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The Film (3/5)
Dredd is another one of those, futuristic, post-apocalyptic science fiction films with dark, Noirish overtones, and ultra-gory violence. Taking place in the 21st Century, the United States has become a wasteland, called The Cursed Earth. Much of the population, over 800 million to be exact, have migrated to the East Coast in a place called Mega City One, which is ruled by criminals, gangs and drug lords. The only obstacles in the way of them are “judges” – which are basically police officers that have the authority to be the judge, jury and executioners of the criminals. Judge Dredd (Karl Urban, Star Trek, Doom) , who is considered to be one of the best, most lethal judges ,along with his trainee partner , psychic Judge Casandra Anderson (Olivia Thirlby, No Strings Attached )are called upon to investigate some murders and discover a huge drug scene. There is a new bunch of thugs in town, called The Ma-Ma Gang, led by Ma-Ma (Lena Headey, The Purge) who have taken over Peach Trees, a huge 200 floor slum building and are pushing a new narcotic called Slo-Mo. Ma-Ma and her clan are at first being tracking down by Judge Dredd, but she turns the tide by shutting the building down, trapping Dredd and the other judges inside and having her gang hunt the judges down. What follows are basically endless, tireless scenes of very bloody gunshot violence. You won’t get bored, unless you don’t find it to be all that exciting after a few dozen scenes of blood spurting from gunshot action.
Dredd, whether you love it or hate it, was a huge success and has a huge cult following. It’s a very dark super hero movie with a simple story, with the action and violence being the core of the film. Dark characters and ninety minutes of gunshot violence is what Dredd is all about. Director Travis knew what his audience wanted and he gave it to them in spades. He does keep the film moving along quickly, and keeps the action moving along at a non-stop pace
The acting isn’t bad; the actors all play their parts very well. The main character, obviously Dredd, is played by Karl Urban with indifference and without a great deal of appeal or pizzazz and the other characters aren’t all that appealing either, but that probably actually makes the film appealing to its fans. It’s a grim future, hence the characters are all grim, dark and act like they all wouldn’t care of they died; and fans love it to death.
Audio/Video (5/5)
Lionsgate presents Dredd in its original letterboxed 2:39:1 aspect ratio, in 2160P, 4K UHD, and it’s pretty stunning, but also not overwhelming, which it didn’t need to be anyway. The look of the film maintains its grittiness while also boasting rich, vivid colors. Blacks are deep and are well balanced. Especially vivid are the scenes when the characters are under the slo-mo drug; the psychedelic colors really stand out here. The faces of the characters are also very detailed, very rich in texture
The audio used by Lionsgate is English Dolby Atmos and it’s just outstanding. The gunshots, explosions and other sounds are just superior to previous releases, mind you those weren’t bad either, but Dolby Atmos will have you hearing the sound effects all around you.
Extras (4/5)
The UHD disc contains no extras, however, thanks to this being a UHD, Blu-ray combo release; you can still enjoy the supplements on the Blu-ray disc. Extras include: Mega-City Masters: 35 Years of Judge Dredd Featurette, Day of Chaos: The Visual Effects of Dredd 3D Featurette, a Dredd Featurette, a Dredd's Gear Featurette, The 3rd Dimension Featurette, Welcome to Peachtrees Featurette, Dredd Motion Comic Prequel Featurette, and the theatrical trailer
Overall (4/5)
Dredd is just brainless, bleak futuristic fun with darkness all around. Fans will have a blast watching all the gunshots penetrating the flesh throughout the film. If you already own the Blu-ray, upgrading to UHD is a no-brainer as the film does look even better, with amazing audio. And also, since this is a UHD/Blu-ray combo, you can still enjoy the extras on this release. The judges verdict is in - upgrade today!
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