lab276 Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 It was pretty much DOA even with good reviews. You can blame the marketing as much as you can blame the original. The first thing you think of when you watch the trailer is flop city.The first thing I thought when I saw the trailer was "A violent bloody movie set in a Blade Runner city? Sign me the fuck up!". 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Nevada Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 I thought the trailer looked pretty cool 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adm56 Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 The first thing I thought when I saw the trailer was "A violent bloody movie set in a Blade Runner city? Sign me the fuck up!".That's just it though....it's NOT a Blade Runner city. The city in Blade Runner was much more interesting to look at.As I mentioned elsewhere I'm a fan of the comics. But in a way I think they made the movie TOO bland and dreary. Endless concrete hallways...a lot of gray in the scenery. As silly as the first film was their MegaCity One was more interesting to look at and fit the comics better IMO. I always thought the comics stressed the population pressure of having so many people in such a small area, but didn't stress the povery aspect as much as this film did.I realize the budget is to blame and nothing can be done about it. And I suppose I'm happy that it was made rather than not. But it could have been a lot more FUN. And I think word of mouth will suffer because they do little to establish the events in the film which makes the scenario our heroes deal with fall a little flat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lab276 Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 How it matches up with the comics, or doesn't, won't be an issue for me. But a Blade Runner city is just a vast oppressive metropolis, so it counts. I haven't seen the film yet though, so I might end up disappointed, but I doubt that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adm56 Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 Fair enough....I just don't think they give us any visuals that are as interesting as the Statue of Liberty surrounded by skyscrapers or the huge advertising signs you see in Blade Runner. And I don't think it's ALL due to the low budget. It's also an artistic choice that I don't agree with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rahvinn87 Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 As I've said before I thought the trailer was good, it was actually what first made me interested in the film.I think what pains me that most is that you've got (relative) trash like The Expendables 2 doing pretty well at the BO, and a a film like Dredd, which is 10x better as an action film (amongst other things) is flopping. It's sad.Adm, I'm not a reader of the comics so I can't personally comment on how it performs as an adaptation. However I will say that you are the first comic fan I have heard from who has been disappointed with it. The vast majority have loved it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adm56 Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 Fair enough. I've always been unique. ) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adm56 Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 I posted this in another thread as I still work on organizing my thoughts about the film. Might be relevant to the discussion here:The new film is just another example of the recent trend to make things TOO dark and serious IMO. That's not Dredd. My favorite 'short story' with him is where he's in a diner's bathroom...gets interrupted while on the john by a robbery....bursts out to dispatch the perps with violent efficiency...and then mumbles something about having to finish his 'paperwork' while stumbling back to the bathroom (who knew that Dredd even needed to wipe!).These filmmakers missed the point by just turning him into a violent cop without the irony. The last film had more of the satire from the comics ('You could have gone out the window'. '30 floors Dredd?' 'Yes...but it would have been LEGAL). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rahvinn87 Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 (edited) I posted this in another thread as I still work on organizing my thoughts about the film. Might be relevant to the discussion here: The new film is just another example of the recent trend to make things TOO dark and serious IMO. That's not Dredd. My favorite 'short story' with him is where he's in a diner's bathroom...gets interrupted while on the john by a robbery....bursts out to dispatch the perps with violent efficiency...and then mumbles something about having to finish his 'paperwork' while stumbling back to the bathroom (who knew that Dredd even needed to wipe!). These filmmakers missed the point by just turning him into a violent cop without the irony. The last film had more of the satire from the comics ('You could have gone out the window'. '30 floors Dredd?' 'Yes...but it would have been LEGAL). This is where it comes down to judging a film by it's worthiness as an adaptation versus it's worthiness as a film. Personally I loved the film for what it was. I think the elements you mentioned would have made the film worse, or possibly even ruined it (if implemented badly). EDIT: For me Urban's portrayal of Dredd is brilliant in this version because he is a logical, law is everything, cool, calm, but brutal character. But my favourite thing about him is he has this darkness and anger lying just beneath the surface which you sense is barely kept in check most of the time (this is detected by Anderson when they first meet, and you see it begin to surface when he is beating up that crook for information later on). I love it. IMO any attempt to make the character lighter, or more humerous would have utterly, utterly ruined this portrayal. This is just personal taste I guess. For instance I just don't get what's so great about the scene you mentioned. Edited September 22, 2012 by rahvinn87 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adm56 Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 It's funny. Put I'll admit you have to like potty humor. :)As a reboot the film didn't do enough world building if you ask me, And in a way I don't think it NEEDED to be a Dredd film. Meaning it could have been about a random violent cop without missing much of a beat. Most of what was shown regarding what makes Dredd Dredd was too lightly touched upon IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rahvinn87 Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 The thing is I really enjoyed the universe as presented in the film. I don't think Urban's character would have been quite as brilliant/iconic to me if he had just been a regular cop, you know?I definitely agree about the world building, but at the same time I loved the sleak, focused nature of the film. Too much extra 'stuff' might have ruined that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adm56 Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 I had trouble finding a good pic but this one sums up the MegaCity One architecture for me: It's too bad they didn't have the budget for it, but then again it WAS an artistic choice as well because at most they would have had to change about two or threee shots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ecstasy Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Avon Barksdale is in this movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deep Wang Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Avon Barksdale is in this movie.I can't believe he would let someone just take his territory like that! Prison must have made him soft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishstick Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 I had trouble finding a good pic but this one sums up the MegaCity One architecture for me: It's too bad they didn't have the budget for it, but then again it WAS an artistic choice as well because at most they would have had to change about two or threee shots. Considering how bad opening is, it`s for the best that they ddin`t have the budget. This didn`t tank because of the look of the city but because there was no interest in it in general and because End of watch ate up action fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ecstasy Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 I can't believe he would let someone just take his territory like that! Prison must have made him soft.Haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozymandias Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Seeing this latest cult classic in a few hours! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wileECoyote Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Seeing this latest cult classic in a few hours!In five minutes. Can't wait! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fmpro Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Seeing this latest cult classic in a few hours!Ride'n thru this world.... All alone.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishstick Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 (edited) This is just a bump in Karl Urban`s road to happening. He will happen. He`s got great reviews for this and nobody expected his name to open the movie anyway. Edited September 23, 2012 by fishnets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
