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Dredd (2012)
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In this episode, Fraser (Satsunami) and Adam discuss the 2012 action film Dredd from their headquarters of MegaTwitch One. Does it hold up to the hype? And better yet, how does it compare to the previous incarnation? All this and more in this episode!
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Transcript
Introduction and Futuristic World Discussion
00:00:05
Speaker
Welcome to Chad Tsunami. Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of Chad Tsunami. I'm Sad Tsunami and, you know, I was thinking about a way to introduce you but I really didn't want to say and invading a tower block with me is my very good friend Adam. So,
00:00:34
Speaker
Yeah, welcome Adam. That's just what we do to keep ourselves sane in this crazy futuristic world of mega twitch. Welcome, Judge Satsu. Let's bring law and order to these mean streets. Thank you, Judge. Do you prefer Judge Adam or Judge Sandwich? I prefer Judge Sandwich. Judge Sandwich, okay. My official, my government name. Yeah, of course. Your legal name on your driving license.
00:01:04
Speaker
Also, I'll give a shout-out to S Banks. He came up with Mega Twitch and I stole it. I just thought it was great. After a minute, I did chuckle when I read that. I was like, ah, Mega Twitch Twitch.
Corporate World and Dystopian Films
00:01:16
Speaker
Ironically enough, before we actually start today's topic, like a couple of minutes ago, just before we came on, there was news that Amazon themselves had bought, like, another company. And it's like, huh, wonderful.
00:01:28
Speaker
it's like so they are becoming mega twitch essentially yeah the corporate landscape is becoming mega city one
00:01:35
Speaker
Yeah, it's starting to feel more like... Have you ever seen Demolition Man? Do you think I've ever seen it all the way through? I think I've seen bits of it. Yeah, there's like a kind of... Well, not a subplot, but kind of the lower behind it is there was a thing called the Franchise Wars and the only thing that seemed to survive was Taco Bell for some weird reason. And that's what I'm thinking, it's like... Yeah, everything's gone, but in the far future. But Amazon, Amazon always survives sometimes, but anyway.
00:02:02
Speaker
yeah we love you really and please please don't take us off the air please
00:02:10
Speaker
As you can see, today we are indeed talking about... Where do I even begin
Exploration of Judge Dredd Universe
00:02:16
Speaker
with this? Because a couple of weeks ago, you and I talked about two very influential action films that we both absolutely love. That of course being The Raid. But before we saw The Raid, there was this particular film that we're going to be talking about today. That of course being Dread. Where do we even begin with this? How do you describe Dread?
00:02:38
Speaker
Well, I don't know how familiar the listeners are with the character of Judge Dredd, who is a comic book character created in the late 70s by British comic company 2000 AD. And basically the story basically is that in the far distant future,
00:02:55
Speaker
Thanks to numerous nuclear wars, much of the Earth has become irradiated and uninhabitable. So humanity is kind of congregated in what's called these megacities across the globe. And Judge Dredd, the universe Judge Dredd, is in Mega City 1, which is on the eastern seaboard of America. And it varies. I think in the comics, it runs from Boston in the north of America down to Florida in the south. But I think in the movie here, they say it's like Boston to DC? Did they say something like that?
00:03:24
Speaker
it kind of varies it kind of varies depending like you know
00:03:27
Speaker
whoever's making the story. But its idea is this giant conglomeration of humanity together in one contiguous city. And there's the earth around it known as the cursed earth and is uninhabited. Well, basically it's mutants and bandits, people who live outside the walls. And basically the only thing keeping order in this giant city where most of the population are unemployed is the judges system, which basically these judges are judge, jury and executioner or rolled into one and have total authority to sentence and carry out punishment and everything.
00:03:57
Speaker
And Judge Dredd is one of these titular judges, if I covered all the bases there, but that's basically the setup for her. Yeah, no, I think he covered it quite well.
Film Comparisons: Judge Dredd and Robocop
00:04:06
Speaker
It was the 80s, wasn't it, that Judge Dredd kind of came onto the scene.
00:04:12
Speaker
Yeah so he was created in the late 70s and then yeah he's been a continuous character since then but yeah like through the 80s 90s and everything like that yeah and I have to admit although maybe like I've missed like some iterations because I know he's been through a couple like he's got comic books he's had games Shouting to judge versus death which I haven't played personally but everybody I know has and says it's pretty good pretty good I really need to get it like
00:04:39
Speaker
or not get it I need to try it yeah there's been as I said comics games and
00:04:44
Speaker
Before this, now I don't know if it's like, you know how you get Marvel films where they had this like awkward period like in the 80s where they made like some random film, like Captain America, where it's like they made like the Captain America film of the 80s but no one really thinks about it? Yeah. Because I don't know if Judge Dredd went through a similar phase but oh boy when we get to the 90s and sorry just for any Judge Dredd fans out there listening, no we're not going to be discussing the 1995 one.
00:05:15
Speaker
Not today. Yeah, this is going to be the 2012 one. But my god, like, I was saying this to you before we came on stream today. It's like apples and oranges with those two films, isn't it? Yeah, it is very much. They are very different. Despite being based on the same character, they are quite different.
00:05:32
Speaker
Because Dread, as you were saying, it's a very... I wouldn't say very serious, but quite a dystopian future, isn't it? Where, as you said, there's lots of lawlessness, there's lots of, you know, chaos and everything, and only the judges are like that fine line between it descending into complete anarchy and everything. If you watch the 1995 one with Sylvester Sloan, it is very interesting.
00:05:59
Speaker
This is what I was saying to you before, if you took Judge Dredd out of that film, it would just be another kind of generic 90s sci-fi film, wouldn't it? Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah. It's not a bad one at that as well. It's nothing great, but it's like, as you say, if you took Judge Dredd out and they called it, I think I said Judge Dreeb or something, they call him whatever else you want, Judge Drell, I don't know. Just something else.
00:06:27
Speaker
Just Judy. I call it just Judy. That's a good one. And then like that it would just be a pretty much run of the mill kind of like middle of the road action from which is actually too much. You can have fun watching it like it. It's not it's not like a total like stinker by any means. But as you say, it's because it's you know, adapting this like character is just misses the mark so so badly.
00:06:47
Speaker
And I mean, it hasn't really... It is kind of weird, and again, maybe I've missed a film in between that and the 2012 version. But it's weird how, although the characters are so beloved, there wasn't really any films in between. Especially this one killed it off, I think. Yeah.
00:07:06
Speaker
I can understand that but I mean it's like if you actually think about it because I was thinking of the parallels between another character which I know you brought up when we were talking about Judge Dredd that of course being Robocop who came out at the same time and actually sent me a picture of like the prototype of Robocop. Do you want to explain that?
00:07:29
Speaker
Yes, so basically, just a shout out, there's a really good, if anybody's interested, there's a really good documentary about 2000 AD called Future Shock. You can watch it on Prime if anybody's interested, but it goes through the history of the other company. It talks a lot about their influence and pop culture and actually what kind of a big impact this comic company did have. And one of the things they talked about was how Robocop like, quote unquote, borrows a lot from Judge Dredd. And that included the original design for Robocop.
00:07:57
Speaker
where basically the helmet was exactly the same as Judge Dred's helmet originally. I think they were going to have the same kind of body and stuff, but it was going to be that same helmet with the visor. And then, you know, the kind of, um, almost like the V shape with the, um, I don't know. I don't know quite what the shape is, but it's almost like a, like a Y, but missing the M.
00:08:14
Speaker
missing the stem and you're like well that is you know borrow isn't quite that is literally you're lifting verbatim there but it does share a lot and honestly i think i said this robocop is a better judge dread film than the 1995 judge dread to be honest it has that like it has the same kind of setting and it has a lot of the same themes but also has that kind of very dark satirical edge that the comics were known for and for most of their run so in many ways it's a very good actually adaptation of judge dread
00:08:40
Speaker
Yeah, compared to the... In fact, did we watch the 95 film? Yeah, we did. We did. Yeah. A lot of back. Yeah, no, I just wanted to make sure that you were there when they watched. I AM THE LAUGH! Yeah, that guy just...
00:08:56
Speaker
I can't remember who the actor is who plays like the villain in that film. I just remember the way he said law where it's yeah as you said Sylvester's song goes law and then he just turned around and he goes law. It's like oh my god.
00:09:12
Speaker
proper scenery tune throughout but yeah but that that film like I know we're not going to talk about this film but there's one story I find very funny about it and quite telling and I think somebody a film critic asked him as a Stallone about kind of Judge Dredd and why it wasn't received that well and apparently Stallone answered like you know I was gonna do a Stallone accent I would he answered he said like well the main problem was that when I took off the helmet that's also one big thing he takes off the helmet very very early on in the film which is something that the character
00:09:38
Speaker
character never does. But he said, well, the problem was that when I took off the helmet, nobody laughed. He obviously had this idea that it was his broad comedy or something that he was going for. That's not to say there has been a lot of dark humor in Judge Drednis was known for, but it's not really a broad, like laugh out loud kind of thing. So I guess that's a big reason of why this film is not like well received by fans of the character. You guys were listening who might be wondering, like, why the hell are we talking about
00:10:08
Speaker
like you know this film so much when we're going to be going on to the 2012 film but honest to god like I cannot stress enough how this was probably the last major film of this franchise before you know it got to let's face it what became like dark and gritty yeah kind of how to put it
00:10:31
Speaker
I wouldn't go as far as to say grimdark, but it's not far off, is it?
Analysis of the 2012 Dredd Film
00:10:36
Speaker
It's a very miserable world that they set up. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Because I'm actually trying to remember why I went to see this film, and I don't mean that in an old man kind of. Why the hell did I go to see this? Did you get confused? Like, what did I get my hair to say? I was like, oh, I can't wait to see him. I don't know The Last Mimsie or something. I don't know.
00:10:56
Speaker
I always just like completely off topic but I remember reading this story about that where it was like a child I think it was the last Mimsie or something like this children's film that all these kids went to go see and then they got the films mixed up and it turned out it was like the hills of ice 2 or something
00:11:12
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, as soon as that came on it was just like, oh fuck, poor, poor children. Anyway, yeah, speaking of grimdark, yeah, dread. So I honestly can't remember the last, or rather the reason. I think it was because one of my friends is really into Judge Dredd. Like, I mean he doesn't collect the comics but he knows like a lot about the lore and everything and he played the games. So one day he turned round and he said, oh do you want to go see it in the cinema? And I was like, I don't really know. And he's like,
00:11:39
Speaker
This is how he put it off, I was, because he was like, oh, let's go see it. And it's also in 3D, which, for those of you...
00:11:49
Speaker
I doubt there's going to be anyone there too young to remember when all these films were coming out in 3D and it was just a plague. Do you remember this? There was a good couple of years where a lot of films were coming out in 3D and it was just... Obviously some films still come out in 3D, I'm not saying it's gone completely, but most of it was a gimmick. It was more like...
00:12:14
Speaker
I don't know, like I remember going to see Harry Potter in 3D once and it was literally like one seat and the rest of it's like okay we're done, take off your glasses. The Hobbit films, I remember seeing the first Hobbit film in 3D, I don't know, the others were released in 3D but do you know the actual title when Dread was released, the actual title was Dread 3D?
00:12:37
Speaker
Oh, so it was. Yeah. And if you actually look on the poster, I'm on the Wikipedia page, if you're on the Wikipedia page, it has dread and has a 3D underneath. So it was a it was a big thing. I mean, and we can come back to that. But one of the reasons I think the film didn't do as well, you know, as as people hoped, it was 3D. It was basically especially in the UK. You could only really see it in 3D. I put a lot of people off. I think if they'd done it, they'd had a bigger 2D, you know, showing. I think it probably would have done a bit, maybe not for the maybe massively better, but it would have done better, I think.
00:13:05
Speaker
I'm trying to think back of, you know, like the films in 3D back then. I mean he had Avatar, you know, and all of that which again is a sore spot because like at the time of recording this they keep saying that the sequel's coming and everything and oh it's gonna be the best thing since you know sliced alien bread or something and it's like yeah sure and you know it's like yeah the whole 3D thing is just
00:13:31
Speaker
I don't know. It seemed like a gimmick at the time. A lot of films were just putting it in for the sake of it. But with Dred, I'm not gonna lie here, I think it's one of the best films I've ever seen in 3D. I genuinely think at the time it done a really good job. But it seems weird because it wasn't a film I expected to be as good in 3D. I don't know, did you feel as if it was like a gimmick or...
00:13:58
Speaker
I mean, well, if you want one of the real reasons why 3D was such a push thing at the time is because 3D films are harder to pirate than 2D films. The studio switched it. I saw it in 3D and I'd actually forgotten that it was in 3D until you reminded me.
00:14:15
Speaker
I don't remember it being off-putting or anything, which is probably the best endorsement I'll give to 3D. Yeah, I'm going to be honest, I can't really remember what it was like in 3D. I've watched it in 2D since, and that's more what stays in my mind than the 3D. I mean, the fact that I can't remember it being bad...
00:14:34
Speaker
take that as an endorsement, that it must have been good. See, the strange thing is though, when you rewatch us film in 2D, you can honestly tell the scenes that they wanted in 3D, which is kind of off-putting.
00:14:51
Speaker
It will kind of go through it, but yeah, it's kind of off-putting when you're watching this film and you see like some slow-mo scenes. Ah, pun. Don't worry. Well, it's like, you know, slow-mo scenes and everything and glass coming out the screen. And in 3D, like, I don't remember it vividly, but I do remember thinking, oh god, this is great.
00:15:12
Speaker
but then again at the same time there was also that Abe Lincoln vampire hunter film which see no matter what will you look at that I'll still maintain that was one of the best 3d films I saw as well like honestly like even if the plot was like ridiculous and that one like at least the 3d delivered and I can't believe I'm admitting that but move over gravity Lincoln Vampire Hunter was the real 3d masterpiece yeah they were robbed at the Oscars they were just
00:15:41
Speaker
But it's the same though with Dred. It's like you go in thinking. And again, I have to admit, the friend I went with, this was the same friend who was like, oh, let's go see Ghost Rider 2 in 3D. Yeah, we don't speak anymore.
00:15:55
Speaker
But no jokes aside, it's one of those films that you don't really know what to expect, I suppose. Like, you expect action and everything, but it honestly is. Like, if you don't... Would you say, though, that, see if you were going into this film completely blind, would you say someone without, like, a knowledge of dread would kind of know what to expect from this?
00:16:20
Speaker
I mean, if they see the poster, they might have an idea. It's a guy with a... It's a stone-faced looking guy with a gun standing in front of two tower blocks. Two mega tower blocks are on fire and exploding behind them, so if you see that poster, you might get an idea. I mean, you might not expect the excessive violence. You might expect some violence. You might not expect the excessive level of violence. And it's worth saying this is an excessively violent film. Oh, yeah.
00:16:45
Speaker
That could be a shock, but at the same time, I don't know. I mean, I don't know quite well. I guess you actually think it's a horror. You're like, all dread. If you don't know it's spelled with three Ds, you might think it's an A. Maybe you think it's a horror film, which I suppose is the horror of living in one of these gigantic tower blocks.
00:17:01
Speaker
That's true. Yeah, speaking of horror actually, can we briefly touch on the setting of Dread? So you were saying there where it's basically a megacity that stretches between states in the US and outside of these walls is this massive desert filled with mutants and nasty gribblies and stuff. It's like, yeah, nasty stuff. That's the scientific term for this.
00:17:25
Speaker
But it's just, it's really, one of the things I have to admit rewatching it that I got put off by was the fact it does look like a normal city.
Budget and World-Building in Dredd
00:17:36
Speaker
Like, this is kind of sounds stupid, but it's like the whole city looks, you know, relatively just like a generic American city. But they've got like the CGI like tower blocks kind of placed in.
00:17:50
Speaker
Yeah. And I don't know, like on the one hand it gives it a kind of sense of realism. The CGI towers don't stand out, like I'm not saying that at all, but at the same time you're kind of like, yeah you can tell this is just a normal city that they've got like drone shots of. Yeah. And you know there's just like, oh by the way Jim, put a bit of tower there, put a tower there, put a drone flying over and yeah, yeah you're good, you're good.
00:18:17
Speaker
Because I think, see once you're in the tower itself, like later on in the film, I feel as if that's when you kind of think, okay, this is the film started, guys. But before that, you're kind of like, but again, it's like, it's not the worst thing. I wouldn't say it's overly off-putting.
00:18:36
Speaker
I think that's the major problem with the film is that it had a relatively small budget for what these films are. So it had a budget of between, it's estimated between 30 and 45 million dollars, which isn't like that much. I mean, you compare it to like the 1995 Still Owned one had a budget of 85 to 90 million dollars. I mean, I don't know, I don't know, judge that for inflation, I'm not sure, but that's a lot.
00:19:02
Speaker
I still think that's a lot more. And I think actually to give praise to the 1995 film, one aspect that it is better in is that they actually like created a city that you're like, oh, this feels really different. And this does feel like a dystopian city. And the problem with this problem with the 2012 red one was they just didn't have the budget to include a lot of things like, you know, they had to use air shots of Johannesburg and Cape Town were the two cities that they filmed in. So it's a lot of those ones that they then put these CGI tower blocks on.
00:19:30
Speaker
but the world of judge dread is filled with like robots and aliens and mutants and you don't get any of that and there's flying vehicles, you know, there's lots of different, you don't get any, there's like one flying vehicle at the beginning but then everything else takes place on the ground, there's all like normal cars, as you said, normal cars and vans and everything and
00:19:49
Speaker
it doesn't yeah it does just feel a bit like a normal city which is a shame because like one of the standouts of the judge dread comics stuff is this like crazy kind of like dystopian world that like is that like is recognizable in some in terms of like some of the the issues going on but like visually looks so different to anything that you know we have like any cities we live in now so that that is a shame and it it comes from the budget it just comes inside they didn't have the budget to incorporate these elements into it
00:20:16
Speaker
it does just look so normal and again like it's not the worst thing like i'm probably just getting the negatives out of the way here first but it's like i was noticing just see even with the clothes and things that they were wearing obviously except the judges like clearly they've put all the money into like the judge costumes which rightfully so they should but the rest of them are just you know just i'm pretty sure there's a guy in like jeans and a t-shirt just walking around and you're like oh
00:20:44
Speaker
Okay, that's the future. Do you want a freaking polo shirt? What the hell? The polo shirt is negative one. I have to admit, we will come onto that later. Whenever you see gang members, it's like they've all got tank tops and things.
00:21:05
Speaker
oh okay he's got a vest on he's a bad guy he's got um tattoos up his arm he's a bad guy and it's like all right okay um whereas everyone just seems relatively normal when you're kind of like but again like as you said it's the budget and don't get me wrong like i feel as if they do something and again i'll come to that later but they do something clever with like the clothing aspect
00:21:28
Speaker
later on in the film but yeah it's like kind of a small it's a small thing like I think the vehicles as well yeah as you were saying like I remember like I was rewatching it again recently and I noticed see when dread and these new rookie are leaving the tower
00:21:45
Speaker
or the judges' headquarters, they're walking out and they go on their judge bikes, which seem to be the most futuristic thing in this film. And behind them are just these kind of generic vans, like police vans, and you're like, oh man, oh no.
00:22:05
Speaker
Even even the bikes though, like if you look at the actual this is another thing of mine that since we're talking about negatives of the film I can quickly get these out of the way I'm not a huge fan of like what they did to somebody did to the judges uniforms and the vehicles now if you look at like the bikes and the in the comic stuff It's almost like these like it's almost like it's kind of Harley Davidson style choppers of these giant wheels which are actually impractical practice and I think they tried making one for the 1995 film and they found out that it couldn't work you couldn't turn it at all because the wheel was so big
00:22:35
Speaker
yeah but like i don't know like it just had that really cool aesthetic and i the armor in the comics is so like it's so ridiculous and it's like the giant eagle is like sitting off the judge's like right shoulder and everything and it looks impractical as all hell but it gives it a very marked aesthetic
00:22:51
Speaker
which really fits in and they've incorporated some of it into the judge's costumes like they've kept the helmet and I like the helmet oh yeah that's very true to it and the law giver as well like his weapon is is true to the comics as well but the uniform just I don't know it just looks it kind of looks like just generic combat you know like gear in a way that it doesn't have that same standout quality that the comics do and even the 1999 we can't believe I'm praising the 1995 film here so much but even it had like a distinct aesthetic
00:23:19
Speaker
Yeah. Which I don't know, just kind of fits in. It was a shame to, and it's not a deal breaker, I don't think it's a terrible thing, but it's just a shame that it's not, it doesn't, they didn't stick to that kind of aspect of the character. But yeah, it's just my personal opinion. I know what you mean, because when I was really watching it, it does give off, if you have no idea about Dredd,
00:23:38
Speaker
and you coming into this blind. Honestly, the first couple of minutes you might think he's just like a very angry biker. Yeah. Because he's like putting on his leather jacket, he's putting on the armor, you know, he literally rides a bike into the city and you kind of think, ah god, okay, right, okay, this is Sons of Anarchy 20, you know, 44 or something.
00:24:03
Speaker
Nah, it jokes aside, it's... yeah, I can totally see where you're coming from because it is in... like yeah, it did seem a lot flashier in the 95 version compared to this one but again, as she said, it's not a deal breaker and that's probably like... I mean, would you say that's your major gripe with the film?
00:24:22
Speaker
Yeah, I think that is my I have another gripe, but I'll talk about the end, but it's not it's not the film's fault. Yeah. You know, it's nothing to do with the films. In terms of actually the film, like my big gripes are the aesthetics of it, really, to be honest. I would agree. I think up until the gate to the pretty much until the gate to Peachtree's, which is like the flats that they have to climb up.
00:24:44
Speaker
and sorry just before we go on there's something that I really need to point out which again we kind of mentioned it or touched on it rather at the beginning but the fact that this film came out at the same time as the read do you think that was a good or a bad thing for Dred?
00:25:03
Speaker
I don't know in the moment if it was a bad thing because you might argue put more people maybe onto it. I'm not sure. I think maybe in comparison, I do think The Raid is a better film and it has more unique action. I mean, that's not to say that Dred's action is bad, but it's more similar to what you see in a lot of other action films. While The Raids is so unique and such a breath of fresh air that
00:25:27
Speaker
I think that makes it stand out from dread so I don't know like I don't think it like I don't think the raid is like the raid came out at the same time as a reason this film didn't financially do well oh yeah but I think maybe just in comparison it it's a shame you know I think I think maybe one of the shames is I think a lot of people accuse the writers of dread of ripping off the raids game it which which isn't actually true because this film was in development for a while you know this concept like you know that
00:25:50
Speaker
you know, they had this idea before the raid. It's just one of these things, it's just one of these coincidental things where people come up with a similar concept. And I mean, if you really think about it though, because as you said, a lot of people kept comparing these two films, which was the reason why I found out about the raid. I had no idea what the raid was until people kept saying, oh, the raid, it's just like that film, the raid. And I'm like, what's the raid?
00:26:12
Speaker
Explained! Tell me! And of course, that was one of the greatest action films that I've ever seen, which you're totally not biased there. And that jokes aside, yeah, it's, yeah, as you said, I don't think it was like the reason, like it kind of flopped. Or I wouldn't say flopped, but didn't do as well as they probably expected. But I mean, the only real similarities is both of them have a tower, or
00:26:36
Speaker
that like block of flats and they're both like producing you know drugs and everything and that's really where it ends isn't it because the action in dread compared to the raid it's not it's not similar at all is it no no not at all like
00:26:53
Speaker
You know, if the raid is like ballet, then the dread is like a fistfight in a bar, you know, in terms of it's a much heavier kind of like kind of hard hitting, not hard hitting, because the raid's hard, it's more kind of like, yeah, like a heavier kind of clunkier style.
00:27:09
Speaker
yeah like in your face kind of yeah it definitely is in your face with a lot of the violence like i mean the raid was as well but with some of the dread in fact you know what let's dive into the plot and kind of explain what we're talking about are we spo- are we doing spoilers but i've thought that before we start but we're doing spoilers
00:27:28
Speaker
Always like to make sure.
Key Plot Points and Themes in Dredd
00:27:30
Speaker
Yeah so this is your spoiler warning for this episode so if you don't want to hear about dread and it's wonderful spoilerliness if that's even the word and yeah yep this is your last chance. I have to admit I really like the beginning of this film in the sense of how it establishes dread as a character because as I said coming into this you have no idea what you're in for you know
00:27:52
Speaker
it's like oh there's a desert outside there's like a couple of states worth of like one city and you're like what what is going on here and then of course you've got Dred who is getting ready for like just a routine patrol isn't he yeah and he comes across these two or rather three
00:28:10
Speaker
guys in a van who are taking drugs and you know not nice people and they realise that they're getting chased and you can see initially like Dredd is definitely a character of like obviously the law is you know the most important thing to him but no matter what he like carries it out to the letter
00:28:30
Speaker
you know like if somebody you know runs over someone which is exactly what happens he's chasing after them and even though like they are trying to shoot at him he doesn't retaliate which i thought was quite interesting you know it's like he's avoiding and everything and he's not really retaliating but as soon as they hit a person like as i hit and run they just like bomb into this guy who's on his ear pods and he just goes right under the truck and then he phones it in saying oh no they've killed an innocent i'm taking them down which is something that
00:29:00
Speaker
kind of is brought up later in like a very very cool scene but we will get to that and you know like he goes and eventually like corners like they end up crashing in the corners like this one guy in this restaurant or rather it's more like a shopping mall isn't it yeah yeah it's a shopping mall cast oh yeah
00:29:20
Speaker
and he's taken this woman hostage and he literally has a gun up to this woman's head saying you know like oh i'm gonna shoot her if you don't you know if you don't back off to which he's completely unfazed by this which kind of gives you like a sense that he's obviously seen this before this isn't phasing them because even by his body language throughout the film have you noticed that
00:29:40
Speaker
He always stands upright and he doesn't flinch, really. He just stands as if this is just another day in the office and he just brings out his gun and he says to the guy, like, oh, I'm going to put you in jail if you comply. You're also not going to get parole.
00:29:57
Speaker
And the guy's laughing at that and saying, you know, that's terrible, you know, negotiations. And then of course he shoots him with a flare because he won't cooperate. And that just shows you how brutal Reida, even with a hostage, he just executes this guy on the spot. And that kind of gives you an idea of the lawlessness, really.
00:30:17
Speaker
And it defines the two big characteristics of the dread character, which are that he's a ruthless individual, who doesn't show compassion for the most part, but also who one who has a strong moral code and who will not break that. As you said, like he says, your choice here is life in what they call the ISO cues, which is like a future prison or death.
00:30:42
Speaker
You know, that's your two choices here. So it's a very effective way of defining, just as you said, the key, like, not only in the city as well, but the key characteristics of our main protagonist. It's just so good, like, as like a character introduction for, especially for Dried, it's like quite a short sequence, but it's like action-packed and
00:31:02
Speaker
i think it's this scene that we get like a first kind of gimmicky like slo-mo shot so throughout the film there is this new drug this kind of introduces like what will be like an ongoing conflict in the film where there's this new drug that's hit mega city one called slo-mo which despite the name
00:31:22
Speaker
because the name is a bit like, then again, it's supposed to supposed to be, it's a bit kind of silly but yeah the aim of it or rather the effect of it is when you inhale it so it's like a it's like an asthma inhaler, isn't it? It jumped up asthma inhaler!
00:31:39
Speaker
Oh yeah. It's like when you inhale it, everything around you slows down. Like time just comes to a halt. Everything becomes, you know, a lot more saturated and brighter. You know, like, a literal high from this and eventually, like, they say how this new drug is kind of
00:31:58
Speaker
sweeping through the city and they need to kind of stop it and this also becomes the kind of driving force of the effects in the film because whenever someone uses slow-mo we either get like a first person perspective from the person using it or you're gonna get like a slow motion shot like when they kick down doors and they do like the call of duty like slow-mo shooting and things like that and you're like
00:32:23
Speaker
Oh goodness, this is gonna be, which is, as I said, I remember it like years ago being great in 3D, but in 2D it's still, it's still impressive, but this is, yeah, like in 2D it's like, I wouldn't say it's bad, but it's one of those things where you look at it and you know that it was supposed to be more of an effect than it was supposed to be like a critical scene for the film. It's quite gimmicky. Yeah, it's gimmicky. You summed it up. It's gimmicky.
00:32:52
Speaker
And of course, that introduces us to basically the main antagonist of the film, who, yes, not a nice lady, but sorry, before we go on to that, we're also introduced to another character called Anderson. It is Anderson, isn't it? Yeah, Judge Anderson. Yeah, Judge Anderson, who is a mutant and, you know, despite the name, she's just like a regular woman who has like these psychic abilities, which normally is considered like
00:33:20
Speaker
Usually mutants in this universe are considered to be like weird, horrible creatures that live beyond the walls but she is just like this average woman who joins the judges and she's not very good at her jobish.
00:33:34
Speaker
they establish early on. She's good at her psychic powers, but they say things like, she's failed the test. She's basically, I think, the eyes of the audience, isn't she? Well, that's it. In many ways, although this film is called Dread, and Dread is the main character, the real
00:33:51
Speaker
emotional development in this film goes to Anderson. And as you say, it is kind of like the way that we view the world, this world through her eyes, and in the way that she most closely resembles probably what most of our reactions would be like for this situation.
00:34:07
Speaker
And she is, she's just like, very inquisitive, I suppose. Very like, what are we gonna do? Where are we gonna go? And of course Dred's boss says, oh by the way, on your next shift, take Anderson. And he's like, okay. Oh well, he doesn't say okay, but he's very like,
00:34:23
Speaker
He's quite apprehensive, I would say. Well, you get more of that kind of uncompromised, his uncompromising attitude, because she says, oh, well, she only failed the test by like three percent. You know, it's nearly a pass and he's like, that's a fail. Like, you know, he's like, it's a fail. You know, he's just on guard, but it's like clearly he's like, well, she's not cut out to be a judge. And obviously the only reason they keep persisting with her is because she's so she's such a powerful psychic. Yeah.
00:34:47
Speaker
And that's the only reason they're kind of bending the rules for her here. And that's just not in Dred's moral code. The law is the law. There's no bending the rules. There's no going outside of them. They're there and you have to work within their framework.
00:35:03
Speaker
He's a very black and white character. He's perspective on the world, which you can understand why, considering the beginning of the film where it shows you the city of lawlessness and literally a group of bikers with helmets are the only thing keeping the public safe. I'm going to have a lot of angry dread fans messaging me now saying, how do you call them a biker on a helmet?
00:35:28
Speaker
Ben, there are jokes aside. It's interesting to see, like, it's basically the old couple, isn't it? It's like old age. Oh, he's a stuck-up George and she's a naive rookie. And were they gonna get along? It's a naive mutant, now what are they gonna do? I'm just thinking of, like, the sitcom spin-off.
00:35:48
Speaker
It's like, oh, how's it gonna go? Yeah, if any dread writers are out there listening to this, please write a sitcom for this. Nah, I'm only kidding. Yeah, eventually that leads on to, yeah, the villain of the piece who is, how do I even begin with this?
00:36:02
Speaker
Basically a woman called Mama who used to be at the bottom of the rung in her criminal world and through violence she rose up the ranks and basically brutalised everybody in her way. Pretty much. And she is just a horrible, horrible person in this.
00:36:23
Speaker
She's actually played by the same actress who plays Cersei Lannister in Game of Thrones. Her first introduction is quite similar. I can kind of understand
00:36:42
Speaker
This is when I bring up the raid again where people are saying, oh, how is it similar? Because there's literally a scene where the first time we see the villain is when they've got three enemy guys tied up ready to get tortured and killed. And I kind of thought, looking back, I was like,
00:37:02
Speaker
yeah okay this is kind of similar but obviously it's just a coincidence it's like it's not you can't even you know trademark you know that kind of scene but it's just an effective way to establish that your main villain is a very nasty person oh absolutely i mean she basically gives the go-ahead for them to not only skin these like guys alive so they're basically like rival gangsters like selling on their turf and they've been called they've been tied up and
00:37:27
Speaker
The guy says, why don't we skin them alive, pump them full of slo-mo, this drug, and then throw their bodies off the balcony so that they fall and hit the plaza underneath without caring about the people below, which ironically enough is their downfall.
00:37:43
Speaker
kind of like it is what attracts attention to them for the judges and this is why Anderson and Dred end up being in Peachtrees which is the big like apartment complex and they end up going in like just investigate the homicides
00:37:58
Speaker
and they end up instead capturing one of, let's face it, one of the main gangsters in the film who clearly has like a lot of knowledge that fortunately because Anderson is like she reads his mind and said oh it's this guy he's the one who threw him you know this person off the balcony but because he she's only 99% sure which again that loops back to what you were saying about Dredd being like you know this black and white objective
00:38:28
Speaker
character where he's like oh we can't execute him on 99% you know it's like he has to know that this 100% is the guy that killed you know those three people in the atrium and they give you like really gruesome close-ups of the bodies like splatting when they get thrown over that and it's like one of them
00:38:48
Speaker
It's one of those weird POV shots when these guys are killed like it shows you from their perspective of them getting pumped with the slow-mo and then shoved off and then you see them slowly falling which you think okay another kind of gimmicky scene but yeah then they have a kind of close-up of the bodies and you're like oh that is that's nasty
00:39:11
Speaker
And yeah, that eventually kind of leads into the, really the main conflict, where Mama realizes that if the judges escape with this guy, then her whole operation's gonna come crashing down, so she locks them in. Unfortunately, like...
00:39:29
Speaker
ends up there's kind of a side bit where they come into the building and they notice like there's a homeless man sitting outside and they're like saying don't you you know don't be sitting there when we get back because obviously the guy's not meant to be loitered in there but that kind of shows a bit of leniency with dread doesn't it well but that that's the i mean one of the things that they establish other than the film is that like there's there's 17 000 serious crimes happening what every minute yeah
00:39:57
Speaker
And the judges can respond to 6% of them. And so it's literally like, Judge Jed says like, how do we, how do you choose 6%? And he says, well, you tell me, you know, this is your assessment, you choose the case, which is why they end up going there. And then as he says, they pass the homeless guy, vagrancy is a crime. And but this, you know, and say, you know, but we're, we should prioritize, I mean, to prioritize the murder. And so it says, don't be back, don't be here when we come back. And he still is. And they're about to lock him up. And then yeah,
00:40:24
Speaker
yeah he gets crushed by the big door. I was like oh no and yeah that of course leads to the main conflict of the film where they basically have to fight for their lives in this tower and like scale it and everything and you know mama
00:40:39
Speaker
gives basically the speech of everybody stay out our way, we're going to kill these judges off. If you get in our way, we're just going to kill you as well. In which everyone collectively shits themselves and runs for cover. Rightfully so. And that eventually leads to some really interesting scenes. So this is where I bring up the polo shirt again.
00:41:02
Speaker
which I know you might be thinking, what the hell, you know, what the hell does a polo shirt have to do with red? There's one scene where basically they're fighting through the corridors and they take out like a good couple of them and they go into this like or they hide them behind a door and these like there's about 10 guys behind the door only two of them and they've still got this like
00:41:22
Speaker
not hostage but you know prisoner with them and they basically they give them you know a chance to drop the weapons and flee and they say right we're gonna let you go or not let you go but you know if you surrender then we'll arrest you and you know everything will be fine to which they are very cocky and the majority of them like just look like typical gangsters don't they?
00:41:42
Speaker
yeah like the kind of vests and the like tattoos and the cuts all over the faces except one guy which i have to admit i don't really notice until i rewash the film there's one guy in a polo shirt and you're like he just looks like a regular guy
00:41:58
Speaker
and you know they breach the door and there's a slow-mo scene where you know they shoot them all and everything and eventually Anderson comes face to face with the guy in the polo shirt who is still alive he's been shot and he's like dying and he's like you know begging for his life to which Tread simply just says like really coldly you know what are you waiting for who tried to kill us therefore
00:42:21
Speaker
It's, wait, that's illegal. So Anderson says, you know, yeah, sure, okay. And like, kind of hesitantly but just shoots him. Yeah. Like the kind of vests and the like tattoos and the cuts all over the faces. Except one guy, which I have to admit, I don't really notice until I rewash the film. There's one guy in a polo shirt and you're like, he just looks like a regular guy. And
00:42:46
Speaker
You know, they breach the door and there's a slow-mo scene where, you know, they shoot them all and everything and eventually Anderson comes face to face with the guy in the polo shirt who is still alive, he's been shot and he's like dying and he's like, you know, begging for his life to which Dred simply just says, like, really cold, like, you know, what are you waiting for? He tried to kill us, therefore...
00:43:07
Speaker
It's, wait, that's illegal. So Anderson says, you know, yeah, sure, okay. Kinda hesitantly, but just shoots him. To which he finds out later that he was actually a family man who, I mean, obviously doesn't say like outright, I don't think, correct me if I'm wrong, but
00:43:23
Speaker
you know, it's kind of that idea of maybe he was pressured into it because you could see, because they go into this room and they basically, they manage to break their way or trick their way, let's just say, into this room. Anderson finds out, like she looks at one of the photos and just by coincidence she sees that the guy that she killed earlier was the owner of this flat's husband and it is very much a kind of humanizing moment
00:43:50
Speaker
I guess, but it seems to be the only moment we get like that. I mean, I guess it's to show Anderson's kind of conflicted. You know, like, Dred immediately is just like, yeah, shoot him, but Anderson's kind of more hesitant to carry out those orders, unless absolutely, you know, she knows for a fact that this is what she should be doing to defend herself. Yeah. Well, you get one moment near the end of the film as well, but as you say, this is a very humanising moment and
00:44:18
Speaker
We see a lot more of Anderson's character and like the way that she isn't, you know, she isn't really suited for this life of being a judge, which really does seem to require the kind of ruthless like callousness of dread of someone like dread. Yeah. And as well, like one of the big things about Mega City 1, this world is that unemployment is absolutely rampant because like robots have basically been developed to take over.
00:44:42
Speaker
the majority of jobs. So most people in this in the city are unemployed. So like you can kind of see in a way like unemployment is often a reason for why people fall into a gang lifestyle, you know, lack of opportunity. And there is that element, you know, again, it's a very, we don't get much development from this character, but you can, you know, you can see that as being a way that, you know, if you don't have much going on, you know, in this, in this pretty squalid environment, everything where
00:45:05
Speaker
run by a gang you know how easy it is to fall into that lifestyle so it kind of gives you a little bit more about the world and shows you the kind of like bleak you know the bleak nature of it for a lot of for most ordinary citizens i have to admit one of the things i did think was really good about like this whole part of the film really was the fact that they showed you other people that lived in the flats it could have been so easy to do something very similar and again i'm not saying that they copied one another but it could have been so easy to do something similar to the raid where
00:45:32
Speaker
other than obviously one particular character they just kind of hid everybody else away you know like all the non-combatants and everything and the non-gang members and things but for Red they show you the people who live in this place like you're going out about the business pushing prams and they've got kits and everything you know like playing video games and
00:45:53
Speaker
you've got kids outside for some reason that are skateboarding which i thought okay fair enough that's pretty cool but if you fell off then you're never getting back up yeah like i'm really tall building which i suppose that's to establish a later scene but in fact will we talk about the scene the minigun scene
00:46:10
Speaker
Yeah, I suppose it's kind of, I mean, yeah, it is actually the next scene. I've got it up on Netflix here, so I'm just scrolling through to look at what scenes come next. And it is not very long after, so we might as well. Basically, they try to get into this medical center, because each tower block has a medical facility with a medic on standby who greeted the judges and told them about, say, the cause of death, more about the bodies that have found the beginning, because the cause of death is pretty self-explanatory.
High-Stakes Conflict in Dredd
00:46:36
Speaker
Yeah, so the judges try and get their prisoner into there so they can kind of lock down and defend. But he won't let them in. Because the mama has said anybody harboring the judges, not only will they get killed, but their family, the next generation will be killed. So he makes a choice. And he's like, no, I'm staying neutral in this. And pointerly puts out, no, you're not staying neutral. You're choosing a side here. You're choosing their side. So they have to go off, and they decide to try and find somewhere else. And as you say, they go up a couple floors and come in for a rude shock.
00:47:06
Speaker
and this kind of loops back to what I was saying at the very beginning of this film where like at the beginning when he's chasing down those criminals he does everything to kind of defend himself but he doesn't really shoot like randomly or not randomly but he doesn't shoot unless he absolutely has to or you know unless it's like justified in terms of the law and everything like that but
00:47:30
Speaker
In this case, you see him getting very arced because I think it's the first time you see Dred actually visibly shaken. Maybe not like a traditional action hero, because usually this would be the bit where they've got their heads in their hands or something, but eventually he, or sorry, him and Anderson see that Mama has said, like initially she says, oh I just wanted this to be a clean kill, but because the judge is rightfully so,
00:47:57
Speaker
aren't cooperating. They're like, right, okay, we better get out of here. Actually, we better just take them down ourselves. So just like one other thing before I go on. The reason, you might be wondering, well, why can't they, you know, call for backup? Or, you know, why can't they, you know, unlock the doors or whatever? The reason being is because they, well,
00:48:17
Speaker
the mama clan as they're known has also taken over like the control system and they've sent in like a fake they say it's like a fake war drill or something like that don't they so it's like it's completely locked in the building so there's absolutely no way in or out and that's blocking communications as well so it means that they just cannot get help so they're they're honestly like rats in a maze where they're just completely isolated cut off and as soon as she brings out like this huge like gattling gun
00:48:47
Speaker
And she starts ripping through, like, she doesn't care. That's the thing. She's not really aiming. Well, she is aiming for the judges, but she doesn't care who she's also hitting. And she tears up, like, a lot of poor people who are, you know, in the flats across from this gun. And, yeah, there's just loads of bodies strewn everywhere. And you can see Dred get visibly angry at this, to which there is one cool scene where, you know, they think, oh, did we get him?
00:49:15
Speaker
you see two minutes later out of the smoke this guy getting thrown like over the edge and then Dred just like walks back into the smog and you're like okay that's cool that's cool but at the same time that gives them the chance to get outside to that skateboarding area we touched on earlier and they managed to call for help which will be important later but then they think right we're gonna have to go back in to try and stop mama where basically things go wrong
00:49:43
Speaker
A couple of kids tried to stop them and because of that distraction, the gangster manages to get Anderson into a lift and he manages to kidnap her and take her up to the very top level. Quite possibly, it leads to one of the coolest scenes in the film. The last scene, I said it was the coolest scene, but the last scene is probably the second coolest compared to this one.
00:50:12
Speaker
where Dred makes his big speech. In fact is that before or after him? Oh no sorry that is before he burns the guys but he makes a big speech saying you know kind of parallels what Mama was saying at the very beginning saying you know I'm in control and everything and he like takes over the intercom and he says you know oh you think Mama's the law here she's not the law and then he does the iconic I am the law and you're like
00:50:42
Speaker
And then he ends up using his, honestly, you called it, is it the Lawmaker? Lawgiver. Which is the gun he carries around and it has all this different ammo, you know, incendiaries and things like that. It's like the Swiss army gun, isn't it?
00:51:00
Speaker
It was army knife with low enforcement. Yeah, exactly. Because the amount of bullets in this thing are crazy, because it doesn't run out until the very end. And you're like, oh my god, what?
00:51:12
Speaker
But yeah, he ends up, of course, fighting his way up to the top. And it is, it just, it kind of, I wouldn't say it escalates. I feel as if that's where it almost peaks. Because, yeah, both sides take terrible casualties. And now you've got the stakes right at the top, where you've got Anderson kidnapped, and you've got Dreds going to basically dole out justice, which, yeah, it puts you in the edge of your seat, though, doesn't it?
00:51:39
Speaker
Yeah, it sets up for an exciting climax with these two things. As I was saying before, that kind of loops back to when they managed to get outside, they of course ring for help and they say, you know, oh, there's two judges like the knock on the door and they're like, yeah, you know, the judges are here to help. But then all of a sudden, and this should be like a giveaway because
00:52:00
Speaker
you said it earlier the fact that the judges can only respond to six percent of all these serious crimes going on and all of a sudden like these two judges are trying to get in and you know the doorman's just basically saying oh i can't let you in because
00:52:15
Speaker
all the systems broken, quote-unquote, yeah it's like it's not really but and then two seconds later four judges roll up and they say we'll take it from here and it's like oh okay something's up here because it's like initially it was only two judges coming to back them up and now it's like four coming in to which you think how did they get so many judges to which then you realise yep
00:52:37
Speaker
Surprise! They're corrupt! And they pretty much want money to take down trades, which I have to admit, a million credits is not enough. Four ways. I originally thought it was like a million credits each, but it split four ways, so you're like, you're selling yourselves a bit shorter here. Yeah, imagine going through the academy and then selling yourself out for...
00:53:02
Speaker
Like a four-way, like a split of one million credits. It's like, it's not the best. And in this city, inflation must be rampant. Oh, absolutely. 250,000 credits probably can buy you like, oh no, three packs of crisps and a beer. A copy of Heavy Rain. A copy of Heavy Rain, there you go. Well worth it then at that time.
00:53:21
Speaker
Yeah, that is true. I'd break the law for that. Yeah, if you want to be depressed, just pick up a copy of that. I'd buy that for a million credits. Oh, good. Next week we'll be going on to Robocop. But yeah, of course, that leads to the climax where
00:53:38
Speaker
Dredd eventually finds the lab, doesn't he? The slow-mo lab. And he has to fight against the other judges, which initially thinks, oh, they're on my side. But then that, of course, leads to brutal altercation where he slices, not slices sorry, but he chops a guy's throat in.
00:53:55
Speaker
And it's like, it's almost great. The judge is like, yeah, so he meets one of the judges and like, the judge is like, oh, I'm your backup and everything. You know, the other ones are coming. And then after a little bit of questioning, Dred realizes that, you know, something's not right. And so they start grappling and the other judge starts choking Dred, and then he's like, choke on this Dred. And he's like, as you say, karate chops him, like the throat so much. You just see the guy's throat, like cave in and stuff.
00:54:24
Speaker
It's just like, oh you should have chosen your words better buddy. It's surprisingly enough like, I mean I said this at the very beginning that you know it's a lot more gritty and serious than like say the 95 one, but there are a lot of clips aren't there? Yeah there are quite a few. Like not like overly so, like it's not like Rob Schneider kind of labels off.
00:54:44
Speaker
Yeah, let's throw in the reference every so often, but there's a surprising amount of them where you're just like, huh, interesting. Interesting choice. But it works, though. It's not like it's out of place. I said, well, maybe the choking your words one, or choking this is a bit like, oh. Maybe. That one might get up to the line. I still love it, but I agree. That one might come as close to maybe the line as, OK, no more of this now. So, yeah, flushing back to Anderson.
00:55:13
Speaker
from going back to like what she's been up to during all of this they eventually go to basically execute her with her own weapon and I have to admit like I didn't know this only because of the 95 film but fun fact if you are trying to use a law giver and you aren't a judge then it can blow your hand off or just blow up in your hands can't it?
00:55:33
Speaker
Yeah, it's all like ID chipped and everything in it as your fingerprints. It's about like a cooler version of that scene in Skyfall where he just tries to show up and it's like, his palm imprinted or whatever rubbish they say. It'd be good. Oh, Skyfall, that would have been amazing. Yeah, it just goes boom. You're like, no, James, no. Perfect. Anyway.
00:55:53
Speaker
Yeah, she ends up, like, battering the hell out of her. There is one scene we didn't touch on. I don't even know if it was worth touching on, but it's the fact that she can also invade people's minds. Yeah, there's psychic abilities and everything. Yeah, I'm just, like, flashing back to when he has to, or sorry, she has to, like, invade his mind and having, like, a back and forth, which is interesting in a way, but just, I don't know, some of it's just a bit
00:56:20
Speaker
For a film called Red that's an 18 and involves throat chopping. It's weird how I'm saying, okay that's the line we're drawing here. Although I think I see all the time really that. Oh no, well no. Technically throughout the film she's reading Minds but she never really invades anybody's mind. That's the only mind invasion scene we get. Which probably for the best.
00:56:45
Speaker
Yeah, no, no, I was probably gonna agree with you. I mean, like that is Anderson. Anderson's a character from the comic as well who is a psychic judge and that is her deal. If I don't know enough about her in the comics to say whether she does that sort of mind invasion thing, but like, yeah, I guess it's just a way of like, you know, doing a mind invasion scene on a limited budget. You kind of have to try her out.
00:57:09
Speaker
although it does work out for her later on when she comes across the other corrupt judge and she's like, I'm your backup and it's like, of all the judges you could lie to. That's like, this was literally the only one that you probably shouldn't lie to. And she just gets shot right out.
00:57:25
Speaker
that judge turned around to my man goes like, oh I'm gonna, yeah don't worry I'll pretend you know and she has this whole elaborate plan that she's gonna lie to Anderson's face and like two seconds after meeting her she just gets shot and you're like oh my god.
00:57:41
Speaker
Yeah, Anderson goes away to find Dred, and Dred's like, meanwhile, it's like, meanwhile, in the coke lab, Dred ends up, yeah, getting shot, which is quite a cool scene, I have to say, or quite an interesting one, where, although it is very action sceney, I will say, when it's like, he's lying on the floor, and he's like, shot, and you know, he says, wait, as his last words,
00:58:03
Speaker
and the guy or the judge over him kind of gloats and goes oh wait what do you mean wait you know like surprised that this is Judge Dred's last words and you know like monologues and that's of course the reason why he gets shot in the face to which Dred replies yeah it's like yeah I was waiting for her to shoot you and yeah it was interesting
00:58:24
Speaker
I was like, you kind of, like, you kind of expected it, but you were like, OK, that was quite cool. Like, real was cool. It kind of fits in with the character of doing that kind of like, you know, just the kind of like, it's not like an elaborate ruse at all. It's just like, just wait. It's just like one word. You know, tones, tone is still like, you know, monosyllabic, like, you know, there's no like varying words, you know, wait.
00:58:49
Speaker
and then you know just like the kind of dry like darks humour of the moment. It is fitting. I think one of the amazing things is like directly after that scene he just like patches himself up and was like okay let's go let's go finish this and you're like what the hell you've been shot through the long and it's like yeah I'll be fine I'll just you know put a plaster over it. Yeah just yeah I'll fill it up with some you know I don't know silly foam.
00:59:14
Speaker
and it's like yeah okay yeah and then yeah they end up doing the confrontation with mama and i've gotta ask you do you think the judgment that he gives is justified like obviously from what she does yeah she deserves to be punished but considering what he does yeah he didn't skin her yeah that's true
00:59:38
Speaker
So to explain, he goes into the building, or sorry the building, he goes into the room where mama's hiding and he basically confronts her and she says that you know it's kind of the bone to villain thing where it's like if I get shot or if I die then you know the whole building's going to explode to which Dred just like shoots her in the leg or something grabs her and it's just like yeah we'll see about that and it's like Jesus Christ he is like at the end of his tether.
01:00:05
Speaker
And what he does is he puts Slo-Mo into her and then, like, as a kind of... I don't want to say poetic justice, but you know, it's like karma, I guess? Like shoves her out the window and then she falls and she dies exactly the... well, a similar way to how the guys at the beginning of the film died. Yeah, the building doesn't blow up, fortunately.
01:00:26
Speaker
it's like yeah thank god for that otherwise this would have been a really depressing film just like well he reasoned he reasoned that he's like right this building is a kilometer tall yeah like the explosives are on the top floor apparently so he says right i'm gonna bet that this signal can't travel you know through 200 level of concrete you know yeah well that's probably a fair bet and you know what punishment fits the crime so i'm all in favor i would have i would have put my thumb down if i was a roman emperor or thumb up whatever way it is for execution yeah thumb down for the execution
01:00:56
Speaker
Yeah, I've seen Gladiator. I know the rules. And then that's essentially where the film just about ends. Yeah, where Anderson and Ed Rides, like, basically they meet up again and, or not meet up, but they meet up at the bottom of the, you know, the tower and he's like, oh, your evaluation's over. And she's pretty much resonated herself to the fact that she's thinking, okay, I've probably failed.
01:01:25
Speaker
She also let the criminal go as well. That's one thing before the final confrontation. They run into the tech. There's like a techie guy in the building who's like been doing lock in the building down and stuff. And, you know, like they find him hiding. And obviously, like, you know, in strictest terms, he has been a betting mama. So like that makes him an accessory, you know, to I don't know what punishment he would be, but at least very least he'd be getting, you know, a heavy jail sentence. But Anderson kind of goes into his mind and sees that he's been like
01:01:54
Speaker
I think, I think from what's implied is that he's been like mutilated on purpose. So cause he's kind of got like him like kind of implants in him and stuff. And like his eyes kind of that kind of deus ex sort of robotic eyes sort of thing. It looks like that, that wasn't a willing, that wasn't a willing procedure on his part that mama forced him to that. So she sees him as a victim and lets him go. And you know, as, as Jojo said, that's a fate. That's not only a fail, but that's also a crime. You know, jail time for, for letting it, eating a felon.
01:02:22
Speaker
And she's just like, well, I failed anyway. Just like continue. But that actually is quite interesting.
Character Development in Dredd
01:02:29
Speaker
So going back to what we're saying about character development, because both of these characters surprisingly do grow throughout the film. Like you would think for a film like Dread, it would just be kind of cookie cutter like Sylvester Stallone, for example.
01:02:43
Speaker
you know just like he's the same character from start to finish whereas in this it's like Dred, don't get me wrong Dred is still like a very objective like he's got an objective viewpoint where he's like you know the law is black and white but even despite Anderson doing like things to completely fail the exam like she lost her weapon she you know let a perp go as they say you know she did a lot of things that you know should have failed her
01:03:10
Speaker
but Dredd passes her because he's like oh she's done a great job of you know keep an order and all of that and it's interesting it's nice to see that it's not just like a two-dimensional you know it's like so how did she do she failed and it's just like Dredd
01:03:26
Speaker
in the credits role. But no, he develops really well. But so does Anderson, because Anderson, as I said before, she's a very naive, I want to help the world kind of character. And by the end, I wouldn't say she's jaded, but she's quite hardened. That's probably the better word. You can see her walking away, dejected.
01:03:51
Speaker
But can I just point out, one of the scenes that really sums up just the entire world of this film is when, yeah, Dred is confronted by one of his superiors and she says, oh, what's going on here? And he just simply replies, a drug bust. It's like...
01:04:09
Speaker
It's like, that's it. It's just like, oh, it was just a drug bust, you know, as if nothing more, nothing less. Because it's revealed in the film that this is like the central hub for this new drug coming through, you know, the city. And, you know, basically a lot of people have been slaughtered and killed, but for dread.
01:04:27
Speaker
this is just another day for him. You know, he sees this kind of thing on a daily basis and it's like, that's grim. And it does, it gives you like a scale of, you know, the crimes that are going on and you know, just this world really.
Potential for Dredd Sequel
01:04:41
Speaker
I will admit, the crime, I think the worst crime of this film is just the fact that they never built on it.
01:04:47
Speaker
There was no sequel, there was always rumours of a sequel, but they never built on it. And I feel as if this would have been perfect. Because during this time, I'm going to be honest, during this time, there were a lot of other films that came out with reboots. You had Total Recall, you had Robocop as well. Like two other films that were based on 80s
01:05:09
Speaker
film. I know Dred was in the 90s but besides it was like an 80s property. Like two films that were rebooted and I'm gonna be honest, I don't know how you feel about them but I just did not enjoy the remakes of those films. I have seen neither of the remakes of either of those films and I shall not because because Total Recall, 90's Total Recall, Valorant Schwarzenegger is incredible and Robocop is amazing as well and you know what. I was like I refuse to I refuse to watch these
01:05:37
Speaker
They're just, like, films. That's not gonna sound weird being like, oh, they're just films, but I literally mean that in the most basic sense, that they're just average films. It's like, alright, okay, there's a conflict, there's an ending, okay, credits, okay, fine.
01:05:53
Speaker
turned off like they are just so mediocre it's unbelievable but at least with Dredd they had so much scope they had so much scope to kind of build upon and I think this is something you mentioned before we came on as well that yeah it's just they had the room that they could have like built upon this film yeah like if this if they had got if this has been a success so it seems like either it lost a bit of money like in cinemas or it broke even it kind of because we don't know exact budget
01:06:22
Speaker
So it's difficult to tell and but like if it had been a success and they've been able to do more They would have got an extended budget and that would have really I think solved a lot of the problems It really could have made a bigger world legacy one and there's so much there's so many great dread storylines from the comics
01:06:39
Speaker
that incorporate lots of really interesting things, whether it be things like the dark judges or like judges, like a tyrannical chief judge who models himself as a Roman emperor at one point, takes over the city. There's, you could explore the cursed earth, like outside the cities. There's so many great ways they could have gone. And when they were, I did some background reading to the development of this film. And when they were developing it originally,
01:07:03
Speaker
they were looking at adapting some of these more well-known dread storylines but they realized like number one they weren't going to have the budget to do it and number two it's quite complicated like to jump into those storylines if you don't have a good knowledge of the character the world and the storyline itself you know that's why they decided to go for this style of it this is basically a day they describe it as a day in the life you know it's almost like a kind of like one of these like police camera action documentaries you know like documentary queue following
01:07:30
Speaker
judge Dredd on his average day and but it's such an effective way of establishing the character establishing the world and getting the audience introduced to these concepts which you can then build on you know so you don't have to spend a good portion of your next film being like oh let's just take 10 minutes out to explain what the judge's system is here's 10 minutes you're like oh this is Dredd's worldview and everything you know and another 10 for oh here's Anderson in her world view you know we've established all that we've done all the work now
01:07:55
Speaker
We don't have the character building and the world building. Now we can really get into the proper stories and everything. And that's what I think is the real shame about this film is that the problems that were there, I think, could have been solved with an expanded budget. Because this is clearly made by people who really loved the source material and who had a reverence for it and wanted to adapt it as faithfully as they could. I mean, they made some changes and everything. But it's very much in keeping with the character. And it's just a shame it never seemed to happen. There are rumors that there might be a TV series now is the thing that
01:08:25
Speaker
seems to be the bigger room where they might make this into a TV series. I've got my fingers crossed because I would love to see more of this version, although it seems like at this point now there wouldn't be many of the original people would be involved with it. So you don't know what you might be getting. You might be getting something very, very different at this point. So it's a real shame. It's a real shame there was no sequels.
01:08:44
Speaker
I don't know. I mean, Carl Urban's doing nothing but playing Star Trek online games. Who's in that voice as well, isn't he? I don't know. Sorry, that was just a reference to there's a mobile ad that keeps popping up in YouTube for me and it's like Carl Urban playing with the... I think it's the leader of Star Trek Discovery, the new series of Star Trek and they're playing this online, on this mobile game and it's like, oh for God's sake.
01:09:13
Speaker
He's just like, how do you like my shirt? And it's like, Karl, just put on the jacket, okay? Put on the helmet. Yeah, we need you back here to judge people. It's like, I'm back. I thought he did a great job though, I have to say. He's fantastic. Honestly, if there's one thing I can praise this film for, I don't think any of the actors were bad. No, no. I mean, I think some of the characters outside of
01:09:38
Speaker
Outside of Dred and Anderson, I think some of the other characters are one-dimensional. But again, it's like the Raid, and you don't need these people to be... The film... I don't think the film would have much been added to the film if we'd had a big backstory to Mal. In fact, there was some comics released that kind of gave an origin story to Mal and Mal, so if you want to look at that, that is available. But the film didn't need that. We kind of got what we needed to know about her and her character, and the same with the other ones. But yeah, Carl Ebert was fantastic at doing...
01:10:05
Speaker
at doing Dread. Dread in many ways does appear as a one-dimensional kind of character, but he was really able to do a lot without doing much, because that's kind of what Dread is. There's a lot behind him, but he doesn't show much of that thing. And the same for the actor who played Anderson.
01:10:23
Speaker
Trillby or Trillby, I can't remember her name, but yeah, like they were great. But I mean even if you look at, sorry just going back to what you were saying about Mama's character, like you kind of get like a quick back story about her, but even then like it's kind of weird because initially it does like portray her as kind of a tragic character in a way, like considering like everything she goes through, like I'm not gonna like go into detail about what
01:10:48
Speaker
you know, she's been through, where in the words of the film, she basically gets back at the guy, you know, that's basically pumping her out by feminising him as the words they use in the film. Use your imagination there, because I'm not going to explain it. And yeah, because of that, you know, this like horrible life, you know, that she's leading, she's just like turned to like such violent methods to stay on top. And obviously it's working. So why, you know, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Unless it's bones.
01:11:16
Speaker
in her case you know in which case yes just throw them all off the balcony but for her character there's actually quite an interesting scene there's a scene where it's quite a horrible one but it's you know when Anderson gets caught and you know the like guy is saying oh what we're gonna do with you and all of this you know like he's he's been very sleazy throughout the whole film saying oh you're so eff now you're so this
01:11:41
Speaker
and she basically calls him out on it like right off the bat and he does not like like he does not talk back it's like literally a mother or a mama coming down he's just like she's like the reason you know we're in this mess is because of you and just like slapping them you know and saying I would honestly kill you right now if I didn't lose so many guys and that's the thing though it's like she's not saying I would kill you you know if you didn't mean so much to me or things like that she doesn't care about him like
01:12:10
Speaker
her kind of reward as well, but the fact that she's dictating and saying don't touch her, just shove her in her room just now until we figure out what to do. Because they are going to kill her, obviously. I don't know, I just thought that was quite a nice touch. It gave her more
01:12:25
Speaker
Obviously, I'm not saying it's like, you know, Citizen Kane, and I know I use that expression a lot, the Citizen Kane of the Dread World, but at least it gives her kind of some development. Whereas I do agree, I think the other gangsters and things, they are just, even the dad who dies, OK? Like, even polo shirt man, even polo shirt dad, like... I still can't get over that.
01:12:52
Speaker
I rewatched that scene and I was like, is he the only one with a polo shirt on? And they get shot, they get shot. See, that's the thing. What's that college-y phrase where it's like, you know, if you're losing the battle, try to look the least important. It's like, yep, if you're losing the battle against the judges, don't wear a polo shirt.
01:13:12
Speaker
Give it to someone else. So yeah, like kind of just wrapping up, what are your kind of closing thoughts on this film? I really, I really like this film. Like I think it is like, I don't think it's a perfect film by any stretch. And I think there were, there were issues. There are issues with it. We've talked about the aesthetics. I think as well, one other thing is this film lacks that the Judge Dredd comics are known for having a very satirical edge. You know, that this is a world of like,
01:13:40
Speaker
of ultra-authoritarianism um with you know like as we talked about machines like taking usurping labor from you know from from people rampant consumerism you know a lot a lot of spherical edges that aren't really present in this film it doesn't really go into that kind of element now i think down the line they were planning to explore more of that because there is very much a thing with judge dread about is he a it's a bit like the punisher in many ways like is he a hero is he a villain because as much as he is like protecting law and order like he is a fascist
01:14:10
Speaker
in so many ways. The whole judging system is very very fast and that's if you look at the original outfits you know for the judges it was inspired by kind of like fascist spade and these kind of and the eagle you know the eagles are a symbol of nazi germany and other things like that you know so we don't really i think they were planning to try and explore kind of themes like that down the line as well you know for a film it's maybe not always the best to make your your hero a fascist but doesn't always people don't
01:14:35
Speaker
Producers don't want that and everything but the film does does miss that which is kind of a key part of the of the dreads Sort of comics and everything but again, that's something that could have been corrected in sequels. So the problems I think of this film don't detract from it Don't detract from it majorly but also could have well been remedied in the future. It's just for me It's just a real shame. It just was never carried on but I think it's still a good film It's a cult classic now and you know, I can see why because it's a great film. Oh
01:15:02
Speaker
like it's really good and it's a really good like adaptation of the character so yeah just real pity they didn't build on it I mean just kind of touching on when you were talking about like I suppose like the satire and things of it there is one scene at the beginning which I think see after that they drop it but there's one scene at the beginning where after Drede saves the
01:15:24
Speaker
women in the restaurant from, you know, the guy, there's like an intercom thing saying the mall will be open in 30 minutes. Apologies for the delay or whatever. And you just see like this kind of street sweeper coming out of nowhere and it's like, even though there's like a huge dead body lying there, you're like, oh god, you know, like it's sweeping away all the blood everywhere and it's like, I mean, we get that but
01:15:50
Speaker
I do agree, after that, it more focuses on the kind of intimate, you know, like, focusing more on the duo and their dynamic. Yeah. Against, you know, Mama who is, you know, trying to stop them. One other thing I will say as well, and again, I think this must just be like an easter egg for Dred fans.
01:16:09
Speaker
But I did like the fact that they showed you all the different gangs and peaches. Oh, that was cool actually. I thought that was cool. So you had like the judges who were like... I'm assuming there were people who spent years in ISO cubes because they had like tattoos like of judges helmets.
01:16:25
Speaker
on their friends. And I thought that was cool. And then you had like the other ones, I think that was called the something dragons or something? Piazza dragons or something like that. And yeah you just showed how mama's clan was just yeah just basically wrecked them. In the words of like a very dear friend of ours they did not indeed get good so they were rightfully ousted from their premises. Yeah it's a good film though like although we got the negatives you know that they were getting out of the way like with
01:16:53
Speaker
the kind of limited budget. It is still a film that is worth seeing and I do think there's a lot to admire in this film because it's like you don't really need like and again I think we kind of like touched on it in our like raid episode but you probably don't need it do you? Like you don't need like a huge budget for a film like this. I mean it would have helped don't get me wrong but at the end of the day what they released or rather what they ended up releasing was definitely a product that you could watch again
01:17:22
Speaker
Oh yeah, no doubt. It is watchable. As we said, and as you pointed out, once you're inside the building, the kind of lack of budget thing isn't really as much of an issue, maybe just in terms of the clothes and the weapons and things like that, but it's not really as much of an issue as it is at the beginning when you're...
01:17:39
Speaker
which must be looking at Mega City 1 in all its quote-unquote glory. So yeah, like, but again, we don't, it's not totally necessary, as you say, for a film like this, which is a sort of like, you know, a more kind of isolated claustrophobic experience rather than a sort of more wide ranging, you know, with a huge ensemble of characters and action in different locations and everything. Ah, but just reiterate. Yeah, go see it. I mean, it's available on Netflix. So if you haven't seen it and you're interested in it,
01:18:09
Speaker
Yeah, I would warn you again, Satsunami, family friendly warning here. Yeah, it is bloody.
Violence and Humor in Dredd
01:18:16
Speaker
It is. It's probably very violent. I would say it's nearly on the same level as the raid. I feel as if the raid is bloodier but...
01:18:24
Speaker
I would think this I think this is blood here to be honest I would say yeah true the raid the raid at least with the raid it happens very fast a lot of things yeah you know this like as we as you talked about with the slow-mo scenes like there is a lot of like excessive violence that is done in slow motion so you have plenty of time to yeah watch people's faces explode and you know yeah bodies like slam down into concrete and everything so yeah that becomes the warning but again that's
01:18:50
Speaker
You know, the Judge Red comics were very violent as well. It's one of the things they were known for as well. So it's in keeping in that way. But yeah, if you're not a fan of ultra-violence, then maybe this isn't the one for you. This is going to be the last time I compare the 95 film to, you know, the 2012 one. But in the 95 one, the action in that was very subdued. It was very much, I think it's a 12. I don't think it's a PG, but I think it might be a 12 or something.
01:19:15
Speaker
I mean 15 or 15 at worst but even then like it would be a very tame 15 by today's standards it's just kind of generic you know action someone getting shot off screen falling off of high build it that kind of like action whereas this one because it's an 18
01:19:32
Speaker
they can just go all out and they can get creative with it. They don't have to worry that... Don't get me wrong, that's another debate about whether it's worth it or not, but I suppose it shows you the brutality of the world that dreads living in. It's not just saying, oh, we can solve it by talking it out with some of these people, because some of them really don't want to talk it out.
01:19:54
Speaker
Yeah, some of them just want to put on a polo shirt and just, you know, shoot people. Like gang life. Gang life. Yeah, I'm watching you guys out there with polo shirts. I'm watching you. Stay away from me. So yeah, once again, Judge Sandwich. Thank you so much for joining me and judging this film. Indeed, back out to the patrol of mean streets now. Yes, the... I'm sure no condiments are causing trouble.
01:20:22
Speaker
Yeah, they mean wetter streets. It's brutal out there, man. It's a grinder. And no buns are safe. Fresh nice bread comes in one side and lice pastrami comes out the other. Yeah, I can't wait till we get a new person into either the Tipos and C.D.'s or Chat Tsunami and they're just going to be represented as a brioche bun.
01:20:49
Speaker
It's like, you don't know what you're getting yourself into. As they do more and more, do more and more Let's Plays and everything, they get more added to them to show they're becoming jaded and odd. They get a little bit of lettuce first, then the spray of mayo, and then after a while there's cheese and there's ham, they're just layered in tuna and everything layered into it.
Audience Engagement and Conclusion
01:21:11
Speaker
I love it. That's a great gimmick.
01:21:14
Speaker
I was like, when do I get my three latest patches? And I was like, you don't get them when you weren't!
01:21:22
Speaker
I've done that note. I've done that note. Yeah, thank you again, Adam, for joining in today's journey. No, no. Pleasure is all mine again. And if you want to see more of either chat tsunami or, you know, general sat tsunami-ness, you can, I can't believe I actually said that. Making a burp. Yeah. Sat tsunami-ness, please get it trending on Twitter. Please, please. I've got a family to feed. I don't actually, but let's pretend for just the camera.
01:21:50
Speaker
Yeah, so if you want to catch more of our content, you can see it on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook as well. Now we've got a Facebook group and of course Twitch, as you know, at Satsanami42. So if you want to find me, look that up.
01:22:06
Speaker
and yeah if you want more chat tsunami episodes you can catch us on anchor spotify youtube as well and all good podcast distributors just look up chat tsunami and you will find us there and if you want to join in on the live discussion you can everywhere and stay
01:22:22
Speaker
at 7.30pm BST. Please feel free to drop in because we honestly love reading your comments at the end. It's a lot of fun. It's a lot of fun seeing what you guys think as well of like what we are talking about and what your views are. Honestly, we love the participation. So yeah, if you guys even have any ideas for any future episodes or just general feedback, feel free to message us, let us know and yeah, I will pass it on to my sandwich accomplice.
01:22:48
Speaker
Do you know what I've just realised? People listening into this in the future, like an Anchor Spotify, Castbox and so on, they're going to be so confused when I'm referencing. It's a sandwich. They should have been there in the moment, man. They should have, yeah. 7.30pm BST. You've got to come in and see what sandwich I'm talking about. See me in my final form. Yeah.
01:23:13
Speaker
As always guys, thank you so so much for dropping into this episode. Stay safe, stay awesome, most importantly stay hydrated and even more importantly, stay out the ISO cubes. I'm watching you polo sharp people. We are the law. The law. Bye guys. Bye bye.