the meeting of sly and a cannon (Judge Dredd (DVD))

Member Name: utero

Product:	Judge Dredd (DVD)
Date:	28/04/01 (36 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: some decent action scenes

Disadvantages: not 16x9, dull extras

Judge Dredd is one of the UK's most well known comic books. It's dark origins, knack for gritty characters and bleak outlook on the future is a big draw for fans.

Back in 1995, a movie was made based on the comic book starring Sly Stallone. The movie was directed by a young man named Danny Cannon whose only previous feature was a decent little British crime flick called 'The Young Americans' starring Harvey Keitel and best known for the Bjork song 'Play Dead'. Various rumours of on-set disagreements between star and director were heard and resulted in a poorly received film that didn't exactly lay down the law at the box office. Stallone has now since managed to sustain a career while Cannon has only now started to get it back together by directing hit US Tv Show C.S.I after an ill advised sit in the directors chair of I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. Basically with a director who loved the comic book and wanted a dark movie I think you can make your mind up on who influenced the final product.

Basically the film defies the comic book by making Dredd an outlaw and he removes his helmet very early on which is a big no-no in relation to the comic. The usual sci-fi stuff goes on as Dredd tries to clear his name over a crime he didn't commit. It's not as bad as people make out and has some good scenes that entertain. It's just not what it could have been.

The dvd itself is presented in 2.35:1 widescreen. The film is not enhanced for widescreen tv's which is disappointing but the transfer is solid.

Sound wise it's a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix that is very involoving as you'd expect and has plenty of surround effects to keep you happy.

Extras come in the way of a pointless 'making of' featurette that serves as merely a promotional piece of fluff telling you to see the film. Other than that there are the trailers.

One day we may hear the full story of what hap
pened on Judge Dredd from Cannon himself but it's doubtful due to legal reasons. If he had been allowed to make the film he wanted then maybe this would have been a classic comic book movie.

Summary: