When Tulsa King star Sylvester Stallone is asked about his long career, he rarely holds back with his opinion. For example, he described Stop! Or My Mommy Will Shoot! as the “worst film in the solar system”. He has also been very critical of Judge Dredd over the years.
Judge Dredd was based on a fantastic idea, but the execution disappointed Sylvester Stallone
The Science fiction film based on the iconic character from the 2000 AD comicswhich dealt with issues such as police brutality with the masked avenger from the future. Anyone who watches Judge Dredd from 1995 may wonder where this aspect has gone. Sylvester Stallone certainly felt the same way.
At the press conference for John Rambo in 2008, Stallone spoke about Judge Dredd and did not hold back in describing his disappointment, as Digital Spy reported at the time:
I think the biggest mistake I ever made was the sloppy implementation of Judge Dredd.
The project began with enthusiasm for the idea of a futuristic Dirty Harry, who would leave a trail of violence through the streets in the name of law and order:
I thought that would have a fantastic, nihilistic, interesting vision of the future can be – judge, jury and executioner. This [Film] really bothered me a lot.Why the sci-fi film with Sly Stallone failed
Why Judge Dredd was neither a nihilistic vision of the future nor a convincing satire remains a matter of debate to this day. One of the reasons may have been the conflict between the star and director Danny Cannon, who have hardly said a positive word about each other in retrospect. Stallone, who according to the producers had considerable influence on the film, complained in an interview with Uncut that the tone of the film had not been “was carved in stone”.
Universe Film
Sylvester Stallone in Judge Dredd
The time pressure under which the film was completed (with up to three editors) probably didn’t help either. Judge Dredd was released in US cinemas in June 1995 and grossed only $113 million worldwide – at a cost of almost $90 million (via The Numbers).
17 years later, the remake Dredd was released with Karl Urban in the lead role, which was also a box office disappointment. At least this Dredd was much better received by critics and also satisfied comic book creator John Wagner. Stallone’s version had failed in this respect.
Unfortunately, Judge Dredd is not currently available on any German streaming provider. However, you can catch up on the new Dredd film on several Amazon channels.