Comments on: Understanding Why Dredd Failed

By: P.

P. — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 01:36:33 +0000

I agree with everthing you said except for one thing:
With everybody tired of remakes, reboots, prequels, sequels, whatever…
why is there always discussion about sequels to good or great films, even on a site like this? Why not let the movie stand on it’s own and hope for the people involved to come up with something new? Yeah the endings was hinting at a possible sequel, but there are no questions to be answered, no backstory to the characters that needs further explanation, nothing. It stood perfetly on it’s own. Don’t be sad there probably won’t be a sequel, be sad that what the studio will take away from this is that all the things that made this film good are big money losers and someting to be avoided.

By: fatpie42

fatpie42 — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 21:21:09 +0000

I’ve got another reason. Personally I looked at the director and the character and decided this was going to be great. However, I didn’t see it in the cinema. Why? Not simply because “Dredd 3D” sounds stupid, but because there were a VERY limited number of 2D showings (I like to call it the ‘headache free’ version) and none of them were anywhere near me.

There was a lot of heavy promotion of 3D surrounding “Prometheus”, but I was still able to find a 2D showing of that, but Dredd? Not a chance!

Here in the UK Dredd did pretty well actually (considering the limited number of cinema-goers in this one small country), but the point is that even amongst those cinema goers who were really excited to see the film, some were unable to check it out because there was no 2D option for them. (And no, going to see 3D instead was not an option. I don’t enjoy films in 3D because it always blurs during action scenes, it darkens the screen and then I leave the cinema with a headache. SO not worth it!)

By: Remy Carreiro

Remy Carreiro — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 18:05:48 +0000

Agreed, sat down thinking I wouldn’t love, which made loving it even more awesome.

By: David R

David R — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 13:40:42 +0000

@Adam

Why doesn’t Casino Royale count? Just because it doesn’t prove your point? I’m not coming down hard on you, but I think that CR was so vocally a reboot of the series is really relevant here.

Much as I would love a world where movies were just judged based on their own merits, that’s not the one we live in now. We live in a world where, despite having about a 50/50 split of good and bad movies, M. Night Shyamalan’s name on a poster equals automatic ridicule. Where people are still ragging on every second of the Star Wars prequels every single day, TEN YEARS after release. Where Die Another Day still gets mocked any time Pierce Brosnan’s Bond movies are mentioned, despite him having done really well in at least two of his others.

And just about every review I read paid lip service to the earlier Judge Dredd movie. Usually as a way to bolster this one, but still.

The point I’m making is that the pop culture culture nowadays is pretty black & white in their judgement of things, and they have a LONG memory, thus, studios have to emphasize the split as well as the movie. Good? Bad? Certainly a thorny issue.

By: nico

nico — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 11:42:33 +0000

Good movie was good. It was surprising how great the 3D was implemented too. The slo-mo scenes were fucking intense.

By: Adam

Adam — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 09:57:17 +0000

I don’t know why it was seen as a reboot or remake. It was just a Judge Dredd movie. They did a whole new story than the first movie had.

When they changed actors in James Bond movies, do they always call it remakes or reboots? (OK, the last couple movies don’t count I guess) No, they just called them James Bond movies.

The fact that they called it a remake or reboot or re anything is terrible marketing.

By: Steve2

Steve2 — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 05:26:30 +0000

I’ve probably said it on this site before, and I’ll say it again: Dredd was a better 80′s action movie throwback than either of the Expendables movies.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 03:31:01 +0000

I loved this movie. Really, I had no idea it would end up being one of my favorite movies of the year. Bloody, violent, and beautifully shot. The world was well realized, and the characters really felt like they were part of it. I ended up purchasing the 3D Blu-Ray and I’m thankful that I did. I rarely buy movies, but this was worth it. You really don’t see movies like these anymore these days. I really hope someone out there sees the merit in making a sequel with the same talent involved.

By: David R

David R — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 02:54:27 +0000

Your point about the marketing being off base rings truest to me.

That said, my understanding is that Dredd has done exceptionally well so far on its home video release. Word of mouth does count for something.

By: Sara Clemens

Sara Clemens — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 01:10:21 +0000

It’s absolutely solid aside from the lowered expectations bell-curve. Dredd is one of the best sci-fi actioners I’ve seen in a long time. I would totally put it on my best of 2012 list if I made one.

Especially loved Lena Headey and Olivia Thirlby. Eff yeah female badasses, good and evil.