Line #81 Film/JudgeDredd


1	[[quoteright:296:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Judge_Dredd_promo_poster_7019.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:296:Court's adjourned.]]
3
4	->'''Dredd''': You killed innocent people!\
5	'''Rico''': A means to an end!\
6	'''Dredd''': '''You started a massacre!'''\
7	'''Rico''': '''I caused a revolution!'''\
8	'''Dredd''': '''''YOU BETRAYED THE LAW!'''''\
9	'''Rico''': '''''[[ChewingTheScenery LAAAAAWWWWWWW!]]'''''
10
11	''Judge Dredd'' is a 1995 film adaptation of [[ComicBook/JudgeDredd the comic book of the same name]] directed by Danny Cannon and starring Creator/SylvesterStallone, Creator/ArmandAssante, Creator/DianeLane, Creator/RobSchneider, Creator/MaxVonSydow and Creator/JurgenProchnow.
12
13	Following ecological and social breakdown in the 31st Century, those who survived flocked to the Mega-Cities, large urban landscapes covering hundreds of square miles. The Mega-Cities become overcrowded, giving way to wide-scale, uncontrollable crime and violence. Law and Justice, as we know them, become something of the past. To combat the rampant criminal activity, a new kind of police force is created, one with the power to dispense both justice and punishment, acting as JudgeJuryAndExecutioner. They are The Judges.
14
15	The most dangerous of the Mega-Cities is Mega-City One, and to combat those dangers is the toughest of the Judges. His name is Judge Joseph Dredd.
16
17	Convicted of a crime he didn't commit, Dredd is out to bring justice to the situation which has befallen him as he uncovers the nasty conspiracy surrounding the perfect criminal, Rico.
18
19	The film combines characters and major plot points from about five completely separate story arcs in the comics along with other minor elements from the comic's history and tries to blend it all together in a single 96-minute narrative.
20
21	For the 2012 film adaptation, see ''Film/{{Dredd}}''.
22	----
23	!!Judge Dredd: The Film provides examples of:
24
25	%%* ActionGirl: Judge Hershey.
26	* AdaptationDistillation: Elements from a bunch of different arcs are mashed together, including ''The Return of Rico'' (Dredd's corrupt twin brother Rico returns from a prison colony to get revenge), ''The Day the Law Died'' (an insane and tyrannical senior Judge seizes power), ''The Cursed Earth'' (Dredd traverses the bombed-out territory outside the city), ''The Judge Child Quest'' (Dredd encounters the Angel family), and ''Oz'' (Dredd thwarts a plot to conquer the city with an army of clones), greatly condensing their stories.
27	* AdaptationNameChange: The ABC Warrior is Hammerstein from ''ComicBook/ABCWarriors'', likely because ''ABC Warriors'' is a less well known property and the robot in question lacks Hammerstein's trademark hammer.
28	* AdaptationalVillainy: Judge Griffin is one of the bad guys here, filling a similar role to Judge Cal from the comics in framing Dredd and trying to take over the city, but with the insanity toned down and paired up with Rico. Judge Griffin in the comics was one of Dredd's main allies against Cal and served as a decent Chief Judge for some time afterwards.
29	* AdaptationalWimp: Fergie from the comics is a musclebound mutant brawler so tough that he made himself king of the Big Smelly and went toe-to-toe with Judge Dredd himself in one-on-one combat. The 1995 movie makes him a ButtMonkey citizen and comic relief character played by Creator/RobSchneider.
30	* AllCrimesAreEqual: Judge Griffin proposes to reduce crime rates by imposing the death penalty for "lesser crimes". He is shot down by the much wiser Chief Justice Fargo, which prompts Griffin to come up with a plan to get rid of the Council and run the city himself.
31	* TheAllegedCar:
32	** The prototype Lawmaster with a hovering function which Dredd demonstrates to a class of cadets. It is later apparently adopted by the SJS with its flaws still remaining.
33	** The Lawmaster props were this in RealLife. The tyres were so big, they were incredibly difficult to steer properly.
34	* AllegedLookalikes: The film got a lot of mockery for featuring Creator/SylvesterStallone and Creator/ArmandAssante as "identical twins" Joseph and Rico Dredd, who are both the clone sons of Chief Justice Fargo (Creator/MaxVonSydow). All three men have vastly different facial structures and body types. The whole thing runs on HollywoodGenetics, with Rico's DNA being so identical to Joseph's that he can frame him for a murder by planting the gun that Rico used, so they aren't non-identical twins or something like that.
35	* AlmostDeadGuy: [[spoiler: Former Chief Justice Fargo]] after being wounded by Mean Machine Angel.
36	* AndStarring: The opening cast roll ends with "and Creator/MaxVonSydow".
37	* AndTheAdventureContinues: After the whole crazy situation has been resolved, Dredd refuses to become a Chief Judge [[spoiler:to replace the ones lost to Rico's massacre]] by saying that he's a Street Judge and he is late to his patrol, and riding off into the sunrise.
38	* ArchEnemy: Dredd has Rico, his sadistic brother whom he personally arrested in the past, and is back for revenge.
39	* AreTheseWiresImportant: The ABC robot is disabled by Fergee going to town on its brain, yanking on whatever small wires he can grab.
40	* ArmorPiercingQuestion: After Dredd is sentenced to life in prison, he finds himself seated next to Fergee, who is shocked to see the same Judge who convicted him just the day before in chains.
41	-->'''Fergee:''' What are ''you'' doing here?\
42	'''Judge Dredd:''' I was convicted of a crime. ''Wrongly'' convicted.\
43	'''Fergee:''' ''[chuckles]'' Really? That's kinda weird. What are the odds? Two wrongly convicted guys sitting right next to each other?\
44	'''Judge Dredd:''' You received the sentence the law required.\
45	'''Fergee:''' ''[angrily]'' Five years? Just for saving my own ass? That was a mistake!\
46	'''Judge Dredd:''' The law doesn't make mistakes.\
47	'''Fergee:''' Really? Then how do you explain what happened to ''you''?\
48	'''Dredd:''' ''[Remains silent, having no answer.]''
49	* ArtisticLicenseGunSafety:
50	** In the beginning, Judge Dredd makes three major mistakes in regards to the rioters firing down on him and the other Judges:
51	*** First, he describes the mix of weapons fired on them as if they all share the same characteristics. Even guns that fire the same ammunition can differ in how they handle accuracy and recoil, but there's no reason to assume they all had the same range.
52	*** Second, the idea of an effective lethal range. Calculation of effective range has more to do with the expectation that a shooter can actually hit who they are aiming at. The reason why it's not presented as lethal range is because bullets only need a relatively low amount of force to wound or kill because of their penetration.
53	*** Third, the shooters were firing down. Their aim may be terrible, but the bullets are going to keep heading in that direction regardless because of gravity. In an example of both this point and number two above, people have been killed before by someone firing into the air because bullets come back down with enough force from gravity alone to kill someone.
54	** Dredd uses a grenade round from his Lawgiver to blow up a guy's car without regard for the implications of doing so on a busy city street.
55	* AvengingTheVillain: [[spoiler:[[DarkActionGirl Dr. Hayden]] attempts to do this when Dredd throws Rico off the Art/StatueOfLiberty -- appearing right afterward and taking aim at him with Fargo's shotgun whilst he's still hanging on from the ledge. However, she gets shot in the back by Judge Hershey before she can kill him]].
56	* AwardBaitSong: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGxAOrp9Nb4 Dredd Song]]" by The Cure.
57	* BadOmenAnecdote: Dredd and Fergie are trying to get back into Mega City.
58	-->'''Dredd:''' There is a way in. Six years ago, two refugees figured it out. It's a vent to the city's incinerator. There's a burst twice a minute. That means somebody could run through that tube and have 30 seconds before it flames again.\
59	'''Fergie:''' And these, these refugees, they made it through, right?\
60	'''Dredd:''' Actually, they were roasted. But the theory's sound.
61	* BaitAndSwitchGunshot: Former Chief Justice Fargo to a Capture Team member who was about to shoot Dredd.
62	* BallisticDiscount: Rico uses the Lawgiver provided to him by the gun shop owner to kill him and steal his ABC robot.
63	* {{BFG}}: For part of the second half of the film, Dredd ends up using [[spoiler: Fargo's]] really huge shotgun.
64	* BigBad: Rico Dredd, Dredd's brother who is plotting to destroy the Judge system.
65	* BigGuyRodeo: Rob Schneider does this to Rico's ABC robot.
66	* BigNo:
67	** Dredd when Brisco recklessly charges into the room, followed by Hershey after he is killed.
68	** Mr. Souza yells "No!" as Dredd blows up his Lamborghini-like hovercar.
69	** Dredd exclaims this when [[spoiler: former Chief Justice Fargo]] is mortally wounded.
70	** [[spoiler: Judge Griffin]] lets one out just before the ABC robot rips his limbs off.
71	* BondOneLiner:
72	** Near the beginning of the film, a street rioter kills rookie Street Judge Brisco, and as Dredd lists off the sentences for his various crimes, the perp sarcastically asks if the murder nets him life in prison before attempting to kill Dredd. Dredd kills him before remarking that the punishment is "Death. Court's adjourned."
73	** [[StuffBlowingUp "Happy motoring."]]
74	* BornAsAnAdult: An intended occurrence for the new Janus Project clones, but [[{{Squick}} Rico lets them out a little early.]]
75	* BrokenSystemDogmatist: Dredd gets a metaphorical slap-in-the-face about The Law of the Megacities when the very supposedly-airtight system he sought to defend and praise has him arrested for the presumed murder of a news critic and his wife, since the DNA imprint on the weapon matched his. ([[spoiler:It was actually Dredd's brother, Rico, who fired the weapon]].) Fergie later temporarily wakes him up to the problems inherent in The Law, as they travel to the prison:
76	-->'''Fergie:''' ''[after noticing Dredd is sitting next to him]'' What are you doing here?
77	-->'''Dredd:''' I was convicted of a crime. Wrongly convicted.
78	-->'''Fergie:''' ''[laughs, sarcastically]'' Really? That's kinda weird! What are the odds? Two wrongly convicted guys sitting right next to each other?
79	-->'''Dredd:''' You received the sentence the law required.
80	-->'''Fergie:''' Five years, just for saving my own ass? That was a mistake!
81	-->'''Dredd:''' The law doesn't make mistakes.
82	-->'''Fergie:''' Really? Then how do you explain what happened to you?
83	-->''[Dredd turns away stoically, trying to think of a reason]''
84	-->'''Fergie:''' You can't, can you? Great.
85	-->'''Fergie:''' ''[mimics Dredd's voice and accent]'' Mister "'''[=I Am ThE LAw=]'''" can't.
86	-->'''Fergie:''' So maybe this is some kind of typo. Maybe it's a glitch. Or maybe it's poetic justice!
87	* BulletHoleDoor: Dredd catches a room full of criminals off guard during a block war by blasting his way through the floor above, and eliminating them before they can respond.
88	* BumblingSidekick: An action movie from TheNineties, featuring Rob Schneider. Hmm...
89	%%* ButtMonkey: Fergie.
90	%%* CainAndAbel: Rico and Joseph Dredd.
91	%%* TheCaligula: Judge Griffin plays a similar role to Judge Cal from [[ComicBook/JudgeDredd the original comics]]. Although Griffin is a bit more sane.
92	* CallingYourAttacks: Justified, as many of the ordnance features offered by the Lawgiver sidearms are activated by voice commands.
93	* CannibalClan: The Angel Family, to Fergie's dismay when he thinks playing along with their religious hillbilly slang had earned him mercy. We get a nice shot of a recent victim cooking on a spit when Dredd points this out to Fergie.
94	* CavalryBetrayal: The Aspen Penal Colony transport pilot thinks the Capture Team will rescue him.
95	* CharacterCatchphrase: Dredd has a few lines which he repeats on a few occasions.
96	** "I knew you'd say that."
97	** "I am the law!"
98	** "Court's adjourned."
99	* ChekhovsGun: The [[spoiler: signal flare]] function on the Lawgiver pistol.
100	* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Rico turns on Griffin the first chance he gets, replacing the DNA that was in the Janus program with his own.
101	* ClearMyName: Dredd, accused of an unlawful murder, must expose the true culprits and reattain his status as a Judge.
102	* ClearTheirName: To a lesser extent, Fergie expects Dredd to let the Justice Department know of Fergie's innocence and let him off the hook. It leads to a few humorous moments, such as Dredd winding up in a shootout in the Hall of Justice and, upon bumping into Fergie again, being asked if he told them Fergie can go free.
103	* CloneDegeneration: This is the implied reason why Rico looks nothing like Dredd and became AxCrazy. It was more clearly seen when Rico hatches the first set of clones early. Fargo says they were both created from his modified DNA, and presumably something wrong (plus this explains why they all look different).
104	* CollapsingLair: No real reason is given as to why the cloning facility starts falling apart in huge showers of sparks and falling equipment during the film's climax. It doesn't ''actually'' collapse, but it clearly sustains massive and mounting damage, which somehow doesn't feel appropriate considering all it gets are a few shots to the walls.
105	* ContrastMontage: From Dredd being disgraced and declared an UnPerson, to Fargo taking the Long Walk while being praised that his name "will be recorded in every place of honor".
106	* CrapsackWorld: Mega City One, at least the lower levels of it (we do see some luxurious homes at the top of the huge skyscrapers), is quite a dump. Overpopulated, dirty and constant riots. But the post-apocalyptic Cursed Earth outside of the city is ''even worse''.
107	* CrimeOfSelfDefense: Dredds' arrest of Fergie as he tries to escape by hiding in the food-vendor droid and receives a five-year sentence for damaging it.
108	--> '''Fergie:''' Five years!? No! I had no choice!\
109	'''Dredd:''' You could've gone out the window.\
110	'''Fergie:''' Forty floors?! That's suicide!\
111	'''Dredd:''' Maybe... but it's legal.
112	%%* DarkActionGirl: Dr. Hayden.
113	* DeathByAdaptation: [[spoiler:Judge Griffin]] dies at the hands of Rico. In the comics he lived past the story arc that the movie is mainly based on and didn't die until the Apocalypse War arc years later.
114	* DeathbedConfession: After Judge Fargo is mortally wounded, he confesses to the title character that both Dredd and Rico were genetically engineered and are actually brothers (of a sort).
115	%%* DesignatedGirlFight: Hayden vs Hershey.
116	* DirectLineToTheAuthor: The novelization is written in the style of an InUniverse text book retelling one of Dredd's adventures for trainee judges.
117	* DisneyVillainDeath: Rico, courtesy of Dredd. Dredd distracts him with a signal flare, then throws him off the Statue Of Libert.
118	* DisproportionateRetribution:
119	** Dredd sentences Fergie to a five-year stint in the Aspen penal colony for {{h\|ollywoodHacking}}acking a food dispenser droid to save himself during a block war in his new neighborhood, Dredd reasoning that Fergie is a habitual criminal (having only just returned from a six month stay in Aspen). Hershey even [[WhatTheHellHero questions the sentence]].
120	** When coming across a DUI, Dredd shoots the offender's car. With a ''[[StuffBlowingUp grenade]] round''. We can assume that the sentence for repeated DUI is some form of destroying the offender's car, given Hershey only quips "subtle" as opposed to objecting to the action itself.
121	* DragonInChief: Rico. Judge Griffin masterminds the events of the movie, but Rico is given more focus and characterisation, [[spoiler: and unsurprisingly kills Griffin and takes over as the true BigBad]].
122	* DramaticGunCock: When Dredd picks up Fargo's shotgun, he does this.
123	* DressingAsTheEnemy: While Dredd is on the run from the law and infiltrating the Justice Department headquarters, he knocks out a Judge and steals his uniform.
124	* DrivingUpAWall: The hoverbike chase sees two of the bikes involved drive up the wall of a building. As the bikes involved are of TheAllegedCar variety, a third fails to turn upwards and crashes into a storefront.
125	* EnemyRisingBehind: Rico does this while in a body bag and kills an unsuspecting technician.
126	* EstablishingCharacterMoment: The first thing Dredd says in the film is the memetically hammy "I AM THE LAW".
127	* EvilCounterpart: Rico is this to Dredd. Both were created to be the perfect judges. While Dredd succeeded in that goal, Rico became the perfect criminal instead.
128	* EvilIsHammy: The one person in the entire movie who manages to out-ham Sylvester Stallone's Dredd is Armand Assante's Rico.
129	* EyesNeverLie: Dredd has been arrested for murder with all the evidence against him. His mentor Chief Justice Fargo goes to see him to ask if he did it. The only thing Dredd does is ask (repeatedly) if Fargo believes the accusation. In the end Fargo says, "I just wanted to see it in your eyes."
130	* FacelessGoons: The Grand Court guardsmen dressed in shiny black armor. In the Comic, Dredd himself is a faceless goon, as he never takes off his helmet and is a loyal agent of the Judge System.
131	* FailsafeFailure: The Judges' Lawgiver guns can't be activated safely be anyone except them. Anyone else will be electroctued. Rico though, even after he's been convicted of murder, can still activate one. No one thought to remove his authorization when he was convicted? This could be justified though if his accomplice, Judge Griffin, kept him authorized to use it. However, since Lawgiver rounds are tagged with the user's DNA and the rounds recovered from the murder of the journalist matches Dredd, it's likely Rico is a close enough match that it will still work, especially seeing as Dredd is able to use Rico's own Lawgiver with no issues.
132	* TheFamilyThatSlaysTogether: The Angel Family. As part of this adaptation, they're also a CannibalClan.
133	* FauxAffablyEvil: Rico will joke around with you like an old friend, and will keep chuckling even as he puts a bullet between your eyes.
134	* FutureFoodIsArtificial: Perhaps one thing that best reflects the original tone of the comics, a droid promoting "recycled food", proclaiming, "Eat recycled food. It's good for the environment and okay for you!"
135	* FutureSlang: Some dude screams "'''HOLY DROKK!!!'''" after seeing that a Judge's gun is rigged to electrocute anyone other than a Judge. Given its use in the original comic, this counts as a PrecisionFStrike.
136	* FutureSpandex: Judges wear a lycra/spandex bodysuit undergarment under their body armor.
137	* GaiasLament: A public service robot goes about proclaiming how good recycled food is for the environment, or what's left of it.
138	* AGodAmI: Metaphorically. Rico, being a product of a genetic engineering project, sees himself as being above humanity and wishes to rule over Mega-City One.
139	* GoryDiscretionShot: Chief Justice Griffin getting his limbs ripped off by the ABC Robot cuts to a shot of blood spilling on its feet.
140	* HamToHamCombat: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aaubVlhNK4 Dredd vs. Rico.]]
141	--> '''Dredd''': You betrayed the law!\
142	'''Rico''': '''''[[ChewingTheScenery LAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWW!]]'''''
143	* HandBlast: The ABC Warrior robot was armed with machine guns built into its hands.
144	* HandCannon: The Lawgiver II gun used by the Judges.
145	* HeKnowsTooMuch: Rico (disguised as Dredd) kills reporter Vartis Hammond (and his wife) when he learns the secret behind the Judges.
146	-->'''Hammond:''' The whole system is the problem! Not just-- ''(Rico kicks the door down)'' Dredd?! ''(Rico points his gun at them)'' '''NO!'''
147	* HighVoltageDeath: When a block war gang member picks up the Lawgiver from the dead Brisco, he gets electrocuted despite his leader's warnings.
148	* HollywoodGenetics: Dredd is convicted of murder because bullets from a Lawgiver pistol are tagged with the DNA of the Judge who fired them, and forensic examination revealed the tag to match up with Dredd ([[spoiler: and were actually from his twin brother Rico. It doesn't seem like the DNA should match to begin with, as Rico is clearly not an ''identical'' twin of Dredd, which is the only case where they'd have the same DNA]].
149	* HollywoodTactics: Dredd's room clearing tactics (standing in a doorway and dropping down from a storey above into an apartment full of armed thugs) would get him killed in RealLife. In fact, [[LeeroyJenkins the overzealous Judge Brisco]] attempts to mimic these tactics and [[TooDumbToLive gets himself]] [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome killed for it]].
150	* HookHand: Mean Machine Angel has an artificial arm with several hook and blade attachments.
151	* HurricaneOfPuns: All of them having to do with law/police terms.
152	* IAmTheNoun:
153	** Dredd's first words on screen are his famous [[CharacterCatchphrase catchphrase]] PunctuatedForEmphasis. While his fellow Judges are crouching for cover in the middle of a blockwar, Dredd does a DynamicAkimbo while a microphone deploys in his helmet to relay his voice to his bike's PA system.
154	--->'''Dredd:''' ''I am...the Law! Drop...your weapons! These blocks...are under...arrest!''
155	** A more dramatic version plot-wise is during Dredd's trial.
156	--->'''Dredd:''' IT'S A LIE! [[FrameUp THE EVIDENCE HAS BEEN FALSIFIED!]] [[ThisCannotBe IT'S IMPOSSIBLE!]] I NEVER BROKE THE LAW! I ''AM'' THE LAW!
157	** Rico's discussion with [[spoiler:newly-minted Chief Justice Griffin]] when they discuss their plans for Mega City One gives us this:
158	--->'''Rico:''' "You want fear? I'm the fear! You want chaos? ''I'm'' the chaos! You want a new beginning? '''[[LargeHam I AM THE NEW BEGINNING!]]'''"
159	* ImAHumanitarian: Apparently saying you're a believer in front of the Angel family gets you eaten if they haven't planned to anyway.
160	--> '''Fergie:''' I'm free, you're toast!\
161	'''Judge Dredd:''' Actually, ''you're'' toast. I forgot to mention it. Your new friends [The Angel Family]? They're cannibals!
162	* IWillTearYourArmsOff: Rico orders his ABC robot to rip off Griffin's limbs (and save the head for last) [[spoiler: when he doesn't approve of Rico's takeover of the Janus project]] and threatens to do the same for Judge Hershey if Dredd refuses to join him. Then he orders the robot to do it to Dredd instead.
163	* InMyLanguageThatSoundsLike: Creator/SylvesterStallone slurring Dredd's catchphrase makes it sound like he's saying "AYAM TELUR!" Which is Malay for 'Chicken Egg'.
164	* InTheBack: [[spoiler:Dr. Hayden dies this way -- getting shot in the back by Hershey when [[AvengingTheVillain she attempts to finish off Dredd after he throws Rico off the Statue of Liberty.]]]]
165	* InsultBackfire: During the DesignatedGirlFight:
166	-->'''Doctor Hayden''': Bitch!
167	-->[''Hershey punches her right on her ass'']
168	-->'''Judge Hershey''': [''Grabs Hayden's shirt''] '''Judge''' Bitch! [''Punches Hayden unconscious'']
169	* IntrepidReporter: Vartis Hammond, who is very critical of Judge Dredd and the Justice Dept.
170	* {{Irony}}: Fergie points out to Dredd they're "two wrongly convicted" guys sitting next to each other.
171	* IronicName: Heavenly Haven is the name of the shithole of a block where the Block War takes place.
172	* ItWorksBetterWithBullets: When Rico's Lawgiver runs dry of standard rounds, Dredd simply disarms him and switches to signal flare.
173	* JudgeJuryAndExecutioner: The Judges. The trope's mentioned by name in the OpeningNarration.
174	* KillerRobot: The ABC robot manages to single-handedly massacre a lot of Judges by getting the drop on them.
175	* KillOnSight: After Dredd escapes the crashed Aspen Shuttle, Judge Griffin orders the Capture Team to kill him.
176	* LandOfOneCity: Mega City One (developed from New York City, since the Statue of Liberty still stands there) is technically a city state, though it's massive enough to equal many existing countries that are far more extensive.
177	* LanternJawOfJustice:
178	** Love him or hate him for removing the helmet, but Stallone had the perfect jaw for this role.
179	** PlayedForLaughs when Fergie encounters an unmasked Dredd on the prison shuttle; he confirms the identification by covering Dredd's face and comparing his chin with the one he remembers.
180	* LargeHam: [[WorldOfHam Ham permeates the entire movie]] and even makes it pretty enjoyable. Armand Assante and Creator/SylvesterStallone particularly wallow in HamAndCheese, and Stallone, when asked about the movie, actually said they should have made it even Hammier.
181	* LaserGuidedKarma: Judge Griffin is behind the plot to cause city-wide chaos and restart the Janus project. When Rico goes rogue and uses his mutated DNA to create the new judges, Griffin realizes that he's gone insane and tries to stop him. Rico orders the ABC robot to rip off Griffin's arms, leg and head, killing him.
182	* LeaveNoWitnesses: Chief Judge Griffin is quite insistent that Dredd's shuttle crash killed everyone aboard, even after a recovery team finds survivors (an implicit order to kill them). Also, when the recovery team reports that they can't find Dredd's body and correctly assume that he survived, Griffin reminds them ''no one'' survived and "just find Dredd".
183	* LeftStuckAfterAttack: The titular hero tricks a body-horrific cannibal cyborg into driving his SwissArmyAppendage into a wall, rips a power cable off, lets out a bunch of catchphrases and electrocutes him.
184	* TheLoad: Fergie's role in this film reads like some kind of liability bingo card. He constantly gets in Dredd's way, holds him up in almost every chase sequence, trips in the middle of an access shaft of doom about to burst into flame, blows Dredd's cover when in disguise, and generally can't shut up to save his life. His one useful act in the entire movie was to disable a giant robot, which may not have even been necessary if Dredd's shotgun had anything to say about it.
185	* LoyalPhlebotinum: The Judges' guns record the shooter's DNA whenever a shot is fired, so each death can be traced back to the relevant Judge and trial. They also store palmprint records, so if a non-Judge tries to use the weapon, it delivers an incapacitating shock.[[note]]This is different from the comic version, which explodes when picked up by a non-Judge and will not fire for any Judge other than its owner.[[/note]]
186	* LukeIAmYourFather: Fargo tells Dredd of his true lineage as a clone just before he dies. Fargo is Dredd's and Rico's TrulySingleParent.
187	* MarqueeAlterEgo: Dredd spends most of the film without his helmet to presumably show a good chunk of the actor's face.
188	* MaskOfPower: Dredd is arguably at his most badass when his helmet is on (mostly in the opening scene, where he deals with a block war single-handed). Whenever it's off, he seems to suffer from BadassDecay.
189	* TheMentor: Chief Justice Fargo mentored Judge Dredd. [[spoiler:He's also his father.]]
190	* MonumentalBattle: The finale takes place ''inside'' the Statue of Liberty.
191	* MuggedForDisguise: After being removed from the force, Dredd jumps a fellow Judge for his uniform so he could better infiltrate the Hall of Justice.
192	* MythologyGag: The smiley face graffiti seen on the Statue of Liberty is a reference to the original comic's story "Un-American Graffiti", in which this was a signature part of a character's graffiti tag.
193	* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Judge Dredd. {{Lampshaded}} by Fergie: he exclaims "Dredd?!?" in alarm upon first hearing it.
194	* NeckLift: The ABC robot does it to Judge Hershey.
195	* NoMoreLies: Chief Judge Fargo told Dredd that his family was killed when he was a child. Just before his death, Fargo tells Dredd the truth: Dredd was created in a lab, and so was Rico.
196	* NondescriptNastyNutritious: It's implied that the food provided inside the Megacities are like this, as a service droid advertises:
197	--->'''Service Droid:''' Eat recycled food for a happier, healthier life... Eat recycled food. Recycled food: it's good for the environment and OK for you.
198	* NonIndicativeName: Fergie's new home, Heavenly Haven, turns out to be an utter shithole that's in the middle of a block war.
199	* NotHelpingYourCase: Admittedly, Dredd was [[FrameUp pretty screwed by that point]] but, still, when you’re on trial for vigilante murder, you probably shouldn’t scream ''”[[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem I never broke the law, I am the laaaaw!]]”'' in open court.
200	* NotSoStoic: Chief Justice Fargo is taking the Long Walk, but when the doors to the Cursed Earth are opened, the audience gets a close-up of his aghast expression as he sees what he's walking into.
201	* OfferingAnotherInYourStead: Fergie and Dredd have been captured by the cannibalistic Angel Family. When the Angel Family prepares to eat Fergie, he tries to convince them not to by saying "Eat Dredd! He works out!"
202	* OffhandBackhand: Dredd to another Judge who was trying to arrest him.
203	* OfferedTheCrown: Dredd is asked to become the new Chief Justice, but turns it down because he prefers patrolling the city streets.
204	* OneRiotOneRanger: At the beginning the movie, two young Judges get caught in a shootout and call for backup. They get Dredd. Just Dredd. It's enough.
205	-->'''Judge Dredd''': [''standing tall amidst random fire''] What are you doing down there, Judge Hershey?\
206	'''Judge Hershey''': [''crouched''] Waiting for back-up.\
207	'''Judge Dredd''': ''It's here''.
208	* OhNoNotAgain: After Dredd kills the Angel Family, the Judges appear to capture them. Fergie hides while Dredd takes care of them. After Fergie comes out of hiding, a Judge was about to shoot at them, but was shot by Fargo, who then gets impaled by Mean Machine Angel. Fergie goes back to hiding.
209	-->'''Fergie:''' God, not again!
210	* OpeningMonologue: Creator/JamesEarlJones picked up a paycheck to apply his distinctive voice to explaining the setting for the movie.
211	* OperatorIncompatibility: The fact that a Judge's weapon can only be used by that particular Judge [[spoiler: or someone sharing that Judge's DNA]] becomes a plot point.
212	* OppositeSexClone: There are both men and women among the [[spoiler:Rico clones]].
213	* OurClonesAreDifferent: The EvilPlan of Rico Dredd is to create a battalion of his clones with which to violently take control of Megacity One. Although the heroes manage to shut down the process before the clones are ready, it's clear they'd've emerged from their artificial wombs as grown adults. As a further case, Rico Dredd himself is a clone of Judge Dredd that glitched during the process, making him a genetically identical evil doppelganger.
214	* OutrunTheFireball: Dredd and Fergie must do this when they infiltrate the city via an incinerator vent which spews out a fireball every thirty seconds.
215	* OutscareTheEnemy: The way Block Warlord deals with one of his underlings considering surrendering to Dredd.
216	-->"You want to be afraid of somebody, be afraid of ME!"
217	* PenalColony: Mega City One's criminals were sent to Aspen Penal Colony to serve out their sentences.
218	* PercussiveMaintenance: When the [[CoolBike new Lawmaster prototype]] won't start, Dredd gives it a solid thump and it comes online. It failed again eventually, but by that time Dredd was able to jack one of the more reliable models.
219	* PhotosLie: Dredd's photo of himself as a baby with his parents is a fake. The only thing that's real in the photo is baby Dredd himself.
220	* PoliceState: The movie depicts Mega-City One as a post-apocalyptic city covering the greater New York area controlled by the Judges and ruled by the Council of Five. While the Chief Judge is pretty much a dictator, Fargo does balk at the [[AllCrimesAreEqual suggestions]] of his more draconian cohorts.
221	* PreciousPhoto: Hershey finds two in Dredd's locker. One of Dredd as a baby with his parents, [[spoiler: which turns out to be fake]], and one of Dredd and Rico.
222	* PrecrimeArrest: Judge Rico, Dredd's clone brother, was dishonorably disgraced and sentenced to the Aspen penal colony when he started executing citizens on the basis that they might possibly commit a crime in the future.
223	* PreAsskickingOneLiner: Dredd yells, "You're under arrest! Throw down your weapons and prepare to be judged!" before he exacts revenge on the block war gang members for killing Brisco.
224	* PreMortemOneLiner: By the end of the film, Dredd repeats his "Court's adjourned" catchphrase before dropping [[spoiler:Rico]] to his death below.
225	* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: For being the ultimate, bred-for-the-purpose Judge with justice and fairness at the top of his moral code, Dredd sure doesn't seem to consider it particularly troubling to shotgun a few completely innocent guards who just happened to be unlucky enough to have a crooked master, or to cause others following him on hoverbikes to crash into the scenery. Or to crash one of said hoverbikes into a building (presumably containing at least some innocent people) and exploding ''several floors'' of it.
226	* ProtagonistTitle: ''Judge Dredd''.
227	* ThePurge: Rico and Ilsa manage to massacre more than a hundred street Judges due to [[spoiler:Griffin]]'s knowledge of Judge procedures, security measures and scrambled radio frequencies.
228	* PutDownYourGunAndStepAway: Rico's orders to Dredd after the ABC robot grabs Judge Hershey.
229	* RedEyesTakeWarning: The ABC robot.
230	* TheReveal: Not only was Rico a Judge, but he's also [[spoiler:Dredd's twin brother whom Dredd judged years ago.]]
231	* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: When Dredd witnesses Brisco being gunned down, he exacts revenge on the gang members that killed him.
232	* SayingTooMuch: [[TheLoad Fergie]] has an unfortunate habit of blurting out Dredd's name at the wrong time.
233	* ScaramangaSpecial: the innocuous-looking case that the Warden delivers to Rico converts into a single-shot pistol with one move.
234	* SmartGun: All Judges have a Lawgiver II pistol. Its ammunition type can be changed by verbal command, it repeats back any ammo-change orders, it electrocutes any unauthorized person who tries to use it, and it stores a DNA sample from anyone who uses it.
235	* SentryGun: Several of these are kept trained on Rico in his cell in the Aspen Penal Colony.
236	* TheStarscream: Rico ultimately turns on [[spoiler:Chief Judge Griffin]] when he no longer needs him.
237	* SuddenlyAlwaysKnewThat: At the story's climax Dr. Ilsa Hayden shows skill in martial arts, despite not having shown or explained to have possessed combat training in the first place. But really, [[AllAsiansKnowMartialArts it should have been obvious.]]
238	* SuicidalOverconfidence: After Dredd enters the room where the block war gang members are and kills them, Brisco goes next door to fight the others himself over Dredd's objections. And unfortunately for him, [[TooDumbToLive Brisco pays the price when the gang members are alerted to his presence and kill him]].
239	* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Judge Brisco's attempts to emulate Dredd's tactics alert the armed thugs to his presence and he is killed instantly.
240	* TailorMadePrison: Rico's prison cell keeps him behind a force field with automated guns trained on him at all times.
241	* TakeMyHand: Judge Hershey to Dredd, while he's hanging from the top of the Statue of Liberty.
242	* TakeOverTheCity: Judge Griffin allies himself with Dredd's EvilTwin Rico to depose the ruling Chief Judge Fargo and dismantle the Council of Five so he can rule Mega-City One alone. [[spoiler:Until Rico betrays Griffin and plots to replace all the Judges with his own clone stock.]]
243	* TakeTheWheel: Dredd to Fergie during the aerial chase as he's about to jump to another vehicle.
244	* TapOnTheHead: Dredd renders another Judge unconscious in such a manner in a locker room.
245	* TerroristsWithoutACause: The criminals perpetrating the block war don't really seem to have any good reason for doing so. They even start shooting at the other guys completely out of the blue, spurred simply by Fergie's arrival.
246	* ThereShouldBeALaw:
247	-->'''Dredd:''' Emotions, there oughta be a law against them.
248	* ThisIsForEmphasisBitch: "That's ''Judge'' Bitch!"
249	* TooDumbToLive: Judge Brisco who [[LeeroyJenkins recklessly charges into a room with armed thugs]] and gets killed for it at the beginning.
250	* TruthInTelevision: Despite sharing identical DNA, Fargo, Dredd and Rico look nothing alike, besides skin and hair (for Dredd and Rico anyway) colour. In reality, clones tend not to resemble their "parent" too much, since your appearance is determined only partially by your DNA, it's also determined by the life you lead and the conditions you're exposed to in the womb. Of course, [[WatsonianVersusDoylist the real reason]] is that it would have been too difficult to have Stallone play three characters, one in heavy age makeup, all of which have face-to-face interaction, and also, having them all look the same would have tipped viewers off to TheReveal that Dredd and Rico were Fargo's clones way too early. This is handwaved by Fargo stating that his DNA was altered to give the best results.
251	* UnusableEnemyEquipment: The Lawgiver guns only respond to the biometrics of the Judge that owns them-anyone else trying this gets electro-shocked, as demonstrated early on by a dumb thug.
252	* UnkemptBeauty: Hershey after she survives the destruction of her Lawmaster. It's one of the few things in this film that the fandom doesn't seem to have any real problem with.
253	* UnPerson: "Let him be stricken from our hearts and our memory... forever."
254	* UseYourHead: This is how Hershey ends her fight with Hayden, knocking her out cold.
255	* WackyWaysideTribe: The Angel Family.
256	* WeCanRuleTogether: Rico offers Dredd the chance to be head of the council under his rule to control his CloneArmy.
257	* WellIntentionedExtremist: Griffin really just wants to stop the city (one of only 3 left in America) falling into anarchy and to bring some kind of order to their society. He is pretty much a fascist, though; in his first scene, he suggests expanding execution to include lesser crimes. And his actions (framing Dredd, duping Fargo into stepping down, his choice of [[TheDragon dragon]] and murdering of the council) are essentially evil.
258	* WorldOfHam: Dredd, Rico, the block warlord, the scarred prisoner on the shuttle ("It's payback time, Dredd!"), the entire Angel family. Griffin also has his moments.
259	* WretchedHive: Mega-City One boasts extraordinarily high unemployment and crime rates.
260	* WrongfulAccusationInsurance: Dredd guns down scores of the black-armored officers while trying to take out Rico. No one seems to care later.
261	* YouOweMe: Hershey keeps a running tally in regards to Dredd.

Context Film / JudgeDredd