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Dredd (2012)

Started by Goaty, 06 September, 2011, 11:51:16 PM

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Spaceghost

I honestly don't understand why people keep saying the helmet's too big. It looks absolutely fine to me. On the first photo we saw, yes, it looked weirdly bulky but that was revealed to be an unfortunate accident with part of the backround. Every shot since has looked like pure Dredd to me.

Dredd isn't a super-hero and he doesn't wear a 'costume'. This is a uniform and needs to be practical. I like the film uniform more than the comic one these days.
Raised in the wild by sarcastic wolves.

Previously known as L*e B*tes. Sshhh, going undercover...

W. R. Logan

I have no probs with the uniform, the only thing that annoys the fanboy in me is that he's not shaved 8-?

Gonk

He's been in action Logan. Judges only get 10 minutes in the sleep machine. Dredd looked pretty scruffy in the last few episodes of the cursed earth, and compared to his appearance at the end of of the Sov. Atomic War he looks quite fresh. :D
coming at a cinema near you soon

radiator

It's not just one or two of us on this forum who have pointed out that the helmet looks a bit big - I've seen many blog posts and online commenters openly laughing at it:

http://www.iwatchstuff.com/2011/07/judge-dredd-visibly-upset-store-had-only.php

You can use the 'it's a bike helmet/it's a practical uniform' justification til you're blue in the face, but if even just a small percentage of people make the same observation, then there is a problem. If people's first reaction to your hardnut antihero is derisive laughter, something is wrong. At the end of the day, it's a movie - first and foremost it should look cool.

For now, I'm a bit concerned about it - imo it looks fine in the Total Film picture posted above - and will reserve judgement until I see it in the proper context. I'm crossing my fingers pretty hard.

JOE SOAP

Once he fires that Lawgiver/bike cannon it won't matter. It looks a lot less ridiculous than this and no one complained:





I think it's mostly people who are not particularly familiar with Dredd, or care, are nitpicking/trolling about the helmet.

SmallBlueThing

Well, im familiar with the character, and im not trolling, and i think in that teaser poster (the 'judge, jury, executioner' one) it looks comedically massive., and just swamps him. Especially with the mini pads. We'll see how it all turns out, i guess.

SBT
.

Goaty

At least this 2012 Helmet looks much better, than this shite;


Spaceghost

Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 01 February, 2012, 09:47:30 AM
Well, im familiar with the character, and im not trolling, and i think in that teaser poster (the 'judge, jury, executioner' one) it looks comedically massive., and just swamps him. Especially with the mini pads. We'll see how it all turns out, i guess.

SBT

Yeah, I'll admit that it doesn't look too great in that particular shot but I think that's mainly due to it being in heavy shadow. You can't even tell where his face ends and the helmet begins.

It doesn't look too big in all the Empire photos, especially the full body shots of him kicking the door in and running down the corridor.

And Goaty, NOOOOOO! The 95 helmet was and is bloody awful. The new one is much better.
Raised in the wild by sarcastic wolves.

Previously known as L*e B*tes. Sshhh, going undercover...

radiator

I don't have a problem with the 95 style visor - it's a bit too overtly 'comic book' and plasticy, but that suits the tone they were going for. It's still recognisably Dredd, though the utilitarian, 'lived-in' look of the 2012 gear is infinitely better.

I think part of the problem in the new one is the padding either side of the wearer's face - it makes their head look smaller than it is - especially in pictures that are heavily in shadow. Hopefully when we see it in properly lit footage it will all click and make sense. I also think increasing the size of the shoulder pads
would help things proportionally - or it might have just made Urban look even more swamped, who knows?

Though I have my concerns, there's some serious talent behind the scenes of this film, and I can't bring myself to believe that if it really did look silly, then no one would have stepped in and done something about it. We'll see. I'll say again that everything I've seen/heard about the art direction and cinematography leads me to believe that this will be a cracking looking film, and overall I think the new uniform rocks - it's actually far closer to the comic version than would appear on first glance. Pretty much all the elements are present and correct - even down to the (muted) green gloves and boots, lawgiver, the belt buckle, utility belt, even the little rounded bits on the knuckles.

Re: Magneto - I actually really liked that - they just went all out, and I'm hoping the sequel to First Class will go even further down that road into full-on Silver Age psychedelic gaudiness and colour. I love grim and gritty as much as the next guy, but surely it's time for a reaction against that? Sebastian Shaw's proto-Magneto helmet in FC looked kind of goofy at first - mostly in the pre-release stills, but I don't even notice it when I watch the film now - I enjoy the film so much that I just accept it.

IAMTHESYSTEM

I think John Wagner mentioned he 'd seen part of the DR3DD Film with post production effects completed so that has to be good news.

Re shoots and post production problems aside I assume their about a third of the way through putting it all together. Perhaps after this months celebrations of 35 years of 2000AD we might get a few pointers to when the first Trailer/Poster might be appearing.

Or when it's going straight to DVD of course! ::)
"You may live to see man-made horrors beyond your comprehension."

http://artriad.deviantart.com/
― Nikola Tesla

radiator

QuoteRe shoots and post production problems aside I assume their about a third of the way through putting it all together.

According to Wagner it's pretty much done - or will be by the end of the month. Edit is complete, they're currently doing the audio. Probably a bit of tweaking to do after that, but other than that it's pretty much done as far as I know.

PreacherCain

As mentioned above, the real issue of concern here is that damn beard!

That ain't Joe. No sir.

MR. ELIMINATOR

Quote from: PreacherCain on 01 February, 2012, 03:18:50 PM
As mentioned above, the real issue of concern here is that damn beard!

That ain't Joe. No sir.

Yeah, there is a find line between a bit of stubble to look meaner and too much, and those total films pics it looked too much. But the empire subscriber cover was about right.

Goaty

Unshaved looks is very popular!  :lol:

As with new photo of James Bond out today...


Gonk

Quote from: Goaty on 01 February, 2012, 09:47:46 AM
At least this 2012 Helmet looks much better, than this shite;


Quote from: Lee Bates on 01 February, 2012, 10:15:15 AM

And Goaty, NOOOOOO! The 95 helmet was and is bloody awful. The new one is much better.


It was pretty bad for a Dredd helmet. It was more in the style of early Ian Gibson depictions, if any. Certainly the whole film was evocative of early Dredd episodes  : the gunfight at the beginning reminded me of the "Judge Whitey" episode, there is that bit from the "Muggers Moon" story where he shoots and blows up the yuppie's car. Than there is the "Crime and Punishment" episode part of the film when Dredd is falsely accussed of gunning down innocent people, then you get the Angel Gang, Rico and anything else you care to notice. On the whole the film is a pastiche.

This is I think why the decision to remove the helmet came about ,(apart from Sly's ego). Was because during the '90's pastiche films were fashionable - David Lynch being one example. Dredd gets to take his helmet off because it reveals the way in which the story is constructed. Along with all the Dredd stories mentioned above, the taking off of the helmet focuses the film attention more on how a story/film is told, rather than the actual telling of the story. It shows how narratives are produced, rather than presenting a narrative as one that is told and complete in itself. As I said, this technique was popular in the '90's with a lot of film makers. To Dredd fans like ourselves, Dredd without his helmet on his head is a bit like Jimi Hendrix without the guitar.
coming at a cinema near you soon