I'm over 50 and read 2000AD religiously when young. Karl Urban was a great Dredd but the budget let the film down. To realise the scope of the comic would be hugely expensive and i'll be honest the look of the Stallone version was more epic but let down by the story itself and Stallone. There was a lot right and wrong with both films but Dredd 2012 was better character wise. The definitive version has yet to be made then.....
shareI think the low budget helped the movie. Instead of the usual big-spectacle set pieces, we had a really good story where the characters mattered.
shareDefinitely helped. The small-scale makes for an extremely lean and efficient action film. I love that the movie is just "another day in the life of a judge". First day for Cassandra, but just another job for Dredd.
One of my biggest frustrations with the MI franchise is that every film now is involving some apocalyptic thing. I want to see a "normal" job for IMF.
Fantastic film. Just pure contained action, no bullshit.
shareI just started watching an old fave, Escape From New York. As I settled in, happily, I thought, “We don’t make ‘em like this anymore.” And then I thought: Dredd.
shareI like the fact that it had a lower budget. First, it made it feel more raw and gritty (everything in Stallone's version looked too shiny and clean), and second, most of it been focused on Dredd in the tower block, made it feel like just another day in Dredd's life.
shareWE SHOULD BE ON DREDD 4 BY NOW...SHAME.
shareAN AMAZING LITTLE FLICK I REWATCH EVERY COUPLE YEARS....INSANE IT HAS BEEN 12 YEARS SINCE IT CAME OUT.
share
It's an awesome film.
Great movie. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Such a shame it didn't get a sequel. And 12 years?? Jesus.
shareThe densely packed groups of people living in the industrial zones not only gave off a claustrophobic atmosphere in the film but also represents the inner turmoil of Dredd himself. Much like how his face is shielded by his helmet, preventing his face from being seen, his emotional isolation acts as a mask toward the barely managed chaos around him. In this way, he lives in his own self-imposed confinement, a personal prison in a sense in order to harbor any sort of defined peace, however uneasy it may be. He's a tragic hero unable to chart his own destiny.
Outside this analysis, the featured apartments in the block complex looked too clean and stocked with personal appliances for something that's supposed to be a post-apocalyptic wasteland. That said, It's a great film worthy of all the praise it gets.
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That's the best analysis of Dredd not taking off his helmet that I've ever read. I've never read the comic books and as much as I don't like the Stallone version, I did think some fans overreacted about him taking off the helmet.
But your description makes it clear why.
It's always a joy exploring film themes because the more one becomes familiar with them, the richer the experience of viewing film becomes, getting more out of it. I really appreciate your feedback. The inspiration behind my analysis comes from the poetic thought of Heinrich Heine, whose writings greatly display the personal struggles people encounter when physically displaced, including the grief of feeling like a stranger in the very place where they call home.
Stallone's take works best outside of being a Dredd film, also agreeing with you what some others thought about him taking his helmet off.
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