The old Judge Dredd movie!

[esoteric ed]

Can anyone help me with this one? does anyone know if the US/Region 1 DVD version of Judge Dredd is longer than the UK disc, It appeared to me that there were several sequences trimmed in the UK print (most notably the Clone sequence) was this the same in the US?

I know some scenes were left out of the finished movie (Fergie etc) but I'm talking about the available UK/US DVD variations.

Thanks
JudgEd

[Wake]

According to the DVDs the USA version is 4 minutes longer than the UK version.

I know that about a minute of this is while Dredd is taking out the Angel Gang. Specifically there's a sequence where we see Dredd shoot someone in the back...but the camera is in front of the victim and so we see a hint of an exit wound, which has been cut from the UK version.

If you're talking about the clones actually getting up and doing something, I think that was left on the cutting room floor.

Wake

[Thread Zero]

Rumour has it lots of footage was cut out from the final edit.

The story goes that the producers wanted a very fast cut, short scene movie and Danny Cannon wanted something more epic in length. Ben Hur allegedly. No don't laugh. Okay start laughing! Charlton Heston as Judge Dredd. Hmmm...

The film runs to about 90 mins so I guess there's loads more of the crap, I mean quality scenes, out there in Danny's editing cupboard. The clones sequence is the scene we all know disappeared. And the Hershey in a three in a bed with Walter the Wobot somehow never made it too. Odd that...

scojo

[Trout]

Scojo took the piss out of me in the chatroom last week because I said I liked the Dredd movie.

It's far from the greatest film ever made, but it can be enjoyed if you stay open-minded.

But I'm willing to bet this debate has been carried out here before...

MikeD

[paulvonscott]

You must remember that all US movies are 4% longer in running time than UK films, due to the slightly faster frames per whatever on PAL compared to NTSC.  So its probably best not to just compare times, as the US/DVD video will always seem longer!

www.melonfarmers.co.uk had the following to say of Judge Dredd:

Time cut: 3seconds

1995 US film by Danny Cannon
Uncut at cinema but 4 cuts were made to the video version, three of which were to remove head butts. Cuts were made as it was felt that the star appeal of Sylvester Stallone would lead to the video being watched by teenage boys of less than 15.

(me again) I've often wondered if a directors cut might come out, the movie was badly edited, especilly the clones, who failed to attack.  

Didn't some of the editor droids do some interviews for a french version of the dvd?

The movie had some good features.  For me the intro by voicemeister JEJ, the city at the very start, the appearence of the Angel Gang, Fargo.  Armand showing that something had gone wrong with the cloning process at Sly's end.

Ah well, who knows, I dream of a version which doesn't make me want to weep.

[Buddy]

I also enjoyed the Dredd movie... Not perfect by any means, the first 15 mins or so is pure Mega City.

Link: http://www.ximoc.co.uk" target="_blank">http://www.ximoc.co.uk

[JTurner]

It did start off well, and the production values were good - it was the Hollywood values that kicked it in the knackers.

OK! I admit, I saw it twice at the cinema!

[Stu]

"You must remember that all US movies are 4% longer in running time than UK films, due to the slightly faster frames per whatever on PAL compared to NTSC. So its probably best not to just compare times, as the US/DVD video will always seem longer! "

So you're saying that a film has a certain number of frames, which PAL shows at a faster rate making it shorter? Wouldn't that mean that people moved slower in NTSC?

[roystead]

Dunno about NTSC, but Tv definitely shows a slightly quicker frame rate from cinema (4% sounds about right) - I remember there being a specific note in Halliwell's about this, where he was explaining in the intro why the lengths of movies shown on TV or released on video may be shorter than the length when shown at the cinema, even if the film is uncut.

Roy

[JTurner]

<"So you're saying that a film has a certain number of frames, which PAL shows at a faster rate making it shorter? Wouldn't that mean that people moved slower in NTSC?">

US projectors probably just play the frames that much faster, in theory the film would be longer, but on screen it would have the same running time.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

[paulvonscott]

Or people move faster in PAL, depending on your viewpoint, yes.  I don't think its that obvious.

I would have thought cinemas were pretty much the same, but on TV, video and  DVD where there is a PAL/NTSC divide, the yes this would happen.

I thought it very odd myself when I found out.

[esoteric ed]

Thanks for the feedback folks! :-)

Ed

Link: http://artists2.iuma.com/IUMA/Bands/EequalsMC2/" target="_blank">E=MC2

http://iuma.speedera.net/artists2.iuma.com/IUMA/Bands/EequalsMC2/images/sm-152801.jpg">

[Mangamax]

Yes indeed, the French DVD does have a section with the editorial droids which covers the history of 2000 AD and Dredd in particular. It's pretty good but not that indepth - same sort of thing as the section in the SF:UK programme. Also has a making of documentary, a pretty useless comic access facility, loads of pics and a Dredd pinball game for the PC.
As far as cuts are concerned, i'm sure there's far more Mean Machine violence (especially the headbuts) than i remember at the cinema and the Aspen warden's death seems more graphic too.

[Mangamax]

Take it from me as a cinema projectionist - all cinema projectors throughout the world run at 24 frames per second.
It's when the film is transfered to home entertainment formats that the discrepencies start to appear.