May 102013
Dredd [3D Blu-ray/Blu-ray + Digital Copy + UltraViolet]
![Dredd [3D Blu-ray/Blu-ray + Digital Copy + UltraViolet]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51yg50C%2B7GL._SL160_.jpg)
High octane sci-fi action movie with all-out, guns-blazing, bone-crushing, explosives-laden action. Based on the popular comic book character JUDGE DREDD.
The future America is an irradiated wasteland. On its East Coast lies Mega City One – a vast violent metropolis where criminals rule the chaotic streets. The only force of order lies with the urban cops called “Judges” who possess the combined powers of judge jury and instant executioner. The ultimate Judge Dredd (Karl Urban) is
List Price: $ 39.99
Price: $ 19.00
More 3D Products
Best comic adaptation of 2012,
First off, let me say that I am biased to this particular comic book character. I’ve been a fan since the late ’80s and have wanted a film adaptation for a long time. I am not saying that I am pre-disposed to like this film. In fact, quite the contrary is true. I’m not only coming at this from the point of view of somebody who wants to see a good movie, but as somebody who will be judging this by its adherence to and respect for its source material.
I’ve been disappointed before. The Stallone version of the ’90s failed this test on both counts. In fact, the only thing that movie got right was a few beautifully rendered hyper dense scenic shots of Mega City one. This film didn’t have those shots. In fact, the scenic shots of the city didn’t seem that dense at all…yeah there were tall building….but spaced far apart. It seemed almost like a quaint small city trying to be a big one at the edge of a dessert. That is…until we are taken inside the city.
This is one of the real coups the film pulls over on us. A few quick shots of the area around these mega blocks (big…REALLY big…More then twice the size of the Twin Towers big) reveal some familiar (especially if you are a New Yorker) buildings that frankly look like kids toys in comparison. When we are informed that the city has over 800 million people covering a land mass that stretches from Boston to DC, you have to intake air when you realize the true scale of the shots looking at the city from the dessert.
We are quickly given a day in a life type story focusing on two characters who have an importent yet oddly impotent job in the city. To maintain order. And it doesn’t take too long until we realize how futile that task is in a city so enormous.
The plot details are somewhere along the lines of a Die Hard film from that point on, but the feelings this setting evokes in us are more akin to District 9. It’s an all together beautiful and disturbing combination the filmmakers utilize quite adeptly.
At some point we are inside one of these big blocks, and the Judges (a hybrid cop/judge given powers to dispense instant justice) we are following through their sadly ordinary day had to shoot lots of people and utter caustic lines like “Defense noted” or “you have ten seconds to comply”.
Did I mention lots of people get shot? Well… let me put it this way: LOTS of people get shot. And we are not spared one ounce of gore when this happens.
The film never really lets up, rather it moves at a brisk pace as our protagonists go about their job. The titular Judge Dredd is the experienced mentor, putting Judge Anderson through the ropes here. For those of us familiar with the comics, these are the two biggest characters in the world of Mega City one. While Anderson does go through changes, this film gives us a bit of her origins (placing this story actually BEFORE the comics really take place). While she goes from barely competent and wishy washy cadet to the beginnings of the kick ass PSI Judge we all know and love, Dredd himself never breaks a sweat. In fact, you get the sense that this particular day was no better or worse for him then the day before or the day after. His actions in the last scene of the film really hammer this home.
This characterization is what really makes the film work. The sense that this is the norm in this city informes us of the prevailing fatalism that must soak into every citizen. It is a very bleak dystopian view of the future, that sadly looks all too understandable and real. We are never told how the human race came to be in those cities, or why they still exist there. It’s only that they ARE there. And it’s left up to us to fill in the importance of that.
Was this review helpful to you?
|DREDD IS BACK!!!,
DREDD 3D
Excellent movie for the budget. The spirit of Dredd is here in spades. It is not perfect but bloody imaginative.
First the camera work is fantastic. This is really a film to see in 3D. Not because of fancy Hollywood CGI but because of brilliant artistic imagery.
MegaCity looks European in the visuals and vistas but maybe for Americans the vans and cars just look weird. So it works!
Pete Travis’ direction is solid and Alex Garland’s script is informed and funny. Would loved to have heard Dredd say “Drokk” just once!
Karl Urban is Dredd. He needs to be warmed too but he plays the part very well. Olivia Thirlby is also excellent as Anderson. Lena Headey is very convincing in her Motherly role.
I do hope this becomes a franchise. Dredd is as important as Bond. Show him some respect.
Brilliant!!!!!
Was this review helpful to you?
|Destined to become a cult classic! It’s “Die Hard” meets “Robocop!”,
It is an utter crime how this movie flopped at the box office. To be honest I had no idea what to expect when I entered the theater to see this movie. Initially i wanted to go see “Looper” but for some reason at the time I was in the mood for something less cerebral, so me and my buddy chose to see Dredd 3D after a class mate told me to check it out and that it was phenomenal. My God, I was completely blown away! I was so blown away that I went to see it again immediately the next day!
You can tell the director of this film really cared about the project. I felt his heart and soul within every composition and frame. Before this film I use to be anti-3D but after I saw this, it completely changed the game for me, yes even more than “avatar” did. This was the first time I felt that the only way to experience this film was in 3d. even though this film failed at the box office, i feel as if i was part of something special because i was one of the few who saw it in 3d at the theaters. All those people who are going to rent it or buy it on DVD/blu ray will be missing half the experience in my opinion. Too bad for you guys!! And if there ever was a movie that would consider me to covert my home theater into 3d, it is this one.
The way the film makers utilized slow motion was the best I have ever seen since the “Matrix”, maybe even better. Lately I’ve hated the way recent films have used slow mo, just for the sake of it (Sherlock Holmes) but Dredd actually uses it to engross the audience further into the story. I loved the way the cinematography switched up during these scenes, making the drug scenes feel surreal and beautiful at the same time. That, accompanied with the amazing score, really made me feel like i was on a wild thrill ride. I haven’t had this much fun at the movies in a while. This year has been a great year for movies. i loved “Prometheus”, “Dark Knight Rises” and “Avengers” and even “Looper” but Dredd was the most fun and mind blowing of them all, despite it’s simple down to earth story line. In fact I think it was the simplicity of the story that made it so great. It didn’t try to have Dredd save the damn world. it was literally like watching John McClane in “Die Hard.” It was all about survival!!
Karl Urban was great as Dredd. He really knew how to internalize all the angry emotions of the character and I commend his performance especially since we never got to see his eyes. He always retained a calm but ruthless demeanor. Lena Headey was chilling as Ma-Ma, I’m glad to see her still getting work after her underrated and beloved performance as Sarah Connor in the Terminator TV series (if you haven’t seen that show, check it out, you won’t regret it!). Olivia Thirlby did a decent job playing the rookie/dredd’s side kick. At first I thought she was too young for the role but her character contrasted well with Dredd’s character. At times I thought the made her appearance too pretty but she carried the role good enough to make me overlook that.
If you like films such as “Die Hard, Robocop, The Crow, or Darkman” YOU HAVE TO CHECK THIS FILM OUT!! It’s a true action film masterpiece that put’s the Expendables to sleep! This is easily one of the best R rated films to come out in a long time. These days everything is PG-13 just so the studio can sell more tickets and it was like a breathe of fresh air to see all the action and gore done in a way that wasn’t gratuitous but servicing to the story and suspenseful atmosphere the film was trying to create for the viewer. I haven’t seen violence in an action film done this well since the 80′s. Everything about this film is fresh and exciting. The only thing that I can nit pick about was some of the supporting characters (Ma-Ma’s henchmen) acting was bit forced but what do you expect from a low budget film? This film is one of the best-low budget films ever made and proof that you don’t need hundred’s of millions to deliver the goods. i think the reason why people didn’t check this out was because folks thought it was a remake of the the Stallone film. My god, how they were wrong! TOO BAD FOR THEM!! Even though in my opinion I feel that a non 3D version of this film won’t be as good as the 3D one I’d still recommend it to anyone, whether 3D or 2D. I’m definitely purchasing this when it comes out!
Was this review helpful to you?
|