New Empire magazine has new Dredd still as cover!

[Stan]

and really what would be the point of Death if they alter the concept too much? I can't see them going down the route of the other 3 Dark Judges either.

This is what I was thinking. I personally think it'd be waste if they used a watered down version of Judge Death, but I've been impressed with what I've seen so far (Lawmaster aside) so I'm willing to keep an open mind.

It's probably best to see the film first before getting too involved in this area of discussion. I'm glad Garland appears to like the character though.

[CYCLOPZ]

yeah, at the Oxfam thang on Saturday Andy Diggle said of the rushs he and Jock saw something along the lines of 'its very Noir-Dredd, no flying cars or robots' This remembered through a haze of Guniness so appolies if not spot on  but you get the drift

Yeah, I think if you come into it expecting YOUR vision of Dredd you'll be sorely disappointed. But Dredd's been a lot of different things over the years. This is just one vision of him.

-pj
(on a side note: I'm kind of done with comics to movie adaptations - I'll see dredd multiple times, I'm sure - but about 70% of what's important to me in comics is the art, and that's totally gone in any movie)

I have to admit, even though I like what I see in the new photos it would be very disappointing if they took the sci-fi out of this version of Dredd for the sake of realism. If it just comes down to the limitations of the budget its understandable that they'd tone things down slightly, but I still think  sci-fi and horror can be made realistic and believable on a low budget. The prime example would be Alien.

If the dark judges were treated in a logical way in any sequels I think it could work. E.g Mutant/PSI/Judges in a death cult.

[radiator]

I'm going to use that tired Dark Knight comparison again - all sorts of weirdness exists in the Batman comics, but so far nothing even vaguely supernatural or extraterrestrial has even been hinted at in either of the recent films.

I expect that it's the same for DREDD. Fun as it would be to see a literal rendering of the comic Judge Death on screen, it would be totally at odds with what the filmmakers are aiming for with this first movie. With Death, you're expecting the audience to accept interdimensional travel and the supernatural in what is so far a pretty grounded universe.

I don't see anything wrong with reimagining Judge Death - as long as they keep the essence of the character intact.

[clavell]

I could see it working as a rogue Judge gone mad - who the press label "Judge Death" (headline "Protestors massacred by Judge 'Death'") - if you want to keep a supernatural element you could make him a latent psi who's being driven mad by his blossoming psychic powers.

I like that 

I like the mutie idea too.

Put them together...

- C

[dracula1]

I'm feeling the article in Empire is giving clear clues to how this film will go. JW hints at it's relentless pace (100% action all the way and I hope ultraviolent). The shots so far revealing a stripped down backdrop, a city block under siege. Throw in the 'noir' plus the violence and excellent characterisation from Urban and we're hopefully on a winner and a sequel (fingers crossed).

[Stan]

I'm going to use that tired Dark Knight comparison again - all sorts of weirdness exists in the Batman comics, but so far nothing even vaguely supernatural or extraterrestrial has even been hinted at in either of the recent films.

I expect that it's the same for DREDD. Fun as it would be to see a literal rendering of the comic Judge Death on screen, it would be totally at odds with what the filmmakers are aiming for with this first movie. With Death, you're expecting the audience to accept interdimensional travel and the supernatural in what is so far a pretty grounded universe.

I don't see anything wrong with reimagining Judge Death - as long as they keep the essence of the character intact.

What I think would be a good idea is to introduce some kind of psychic judge a full movie before a character like Death even makes an appearance. The supernatural aspect might not seem as jarring in that case.

The biggest problem for me is the whole alternate Earth angle. It's not that it bothers me personally but it might come off as too big a 'buy' for some if not handled correctly.

[blackmocco]

Dredd has so many more villains that would fit into this version of his world, I'm not bothered if they don't use Death. Even in the comics he's been used badly, diminishing his effectiveness.

Angel Gang and Fink, muties from the Cursed Earth/Gila Munja, Captain Skank, Orlok, Rico (done fucking properly!), Judda are just some examples of villains that could be retooled very minimally to fit in here. Frankly, even if Anderson wasn't in the next one would be no biggie. Give Dredd someone else to work with and bring Anderson back after that.

I dunno. Possibilities seem endless with this and all this Death talk makes me as uncomfortable as all that chatter about the next Star Trek movie having Khan as a villain. It doesn't have to be Judge Death, is all I'm sayin'. Reckon the last few Batman movies have done fine pretty much avoiding the obvious A-list villains like Riddler and Penguin, moving Joker and Two_Face aside. Ra's Al Ghul and Scarecrow have been just as effective...

[vzzbux]

Got my issue today. The piccy's are so much better once in hand. Going to eat the article later on.




V

[Goaty]

Well, please no spoiler from scripts... just hopefully the Dredd film would be like the early 2000AD Judge Dredd, then few more films with Robot Wars? Cursed Earth? Cal? Judge Death? etc... then biggest and the best of all, Block Mania then Apocalypse War! Which make Judge Dredd most dangerous person in the whole world, with kill-counts of more than billions deaths to his name!

[Danbo]

Fink with Angel gang flash backs or  America/Total war with midnight surfer subpolt for part 2.Block war with a nasty Orloc and Apocalypse war for part 3.

[Stan]

Cal might be my first choice actually. There's so much potential for epicness with that type of villain.

[Danbo]

Cursed Earth could be doable or Hunters Club would make for a cool Dirty Harry type film.

[Mardroid]

What I think would be a good idea is to introduce some kind of psychic judge a full movie before a character like Death even makes an appearance. The supernatural aspect might not seem as jarring in that case.

[spoiler]They are introducing a psychic judge a full movie before! Okay, I don't think she's a full judge yet but... Anderson is psychic in this film.[/spoiler]

The biggest problem for me is the whole alternate Earth angle. It's not that it bothers me personally but it might come off as too big a 'buy' for some if not handled correctly.

I agree, that could be a stretch in this world. Alternate Earths would have a scientific basis, (as could Psis) but it needs to be dealt with correctly.

[Beaky Smoochies]

I was convinced Judge Death would DEFINITELY NOT be in any potential Dredd sequel, because of the more grounded heightened-realism they're going for, but it was Alex Garland's comments in Empire that got me thinking again- it really did sound like he wants to do a Dredd vs. Death movie, but felt the first movie wasn't the right time for it, meaning (potentially) he's still up for the idea!  The real question is how exactly to approach what is a pretty out-there character in a way that is both credible and relatively realistic, and if you do make those aesthetic alterations, does he essentially not become Death anymore, it's a bit of a choice...

[doggettX]

I don't see anything wrong with reimagining Judge Death - as long as they keep the essence of the character intact.

But isn't he some undead, alien, super-fiend from another dimension?
Isn't that his 'essence'?

I think they might do the alien thing for a sequel. They're not gonna waste Anderson. I'm assume they picked her over Hershey for a reason. Maybe it was just to distance themself from '95, but I don't think so.

Or it'll be Judge Cal or America or something...