Judge Dredd (1995)

Director: Danny Cannon

Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Armand Assante, Rob Schneider, Jurgen Prochnow, Max von Sydow, Diane Lane, Joanna Miles, Joan Chen

More info: IMDb

Tagline: One man is Judge, Jury, AND Executioner.

Plot: In a dystopic future, where urban areas have grown into mega cities that cover entire coastal regions, the justice system has evolved to a single person invested with the power of police, judge, jury, and executioner: the Judge. Among the Judges of Mega-City One, Judge Dredd is one of the best, and a particular favorite of the Head of the Council, Judge Fargo. But there are evil forces at work in the Justice Dept: block riots and the escape of Rico, a homicidal maniac, are only steps in a plan that ultimately lead to the sentencing of Dredd for a murder he didn't commit. And Dredd must discover the secrets of his own past and survive to stop the evildoers.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again? Nah.

By the late 1990s I had only watched about 3 or 4 of Stallone's movies, something I've been making up for over the past few years as I've since become a huge fan of his career. He made some really fun movies and I'm ashamed to admit that I used to dismiss his work as dumb and boneheaded without finding out for myself. That was the 'me' of 20 years ago. Having said that, this isn't all that great but it was fun and I did enjoy myself. What surprised me is how short it was and how simple everything laid out. There's nothing wrong with that but for a sci-fi comic book movie I thought there'd be a bit more to the story or elongated action set pieces. It's always great to see Armand Assante (what a great name - I don't care what you look like, if you had that name you'd never go without chicks). For a solid performance, though, check him out in HOFFA (1992). It's a magnificent film.