Dredd [DVD + Digital Copy + UltraViolet]

This is an amazing movie. The only thing bad about it is the ridiculously poor marketing campaign that failed to get people into the theater to see it. I am stunned that such a quality movie could have been overlooked by the movie-going public like this. I've had several friends whom I had to coax into watching this movie who were absolutely blown away by it. It's that good. Just give it a chance!Now, a caveat--this is a hard-R action film, which means the violence is pretty brutal and the filmmakers don't pull any punches. That said, it's not torture porn; the violence is all part of the plot and very believable within the story. I personally HATE torture porn movies like Hostel, etc., so if you're worried about it being that kind of movie don't be. The main focus of the story is on Judge Dredd and Judge Anderson taking on the sociopathic drug-dealing gang that controls the Peachtrees mega-block in the most badass way imaginable.Speaking of bad, Karl Urban is a bad, bad man. He IS Judge Dredd. Urban plays the Judge perfectly, as someone committed to law and justice even though he has to slog in the muck of crime and exploitation nearly 24-7. Urban also brings a much-needed low-key sense of humor to the proceedings. This is hardly a laugh-a-minute fun ride but some of Urban's facial expressions and one-liners provide a welcome break in the tension.The tension is there because the movie is so well-paced. You will not look at your watch once during this movie. You will not be bored. It is not action for the sake of actions. There are sufficiently-high stakes and Lena Headey's Ma-Ma is evil enough that you will be rooting for the judges the whole time. But Headey's Ma-Ma is not a cartoon villain; the filmmakers provide enough of a backstory on her so you can see where she's come from, why she is who she is, and why she did what she had to do to control Peachtrees. She's still evil, of course, but the evil you understand is sometimes more terrifying than the evil you can't.Olivia Thirlby isn't just eye candy here, either, although she is of course very attractive. Her character (who has psychic abilities) has the biggest (only?) character arc of the film. Everyone else is pretty much who they are through the entire movie except for Thirlby's Judge Anderson, whose experience in the "deep end" changes her from a naive, nervous rookie to a potent colleague. The psychic abilities are handled very well; they aren't laughable and they aren't throwaway. Her experience in the head of Ma-Ma's captured lieutenant is gripping.I simply don't re-watch movies, but I've watched this movie at least five times. If you're not turned off by violence, it's a lot of fun, and Urban's Dredd holds it all together. I'm just disappointed that the poor box office probably means that there will not be a sequel. Because if any movie deserves one, it's Dredd.

I like Sly. He's done some good work in his years. I don't think he's a good actor per say, but a lot of his films are fun to watch.Judge Dredd, is not one of those films. It's one of the worst, if not the worst, film he's ever made. This is -not- a remake or reboot of that film. It intentionally had nothing to do with it and was made to correct the offense that film was for fans of Judge Dredd, which is a comic book.It get's everything right. The bad one liners, the hyper violent gore, and everything about this film is exactly what it should be. This was made by a fan of the character who knows the source material and did a wonderful job bringing it to life. The absence of the SF cuss "Drokk" is notable, but easily ignored. It doesn't appear in every issue of the comic, so it's not out of place that he doesn't say it in the film. Would have been a nice nod to fans to put it in there though, but this film does enough right that it's easily forgiven.It's perfectly okay to not like the film, but people should understand that the film is exactly what it supposed to be, what it should be, in every way. This is what Judge Dredd is and how he should be portrayed. If you didn't like it, it's not because there's something wrong with the film. It's because you're not a fan of this character, because this movie gets everything right.Judge Dredd is a comic book that was published in the British Anthology series 2000 AD and was first in it's pages in 1977 in the second issue of the anthology. He was written as an even more extreme and futuristic version of Harry Callahan from the Dirty Harry series, and his character was modeled after the leather clad biker on the Deathrace 2000 movie poster. He's essentially the Punisher with a badge and legal authority, and not the nice Thomas Jane version.He's not Sylvester Stallone, was never intended to be, and does not ever take his helmet off. In the original comic even when he's shown at home in his off time he's wearing it. He did remove it in one issue, but the reader never sees his face, and the people in the comic that do are horrified and disgusted, to the point of being violently sick.He's essentially a political satire from the 1970s. An extreme example pointing out the perceived flaws of the British justice system in the period. The comic became popular in the 80s and has been going strong ever since. Dredd is probably the most famous comic British comic book character in the world.This film was made by a fan of that comic with a deep love and understanding of the source. They knew what they were doing, got so many details right, and this is without doubt one of the best comic book adaptions ever made. Sin City is possibly the only film I can think of that does better, and that's because it's word for word and frame for frame the same as the comic. Every panel in Sin City is a frame in the film version.Reviewers that don't like it because it's violent, gory, brutish, and crude are making valid criticisms. If you're not into that sort of thing you're not going to like this film. Avoid it. Though, why someone who doesn't like those things is watching an R rated action film is beyond me. I'm left wondering what they were expecting it to be exactly.However, the hundreds of people who seem to think this is a bad remake of a Sly Stallone film are simply ignorant and should be ignored. This was intentionally made to have nothing to do with that film and was created to make up for everything that movie got wrong for fans of the character. It accomplished that amazingly well.This movie gets five stars from me. It's exactly what a comic book adaption should be. It's extremely true to the source material, and gets the details right. As a fan of the original comic, this film blew me away. It's a better comic adaption than anything put out by Marvel or DC in the last ten years. Not necessarily a better movie and certainly not a more popular one, but as an adaption that isn't word for word and frame for frame the same as the original comic, it's as true to the source as a comic book movie adaption can possible to be.