The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/34686
a newsman and his wife. He’s sentenced to prison for life — and if you think life in Mega-Cities is hard and dangerous, trust me, it’s Eden compared to that in third-millennial prison! Not surprisingly, Dredd escapes, determined to learn who framed him and why…leading him to a few world-rocking discoveries. The DNA used to convict him is actually that of a brother (Assante) he didn’t know existed; Rico is a former Judge, current psychopath and the man who framed Dredd. Dredd and Rico were the products of a cloning project 30 years earlier designed to create parentless Judges with superior mental and physical skills and the highest morals. Rico, who failed to come out of the experiment with flying colors, is hell-bent on taking over the world. “The only difference between you and me,” he tells Dredd as he fights to kill him, “is that you destroyed your life to embrace the law, and I destroyed the law to embrace life.” Not exactly what you’d call a show of brotherly love. Nonetheless, with the encouragement and help of pretty Judge Hershey (Lane) and despite the incessant bumbling of a sidekick (Schneider), Dredd manages to overcome all obstacles, including endless shootings, explosions, flames and treacherous falls, a gigantic killer robot controlled by Rico and a bevy of non-appreciative film critics — in other words, Stallone’s usual obstacles. His reward for defeating his brother’s nefarious plot: his Judge’s uniform and badge back and a kiss from Lane. Despite (or perhaps because of) over-the-top acting, brain-numbing special effects and lots of silly dialogue (“You left the DNA in there for over 30 years; sooner or later somebody’s going to clean out the fridge.”), you’ll enjoy JUDGE DREDD, especially if you’re a closet Stallone fan. It’s fun; it’s action-packed; and you might even see it as a cautionary tale, as summed up in the Chief Justice’s dying words as he gazes up at a statue of Lady Justice: “We never should have taken justice out of her hands. We solved some problems, but made many more.” By the way, if you’re not a fan of Sly but love sci-fi, there’s a new version scheduled to come out in 2012, and it’s promised to be truer to the original comic strip. ILTA Andy Spiegel is a creative director for a business software company based in Austin, Texas, and a freelance writer. An ardent movie watcher, he maintains a blog called “My Private Screening Room,” which spotlights movie reviews of films from the ‘30s to today. He can be reached at andy_spiegel@att.net. Trivia (Courtesy of IMDb) • Director Danny Cannon was so disheartened over his constant creative disputes with Sylvester Stallone that he swore he would never again work with another big-name actor. He also claimed that the final version was completely different from the script, due to the changes Stallone demanded. • The “flying bike” scene in which Dredd swoops low over a crowd of punks comprises three seconds where he is a computer-generated image. • Arnold Schwarzenegger was originally considered for the title role. • The scene in which Fergee mocks Dredd was improvised, and it turned out to be so funny — seeing Rob Schneider make fun of Sylvester Stallone — that it stayed in the movie. • Twice when giving locations, the police radio announcer alluded to two comedic duos: “corner of Abbott and Costello” (Bud Abbott and Lou Costello) and “corner of Burns and Allen” (George Burns and Gracie Allen). • The vehicles used in the film (mainly taxis) were actually Land Rover Forward Control 101s, originally used as military vehicles. For the film, Land Rover designed and built the 31 vehicles using the FC101 chassis and a fiberglass body. Only one vehicle was given an interior for close- up and interior shots. The rest were totally bare inside except for the controls and a driver’s seat. • In the Dredd comics, tradition dictates that Dredd rarely takes off his helmet, but the producers insisted that their expensive star show his face clearly. • Stallone had never heard of Judge Dredd until he was offered the role. ILTA Peer to Peer the quarterly magazine of ILTA 119