Judge Dredd (1995) – What Happened to This Sci-Fi Action Movie?

Imagine if, in modern times, the role of let’s say, DC’s SGT. Rock went to the literal Rock, Dwayne Johnson. Imagine that he was given creative control over the high budget state of the art project despite having no idea who SGT. Rock even was initially. Finally, imagine he decided to make it in the vein of all of his films, hiring Kevin Hart to be his sidekick, and royally pissing off fans of the source material along the way. That’s the best modern analogy I can come up with for what happened to 1995’s Judge Dredd. A film that had crew members allegedly taking bets on their director’s life expectancy, an NC17 rating, and Sylvester Stallone screaming I AM THE LAW!!! This is what happened to Judge Dredd.

Judge Dredd debuted in 1995; a year packed with iconic films. At the time, the superhero craze hadn’t fully kicked in, making it somewhat of an outlier: a big-budget adaptation of a lesser-known comic book character. First appearing in 1977’s 2000 AD, Judge Dredd was an ultra-strict law enforcer in a dystopian future where crime ran rampant. In Mega City One, “Judges” acted as judge, jury, and executioner to keep the streets in order. Created by John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra, the character had a cult following but wasn’t exactly Batman or Superman in terms of mainstream recognition.

Despite this, Judge Dredd was greenlit with a hefty $90 million budget (around $200 million today when adjusted for inflation). It was produced by Walt Disney Studios subsidiary Hollywood Pictures and Cinergi Pictures and distributed by Buena Vista. The screenplay was credited to Commando’s Steven E. de Souza and Terminator 2’s William Wisher, with several other writers involved behind the scenes.

Originally, Arnold Schwarzenegger was considered for the lead role, with Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey director Peter Hewitt attached. However, Schwarzenegger passed, leading the studio to seek a director to work with their new choice: Sylvester Stallone. One wonders if there wasn’t some behind the scenes trickery going on here, such as when Schwarzenegger tricked his rival into making Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot! Several big names, including Richard Donner (Superman), Renny Harlin (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4), and Richard Stanley (The Island of Dr. Moreau), were considered before the job ultimately went to British director Danny Cannon.

Cannon was a huge Judge Dredd fan. So much so that he even won a 1987 contest for the best fan poster. A fan poster that imagined Ridley Scott as director and Harrison Ford as Dredd. Ironically, once production began, Cannon likely wished that the star he was dealing with was Harrison Ford. Or that he’d taken the option to direct Die Hard With a Vengeance with Bruce Willis and Samuel L, Jackson instead. As he often did in his heyday, Stallone took creative control of the production. A hands-on approach that had worked many times before with great success on obvious properties like Rocky and Rambo….that this time clashed heavily with the source material.

One major issue of contention was something Halo and Master Chief fans can sympathize with: the helmet. In the comics, Dredd never removes it because his anonymity reflects his role as an emotionless enforcer. But Stallone didn’t feel like that should matter, and to quote Rick Dalton, “If I got all this junk on me, how’s the audience gonna know it’s me?” As a result, Stallone would get his way because again (I am the law) and would spend most of the movie helmet-free, much to the dismay of hardcore Judge Dredd fans. Overall, Stallone’s rendition of the character dealt with far more inner personal conflict and emotion than was ever a part of the origin.

Stallone also insisted on a more widely accessible slapstick type of comedy rather than the darker Verhoeven-esque tone of its comics. This was driven further by the casting of his Demolition Man co-star and three sea-shells user Rob Schneider in the role of Fergie. A part the studio originally had envisioned Joe Pesci for, if you can believe that. In the comics, Fergie is a muscular brute who ends up dying heroically and helping Dredd save the day. Here, he’s no more than a whiney, squeaky wheel. Jar-Jar Binks Light, if you will.

Unimpressed with the original wardrobe given to him by the studio and comparing it to a trash removal outfit or something baggy that an intern at a bad hospital would wear; Stallone enlisted his friend, fashion designer Gianni Versace, to revamp the look. The result was something he was extremely happy with despite it being four layers deep and requiring copious amount of Johnson’s baby powder to get through the day. Stallone also adorned a pair of bright blue eye contacts on the set, meant to emphasize the bloodline connection between Dredd, his father Judge Fargo (played by the legendary Max von Sydow), and his villainous brother Rico (Armand Assante). Assante was noticeably smaller than Stallone but made up for the obvious size difference with sheer intensity, delivering a performance jacked up with Shakespearean villainy. One that always reminds me of The Sopranos’ Richie Aprile character. Meaning that you just want to punch him in the face. A lot. Hard. The wonderful Diane Lane played Judge Hershey, who in the comics is a succesful judge and colleague. But in yet another 90s style Stallone flick deviation was rewritten as Dredd’s love interest. Stop me if my mom will shoot, I mean if you’ve heard this one before but….that’s not a thing they ever do in the comics.

Director Danny Cannon insisted the film be shot mostly in England where the character had originated. They enlisted the help of special effects company Massive Illusion to bring the futuristic hellscape of Mega City One to life. To do so, an eleven feet tall, twenty feet wide model set was created out of plastic, wood, and plexiglass. The set used elaborate miniatures of everything, all the way down to crafting miniature set lights to illuminate the city. Topped off with a fogger machine to simulate an urban haze. To make the buildings throughout the sweeping city look more authentic, they created photographs to put inside the model windows, giving them an impressive layer of depth. Practical effects were used for the robotic ABC Warrior via hydraulic animatronics and the prosthetic-heavy Mean Machine Angel through prosthetic makeup. This all equated to a level of realism and detail often missing in today’s CGI-laden films. It’s something to behold that even the staunchest critics of Judge Dredd appreciated upon the film’s release.

The sounds of Judge Dredd were no less complicated. Initially, David Arnold was hired to compose the score, then replaced by all-time great Jerry Goldsmith, who had to leave to compose Congo and First Knight after the film ran over schedule. Alan Silvestri then came aboard the Mega City Titanic, only to have to re-record portions of his score to match what had been heavily edited in post-production. On the bright side, The Cure, fresh off their hit song ‘Burn’ on The Crow soundtrack created a song just for the film titled ‘Dredd Song’, which plays as the credits roll. So that’s rad. On the flip side, a band called Manic Street Preachers offered a song called ‘Judge Yr’self’ that turned out being the last song recorded at the time with their guitar player Richey Edwards. Who had mysteriously gone missing. The song was pulled from the soundtrack but later released by the band.

Also missing: the entire tone and feel of the Judge Dredd comic book this film was supposed to be based on. It wasn’t always this way.

You might be shocked to find out that this rather glib film was given an NC17 rating an unbelievable FIVE times when submitted to the MPAA. An example of the darker and truer to source material Judge Dredd director Danny Cannon and creator John Wagner had in mind for the film. Never the less, Stallone and the studio then cut the film even further, now hellbent on a PG-13 rating they would never get. Stallone blames this on the baggage he brought to the table, having been known for the ultra-violent Rambo franchise. He complained that it was ridiculous films like Congo were given a PG-13 when Dredd had little to no gore at all. Well, by the time he was done with it.

Much to the director and screenwriter’s dismay, Stallone would cut entire sequences from the film in an attempt to achieve his desired rating. From ABC warrior ripping off the Judge Griffin’s arms and legs, to the films ending with Dredd murdering clone Judges. It was all cut in an effort that would leave Cannon vowing to never work with another big name in Hollywood again.

Stallone, who also called the film his “biggest mistake” still holds strong on his feelings. He would even years later double down saying the problem was there still hadn’t been enough comedy and humorous sequences in the film. That they shouldn’t have tried to make it Hamlet. “When it’s more like Hamlet and Eggs”. Stallone blamed the miscommunication on the director, claiming Cannon to be diminutive. He shared a story that Cannon once jumped down from his director’s chair screaming “FEAR me! Everyone should Fear me!” and claiming the crew were taking bets on how long the director would stay alive.

Judge Dredd creator John Wagner would weigh in with his disappointment with the final product as well. He rightly claimed that the movie really had nothing to do with character he had written; that it told the wrong story and tried to do far too much. That this was a shame, especially considering all the production had going for it both budget and special effects wise.

The film was released in June of 1995 as films like Batman Forever and Apollo 13 dominated the box office. Judge Dredd would pull in less than $35 million in North America and $113 million overall. It was also greeted by mostly dismal critical reception with critics mostly praising the special effects and nothing else. The film received some Science Fiction and Special Effects nominations at the Saturn Awards that year, but even that came alongside Stallone being nominated for “Worst Actor” at the Golden Raspberry Awards.

Is too much blame being placed at the feet of beloved all time great action star and actor Sylvester Stallone here? That’s for you to decide. He was undoubtedly mistaken in his desires to change the character so far from its source material. But it was a confusing time. It was early in the superhero genre craze, yet late in the action superstar era. Stallone was just trying to make a great Sylvester Stallone film. Which is clearly what the studio wanted him to do. So, on one hand, he was just doing the job he thought he was hired to do. But the problem with Stallone being “the law” in this situation, is that it meant that the character of Judge Dredd couldn’t be. The room wasn’t big enough for the both of them. So much so that they even had to release two posters for the film. One adorning Judge Dredd in full helmet and regalia. And another featuring Stallone in dress blues about to fire a gun. Might as well have been Demolition Man’s John Spartan.

We would finally see our great Judge Dredd film when Karl Urban took on the character in 2012’s Dredd. Where he was adamant they stay true to the source material and leave that damn helmet on this time around. The film kicked major ass and was wildly successful among fans. Yet for some reason none of us will ever understand….was an even bigger failure at the box office than Stallone’s foray into the character. Still yet, Dredd has amassed an amazing cult following (us included) who are steadfast in our hopes for sequel redemption someday.

And that my friends, is what happened to Judge Dredd. Thanks for watching!

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