The Real Reasons Fury Road Won & Dredd Failed

Yes, Fury Road had a bigger star in the lead roll, a bigger lead actress, and was coming off a franchise with some credibility,

BUT!

The real problems were that, while well made, Dredd was poorly conceived. It was just a very simple film with a video game plot. You knew full well he was going to chase mama up the building while getting shot at and throw her off the top from the moment you saw both characters and the building.

Meanwhile you didn't know precisely what was going to happen in Fury Road. And there were little side stories like the economic relationships with other towns, the process of becoming a war boy, and the seeds. Shots like the production of mother's milk, and the abortion scene really add depth to what it's like to live there. It felt real.

Conversely, Dredd locks itself in a building. The most you learn about life in Megacity is during the opening credits, and after that the world and the experience of life in it, are virtually irrelevant. It fails utterly to take advantage of the environment, and is barely any different than Die Hard if Bruce Willis wore a helmet the entire time. It just doesn't utilize it's setting at all. We're locked in a building. That's it.

Lastly, Dredd was released in a year I counted over 30 Sci-Fi/Action genre films. That's a lot of competition. And I completed a survey on many of the IMDB boards related to those sites, listing all 30 films, and Dredd I believe ranked 17th if I remember correctly. It certainly was no higher than that. You realize most people don't pay to see 17 films in theater every year right? And if it was 17th on average, then the vast majority of people didn't even consider seeing it in theater, as the average movie goer sees around 5 films a year.

Ohhhhhhhhhhh wait, the marketing. Dredd fans love to blame the marketing, but what they never pull their head out of their ass to realize is that marketing a film with so little talent and a bland script is like setting money on fire.

So on top of all the built in advantages for Mad Max, Dredd did nothing to help its own cause. They chose the most boring story possible for that setting and a B star at best for the title character, and at that point they knew marketing was just flushing money down the toilet.

And all of this was obvious long before it was released, as told to you long before it was released, by,,, me.