The Law Returns. This Time With His Helmet On! Judge Dredd!

Sigh. There's not going to be riots or people leaving the theater if Dredd removes his helmet in this movie (which he doesn't) but it is a sensitive issue for the fans of "Judge Dredd" due to the helmet being such an iconic part of the character and as we've discussed before already a symbol of the fascist government. Taking the helmet off humanizes Dredd which while might be good for a movie detracts from his character.

 

Exactly. We've been over this already.

Any claim that "it won't work if you can't see his eyes" is just nonsense. It limit's an actor's options, no question and I'm sure any actor worth their salt would be concerned about it but a competent character actor can overcome it and I'm pretty sure Urban qualifies in that regard. Do we really have to list all the notable screen characters who's eyes you never see?

Will I mind if he takes the helmet off? Honestly? Not especially, but he won't so it's rather moot. It's just nice to know they have at least a basic grip on the character, which is more than one can say for the last attempt to bring Dredd to the big screen.

 

^I think that's a little unfair, the producers of the Stallone film did have an understanding of the Dredd mythos, they just tried to balance that against the blockbuster elements and didn't pull it off. Much like the 96 Doctor Who tv movie the stallone Dredd film was probably too fanny for the unitiated, and not fanny enough for the fans!

I'm not going to be that upset if he takes the helmet off (as I said with stallone, it's not like I don't know what the actor looks like anyway) but it'll be nice if they keep it on, or at least use shadows for it he removes it.

3D though...why'd it have to be 3D!

 

^Perhaps. Believe it or not I do have a little bit of a soft spot for the Stallone film and yes they did try but as you say it was being pulled in too many directions at once. As for the character himself, for me the main issue had nothing to do with the helmet (though it certainly didn't help) it was what I sometimes refer to as the "John Wayne Effect." By that I mean that for the most part, no matter what film Wayne was in or what role he was supposed to be playing, he was always playing John Wayne. Just so with Stallone (and a few others I could mention.) His persona was such that (with a few notable exceptions) you could never get away from it. He wasn't playing Judge Dredd, he was playing Stallone dressed up as Dredd.

Still like I said all the fretting is moot since it's been confirmed that Urban won't take the helmet off, at all.

As for the 3D, as I said on the previous page I think it'd be worth it in this case.

 

The worst thing about Stallone as Dredd was that when he said 'I Am The Law!' he sounded like Inspector Clouseau. Fact.

 

Yes, of course. Taking his hat off is the biggest thing to remember about that particular character

 

Yeah much as I don't think Stallone was terrible as Dredd, you're right he was playing Sly dressed up as Dredd.

To be honest though him kissing Hershy was worse than him taking the helmet off!

 

^Well that's a straw man argument if ever I saw one.

The fact that he kisses anyone destroyed any pretence that this was Dredd. The guy is practically a monk. A romantic liaison would never even occur to him, least of all with another Judge. For one it's against the regs and Dredd in the definition of a by-the-book character.

 

^ Exactly. I am so looking forward to this movie.

 

Although he does mellow somewhat in the comics over time. He is the very definition of harsh but fair. And yeah, romance just wouldn't occur to him...unlike his clone brother of course!

To be honest kissing wouldn't have occured to Hershey either...Anderson maybe, but Scis are by their nature flightier than regular Js.

 

I have to admit I haven't read a lot of the early strips with Anderson and Hershy so my knowledge of "Dredd history" has some gaps.
I do vaguely recall a story with Judge DeMarco a few years back where she made a move on the old man and while he defiantly rebuffed her. He let the incident itself slide and didn't report her to SJS. So yeah, he's not a robot but for him to even bend the rules there needs to be a damn good reason, even the rules he doesn't even agree with.

I remember a strip from a year or two back that has a good (and humours) example of how non-sexual most Judges are. It basically shows Dredd and other Judges working security at the "sex olympics" and Dredd catches another Judge interrogating some of the "athletes", demanding to see spanking licences or he'll arrest them for assault. As I recall Dredd then has a go at him for deserting his post and tells him to go back to guarding the changing rooms.
That's how a typical Judge would think; they'd rather shake down creeps for minor infractions than hang around the changing rooms at the damn sex olympics.

 

I can recall at least one lovestruck citizen who had the hots for Joe. Needless to say she didn't get anywhere (I think he arrested her actually). He has mellowed, just slightly, of late but he's still THE LAW!

 

That lovestruck citizen returned at least once and possibly twice.

It ended badly for her. Very badly.

 

Nothing of the sort. Just an observation on the thread (which itself includes "This Time With His Helmet On!" in its title...)

Besides which, even if they hit the right chord with the rest of the film, it'll just be a glossy even further flung Robocop

 

V For Vendetta worked pretty well with him staying masked the whole film. he didn't even have a CHIN to emote through.

 

I think that story was called Futile Attraction.

 

What doesn't end badly (but fairly) in Megacity? Even Christmas isn't sacred. Except I guess for that story where the humans show a Mutie the real meaning of Christmas. And then Dredd arrested them for having fake toiletries

 

First image of Karl Urban as Dredd.

 

Oooh I like that pic.

I thought Stallone looked great with the mask on. I wonder what accent Urban will use? 2000AD was a British invention but I don't know what continent it was all set in.

 

I think he looks really good as well. Can't wait until they show the first pic of Anderson, she was really my favorite character from the script.