I hope they get Jason Statham to play Dredd, assuming he can pull off an American accent (I'm sure he can, all British actors seem to be able to do it). Put him in Dredd's uniform and he'll look exactly like the character did in the original early stories: all sinewy and mean. #judgedredd
Judge Dredd was a decent movie, otherwise why would Lucas rip it off point by point for attack of the clones?
In actuality, I do think Judge Dredd was a good movie, because no matter how bad you think it was, you still watch it every time it comes on TV. Don't lie, we know you watch it. Did Stallone break the rules by insisting on showing his face? Yes, yes he did, but we also got Max Von Sydow. The scene where he dons his cloak and mask, ventures out into the bad lands with his book of law and a monstrous gun and embarks on his Long Walk is just awesome.
In this post Dark Knight age, the "gritty" hero movie is a reality in a way it has never really been before. It means there will be trendy late-comers trying to horn in on the action, but for the most part I view it as a huge opportunity for movies to be made as they should have been made. Gritty Judge Dredd is obvious, but it is also right, and now we have a real chance at seeing the movie done properly. #judgedredd
@BlueBeard: I wouldn't say it was a *good* movie, but I don't think it was nearly as bad as most people seem to. Take away the helmet removal and the goofy sidekick, and it stayed very true to the Dredd/2000 AD universe. As I've pointed out before on this site, it even had an ABC Robot in it.
If only all comics adaptations would stay as true to their source material. To put it in perspective, imagine if the people behind the Hellblazer movie had made Judge Dredd. It probably would've been set in, I dunno, Miami instead of Mega-City One and Dredd would've been Chinese. Given that there was no way a studio would've greenlit a Sylvester Stallone flick in which Stallone never reveals his face (same applies to any major star), and no studio would've approved the Dredd budget without a major star, they did alright.
@Communist Pope: By Hellblazer, you mean Constantine, right? I never read that book, but I really like the movie- it's another one I'll watch any time it is on. I don't know if it was accurate to the character in any way, and I didn't even know it was based on a comic until later on, but I thought it was a well laid out story, and I like Keanu. He isn't a "great actor" at all, but I'm not watching him in Merchant of Venice, am I? I don't know why so many people dislike Constantine, but I'd bet it is mostly anti-Keanu knee-jerk hate
Yeah, Dredd wasn't great, but as you say, not nearly as bad as people make it out to be. As serious and gritty as I want my action movies to be, people need to realize these things are based on comics and are often going to be full of ridiculousness. #judgedredd
@BlueBeard: Being a long time Dredd fan I wasn't entirely thrilled with the film but like you, I do still watch it every time I see it on TV. They got some stuff wrong and some stuff right. Given Hollywood's usual treatment of things they did at least have enough respect for the source material not to completely butcher it.
@BlueBeard: Right, Constantine -- forgot that they even changed the name of the property. Going back to my previous example, I guess they would've called their hypothetical Judge Dredd movie "Mean Mr. Joe" or something.
I didn't think Constantine was completely horrible by any means, just giving an example of how much some filmmakers like to ignore/mess with the source material.
I don't know why people are so bothered about Dredd showing his face in the films. He might have kept covered up in the comics but that is something achievable in that medium without looking weird, and seemingly something they kept going mainly as a running in-joke - there's no actual point to it, it's just something quirky the readers know to expect.
So for a film, especially with a big star, it's not feasible or desirable to have Dredd's face hidden. He must take his helmet off sometimes, even in the comics, yet he is just never seen doing so in order to preserve that part of the character. So the only way of doing it properly in the film would be to write it so that Dredd is never in a situation where he would remove his helmet, therefore legitimising the fact that his face is never seen, or come up with a good reason why he wants to hide his face that can be explained simply. Otherwise there's little point to it. #judgedredd
@Xerendian: There are a few reasons why he'd never remove his helmet, namely: He's a clone, been beaten to a pulp on several occasions and has artificial eyes.
Plus, there really should be no reason for him to take off his helmet - he's the ultimate cop archetype of "never off duty". #judgedredd
@Indigen: I was going to say that if it didn't have Stallone slurring "I EM DE LE" it would be better, bet a video is worth a thousand phonetic typings. #judgedredd
@FrankenPC: ButtonMan should definitely be a movie. Zenith would make an excellent addition to the superhero trend with a little updating to shake the 80's/early 90's off.
Most of the other thrills would be better off as animated specials I think, as Sinister Dexter live action would be a little too ironic for me.
Though Strontium Dog could be a good 'un actually. Other thrils just seem to ask for so much budget that I think its too unrealistic to expect it these days without a lot of sacrifice of the source material.
(And 2000AD is still going strong btw. They replaced Hershey as Chief Judge! They exiled Dredd to be a cursed earth township sheriff! Dredd has a niece and another two clone brothers! Muties were allowed in the city after Dredd took a stand against an injust law! It's big days in the big meg.) #judgedredd
@OlavRokne: Actually, by now the summer blockbuster has dropped down to the level of the original or below. Michael Bay wishes he could have as compelling a film as the original. #judgedredd
@GreyHammer: Hmm as if this never happens with any other voice overs? Try every animated movie and plenty of car commercials :P Plus a voice is a voice...hire someone that will. #judgedredd
I grew up reading 2000AD, my Dad bought it form issue 1. When I was 15 or so, he brought the entire collection over to our house (he and my mother had divorced, he was moving in with his new gf, so had to find room for stuff - and dumping comics on me was an easy decision). One week later my mother threw them all in the rubbish. I don't blame her as she was owed many thousands of pounds in child support, but goddamn, I still think about those boxes of comics. I read them so many times. Sam Slade. Mean Team. Strontium Dog. Tharg's Future Shocks. Nemesis. ABC Warriors. Forget the Dredd movie, read as many back issues of this as you can get your hands on! I still remember how they smell. Judge Anderson. Hmm-mm!
@SafiaHester: I feel your pain. I was forced to move my comics into a lock up in our house so the wife could have extra wadrobe space. But it wasnt before it had been damp-proofed and painted. Hell no. Im sure most good 2000AD has been reprinted in one form or another. Graphic novels are rife at the moment. The Dredd case files are well presented and fairly cheap considering all the content per issue!
I implore everyone to read thias stuff. I own almost everything ever published and yes ive had letters published and I own a mug!!! All the folks in the US who aint read this, dont be put off by the below average film...this stuff is brutal, raw and funny as hell too. All the strips are amazing, but I do have a soft spot for Dredd. Start at Dredd then strontium Dog followed by Rogue Trooper. Shakara abd Nikolai are newer to the comic in overall age..but they also rock...lots! Please please..anyone whos not read 2000AD get this read, ive been reading since 1982. Its fookin great!!!
@Hotscot: Just Halo Jones?! If Hollywood have got idea problems...look in 2000AD. Its packed with ideas. Its about time we saw a live/CGI action film with the ABC Warriors in them. For anyone unfamiliar..heres a peek. Big robots, bigger attitude!!
Edited by CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard) at 09/11/09 4:08 PM
CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard) was starred
CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard) was unstarred
@CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard): An ABC Warriors film would be fantastic!
My personal preference would be for a Mean Machine film ( he's my favourite character). He's mean, hes part machine, and he's a f****** loon. I rest my case your honour.
@Sam: I most certanly agree and as flawed as the 90's film was. I always thought they got Mean and his family down to perfection. But then to waste them like that..Booooo!!
@MrFlake: Oh god yes Glimmer Rats. But im an artist myself and one amazing ABC/2000AD artist that influenced me was Kevin Walker, the old stuff for ABC Warriors and Nemesis was Just fantastic.
@MrFlake: Well I went to art college and I had a really cool tutor (whos sadly passed), who had all these really cool media type friends. Through him I got to know Greg Staples, Simon Bisley and Henry flint who I constantly chat to on MSN. I also had the privalige of meeting Ray Harryhausen who did all the stop go animation for Jason and the Argonauts, but he was only on a flying visit and they met up in Manchester for something and my tutor invited him to come and do a talk at the college. It was awesome!!!
@MrFlake: To be honest (hangs head in shame)...I didnt know who he was until he started talking about his designs and his sets!! I felt like such an idiot! My mate was WOW THIS IS AWESOME!! I was like....who?? Then it hit me. Ahhhhh!
@CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard): Face/StarBuck is pretty damn cool. I had to Google who Vaughn Armstrong was though, what with me being the only non-Trekkie ever to read this webby :D
@braak: "I surmise the assailant was a flesh-eating revenant, or zombi to use the Hatian creole term."
"Astounding, Holmes! How the deuce did you deduce that?"
"Elementary, my dear Watson. It left its right leg over there by the door. It cannot have gotten far in that state be we must needs not tarry, it may still infect the slow or incredibly stupid.
Bring along that axe and we'll follow this trail of slime. The game is afoot!"
10/26/09
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10/27/09
10/26/09
In actuality, I do think Judge Dredd was a good movie, because no matter how bad you think it was, you still watch it every time it comes on TV. Don't lie, we know you watch it. Did Stallone break the rules by insisting on showing his face? Yes, yes he did, but we also got Max Von Sydow. The scene where he dons his cloak and mask, ventures out into the bad lands with his book of law and a monstrous gun and embarks on his Long Walk is just awesome.
In this post Dark Knight age, the "gritty" hero movie is a reality in a way it has never really been before. It means there will be trendy late-comers trying to horn in on the action, but for the most part I view it as a huge opportunity for movies to be made as they should have been made. Gritty Judge Dredd is obvious, but it is also right, and now we have a real chance at seeing the movie done properly. #judgedredd
10/26/09
If only all comics adaptations would stay as true to their source material. To put it in perspective, imagine if the people behind the Hellblazer movie had made Judge Dredd. It probably would've been set in, I dunno, Miami instead of Mega-City One and Dredd would've been Chinese. Given that there was no way a studio would've greenlit a Sylvester Stallone flick in which Stallone never reveals his face (same applies to any major star), and no studio would've approved the Dredd budget without a major star, they did alright.
10/26/09
Yeah, Dredd wasn't great, but as you say, not nearly as bad as people make it out to be. As serious and gritty as I want my action movies to be, people need to realize these things are based on comics and are often going to be full of ridiculousness. #judgedredd
10/26/09
10/26/09
I didn't think Constantine was completely horrible by any means, just giving an example of how much some filmmakers like to ignore/mess with the source material.
10/26/09
So for a film, especially with a big star, it's not feasible or desirable to have Dredd's face hidden. He must take his helmet off sometimes, even in the comics, yet he is just never seen doing so in order to preserve that part of the character. So the only way of doing it properly in the film would be to write it so that Dredd is never in a situation where he would remove his helmet, therefore legitimising the fact that his face is never seen, or come up with a good reason why he wants to hide his face that can be explained simply. Otherwise there's little point to it. #judgedredd
10/26/09
Plus, there really should be no reason for him to take off his helmet - he's the ultimate cop archetype of "never off duty". #judgedredd
10/26/09
10/26/09
[dreddlawextended.ytmnd.com]
[dredlawwww.ytmnd.com] #judgedredd
10/26/09
10/26/09
10/27/09
Most of the other thrills would be better off as animated specials I think, as Sinister Dexter live action would be a little too ironic for me.
Though Strontium Dog could be a good 'un actually. Other thrils just seem to ask for so much budget that I think its too unrealistic to expect it these days without a lot of sacrifice of the source material.
(And 2000AD is still going strong btw. They replaced Hershey as Chief Judge! They exiled Dredd to be a cursed earth township sheriff! Dredd has a niece and another two clone brothers! Muties were allowed in the city after Dredd took a stand against an injust law! It's big days in the big meg.) #judgedredd
10/28/09
10/26/09
Plus Max Von Sydow is awesome. #judgedredd
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10/26/09
Don't know who else could lend just their voice to a leading role. Unless you got with a Hollywood unknown... #judgedredd
09/12/09
This was my favorite Dredd cover. Reminds me of all-you-can-eat buffets here in the States.
09/12/09
09/11/09
09/12/09
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09/11/09
09/11/09
@Hotscot: Just Halo Jones?! If Hollywood have got idea problems...look in 2000AD. Its packed with ideas. Its about time we saw a live/CGI action film with the ABC Warriors in them. For anyone unfamiliar..heres a peek. Big robots, bigger attitude!!
09/11/09
@CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard): An ABC Warriors film would be fantastic!
My personal preference would be for a Mean Machine film ( he's my favourite character). He's mean, hes part machine, and he's a f****** loon. I rest my case your honour.
09/12/09
09/12/09
The newer run of ABC Warriors with Clint Langley on art looks amazing. Maybe even better than his run on Slaine:Books of Invasion
If Hollywood were having a go at anything though, I'd love to see Glimmer Rats, Rogue Trooper, Strontium Dogs / Durham Red.
I'm all nostalgic now, I may have to go and buy a TPB of something.
09/12/09
09/12/09
Once you start thinking about all the great artists and writers who worked on AD it's kinda scary..
I always had a huge art crush on (amongst others) Mark Harrison..
[www.2000ad.org]
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09/12/09
Which art school was it btw?
09/12/09
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09/11/09
Having said that, doesn't Grant have a bit of a say in that (or was that before creator-owned properties)?
09/11/09
09/12/09
I think he does have a say in it but all the parties have to come to an agreement. For my money it's one of the best things Grant has ever done.
08/17/09
08/17/09
"Astounding, Holmes! How the deuce did you deduce that?"
"Elementary, my dear Watson. It left its right leg over there by the door. It cannot have gotten far in that state be we must needs not tarry, it may still infect the slow or incredibly stupid.
Bring along that axe and we'll follow this trail of slime. The game is afoot!"