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You know who should have directed this movie?


Ridley Scott. He would have made it the darkest, coolest comic book action movie ever.



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No, you are wrong.
You are wrong for two reasons.

1. It doesn't matter who were to direct this movie as it currently stands, due to the extreme shortcomings of the script.
You see the script was built ground up as a Stallone vehicle, featuring the standard Stallone plotline of a fugitive running from and working against the system, forced into the Judge Dredd mold. This is a fundamental clash with the source material at the most basic level, as Judge Dredd IS the system. With the script they used, not even a director the calibre of Ridley Scott could have lifted it from the movie that we have right now.

2. Even if you were to toss out the crap script used, and replace it with a proper script which is consistent with the world of Judge Dredd, Ridley Scott still would be the wrong choice.
Scott excels at having the protagonist screwed over by the higher ups, and going through a huge character arch getting out of trouble. While this might have been a decent fit for the premise used in the 1995 movie, it doesn't help as that premise is not consistent with a workable Judge Dredd movie.
Judge Dredd is the system. He has no arch to speak of. He is the oppressor personified, not the oppressed fighting back. He is every evil corporation, emperor, prince, and other villanous autority that has ever featured in any Ridley Scott movie, all rolled into one. And while an antihero, he is also the protagonist. There is nothing in his resume to suggest that he'd be the perfect fit for Judge Dredd.

A Judge Dredd movie with the right script and the right director does indeed have the potenial to be the darkest, coolest comic action movie ever.
But the 1995 script wasn't the right script, and I doubt very much Ridley Scott would be the right director.

Tesla was robbed!

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[deleted]

featuring the standard Stallone plotline of a fugitive running from and working against the system

Actually, some of the plot line of this was movie was taken from Judge Dredd comics, mostly The Day the Law Died, where the system was corrupt by Judge Caligula and Dredd was labeled a fugitive, therefore to set things "right" he would have to go against the system, a bit a very corrupt one. The comic story is obviously better though.

I an't afraid of no ghosts!

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[deleted]

Paul verhoven or however you spell it would have been good.

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In my opinion Verhoeven wouldn't only be good, he'd be the ultimate Judge Dredd director.

Tesla was robbed!

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[deleted]

Mr. (or Ms) Norse Sage gets it bang on. You need someone with a facility for black comedy, not Ridley Scott, who, whatever other his strengths or shortcomings as a director are, has never shown much of a facility for humour. Of course, Dredd and his world are open to all sorts of interpretations, some humorous, some dark and serious, but a movie introducing people to the character would probably be best adopting the overriding tone of the comics: dark humour, satire, a deliberately OTT future shock world.

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If memory serves me right Tony Scott was up for directing duties before Danny Cannon ultimately got the gig.

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If you were to ask me who should've been directing Judge Dredd ideally if you wanted a violent sci fi actioner, Paul Verhoeven.

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Paul Verhoeven

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