History YMMV / JudgeDredd

* MisaimedMarketing: The movie had a range of action figures. The movie was toned down significantly from the ultra-violent and cynical comic, but was still hardly for kids. More bewildering was the fact that in order to bulk the range out, it included several decidedly kid-unfriendly characters from the comic who didn't appear in the film, including Judge Death, an OmnicidalManiac whose favourite modus operandi consists of ripping people's beating hearts out of their chests and who murders kids for fun.

* MemeticMutation: Dredd's CatchPhrase "I am the law!", to the point that it occludes the fact to the general public that he's one of the more sensible Judges patrolling Mega-City One instead of a borderline psychotic lawman.

* NeverLiveItDown: Due to the sheer memetic-ness of his dedication to THE LAW, it can be surprising to new readers to find that Dredd is actually one of the more sensible Judges. Judge Dredd is fairly unique among long-lived comic book characters in that he ages in real time and his personality gradually changes over the years as he increasingly questions his role. Despite this, fans still often portray him as being obsessed with THE LAW and arresting criminals. He doesn't even use that CatchPhrase very much.

* {{Narm}}: Any time Dredd or Rico have to say the word "law". Since the movie deals with the law, this happens quite often.

** ''Judge friggin' Fire'' actually managed to achieve this for a split second, who for the record is as much of a genocidal walking corpse as his brothers, who has actually burned alive hundreds of children in one day on the excuse of "noise pollution". In ''Dreams of Deadworld'' it's shown that he was in love/obsessed with a female Dark Judge who killed herself rather than submit to him. He just keeps staring at her skull for decades to relive the memory, [[MadnessMantra constantly reiterating]] that as a Dark Judge he shouldn't have feelings anymore.

* TheWoobie:
** Many citizens fall into this category. Bennett Beeny stands out though. He spends his life [[AllLoveIsUnrequited pining for America Jara]]. When he finds her again, she's become a terrorist and later ends up being shot by a judge and winds up brain dead. He later transfers his consciousness to her body and has a daughter. There's a good reason ''America'' is considered one of the best stories. His suffering doesn't end there either, as America's body starts to reject his brain and he agrees to voluntary euthanasia. After he suffers a seizure as a result of this condition, he is gang raped after wandering outside the hospital, which a judge witnesses but refuses to prevent until after the fact. At least his hope that their daughter could reform the Justice Department from within by enrolling her at the Academy of Law after his death still lives on.
** Jess, the psychic little girl from Deadworld. Sees her entire family get murdered by a gang of apocalyptic zombie-cops, but develops an odd friendship with the grizzled Fairfax and has some adorable moments with their motorbike AI and a group of muties.

* KarmicOverkill: During the Apocalypse War, Chief Judge Griffin is captured by Sov Forces and brainwashed to become TheQuisling. Dredd infiltrates the base where he's kept and manages to snap Griffin out of it; Griffin then concludes that he has committed treason and deserves to be executed. While Griffin had indeed become a propaganda tool for the Sovs, it was clearly not through his own choice. His only crime was being captured alive.

-->'''Dredd''': You-betrayed-the-LAW!
-->'''Rico''': ''"LOOOAAAWWW!"''

* WTHCastingAgency:
** Chief Justice Fargo played by Creator/MaxVonSydow, presumably in a case of MoneyDearBoy.
** '''Ilsa''' Hayden played by Creator/JoanChen?
** Stallone as Dredd. He has the requisite chin, but with such a big-name star they simply couldn't afford to conceal his face the entire film.
** [[Music/IanDuryAndTheBlockheads Ian Dury]]?!
* WTHCostumingDepartment: While the judge uniform is quite close to the comics, that codpiece drew plenty of criticism ([[{{Narm}} Not to mention laughs]]).

* RetroactiveRecognition: Creator/SteveToussaint as Hunter Squad Leader. He would hit mainstream recognition years later as Lord Corlys Velarion in ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon''.

** Dredd and Rico's confrontation in the climax, which has sparked more than one StupidStatementDanceMix.

** It's usually accepted the DorkAge began to come to an end with John Wagner's return to the Prog with "Wilderlands" in 1994, and that it ended completely with is his full time return later in the year and the publication of the classic "The Pit" in 1995.

* DorkAge:
** For the most part, Creator/GarthEnnis' run on the strip wasn't all that well received. Ennis himself feels that his own reverence for the character meant he didn't take the piss like in a lot of his other work.
** However the follow up run by Creator/GrantMorrison and Creator/MarkMillar is almost universally despised and considered the strips absolute nadir to the extent that even 2000AD's official history Thrill power overload had nothing good to say about it.
** It's usually accepted the DorkAge began to come to an end with John Wagner's return to the Prog with "Wilderlands" in 1994, and that it ended completely with is his full time return later in the year and the publication of the classic "The Pit" in 1995.

** It's also possible to believe Judge Dredd went through CharacterDevelopment unlike a lot of comic book characters suffering from StatusQuoIsGod. Judge Dredd started as a far more idealistic and unambiguously heroic (if ridiculously strict) character around the events of "The Cursed Earth" only to become far more dark as well as menacing due to the events of "The Apocalypse War" that turned him into an executioner of hundreds of millions. This characterization would continue through the "Letter from a Democrat" and "America" storylines. That Judge Dredd was far more brutal as well as apathetic to the citizenry due to the inhumanity he'd seen as well as dished out. He then suffered a HeelRealization due to the events of "Letter to Judge Dredd" and only returned when the existential threat of Judge Death appeared and nearly killed every living thing in Mega-City One. He is now far more suspicious of fascism and even liberal by Judge standards, opposing fascists like Judge Smiley. Out of universe, this would be justified by John Wagner developing the world and refining the character behind the scenes to deal with the politics of the day.

** [[AwesomeMcCoolname Nate Slaughterhouse]]. He is a Space Corps veteran who is wounded in the line of duty (Read: Loses most of his body, apart from his head and one shoulder) and [[WeCanRebuildHim is given a cybernetic body]]. He quits the Corps along with his wife and they take their son to the Big Meg. After some problems with local gangs, Nate's wife is kidnapped and her brain wiped and replaced with a slave module and his son is murdered. This causes him to snap and become a VigilanteMan, [[StormingTheCastle culminating in him attacking the local crime boss' hideout on the Canadian border]] in a MiniMecha.

** Many citizens fall into this category. Bennett Beeny stands out though. He spends his life [[AllLoveIsUnrequited pining for America Jara]]. When he finds her again, she's become a terrorist and later ends up being shot by a judge and winds up brain dead. He later transfers his consciousness to her body and has a daughter. There's a good reason ''America'' is considered one of the best stories. His suffering doesn't end there either, as America's body starts to reject his brain and he agrees to voluntary euthanasia. At least his hope that their daughter could reform the Justice Department from within by enrolling her at the Academy of Law after his death still lives on.

* HilariousInHindsight:
** The ''Democracy Now'' quote at the top of the page seems a lot less like a convincing argument since Mayor of London, [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass Boris Johnson]], rescued a woman from a mugging that he happened upon while [[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8340865.stm cycling past]][[note]] Unlike certain other cities, the Mayor of London does not have automatic 24 hour bodyguards, it really was just him riding up[[/note]]. It seems an elected representative can work just fine.
** Judge Janus' first name? [[Series/JudgeJudy Judy]].
** The Justice Department's Chief of Science? Judge [[Series/BillNyeTheScienceGuy Nye]].
** Justice Department's ban on smoking in public areas, barring designated Smokatoriums, is strangely prophetic of the smoking bans that arose around the European Union in the noughties.
** During "The Cursed Earth" mega-epic, Dredd faces a T-Rex that [[Film/JurassicPark was cloned using reptile eggs and recovered dinosaur DNA for the purposes of a theme park]]. Of course, this makes [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Apu's rant to Principal Skinner]] about UsefulNotes/{{Plagiarism}} even funnier. Double points for the fact the story was written in ''1978.'' Twelve years before Michael Crichton wrote the book version.
** Simping seems a lot less unlikely thanks to [[https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/oct/07/creepy-clown-sightings-craze-speads-britain the Creepy Clown Craze]] of 2016. The term itself also counts, as simping entered the public lexicon in 2020, though is in a different context.
** The League Of Fatties protest marches are a lot more hilarious since the [[https://pics.me.me/berkeley-protest-in-2017-judge-dredd-comic-in-1982-0b-27726714.png Fatties Against Fascism]] protested at Berkeley in 2017.
** ''The Day the Law Died'' has a brief bit in which Cal declares [[Film/ThePurge all crime legal for 24 hours]]. Even better in that story also has Cal's government [[Film/ThePurgeAnarchy massacring citizens]] and [[Film/ThePurgeElectionYear assassinating Cal's opposition]].
** The name of one vigilante featured in the strips (2000ad #442)? [[Franchise/MegaMan Megaman]].

* HilariousInHindsight: The unfinished Janus Project clones, with their blue skin and exposed hearts, look a lot like [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil1 Tyrants]].

** It's also possible to believe Judge Dredd went through CharacterDevelopment unlike a lot of comic book characters suffering from StatusQuoIsGod. Judge Dredd started as a far more idealistic and unambiguously heroic (if ridiculously strict) character around the events of "The Cursed Earth" only to become far more dark as well as menacing due to the events of "The Apocalypse War" that turned him into an executioner of hundreds of millions. This characterization would continue through the "Letter from a Democrat" and "America" storylines. That Judge Dredd was far more brutal as well as apathetic to the citizenry due to the inhumanity he'd seen as well as dished out. He then suffered a HeelRealization due to the events of "Letter to Judge Dredd" and only returned when the existential threat of Judge Death appeared. He is now far more suspicious of fascism and even liberal by Judge standards, opposing fascists like Judge Smiley. Out of universe, this would be justified by John Wagner developing the world and refining the character behind the scenes to deal with the politics of the day.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZqNhrXjX_PamsbGEK9NLgZ-iKqMLuzUg The soundtrack itself]] also should be mentioned, featuring artists like Music/TheCure, Music/TheThe, [[Music/RobZombie White Zombie]], Music/CocteauTwins and Leftfield. The UK version even features two new tracks that were in the movie but were strangely absent from the US soundtrack, one by Ryo Aska from Chage & Aska and another by the band World Beaters featuring Youssou N'Dour.

* FoeYay: Judge Death mockingly kisses Judge Anderson after defeating her in a comatose nightmare. He's a corpse, by the way. Then there's his constant reminders of the psychic "bond" they share since he was holed up in her mind for a year.

* HamAndCheese: Sly and Creator/ArmandAssante's performances. You can tell they were having fun while filming. The actors playing the assorted thugs as well. Even Stallone admitted the movie was terribly hammy.

* HamAndCheese: Sly and Creator/ArmandAssante's performances. The actors playing the assorted thugs as well. Even Stallone admitted the movie was terribly hammy.