Scene of the Week: Judge Dredd – I am THE LAW

There are many things you can say about Sylvester Stallone’s 1995 attempt to bring the 2000 A.D. content to the big screen: the casting is top notch (who betta than Sly?), the costumes are fantastic (by Gianni Versace), and you can’t go wrong with anything involving Diane Lane. The negatives, however, seem to be what most people remember about the film and for that it has largely been swept away from our collective action memory.

The character of Judge Dredd should never, ever remove his mask! That is the first thing that anyone mentions when you talk about this flick. Stallone and the filmmakers were too eager (for good reason, probably) to remove the mask and show the star’s face. I know that Stallone and director Danny Cannon did not see eye to eye during most of the production and I think you can see it play out on screen with the inconsistent tone of the film. I am still a big believer in the entertainment value of this mid-90’s comic book flick and continue to say that Stallone might be the best cast comic book character of all time till my last breath. What I cant’ get over, however, is the awful feeling that I get when I listen to all of the jokes seeping from the mouth of Rob Schneider. Whether they’re funny or not, they just don’t fit and that is my biggest problem with the film.

I dare you to watch this opening scene of Judge Dredd and not tell me that it is borderline perfect.