Vivian on 3/10/2012 at 11:50
Quote Posted by Subjective Effect
No.
And yet it has most of the the same major plot events, just seen through the eyes of two minor characters.
Thirith on 3/10/2012 at 12:51
Do you guys ever get to that point in a discussion where, even if you agree more with one side than the other, you are so sick and tired of the this-is-the-internet-can't-step-away-from-an-argument-until-you've-won you just want both sides to shut the fuck up?
On Dredd: I've heard this compared to The Raid a lot. What sort of action films are they? More in line with '80s action (minus the heavy helping of cheese)? What other films are comparable? I like a good action flick every now and then, but a number of the ones I enjoyed when I was young make me cringe nowadays.
Vivian on 3/10/2012 at 12:59
Yeah, fair point. I just don't like being point-blank rejected (on something I'm reasonably familiar with) like I'm an idiot. I think my original point was that Dredd isn't a superhero comic (unless you also count dirty harry as a superhero) and so the film shouldn't be lumped with marvels' continuing screenfarts, but I haven't had time to go see it yet. Maybe this week.
Muzman on 3/10/2012 at 16:40
Quote Posted by Thirith
On
Dredd: I've heard this compared to
The Raid a lot. What sort of action films are they? More in line with '80s action (minus the heavy helping of cheese)? What other films are comparable? I like a good action flick every now and then, but a number of the ones I enjoyed when I was young make me cringe nowadays.
The Raid is a straight up high concept martial arts film, featuring a style almost never seen on screen before.
Dredd is a slightly self aware 80s/90s style tough guy dystopian sci-fi actioner. One-liners, the works. That's not always a good thing, but all the reviews say it's tightly written and full of character (as well as being slightly cheesy). Alex Garland man, he has his excesses but he knows a thing or two.
Thirith on 3/10/2012 at 16:49
Quote Posted by Muzman
Dredd is a slightly self aware 80s/90s style tough guy dystopian sci-fi actioner. One-liners, the works. That's not always a good thing, but all the reviews say it's tightly written and full of character (as well as being slightly cheesy). Alex Garland man, he has his excesses but he knows a thing or two.
I keep forgetting that Garland wrote the script - I tend to like his stuff (although he has problems doing a good ending to a story IMO). (By the way, for anyone who likes Garland, I can very much recommend his novella
The Coma.)
june gloom on 4/10/2012 at 06:31
do you need a paper bag muzman or are you going to be okay
Angel Dust on 4/10/2012 at 09:14
Quote Posted by Thirith
On
Dredd: I've heard this compared to
The Raid a lot.
The comparison is simply due to the set-ups being similar. Some cops/judges get trapped in a run-down tower full of junkies, bums, poor people and gang members by some big bad and they have to fight their way out. Apart from that they are, as Muz points out, pretty different as far as action films go.
Anyway, I just came back from watching it and I really enjoyed it. Brutal, efficient and surprisingly artfully filmed. It would have been nice to have some more of Ma-Ma but other than that I thought the mixture of character to action ratio was spot on. It's a shame that it appears to be doing poorly at the box-office because I would love for the team behind this one to get a bigger budget for the sequel and do some Cursed Earth stuff.
catbarf on 6/10/2012 at 04:37
Quote Posted by Angel Dust
The comparison is simply due to the set-ups being similar. Some cops/judges get trapped in a run-down tower full of junkies, bums, poor people and gang members by some big bad and they have to fight their way out. Apart from that they are, as Muz points out, pretty different as far as action films go.
Anyway, I just came back from watching it and I really enjoyed it. Brutal, efficient and surprisingly artfully filmed. It would have been nice to have some more of Ma-Ma but other than that I thought the mixture of character to action ratio was spot on. It's a shame that it appears to be doing poorly at the box-office because I would love for the team behind this one to get a bigger budget for the sequel and do some Cursed Earth stuff.
Having just gotten back from the theater, I agree with this. Not exactly mind-expanding, but straightforward and excellent effects and gunplay. The bullet effects especially pulled no punches and gave it a much more visceral look.
If anything, I feel like there was maybe a bit of missed opportunity in the action. As cool as the gunfights were, every movie needs a bit of variety, and I was surprised that despite all the claustrophobic action there wasn't anything in the way of a good old-fashioned hand-to-hand fight.
Angel Dust on 6/10/2012 at 04:56
Well, there was that
judge on judge fight that ended with Dredd crushing the other judge's windpipe. :eww: The strange thing is that I never have trouble finding intelligent, challenging cinema but a lean, mean and well-made action film like
Dredd is extremely rare these days. This makes it even sadder that it's flopped financially. It'll be for a mixture of reasons (poor marketing, 3D only, the stink of Stallone's version) but it's kind of ridiculous that it's not going to find it's audience. We're not talking about some obscure art film with niche appeal here and this week a whole bunch of people are going to turn out in droves this weekend to watch, the reportedly utterly dire,
Taken 2 and come away disappointed, not knowing there is another film showing that would satisfy that action itch.
Quote Posted by Subjective Effect
it's just a day in the life of Judge Dredd.
This was one of the things a liked about it. The stakes were probably a little higher than normal for an average Dredd day but I'm glad it wasn't some overblown 'the fate of the world hangs in the balance' type of scenario.
Aja on 8/10/2012 at 07:33
Wow I actually saw a movie and it was Dredd.
It was also the first 3D movie I've ever seen, and I'll say first off that all of my years of dissing 3D without having experienced it are now justified. The 3D was silly, mildly entertaining at times, mostly confusing (especially when it came to out-of-focus things) and entirely unnecessary.
The film itself was was brisk, stupid, gratuitous. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it, but it felt like the kind of thing I would've loved in high school back when I was eager to prove that I could handle visceral violence in films. These days I get a little queasy. Fortunately, once the 3D exploding heads and brain splatters were out of the way it mostly went back to old-fashioned shooting but with louder sound effects than they had in the 80s. The visuals were detailed and interesting, and I did I appreciate how much of the story was implied through the scenery. I just wish there was a script that made better use of it.
Overall I didn't like the film particularly, but I can't say it was without merit. Style over substance, but the style at least had quality.
