2012 style Death

[Steven Sterlacchini]

Just 'going off on one' for a moment. If the idea was to do three films and the third was Judge Death, it would make a nice roll reversal from the first film. In the first film Anderson is trying to keep up (until the end). Where as with Judge Death, it's Dredd who's out of his depth.

[JOE SOAP]

Yeah, but that wasn't over-done, and it was explained in a way that made them look like a myth anyway. Anderson that is. We've got people today that claim to be psychic, and we've certainly got mutants from radioactive fallout. On the other hand, how do you introduce a walking corpse from another dimension and try to keep that grounded?

Anderson and mutants are presented as a sociological phenomenon rather than myth: Anderson's powers; the graffiti. There are realist elements in Dredd but it isn't real and it still sits comfortably within the genre of Sci-Fi. In Iron Man, the Marvel universe is initially presented as science based, but no one questioned it 4 years later when Tony Stark fought a demi-god. The universe as presented in Dredd, so far, is so contained that it's hard to know how far it can be pushed. It has a similar tone to a John Carpenter film and those films often meshed sci-fi, horror and the supernatural in a 'grounded', visceral way too. Prince of Darkness is a good example. The bigger question is whether there are better stories to tell.

[Steven Sterlacchini]

I think there are much better Dredd stories to tell. But how many Batman films can you do before people start saying "Where the hell is the Joker?"

[JOE SOAP]

I think there are much better Dredd stories to tell. But how many Batman films can you do before people start saying "Where the hell is the Joker?"

I don't think Death and Dredd represent the same dualist archetype as the Joker and Batman and Death certainly doesn't have the same cultural penetration that will cause that many people to expect it in the same way. The closest Dredd has to anything like that is Rico, Fargo and the bloodline. The great thing about Dredd is that his gallery of interesting foes is a lot larger than most comic characters.

[Stan]

Yeah, I largely agree with your last two posts but I do see Death's name appear in comments a lot. It also kinda bothers me when there are attempts to water down unique characters not seen in any other franchise, as if the general movie-going audience are too fragile to accept something new.

I mean where else can you find a gang of dimension-jumping zombie ghost villains like the Dark Judges?

Nowhere?

Then go with that.

[Stan]

Maybe there was another reason Chief Judge Thingy was looking to give Psi's field experience..

[Spikes]

Saw this, looked pretty cool as a 'realistic' Death

http://simonlissaman.blogspot.co.uk/2013_07_01_archive.html

Now that, i like. A lot.

[Steven Sterlacchini]

I think there are much better Dredd stories to tell. But how many Batman films can you do before people start saying "Where the hell is the Joker?"

I don't think Death and Dredd represent the same dualist archetype as the Joker and Batman and Death certainly doesn't have the same cultural penetration that will cause that many people to expect it in the same way. The closest Dredd has to anything like that is Rico, Fargo and the bloodline. The great thing about Dredd is that his gallery of interesting foes is a lot larger than most comic characters.

I agree.

Though as Stan has pointed out, I'm basing the observation on the 'comments' I've read. Ask someone who only knows 'a little' about Dredd to name one of the bad guys, I'm guessing they'd say Judge Death.

If there is a sequel and a lot of the same people are involved, especial Alex Garland, Im sure whatever they decide to do will be great. I don't think they've put a foot wrong. Personally, I'm not bothered to see Dredd, but if 'they' decided to do that, I'm sure they could pull it off.

[Dode C]

I've always thought that Death would fashion his costume out of bits of his victims' skin and bone etc. There are real life precedents- Ed Gein wearing the skins of the dead and making bowls and furniture out of skulls and bone, Ilse Koch allegedly making lampshades out of the tattooed skins of murdered Jews. So I don't think it would be too inconsistent with the feel of the original film to have , say, an irradiated and skeletal psychopath dressed in a  customised parody of a Judge uniform. ( The dimension jumping bit I'm not sure how they would handle -something quantum perhaps?). As was said earlier who knows what crazy sh*t's going on in the wastelands?

[Steven Sterlacchini]

Personally, I'm not bothered to see Death but if 'they'...

Jeez, that's a bad typo.

[Goaty]

Phew! For once there, Minty, thought you not bothered to see Dredd!

[Rusty]

Yeah, but that wasn't over-done, and it was explained in a way that made them look like a myth anyway. Anderson that is. We've got people today that claim to be psychic, and we've certainly got mutants from radioactive fallout. On the other hand, how do you introduce a walking corpse from another dimension and try to keep that grounded?

Anderson and mutants are presented as a sociological phenomenon rather than myth: Anderson's powers; the graffiti. There are realist elements in Dredd but it isn't real and it still sits comfortably within the genre of Sci-Fi. In Iron Man, the Marvel universe is initially presented as science based, but no one questioned it 4 years later when Tony Stark fought a demi-god. The universe as presented in Dredd, so far, is so contained that it's hard to know how far it can be pushed. It has a similar tone to a John Carpenter film and those films often meshed sci-fi, horror and the supernatural in a 'grounded', visceral way too. Prince of Darkness is a good example. The bigger question is whether there are better stories to tell.

Good points. I think if there is ever a second film, it should be there to establish and flesh out Dredd's world and exactly what kind of reality it is. The film itself didn't really present anything other than what appears to be a city that is extremely close to the one's we currently have today. You can see how a wall could be built to protect from nuclear blast zones and radiation, and even the mega blocks have an air of realistic credibility about them. They really aren't that far off from structures being built today to accommodate rising populations. Even Dredd's uniform isn't dissimilar to modern riot police. It's all very grounded. I think the second film (if one is to be made) needs to establish certain rules or boundaries. Show muties in the Cursed Earth, show more advanced technology, and even drop some hints of experiments into different dimensions using psychics. There needs to be quiet a bit of world building first before the Dark Judges can be introduced without them feeling extremely out of place in context to Dredd (2012).