I don't like the shoulders on the new uniform at all.

[Richmond Clements]

I certainly don't expect it to look exactly like the comic but I think they could have incorporated more elements from the comic than they have.

Eagle? check
Shoulder pad? check
Helmet? check
Badge? check
Elbow and knee pads? check
Belt buckle? check

So, apart from the chain- what's missing?

[James Stacey]

The clear bit of the visor. They have even started to alter it in the comics. Gah! #wailing and gnashing of teeth etc.#

[IndigoPrime]

Eagle? check
Shoulder pad? check

And both of which enable Dredd to lift his arms (unlike many interpretations in the comic). I'm still fine with the comic Dredd uniform, but it looks ridiculous in real life, and, yes, I include Minty in that (although the uniform in that at least betters the terrible 1995 effort). It looks like a dress uniform for parade, not something where you'd be smacking perps.

Helmet? check

Funnily enough, the one thing my wife said she didn't like about the new Dredd uniform was the helmet. Her comment was along the lines of: that just shows how stupid that design is. She said bits just looked tacked on and that the cross over the nose looked weird. To my mind, the visor adjustments in the '95 film were one of the things that actually worked, from a visibility standpoint, but I guess the helmet is iconic, so leaving it as-is makes sense.

Badge? check
Elbow and knee pads? check
Belt buckle? check

The pads look great. They also look like a working interpretation of what's in the comic, again in a manner that betters the Stallone flick.

[Richmond Clements]

The pads look great. They also look like a working interpretation of what's in the comic, again in a manner that betters the Stallone flick.

Yup- in a sad fanboy sort of way, the kneepads were the thing I was most excited about!

[mogzilla]

i finished my tub of hagan daz last night watching "adulthood" so i missed the silliness...but it was obviuosly being subliminally projected by "abc" anyhoo.....got to be chocolate and vanilla together all melty ...or morrison's own chocolate cornetto rip offs  scrummy beyond belief!

[Steve Green]

I obviously disagree - taking the 'it must be realistic' line would mean jettisoning a huge amount of cool designs in the history film - you would just end up with everyone looking like SWAT guys.

Look at the history of actual, real uniforms throughout history, there are some pretty funky designs there which people fought and died in.

I don't have a problem with DNA going the way they went, but I wouldn't say that way is the only way - it would be incredibly boring if everything went that route.

[TordelBack]

... taking the 'it must be realistic' line would mean jettisoning a huge amount of cool designs in the history film - you would just end up with everyone looking like SWAT guys.

You're absolutely right, but that is obviously the line they've taken for this film, and I'm frankly in awe of how much of the ornate regalia they've managed to translate into a plausible near-contemporary uniform.  I'd much prefer to see a big-budget movie take the utterly faithful Minty road (as I suspect a mjority of us would), which more than anything demonstrates that the current comic design can work, but I'm not a filmmaker, and I'm not trying to get funding, distributors, studios, quality cast etc. to believe in the bankability of my movie.  If this is what the movie men think will create a film that puts non-fan arses on seats, I'm just happy that it's so cleverly done, and so faithful to the core elements of the design, while distancing itself in no uncertain terms from the '95 effort.

[JOE SOAP]

I think they've more or less been completely faithful to the original design, the only real change made has been to make some things a bit smaller -apart from the skid-lid- and the loss of a chain. They've added detail which I think is good as that adds a more 'grounded' lived-in feel.

The changes I'd make if there's another flick and the decision was mine wouldn' t be huge apart from adding more to certain accoutrements to make the 'ornateness' stand out a bit more, create articlation in the eagle feathers and add some metal detail, but not in a shiny way, more like the dull-brass cop badges...and maybe get a chain in there somewhere.

So far it's been almost exactly what I'd have gone for which is firmly based on the Ezquerra vision which was fairly sober yet stand-out style/size-wise up to the late 80's.

[radiator]

Now that we've seen the judges I'm quite curious to see what the everyday citizens and perps will look like in this movie... I'm hoping for something a bit more interesting than the usual 'futuristic' punks/goths/skaters, though I worry that is what we might get...

[The Sherman Kid]

OK guys ,hands up which of you are night of the living dead zombies, because  looking at the timing of some of these middle- of -the-night posts you are either living abroad or gnawing the flesh off some poor passing innocents.Zombies please identify yourselves to the rest of the class.

[IndigoPrime]

I obviously disagree - taking the 'it must be realistic' line would mean jettisoning a huge amount of cool designs in the history film - you would just end up with everyone looking like SWAT guys.

I think the point is that the costume has to be usable. For Dredd to really work, he has to be able to do all the things he usually does, without getting restricted by a giant eagle on his shoulder. Burton's Batman had a problem in this area, because the costume was inflexible. Even the '95 Dredd had restrictions on what the judges could do, which made them appear stiff and immobile, rather than judge, jury and executioner.

Look at the history of actual, real uniforms throughout history, there are some pretty funky designs there which people fought and died in.

And I'd argue this uniform is pretty funky. Really, the only major changes are the smaller shoulder pads, which, as others have said, echo the original design of the character anyway.

[JOE SOAP]

OK guys ,hands up which of you are night of the living dead zombies, because  looking at the timing of some of these middle- of -the-night posts you are either living abroad or gnawing the flesh off some poor passing innocents.Zombies please identify yourselves to the rest of the class.

They could be our global friends or haven't gotten up yet.

[radiator]

I think the main difference is that this new version looks like a uniform, whereas Stallone's always looked like a costume.

[Steve Green]

I still think it could have been usable by integrating the wings into the chest and shoulder armour, the body is the shoulder pad and the head is flush. But, if you're limited to having contemporary vehicles it was probably the best choice (although I would have ditched the gold 'shell' on the other pad as well)

So even if you make it usable the argument that it looks ridiculous is only valid in the context of the environment in which its placed - if it is an outlandish environment then it's possible to accept wilder elements in the costume design.

A guy in shorts and a t-shirt would look equally out-of-place on the Death Star as Vader does in a shopping centre.

[radiator]

Yeah, if they'd have gone the Sin City/300 highly stylised route then they could have got away with anything they wanted really - giant eagle shoulder pads, cgi lightning visor reflections et al.

The realistic look is only one possible way they could have gone about this adaptation, but at least it looks like they are creating something with a consistent, highly polished feel.