Judge Dredd TV Show

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Judge Dredd TV Show

Post by mrbadger » Tue, 6. Jun 17, 19:09

So finally this is a thing :)
The stain of that Stallone abomination can finally be washed away.

The 2012 version was Excellent, but sadly was a box office flop, in spite of being a great film. Karl Urban's Dredd was spot on. I think they went a bit too far from the comics look, but they got the atmosphere and characters right.

Stallones version did the opposite, and that was so wrong I lack the words to express how bad it was.

Rather than spouting details about the show, here's a link that has all the stuff.

Dare I hope Urban will be inviolved? He might be...

I'm going to break my rule and watch this one from season one, as soon as it's available to buy somewhere.
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Re: Judge Dredd TV Show

Post by ATTACK_HAMSTER » Tue, 6. Jun 17, 19:59

mrbadger wrote:The 2012 version was Excellent, but sadly was a box office flop, in spite of being a great film.
I watched that film recently and i honestly expected to hate it, but it turned out to be really good fun, i thoroughly enjoyed it.

I will definitely look out for this series, thanks for the heads up :)
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Post by mrbadger » Tue, 6. Jun 17, 22:32

I wasn't expecting to enjoy the film, so put it off for a while, and didn't watch it in the intended 3d, but I ended up really getting into it.
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Post by birdtable » Tue, 6. Jun 17, 22:36

Well after the 2 (sorry 3) above comments and having never watched the film plus the wonders of smart tv ... rented ... watched.
Shame it was not a Box Office hit far superior to the Stallone effort ...

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Post by mrbadger » Tue, 6. Jun 17, 23:27

I think the british comic genre is really a bit too potentially restricted in audience terms without a lot of advertising, and that was one thing Dredd didn't get.

So it really didn't matter how good it was, it was doomed. The audience already in place was keen, but too small.

A tv series on the other hand has time to build up an audience. There is still pressure, but it's not as expensive to advertise, and there's more opportunity to recoup the cost of creating the show.

Personally I'm excited. I would much have preferred if the Dredd movie had been a long pilot episode rather than just a movie. I certainly would have watched it sooner.

But the issue I had with that movie (the only one) was that they went with a bleak boxy 'future now' run down suburbia look, rather than the more rounded, almost cartoony and grubby look of the comics. Aside from that it was perfect. I'm not saying that look was bad, it just wasn't the Mega City One of the comics.

Stallones movie did have that look, and that movie sucked...

At least he never once took his helmet off......
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Re: Judge Dredd TV Show

Post by Jericho » Wed, 7. Jun 17, 00:12

mrbadger wrote:So finally this is a thing :)

The 2012 version was Excellent, but sadly was a box office flop, in spite of being a great film. Karl Urban's Dredd was spot on. I think they went a bit too far from the comics look, but they got the atmosphere and characters right.

Stallones version did the opposite, and that was so wrong I lack the words to express how bad it was..

Hmmmmm. The Stallone version got the city right. All the shots of the city were just like the comics. where as the 2012 version made the mistake of showing the city in the daylight and it was basically CGI city blocks and a motorway, and it just looked bad. The rest of the film was OK-ish. Urban was good, but did too much Dredd-lip sometimes, made him look a like a spitting image puppet.


I think a TV series is a much better idea than a film. It's almost as if a serialized storyline would be better represented as a serialized storyline! The average hollywood writer can only write The Hero's Journey anyway, that why we have so many reboots and origin stories. They just can't write the ongoing adventures of a superhero (Let's face it... Dredd is a superhero).

The TV show could be great, a crime to solve each week with an ongoing background story each season about:
1) Corruption
2) Cloned judges
3) Sleeper agents
4) Crimelords


I'd actually rather see "Mega City 1" rather than a Dredd TV show. No actor that they choose is going to be able to play "Dredd", and that helmet is going to come off.

As long as it isn't like the Robocop TV series with "Dr. Cray Z. Mallardo"
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Post by Morkonan » Wed, 7. Jun 17, 01:56

I kinda liked the Stallone "Dredd" effort... Sorry, but it's the truth. It wasn't a great movie, but it was entertaining and had a nice balance of "campiness" to it.

But, I also wasn't a huge Dredd fan, either, so I didn't have a lot of preconceptions. I did, however, expect Stallone to wear the classic Dredd helmet a bit more, but it's hard to get an actor to accept such restrictions, especially action stars and face men.

I haven't seen the newer version. Based on comments here, I will. I'll be interested in the TV series, but I'll be dissapointed if they don't have a grittier, more dystopian, setting than what's being reported.

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Post by mrbadger » Wed, 7. Jun 17, 07:28

Morkonan wrote:I kinda liked the Stallone "Dredd" effort... Sorry, but it's the truth. It wasn't a great movie, but it was entertaining and had a nice balance of "campiness" to it.

But, I also wasn't a huge Dredd fan, either, so I didn't have a lot of preconceptions. I did, however, expect Stallone to wear the classic Dredd helmet a bit more, but it's hard to get an actor to accept such restrictions, especially action stars and face men.

I haven't seen the newer version. Based on comments here, I will. I'll be interested in the TV series, but I'll be dissapointed if they don't have a grittier, more dystopian, setting than what's being reported.
Did you read the comics? Those were, visual asthetic aside, pretty dark. Mega City One was not a nice place, or a particulerly safe place. Mega-deaths were fairly common, with causes varied enough to make for some interesting storylines.

(I haven't read them, only bought the occaisional one, for a while, but I did each week for the first 12 years, and still have every comic, plus complilation books for some of my favorite stories)

The series would have to be based around Dredd. MC1 is too big, too diverse. Not having a single character to focus on, or a group like the judges wouldn't work. Or I don't see how it could.

What I'd like to know mostly is when in the timeline they're going to start, or are they going to make up new stories.

My wishlist:

Walter

Judge Death and company.

Call me Kenneth (Might be from too early in the comics to ressurect him in any story though)

The Angel Gang (they deserve better treatment then the Stallone film gave them).
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Post by birdtable » Wed, 7. Jun 17, 10:18

If there is a TV Series then who plays Dredd is going to be a difficult choice .. No one yet has represented the character well ... Stallone's version was " I am a star" so just played Stallone a bit like the Tom Cruise films while Karl Urban looked like a thin man in an oversized suit .... Peter Weller in the 87 version of Robocop was the right actor for his role and has pretty well stood the test of time....but I digress.

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Post by mrbadger » Wed, 7. Jun 17, 10:45

Dredd original drawn character was based on Clint Eastwood. But somehow I doubt he'd do it.....

Urban's suit wasn't quite right, it wasn't the correct style, more riot gear than cartoony 'Judge Gear'. That was a problem.

But he got the character right, there's no doubt he knows his Judge Dredd.

Stallones gear was right but the character was totally wrong. Well it was after the initial setup, not in the first few minutes. I doubt very much that Stallone had the feintest idea who Judge Dredd was before the movie.

I found the having the right gear but the wrong character far more difficult to cope with.

Urbans Dredd made me stop noticing the gear. Stallones kept forcing me to notice the lack of the helmet.
Last edited by mrbadger on Wed, 7. Jun 17, 10:53, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by birdtable » Wed, 7. Jun 17, 10:50

Clint Eastwood would have made a good Dredd ... his Inspector Harry Callahan portrayal with a Dredd helmet, yes I can see that working well....

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Post by mrbadger » Wed, 7. Jun 17, 10:54

birdtable wrote:Clint Eastwood would have made a good Dredd ... his Inspector Harry Callahan portrayal with a Dredd helmet, yes I can see that working well....
You are so very right......
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Post by Jericho » Thu, 8. Jun 17, 09:32

mrbadger wrote: My wishlist:

Walter

Judge Death and company.

Call me Kenneth (Might be from too early in the comics to ressurect him in any story though)

The Angel Gang (they deserve better treatment then the Stallone film gave them).
These are all the areas that I DON'T want to see!!!

A camp robot that is borderline in love with Dredd?
The Angel gang could be acceptable, as long as it is without Mean. I thought they had a good start in the first film, they could be fleshed out.

Judge Death is kind of like The Borg from Star Trek. Great the first couple of times, then it just gets samey.

"Oh My Grud!!! Here is this unstoppable supernatural force!!! How will we stop them from slaughtering the city? Oh, just like the first 47 times. Failing that we'll just encase them in 'Boing'"

That said, Necropolis would be a good storyline for a season or half a season, AFTER you've had a couple of seasons to get used to the characters and city.


I just think that exploring the underlying themes of the comic, rather than existing characters, would be a better way to go. Especially with today's Western civilization. We are having an election today in the UK, and May has said that she wants to extend the anti-terror laws, and hold suspects for questioning for much longer, and more armed police, etc etc etc. It is all for our own good of course. We are moving toward an armed police state, for our own protection, so that the 'terrorists don't win.'

Isn't that what Dredd is all about? The police/law have become so rigid that they need to protect the people from themselves at all times, so you can be arrested for having an unlicensed goldfish, or possessing sugar. 97% unemployment rate, block wars (i.e. football hooligans taken to the next level), eating recycled people is seen as normal (how about uncovering that and Dredd having to keep it quiet for the greater good?)

One of the better things about the Stallone original was Armand Assante, I really liked his scenery chewing. He justified his killing sprees with:
The innocent exist only until they inevitably become perpetrators... like you. Guilt and innocence... is a matter of timing."
I rather liked that bit. I can imagine that is what a lot of people in power truly believe about us proles.



Star Trek Deep Space Nine had the amazing episode: "In the pale moonlight."

It is all told in flashback. The war is going badly, so Sisko decides to bring the Romulins into the war, on the Federation's side. Alas there is no evidence, so Garak convinces him to manufacture some:
My father used to say that the Road to hell is paved with good intentions. I laid the first stone right there. I'd committed myself. I'd pay any price, go to any lengths, because my cause was righteous... My... intentions were good. In the beginning, that seemed like enough.
So he gets the Romulin ambassador murdered, and tricks the Romulins into the war (Thus condemning millions of their people to death at the hands of The Dominion.)
But most damning of all... I think I can live with it.
Isn't this Dredd? He starts out as the best Judge, upholding the law, and piece by piece he starts covering things up and enforcing stupid laws, and letting other little things slide as he gets older. He's threatened to quite about 20 times, and actually quit 5 or 6 times over corruption and bad choices by the Powers That Be... All because it served the great good.


If a TV show could replicate that, the slowly eroding nature of the city that grinds you down... Even if it is the opening montage (e.g. The Watchmen), Where we see a fresh-faced Dredd slowly become harder and harder as the responsibility grinds him down until he's just another Judge whacking a perp over the head with his daystick for whistling in a no-whistling zone, for the perp's own safety...


That's the kind of show I'd rather see, instead of bringing a character from the comics each week. Those characters worked because they were a couple of panels and 2-dimensional. Trying to stretch your favorite characters into real people for a TV show is only going to end in disappointment. What does Judge Death do when he isn't judging the living? Is he just standing there, the 4 dark judges, making small-talk about the weather-control?
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Post by mrbadger » Thu, 8. Jun 17, 10:00

I don't see any point in rehashing stories from the comics, after all you can buy those already, and why keep watching when you can read what's going to happen next?

Death and co I think could be handled differently. For one thing they'd be great targets for CGI, but rehashing all their storylines? Nah, they could start over.

But without them Judge Anderson would be a nobody, and she's a major part of the Dredd universe, or was when I read the comics. She was in Dredd, though that was clearly set pre Judge Death. Was she in the Stallone movie? I don't remember.

Otto Sump would be good too, very topical, with his 'let's eat insects' thing. Dredd shut him down (unfairly if I recall correctly), took over his operation, rebranded it, did more processing so people couldn't tell it was insects and the food shortage was solved.
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Post by Jericho » Thu, 8. Jun 17, 11:24

There is so much potential about society and treating the city as a living breathing character in its own right, but I just think they are going to add a "Will they, won't they?" sexual tension plot with Hershy or Anderson.

To be honest, I wouldn't mind an 'odd' relationship with McGruder as the Chief Judge, having a 'thing' for Dredd now that she's realized life has kind of passed her by... That could go places.

One of the things that always drove me mad about the comics is that Dredd was the only competent Judge. The others were just cannon fodder or foils for his sarcasm. How did any of them make it through the academy, let alone survive the streets?

The other judges all seem like the FBI agents in The Following. They are useless. They fail at being human beings before they even fail at being FBI.

Every time they go to arrest someone, they seem them across the street, and instead of walking up to them, they shout "Hey! FBI! You're under arrest!" And they run and escape.

Every
Single
Time

I should probably make a compilation of "Hey!" clips and put it on YouTube and get a billion hits. Alas, the show has been cancelled for being too bad for "So bad it's good."

Lazy lazy writing. Can I can just imagine Dredd and his useless comrades doing the same thing.
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Post by mrbadger » Thu, 8. Jun 17, 12:24

If Game of Ti.. Sorry Games of *Thrones*, can make it to seven seasons, surely Judge Dredd Series can make it to two. There may not be quite the 'ahem' exposure potential, but there sure will be the violence.

I know people will start screaming about Firefly, and yes that was good, but it wasn't that good. It was ok, we never got too see whether it would carry on shining or just fall apart. Maybe we were lucky it ended where it did. Like the best stories it ended on a high note.

I've never actually rewatched it, which is unusual for me, I normally do rewatch science fiction I enjoy, including things that only had a few episodes or seasons.
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Post by Jericho » Thu, 8. Jun 17, 15:15

mrbadger wrote: I know people will start screaming about Firefly, and yes that was good, but it wasn't that good.
I've never actually seen it. I own it on BluRay, and the film, but not watched them. I have flicked through the channels and watched 5 minutes of the guy from Numb3rs as some (possible) bad guy, and thought it looked average at best. (5 minutes taken at random is no way to judge.)


Go back and watch the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation or Buffy The Vampire Slayer... How the hell they made it to season 2, I've no idea. But thank God that they did.

(If you can find the un-aired Buffy pilot online, it is pure gold. Xander as a 30 year old guy, playing a 15 year old skateboarder... So so so bad to watch him, thank god they changed his character).



So, what are the actor suggestions for Dredd (And will Dredd be gender&race flipped)?
And how wide should the wheels be on his bike?
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Post by birdtable » Thu, 8. Jun 17, 17:00

As a total flip ...How about Diane Abbot (Labour Shadow Home Secretary),,, just in case peeples go "what films was she in and do wiki search) ... Formidable women .... well ish .... well woman then......

Edit ... I think the wheels have fallen off her bike

Edit ...Sorry I digressed again ... What about Stephen Lang who played Colonel Miles Quaritch in Avatar.

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Post by mrbadger » Thu, 8. Jun 17, 21:27

Jericho wrote:So, what are the actor suggestions for Dredd (And will Dredd be gender&race flipped)?
And how wide should the wheels be on his bike?
No way will they gender change him, it wouldn't work. That would kill the series at episode one.

There seem to be strong hints that Karl Urban might take the role. He's a lifelong Dredd fan, which explains how he nailed the role so well. Stallone proved that an actor who doesn't know the character can't do it, or can't for fans who know the lore.

I don't know the lore for the US superheroes, so I don't get bothered by the errors in them (I'm sick of them now, but I was never as upset as some people got).

As for the wheels, Monster truck wide.....
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Post by Morkonan » Fri, 9. Jun 17, 01:58

mrbadger wrote:Did you read the comics? Those were, visual asthetic aside, pretty dark. Mega City One was not a nice place, or a particulerly safe place. Mega-deaths were fairly common, with causes varied enough to make for some interesting storylines.

(I haven't read them, only bought the occaisional one, for a while, but I did each week for the first 12 years, and still have every comic, plus complilation books for some of my favorite stories)...
I didn't read the comics, though I'm somewhat familiar with some of the foundations of the setting/character.

I just thought the Stallone movie was "decent." It wasn't great, but it was a decent movie. When compared to what should have probably been done for a proper Dredd treatment, I can certainly see how it may have fallen short of that.

I'm in favor of a series. I think it could be pretty good. But, there's a problem, from what I know of the Dredd IP - Unmasking. Not just literally, but in the sense that it seems that Dredd is much more a sort of "primal force" than "character one can empathize with."

What that would mean would be that the series may have to rely heavily on sidekicks and other characters to carry the weight of the audience. Everyone loves watching Dredd kick butt, but he can't do that for an hour for every episode. People will hunger for some "depth" as they try to establish some sort of meaningful connection with the character.

Is Dredd a sympathetic character? I honestly don't know the character well enough. But, if he's not and can't be made to be one without alienating the original fanbase, the show is going to have trouble. (IMO)

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