VHS and Betamax You Have Recently Rented

[hallicks]

2 hours ago, FLips said:

"Lionheart fighting Nutella"

This cracked me up, though I do worry if this is a trend for subtitles. AI is quite clearly not ready to replace a human. My brother has been deaf from birth and he and the deaf community should not have to fight the subtitle battle again. 

[FLips]

Dredd

Finally got around to watching this and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm unfamiliar with the source material outside of maybe seeing a bit of the Stallone version once and I think a game on PS2, but for what I do know of the character I thought Karl Urban did a great job.
Incredibly stylish, and the over the top violence and futuristic mega-city settings obviously draw the Robocop comparisons, but I don't think it's as good as Robocop. No denying the action set peices and effects are much better, but it lacks the satire and human element that Robocop has.

That being said, again without knowing the source material, if you humanised Dredd in any way it would be a different type of film and I think it would be worse off for it given the direction of it. Personally, I could have done with a bit more of a satirical approach and a few more laughs. Would be keen to see a sequel now that Anderson is fully established but given the age of the film I doubt that's likely.

Edited February 18, 2025 by FLips

[Chest Rockwell]

Despite not knowing the source material, you have nailed what is missing. The comics were always very satirical and funny. Good movie though, still. 

[SaitoRyo]

Delete?

Edited February 18, 2025 by SaitoRyo
Botch

[LaGoosh]

A fun bit of movie trivia I like is that in Dredd in the opening where they describe Mega City One as basically a lawless crime ridden hell hole with a population of 800 million people where 17,000 serious crimes are reported daily. However statistically that actually makes Mega City One SAFER than the United States was in the year the film was released.

Edited February 18, 2025 by LaGoosh

[SuperBacon]

I remember quite enjoying the Stallone one. I've never revisited it, but as a 10yo it nailed what I wanted from a Dredd film.

[gmoney]

Mean Machine looks absolutely incredible in the 90s Judge Dredd, but everything else about it is shit. 

[wordsfromlee]

Another piece of Dredd trivia is that the Peach Tree Towers is named after the restaurant The Peach Tree which is down the road from me. It's where John Wagner met the movie producers to go over the planning of the film. I had a great Christmas dinner there a few years back but it's currently abandoned as the owners are serial con men and have done a runner whilst still owing hundreds of thousands of pounds to various people and companies.

My Dad also built John Wagners extension on his house.

[davertfnewman]

Dredd was a film that I watched and thoroughly enjoyed in one of the lesser rooms at a Cineworld in Wolverhampton, but even for that setting as I watched it I remember thinking "It won't look this good at home on the TV". I've had the DVD, might still have, but didn't live up to repeats.

That said, I've been a Lena Headey fan since Band of Gold, which I probably should watch again soon, and Domhnall Gleeson makes for a very sympathetic character in it too.

[BomberPat]

the strangest thing about Dredd is that there's a scene where someone is listening to music, and it's the theme from the Matt Berry sketch show "Snuff Box".

Edited February 18, 2025 by BomberPat

[davertfnewman]

Sounds like they chose it by title, not sound or content.

[Merzbow]

From what I remember they would have pushed the satire further in follow-ups that open up the world more, it was always meant to be the first part of something more and even though it became a pretty big hit on blu-ray (arguably the only 3D blu-ray that was really worth owning) any future titles were snuffed out.

One of the best things that film did was grow Judge Anderson in such a great way from the very start, she's the human element and they easily could have built projects with her at the core.

[Devon Malcolm]

Even I liked Dredd. That's probably why it didn't get a sequel.

[Just Some Guy]

Absolutely loved Dredd proportionately inverse to how much I hated the Stallone Judge Dredd (which was a lot).

At this point I have to recommend The Raid which came out at exactly the same time with exactly the same plot.

[Lorne Malvo]

2 hours ago, Just Some Guy said:

 

At this point I have to recommend The Raid which came out at exactly the same time with exactly the same plot.

If anything, I think The Raid coming out at pretty much the same time as Dredd contributed to it not doing great. I remember the critical consensus at the time being 'Dredd is fine, but it's not The Raid!' when both are really good films in their own right.