Dredd - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Dredd

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
Dredd is back! And this time without the trappings of Sylvester Stallone and Rob Schneider to turn it from an incredibly bleak and dark satirical comic into the MESS that Judge Dredd was. That 1990s piece of cheese almost killed any hope of seeing a true to the source adaptation of the British comic in my lifetime, and I pretty much put it out of my mind. Filled up to the brim with all sorts of 90s cheese and pandering to Stallone’s star power, it never took the source material very seriously and what we got was only a REMNANT of the dark comic’s protentional. I have to admit that I DO have a soft spot for Judge Dredd, but only as a Stallone vehicle, and ONLY with a lot of beer at my side. It’s schlock, band beyond redemption, but I do have a weakness for films like that. As a fan of the Judge Dredd character, I die a bit each time I watch, though. Now fast forward over 25 years in the future we actually GOT a fantastic Dredd film with this new (but decidedly cheaper budget wise) take on Mega City One.

Dredd is set in a dystopian future, where the world is a post-apocalyptic nightmare of chaos. The world that we grew up in is no longer there, ravaged by the throws of nuclear devastation. The cities, small towns and municipalities that are familiar to us have been replaced with the rest of humanity all hovering together in giant cities known as “Mega Cities”, packing all of the good, the bad, and the ugly together in close proximity. As a result, Mega City One (the largest and home base of the reining government) is home to over 17,000 violent crimes a day. Ruled by a fascist government who came into power as a result of all the chaos, the world is kept in some semblance of order thanks to Judges. Men and women who have been given the power of law and act as judge, jury, and (sometimes) executioner, the most famous and ruthless of them being Judge Dredd (Karl Urban)

Dredd is a cold and relentless judge, passing out judgement without mercy, without feeling, and without fail. Today is his “lucky” day as he’s been given a new recruit to field test as she gain’s her badge as a judge. Initiate Anderson (Thirlby) has failed the tests multiple times and found not emotionally worthy of being a judge, but she has a genetic gift of psychic powers that make her highly desirable among the top brass, so she has been given a lot of leeway. Disgusted and displeased at the recruit’s lack of normal “judge” qualities, Dredd gives Anderson no quarter, pushing her directly into the scummiest section of Mega City One to investigate a murder in a high rise (a common building in Mega City One, which houses hundreds of thousands of people in that one single building). The only thing is, this particular high rise is lorded over by Ma-Ma (Lena Headey), a ruthless drug lord who has taken up residence there and has made it her base of operations in her proliferation of a new (and very dangerous) drug known as “Slo-mo”. Realizing that this murder that she committed may bring a LOT of unwanted attention to her operation, Ma-Ma waits till the judges are inside before locking down the building and taking out a hit on their lives, making Anderson earn her stripes in a bloody battle to the top where Dredd plans on meeting out his form of justice.

Due to the budget constraints we won’t see some huge post-apocalyptic epic, or even some of the more interesting places in the Judge Dredd universe, but director Peter Travis does an excellent job with the money he’s been given, and gives us a mix of Judge Dredd and “The Raid” in a stunning display of brutality and tongue in cheek. Being that it’s set in a cramped skyscraper we really only see a few different set areas, but the sheer visceral nature of the battles and non-stop kinetic action keeps the viewer on the edge of their seat and never bored. One thing that still annoyed me was that they still tried to humanize Dredd to a certain amount. Not nearly as much as Stallone’s portrayal, but it was still there. Judge Dredd was originally conceived as a true anti-hero, a monstrous weapon that was used by a fascist government to keep the people in line. He’s supposed to be a true monster, He’s not someone to be admired or looked up to, but as a symbol for what humanity COULD become if their darker aspects were allowed to flourish. Especially in the reining class (the comics was a satirical take on the fascist tendencies that Britain was going through at the time). The humor was black, and the action was non-stop. While they have kept VERY true to the source material in this outing, it almost came across as cheesy in the bleak settings, to see those little hints of compassion or mercy that he doled out, albeit sparingly. Dredd himself was played amazingly well by Urban. The mask is kept on the ENTIRE movie (something I thoroughly applaud) and we’re only privy to Dredd’s thought processes through the use of his mouth and lower facial expressions. Thirlby is excellent as the rookie judge, unsure of herself and whether or not she had what it takes to be judge, jury and executioner.


“Dredd” is not a wildly intelligent film on paper, it has a simple storyline, but I give props to Peter Travis for his execution, excuse the pun, of the source material. The movie is bleak, dark and almost depressing with barely a hint of hope, but the film is a nonstop whirlwind of action that just grabs ahold of you and never let’s go until the credits roll. The film is simplistic, and uses minimal props or plot devices, but it captures much of the basic feel of the Dredd universe, giving us one of the best adaptations of the source material to date. Sadly, the film never spawned a sequel, but the rumors of a TV show has given new hope for fans of the comics.




Rating:

Rated R for strong bloody violence, language, drug use and some sexual content




Video:

Lionsgate had a rocky start with their 4K UHD catalog titles as films like The Expendables III or Ender’s Game were NOT that impressive. However, they’ve improved a lot in their encoding process and choice of titles recently, and that has garnered them some really nice-looking films. Dredd just happens to looks and sound FANTASTIC on 4K and is a BIG improvement over the Blu-ray. For fans of 3D there is no 3D in the 4K UHD world as of yet, and that trend continues. The same 2D/3D Blu-ray that was released a few years back is included in the combo pack for those who want the 3D experience, while the 2D 4K UHD release is what we’re going to focus on here today. I originally viewed the 2D Blu-ray a few years back and was pretty impressed by the picture, but Dredd was a bleak looking film that used a LOT of darkness and some murky looking shots combined with hyper kinetic neon colors get layer the film’s visuals. Those same techniques are employed, but the upgrade form 1080p to 2160p, and the use of HDR makes a REALLY big difference in how the image looks. Most of the banding that was present on the Blu-ray is completely gone, and the textures are so real you can almost reach out and touch them. The strong glow of a computer screen, or the bright bursts of machine gun fire all pop off the screen, while the pitch black nature of the building is amplified with inky blacks that are just soooooooooo silky smooth. I honestly have to say that I’m really shocked, as the hyper stylized film was only just “really good” on Blu-ray, and I was NOT expecting this big of a leap.






Audio:

While the film may have been filmed on a meager shoestring budget, the audio track is definitely top notch and up there with the best. Lionsgate originally encoded the Blu-ray in DTS-HD MA 7.1, but it was optimized for 11.1 playback. Now we get the real deal treatment with a brand new minted Dolby Atmos mix that just takes the already excellent 7.1 track to new heights. From the first moment we hear Dredd’s motorcycle roaring through the city streets, I knew we were in for a treat. Sounds pan across all channels with ease and suck you into the center of the dystopian society. Dynamic range is off the charts, from the Dredd’s guttural whispers to the thunderous gunplay, “Dredd” careens across all layers of the spectrum. Surround use is amazing, bullets whiz from every direction, pieces of the wall crash to the ground on all sides and the roaring of vehicles shift from all directions. LFE is absolutely off the charts, and I don’t mean that it’s that thundering mid bass that pounds your walls, but there is an AMAZING amount of very low bass, just pulsing in the background. An elevator shifting floors rumbles the walls so deep that hairs started rising on the backs of my arms, and of course the gun and fist fights shook the walls to foundations. Voices are crisp and clear, even with such a strong dynamic range, locked right in the center channel as desired. The use of overhead’s is rock solid as the two judges move up the high-rise building, with sounds coming from entire floors above them and eerily placed right above the listener. While the audio isn’t a HUGE upgrade (the 7.1 DTS-HD MA track was already incredibly well done), the change to Atmos is noticeable and makes for a viscerally appealing experience.
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Extras:

• Mega-City Masters: 35 Years of Judge Dredd
• Day of Chaos: The Visual Effects of "Dredd"
• "Dredd" Featurette
• Dredd's Gear
• The 3rd Dimension
• Welcome to Peachtrees
• "Dredd" Motion Comic Prequel
• Theatrical Trailer
• Other Titles from Lionsgate

Final Score:

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While it underperformed at the box office, Dredd gained new legs in the home video market, and became one of my favorite movies of 2012. I had some criticisms of the film back 5 years ago, but over time I’ve become really attached to the brutal action film. It has a style that incredibly unique and while the lower budget had some limitations, the close quarters combat and bleak stylings of the Dredd comicverse have never looked better. The upgrade from Blu-ray to 4K UHD Blu-ray is well worth it, in my opinion, as the disc has stunning video and some REALLY amazing audio to boot. Extras are the same ones housed on the Blu-ray disc (no new ones are ported across), but this is a must grab if you’re a fan of the film as the double dip is worth it for once.



Technical Specifications:

Starring: Karl Urban, Lena Headey, Olivia Thurlby
Directed by: Pete Travis
Written by: John Wagner, Carlos Ezquerra
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 HEVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 core)
Studio: Lionsgate
Rated: R
Runtime: 96 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: June 6th, 2017

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Great Buy

 

[JBrax]

You've talked me into it. I thoroughly enjoyed Dredd so I'll be picking this up tomorrow. Thanks for the review Mike.

 

[Todd Anderson]

The infrasonic material in this movie is INSANE! If I remember correctly, there's a battle scene where Dredd gets angry in a cafeteria setting? The bass as his anger builds is eardrum busting!

 

[Jon Liu]

You're really making it tough. I am trying NOT to double dip on titles and this review is really, really making it hard not to!

 

[Todd Anderson]

We might need to shut Mike down. He's destroying our wallets!

 

[Michael Scott]

 

[Michael Scott]

The infrasonic material in this movie is INSANE! If I remember correctly, there's a battle scene where Dredd gets angry in a cafeteria setting? The bass as his anger builds is eardrum busting!

that and the scene where the eleveator is going up. There's a low end rumble that goes into the single digits that just FRIGHTENING. almost made me want to rebuild my subs and go a full sealed array just to dip that low

 

[Todd Anderson]

I didn't measure it... but I could feel it. It's a pretty amazing basshead moment!

 

[Jon Liu]

Thinking about this movie again yesterday, I had to pop in my 3D copy just to check out a couple scenes. I thought maybe that popping in the disc again would help subside this desire you've created to double dip... yeah, nope. One of my favorite scenes all around is the gatling gun scene. So, so much carnage! As I watched it, I was thinking how the HDR highlights would enhance those muzzle flashes.

 

[JBrax]

Tried picking it up yesterday at BB and sadly they didn't order any. I guess I'll have to order off Amazon.

 

[Jon Liu]

Tried picking it up yesterday at BB and sadly they didn't order any. I guess I'll have to order off Amazon.

It's not out until next week. Thankfully my wallet gets a break this week

 

[Todd Anderson]

Jon - that's a great scene. Looks like you'll need to report back and let us know if the buy was worth it. ;-)

 

[Jon Liu]

Oh so I'm the guinea pig????? I see how it is...

 

[JBrax]

It's not out until next week. Thankfully my wallet gets a break this week

Well that would explain then!

 

[phillip]

I don't even have a 4k player and I'm thinking about buying this again Loved the movie!

 

[phillihp23]

Just curious how does the blu ray copy in this combo compare to the blu ray/3D combo on one disc? I just purchased the 4K combo and was wondering if I should swap out the blu ray with the blu ray/3D copy and then pawn the regular blu ray from the 4K combo.

 

[Michael Scott]

It's the same disc