Back in 1995 I have to admit that I was pretty ignorant when it came to this executive judge character and the comic of Judge Dredd, so when I ended up conducting interviews with a number of behind the scenes personnel associated with it, I have to admit that they swept me up in their enthusiasm (which happened quite a lot back then, now that I think about it).
But to be fair, can you blame me? Screenwriter William Wisher (who co-wrote Terminator 2 with James Cameron), filled me in on a bit of the history of Mega City One and Mega City Two and then mused, “Judge Dredd actually has a lot more in common with the old Soviet Union than the current United States. I think all bureaucracies intrinsically want to grab more power. I don’t care how benign and sweet the original mission of that organization. It’s the nature of bureaucracies, so you have to keep vigilance. Now I happen to be very conservative, and even I don’t understand why anybody thinks it’s a good idea to give the government or any organization more power. The stuff that’s come out since the Oklahoma City bombing is very disturbing to me. As tragic as the bombing was, it’s still disturbing to hear people basically say, ‘since we never want this to happen again, let’s just take away all of the safety mechanisms.’ Guess what: If that happens, five years from now there will be a big thing about reinvestigating the ATF and FBI, like what happened in the ‘70s. The guidelines were formed because our rights and freedoms were abused, but people seem to have short memories.”
Those are some real fancy words there, Mr. Wisher, but what in tarnation do they have to do with Judge Dredd?
“On one level” – there he goes, tying it all in – Judge Dredd is a fun movie. Just underneath the wild fun, however, there’s some very serious things going on, and the audience – while they’re enjoying it – will be able to see the world that we’re living in right now reflected back in a very exciting way. I hope to some degree that that resonates with people – that Judge Dredd is seen as a bit of a cautionary tale as well.”
Ah…no. Sorry.
Executive producer Ed Pressman enthused to me, “What separates Dredd from other action heroes is that he’s a guy with a gun in one hand and the book of law in the other. That is a very interesting image.”
Added executive producer Andy Vajna, “This is a fantastic adventure in a landscape you’ve never seen before. The look of the movie is just spectacular. It has a Blade Runner feel to it, but it’s different from that. It’s a roller coaster you ride for 95 minutes.”
Blade Runner? 95-minute roller coaster ride? Hot damn, I liked the sound of THAT!
And then there was director Danny Cannon, who expressed the fact that he had been a fan of the Judge Dredd comic from an early age, so this opportunity was a dream come true and a chance to put his knowledge of Dredd and his world on the screen.
“In the comic-book series,” Cannon enlightened me (oh, chill out , I wasn’t being sarcastic– I mean that. I had no idea), “ Judge Dredd’s face has never been revealed. But the writers of the movie saw the removal of the character’s helmet as a way to humanize him, to crack the armor of the impervious professional and give him an identity.
“This is every bit as much an epic passion play as it is a sci-fi film,” Cannon added. “I didn’t want audiences merely to be dazzled by the special effects” – see how long ago this was: they weren’t even called VISUAL effects then – “I wanted them to connect with the characters. The difference between this action movie and others is that this is an old-fashioned Hollywood picture that has passion and emotion, which are played with conviction. Sort of a cross between Blade Runner and Star Wars.”
Now THAT sounds like a hell of a movie. When’s it being released?