Did you guys like the way the Dredd movie depicted Mega City One?

JOE SOAP · 15 April, 2013, 03:21:50 PM

It may have beaten Elysium somewhat to the punch too.

Tiplodocus · 15 April, 2013, 11:33:19 PM

No.

The idea is often posited that you could have a successful Dredd strip without Dredd because the world and city and citizens are what makes it work.

And I don't think that's true of the movie.

Professor Bear · 16 April, 2013, 01:31:31 AM

It was functional, but not striking.
All the same, I suppose there's no reason there couldn't be more affluent sections of the city and Dredd in the film just happened to work in a bit of it that was a shithole while way over by the East Wall the buildings are domed and spaghetti highways choke the skies or something.
But the bits we saw in Dredd 3D weren't any of that, they were just skyscrapers.

JOE SOAP · 16 April, 2013, 02:15:38 AM

Quote from: Tiplodocus on 15 April, 2013, 11:33:19 PM
No.

The idea is often posited that you could have a successful Dredd strip without Dredd because the world and city and citizens are what makes it work.

And I don't think that's true of the movie.

Yet the city wasn't the focus of the film, the Judges were and what they do, so while in this film the city wasn't the main feature, there's no reason it couldn't have been in any continuation. Personally I think you need Dredd and the Judges for the more off-kilter aspects of the city to play off so it can be more than just a city of the future.

JOE SOAP · 16 April, 2013, 02:25:30 AM

Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 16 April, 2013, 01:31:31 AM
It was functional, but not striking.

Hard to make the all too familiar cluttered future metropolis striking these days. At least they took the basic concept of utilitarian mass housing and Mega-city-blocks and made them the stand-out feature of the city, I haven't really seen that before in a film.

mididoctors · 16 April, 2013, 10:42:05 AM

I liked the blurring between the present and the future. especially blending in the low rise shantytown stuff
to be off style that much and still make it work. The whacky citizen thing is played down and alot of comments about that. I would of like the simps to have been in there as well

overall I liked it. When it broke on me watching for the first time I thought "this is different" but it carried me.

radiator · 16 April, 2013, 02:52:46 PM

For me, Dredd seemed to follow in the more contemporary Sci Fi aesthetic - the understated near future look as seen in the likes of Minority Report, Children of Men and District 9. Seemed logical considering the tone and budget they were working with. I like it.

The Blade Runner/neon dystopia as seen in less imaginitive films like Total Recall 2012 seems quite played out and a bit cliche these days tbh. Glad they didn't go in that direction.

Spikes · 16 April, 2013, 04:34:56 PM

The MC1 in Dredd wasnt what i was expecting (was it for anyone?), but im glad they went the route they did.
Can anything be original and fresh nowadays? But thats how it felt.

Using the 'Blade Runner/neon dystopia' look is as about as tired and as cliched as its possible to be now, but in Dredd (either real or imagined) i felt there was definite nods to that film, but in this case, they seemed totally right, and the opposite of tired.
A lot of smart people worked on this film, thats for sure.

Dredd, at 90ish minutes was a brief snapshot/introduction the this world, and had me instantly wanting a sequel, so we could see all this expanded upon, and we'd get to see more of the city. Alas..

If were allowed to have a minor niggle, then MC1 didnt especially feel like America - even a near future ruined one. Would have been nice to have seen an old landmark amongst the towering Mega-Blocks.

(Wasnt there some pre-production art showing the Chrysler building amongst it all? Ridley Scott's fave building, btw..)

Stan · 16 April, 2013, 04:43:16 PM

Yeah, I'm not sure if that was just to help them with scale though.

JayzusB.Christ · 16 April, 2013, 10:52:49 PM

Quote from: darnmarr on 15 April, 2013, 02:34:56 PM
Best of all, it avoids the unfortunate trap of looking like a 'Tesco-Valu' version of Bladerunner.

This.

I liked it; its bleakness and uniformity suited the atmosphere of the film - if it had looked like the comic MC1 we would have spent the whole film waiting for Dredd to leave Peach Trees and show us around a bit.

It also reminded me a lot of Beijing, a city I lived in for three months and really didn't like. I could empathise with the movie Mega-citizens a bit more (though they had to deal with lots of crime on top of the grey and overcrowded mess).

ChickenStu · 17 April, 2013, 10:43:06 AM

Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 16 April, 2013, 10:52:49 PMIt also reminded me a lot of Beijing, a city I lived in for three months and really didn't like. I could empathise with the movie Mega-citizens a bit more (though they had to deal with lots of crime on top of the grey and overcrowded mess).

Kinda reminded me of Hong Kong for the same reason. Although Hong Kong is a lot more cosmopolitan. A bit more colourful aswell. But the high rise buildings, the humidity - all very similair.

radiator · 17 April, 2013, 11:48:12 AM

If I were to be critical I'd say that they were almost too subtle with it. With all due respect, I only actually noticed how many scenes had cg tower blocks and buildings added when I watched the making of extras. As much as I love the aesthetics, I would have liked to see more a more bustling MC1 - like an ant hive of activity, distant fires, more drones, fliers, perhaps some skysurfers in the BG. They almost get there with that awesome overhead shot of the spaghetti junction - would have liked more stuff like that.

Agree re: the US landmarks - it would have been a nice touch to get glimpses of the Empire State etc, would have helped to sell the scale of the Mega Blocks. Would have been especially cool to see the statue of liberty/judgement (though I suspect they were saving that particular image for film 2...).

Will definitely be interesting to see what they do with the comic version.

junox · 17 April, 2013, 03:59:09 PM

has anyone info on who the ARTIST is going to be for DREDD 2 the comicbook ??

Rusty · 18 April, 2013, 01:14:32 AM

Much like Dredd's redesigned uniform, the city itself follows the same logic in the design. They both compliment each other. The city's looks is both practical, and more importantly, believable. You could actually imagine a city built on one of the few habitable patches of land on Earth after a nuclear war to look like MC1 in Dredd. Nothing would really change that much that far down the road in regards to how we build stuff. It would look just like this, plus the mega blocks make sense regarding space and population. The only thing I would liked to have seen would have been roads or bridges, or some sort of rail trasportation between the blocks or leading up to the higher levels. Not all of them. Just some. It would have been a nod to the winding, and twisting roads that seem to stretch into the sky on the pages of the comic.

Mabs · 18 April, 2013, 08:26:57 PM

Quote from: junox on 17 April, 2013, 03:59:09 PM
has anyone info on who the ARTIST is going to be for DREDD 2 the comicbook ??

Henry Flint......nah, just kidding. But i hope he is judging by the brilliant work he did on the prequel story for the Meg a while back. If not Flint then i'd love to see Kev Walker or David Roach.