidding me. Jesus Christ...

[darnmarr]

Niggly Nit-picks pending:

I noticed two nit-picks in reviews:One about Anderson's lack of helmet seeming contrived and one about a confusing moment ( RE Identity ) when two Judges were fighting. I imagine it's a natural sort of thing for reviewers to do, point out anything they percieve as flaws. Personally, I reckon the helmet line is perfect, but I do agree about a moment of confusion in the inter-judge combat, how do others feel?

Come to think of it, starting from the position of being really ,really, really impressed with the film,- does anyone have any niggles/things they didn't understand,- or thought might have been improved upon with a bit more time/money?

[darnmarr]

Or is it too soon to ask a question like that?

[W. R. Logan]

I had non problem with the reason for Anderson lack of helmet, it seemed plausible to me.
When other judges were on screen I had no problem telling them apart.

[radiator]

I'd need to see it again, but isn't the fact that you can't distinguish between the two judges kind of deliberate, in that it makes the fight more tense because you don't know who's winning? If they wanted to distinguish them it would have been very easy to do so - Lex could have lost his helmet or something.

As for Anderson, its a nessesary narrative contrivance, yes, but is perfectly justified with a witty exchange of dialogue. Thats good writing.

You'd have to be a real arse to point it out as a genuine 'fault' of the film. Compared to the bit in Prometheus where they all remove their helmets... Now that WAS jarring and stupid and illogical.

[Spaceghost]

As for Anderson, its a nessesary narrative contrivance, yes, but is perfectly justified with a witty exchange of dialogue. Thats good writing.

Also not forgetting that Anderson doesn't usually wear a helmet in the comics for the same basic reason. It wouldn't have been Anderson if she'd had a hat on.

[darnmarr]

You'd have to be a real arse to point it out as a genuine 'fault' of the film. Compared to the bit in Prometheus where they all remove their helmets... Now that WAS jarring and stupid and illogical.

What the helmet remark illustrated for me, was how something can be percieved as a fault without actually being one, just as the Raid thing can be percieved as plagiarism or the Stallone film can be percieved as the sum total of the character in pop-culture, equally erroneously.

Prometheus on the other hand, is so laden with 'faults', bad science and confusing narrative mis-steps that I began to feel, while watching it, that Ridley Scott either only ever makes good films by accident,( the same way Forest Gump becomes a famous millionaire ) or else he just despises his audience.

[The Sherman Kid]

Ok Darnmarr on the niggles/things they didn't understand front.

Q-When Dredd blasts that van off the road and one flees why does he start blasting people?I know he's on drugs but didn't get the impression it made you kill crazy.

N-(for Niggle ) Besides what I've already put. The completely contempary clothes of the citizenry compared to Dredd, CCTV guy working with ultra low-tech when it's such an important position for Ma-Ma. These did jar for me when I watched the film.

Still love the film overall though, don't get me wrong.

[Michaelvk]

Ok Darnmarr on the niggles/things they didn't understand front.

Q-When Dredd blasts that van off the road and one flees why does he start blasting people?I know he's on drugs but didn't get the impression it made you kill crazy.

'cos he's a psychopath who's effectively cornered..

N-(for Niggle ) Besides what I've already put. The completely contempary clothes of the citizenry compared to Dredd, CCTV guy working with ultra low-tech when it's such an important position for Ma-Ma. These did jar for me when I watched the film.

Still love the film overall though, don't get me wrong.

Didn't even notice that.. I suppose it works to keep the plot ticking over. Dredd's gear isn't that futuristic.. You should've seen some of the riot cops outside the Cape Town stadium during 2010! At worst I'd say the clothing is of a nondescript era, which will keep it from ageing (unlike Arnie's Total Recall...)

[radiator]

Ultimately, you can pick a hole in any film if you want to, but as with bad special effects, you generally only notice them or point them out if you're not enjoying the film in the first place for other reasons like the script or characters (see Prometheus).

The vehicles, the contemporary clothing and the fact that people are using trackballs to operate computers didn't bother me in the slightest, cos I was so carried along with the film. It's just details.

Dredd isn't perfect - and I'm not going to argue with any criticism levelled at it - but overall it holds together very well I think.