Dredd Research Script
Chloe:
The film was directed
by Pete Travis who has directed films such as Vantage Point, Omagh and Endgame.
DNA Films (who has done films such as 28 Days Later and the History Boys)
produced the film with IM Global (who has done films such as Safe, Insidious
and many upcoming films). Dredd was
distributed by Entertainment Film Distributers and Lionsgate. The film got the
green light on 20th December 2008.
The cast includes Karl Urban (who plays Dredd) fromm Star
Trek and The Bourne Supremacy, Olivia
Thirlby (Anderson) who has been in Juno and No Strings Attached and finally
Lena Headley (Ma-ma) who has been in 300 and the Game of Thrones series.
The film received positive reviews from critics. The film
had an average rating of 6.5 on the review website Rotten Tomato’s. IGN awarded
the film eight out of ten and said, "Dredd is a character study,
primarily, one fuelled by violence and action, and we can't think of a better
way to re-introduce this character to cinema audiences.” The Guardian's Phelim
O'Neill scored the film 4 stars out of 5 and praised Urban's performance,
saying, "The essence of Dredd is that he is almost an anti-character—he
doesn't change or learn—and Urban nails it in an ego-free performance".
The script for Dredd was written by Alex Garland who began
writing in 2006. Garlands draft mainly revolved around one of Dredd’s main
enemies called Judge Death. When developing the Judge Dredd character, Garland
tried to closely follow what he was like in the comic-books, so he would only
have small personality changes over a lengthy period of time.
Will:
A viral advertising site called “Dredd Report” was launched
in august 2012. The site consisted of a video showing the use of Slo-Mo and
links to news about the film. A tie-in comic book was published on the 5th of
September and it is a prequel to the film's narrative and follows Ma-Ma's life
as a prostitute. Posters for the film were released shortly after. Reports say
that Lionsgate contributed $25 million to advertising and print costs.
Dredd won an Empire Award for best 3D and was nominated for
best British film and best science fiction/fantasy film. They also won a Golden
Trailer Award for Best Thriller TV Spot for the trailer.
The problem was that the 3D and 2D showings at cinema's were
that there wasnt enough showings of them in the UK, so therefore people couldnt
find places to watch the film at certain times or even find any showings of the
film, as there was report in a review of the film that in some cinemas the film
was only showed once so often. I think that Dredd did not have good success
because they narrowed down the target audience too much and the sci-fi feel to
it would not appeal to a lot of people. I also think that people may have
thought that it was too simple and straight forward because the plot was easy
to predict.
Jack:
The film was shot digitally and primarily in 3D using RED MX
and Phantom Flex high-speed cameras. Some 2D elements were converted to 3D in
post-production. Mega-City One’s high rise towers were created in Cape Town
Film Studios.
Paul Leonard-Morgan used electronic music and 80’-style
synthesisers and modern sounds to create various combinations of music. He said,
"I was looking to create a timeless score which couldn't be placed in any
particular era. So it's ended up being a cross between a modern dance track and
evocative soundscapes." For scenes showing the effect of the Slo-Mo
narcotic, he composed new music with real instruments and then slowed the songs
down by thousands of percent. The film also includes songs from artists such as
Vitalic, Matt Berry and Bobby Womack.
Chloe:
I throughly enjoyed watching the whole film of Dredd.
It was full of action and excitement with a very grown up yet thrilling
persecutive to the cartoon comic judge Dredd. The film had a very gripping and
understandable storyline that grow on me as it went through the film, but at
the start i wasn't too sure how it would end or how it would all come together
as it took a while for it to really get into the story line and become full of
action. The only fault was that it ended too quickly and quietly, needed more
fight and excitement at the ending of killing 'mama' she died to easily and
quickly, despite that all in all was a thrilling and brilliant film to watch
full of action and excitement despite its low budget and high loss, i enjoyed
the film and will be watching it again.
Will:
Although the film and its helmeted main character are
straightforward and simple, it actually works better because it is easier to
understand and is more realistic. The day-in-the-life style plotis a good way
to introduce Judge Dredd and Mega City One and the film mostly avoids doing
anything really annoying or irrelivant. I also liked the fact that Judge Dredd
is not given a back story and is instead portrayed as the mysterious man with
no name and that he never removes his helmet (just like the comics. I also
appreciated that this version of Dredd is more hardcore and extremely violent
whereas the 1995 version of Dredd was very feeble and comic.
Jack:
Sci-Fi movies are not usually in my favor, meaning I
don’t really like them. But action films; action films are my biggest interest
when it comes to relaxing and watching a good movie. Dredd is a sci-fi and
action genre film which means I could love it or hate it. As it happens I loved
Dredd, the idea of the slow-mo drug in the film really gives the chance for the
producer and directors to show slow, detailed scenes which you don’t get to see
in some other films. These scenes are the parts such as gun shots and the
detail when it hits the bad guys and you see everything that happens like the
skin exploding and blood flying around. This brought a realistic feeling to the
film not like in most films where it generally looks like fake killing and blood.
