Dredd Presentation (with Sophie Beeston)

Script for Dredd Presentation (with Sophie Beeston)

Script for Dredd

Background on Dredd (2012):

Dredd (2012):
Dredd is a British/South African film based on the comic book character of the same name.  The Director of the film was Pete Travis who has directed films such as Vantage Point (2008), Omagh (2004) and Endgame (2009). The main stars of the film were Karl Urban and Olivia Thirlby, who were cast as Dredd and his rookie, Anderson. They were fairly unknown actors and neither of them were A-list celebrities. Karl Urban had been in a few big blockbuster films, such as his character Bones in the Star Trek reboot in 2009, although even though he was known quite well he still agreed to playing the traditional character of Dredd (where he doesn't take his helmet off the entire time). The film got the green light in 2008, a year after the script had been written. Alex Garland was one of the main producers of the film and he also was the one that wrote the script so he was very passionate about this film. The other writers of the film were John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra, both of these people were the original creators of Judge Dredd, the character from the 1970s so they would have a specialized knowledge of the character of Dredd and would be able to give him the attention and detail that he as a character deserves. John Wagner also was crucial to the 1995 release of 'Judge Dredd' starring Sylvester Stallone.  The main distributor of the film 
was DNA Films, which is a British production company and have produced films such as 28
Days Later (2002), The Last King of Scotland (2006) and Never Let Me Go (2010). One of
the reasons why this film probably wasn't as successful as originally intended was probably
because of the fact that the British production company didn't have the wide scale marketing abilities to be able to achieve a good profit of the film. The budget for this film was $45
million, and Dredd earned $23,153,028 from international markets and $6.9 million in the
UK. So obviously this film lost money in the box office which is surprising because many
critics gave it positive reviews and it has received cult status, so there is a wondering as to 
why this film lost money. The marketing schemes were like any traditional film, with its 
posters, trailers, and adverts.

However it's most unusual marketing scheme was a website.
In August 2012, the viral advertising site "Dredd Report" was launched, satirising the 
Drudge Report. The site featured a video condemning the use of Slo-Mo, and links to news 
about the film. The film did receive very good critical reception from many critics, on web-
sites such as Metacritic it received reviews from users and critics and the majority were very positive for example "Pitched at the right level to please original fans, but still slick and accessible enough to attract new ones, Dredd 3D feels like a smart and muscular addition to 
the sci-fi action genre." From Steven Dalton from the Hollywood Reporter. Dredd won a
couple of awards for its efforts. At the Empire Film Awards it won the award for the best film in 3D and it also won an award from the Golden Trailer Awards, where it won the award for the best thriller TV spot. The film was shot digitally and primarily in 3D using RED MX, SI2K and Phantom Flex high-speed cameras. Multiple camera rigs were used. Some 2D elements were converted to 3D in post production. Some of the reasons for the lack of success of the
film may be due to the fact that the audience just wasn't there to support it and give it the
money it deserves. However many fans have protested the fact that there is the possibility
that a sequel won't be made, and even started a Facebook petition which achieved 80,000
signatures. The comic book company, 2000AD (the company which Dredd spawned from)
have been writing the stories of Dredd since the seventies so they continue to write his
dramatic story to this day, as well as that there were action figures that were released to
coincide with the film's release. Also the soundtrack of the film's music all the way through
was released as well.

Dredd (2012) - Review:

The film 'Dredd' is based on the infamous comic book character of the same name. Set in a post-apocalyptic America, Judge Dredd is a law enforcer given the power of judge, jury and executioner in a vast, dystopian metropolis called Mega-City One. When he is called out to a crime scene in one of the city's Mega Blocks with the rookie Anderson, they set out to take down a drug lord and the vast control that she has in this inner city. Sometimes to disastrous consequences. 

When Dredd started my honest first thought was that I was not going to enjoy this, half way through I still thought I wasn't going to like this. However after it had finished and I had some time to contemplate what I had just seen I realised that this really was a great piece of film-making. The extraordinary visuals and the hidden depths of the script really shocked and impressed me whilst watching this surprising movie.

A criticism that I do have for the film is that for me I found the gore and violence slightly too much for my tastes, however I can appreciate that this is part of the story and part of the look and feel of the comic book, I found that for some viewers and especially, stereotypically as well of course, that maybe the female audience would find it quite offensive because it is so 'in your face' and maybe they would struggle to see the need for it. Although my initial reaction of not being excited at all and being anxious to see full frontal violence quickly changed and I started to appreciate this film for what it was. A fun, action packed roller-coaster of emotions.

Karl Urban starred as Dredd, and with the Judge being famously known for never taking his helmet off Urban definitely definitely had his work cut out to portray this famous character and please both the hardcore fans and attract new audience members. Which I definitely think he managed, I went into this film not really having an idea of who the character was or the world he lived in and I think Urban accomplished this as whilst watching the film and after as well I realised what this movie and also the character was trying to say and represent. However whilst reading reviews on the website Metacritic, I saw a comment that I feel really represented the film for me. David Hiltbrand of the Philadelphia Inquirer said that 'For sci-fi action fans, it's an instant classic. For everyone else, it's a dark, bloody mess.' I totally agree with this statement, because as much as I enjoyed the film Dredd I did find that maybe this was a passion project for the makers of the film and I can see why they would have wanted to make it. 

I don't think this film is a masterpiece as it does have it's faults, however I think that for the right market that this would definitely appeal all round. It's an interesting concept that I think I would be happy to see again however I think this film was just marketed all wrong and it came out at just the wrong time. However who knows this off beat film may achieve cult status in a decade or two, who knows.