History Film / JudgeDredd

* LandOfOneCity: Mega City One (developed from New York City, since the Statue of Liberty is still there) is technically a city state, though it's massive enough to equal many existing countries that are far more extensive.

* 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.
-->'''Fergie:''' God, not again!
* NonIndicativeName: Fergie's new home, Heavenly Haven, turns out to be an utter shithole that's in the middle of a block war.

* PenalColony: Mega City 1's criminals were sent to Aspen Penal Colony to serve out their sentences.

* 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 DNA was taken from all the members of the council, not just himself.

* WrongfulAccusationInsurance: Dredd guns down scores of the black-armored officers while trying to take out Rico.

* 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]]

* MonumentalBattle: ''Inside'' the Statue of Liberty.

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Judge Dredd.

* ParkingPayback: Dredd blows up an illegally parked car with a grenade, after his drunken owner Mr. Souza tried to argue.

* 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.

Following wars 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.

* JudgeJuryAndExecutioner: The Judges. Trope mentioned by name in the OpeningNarration.

* DarkActionGirl: Dr. Hayden.

* DesignatedGirlFight: Hayden vs Hershey.
* DisneyVillainDeath: Rico, courtesy of Dredd.

** 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.

Following a nuclear war in the late 21st 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.

The most dangerous of the Mega-Cities is Mega-City One, and to combat those dangers is toughest of the Judges. His name is Judge Dredd.

Accused of a crime he didn't commit, Judge Dredd is out to bring justice to the situation which has befallen him as he uncovers the nasty conspiracy surrounding the perfect criminal, Rico.

* ActionGirl: Judge Hershey.

** Mr. Souza yells "No!" as Dredd blows up his Lamborghini-like hovercar

** Near the beginning of the film, a street-rioter kills rookie Street Judge Brisco, and as Dredd lists off his 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."

* ButtMonkey: Fergie.
* CainAndAbel: Rico and Joseph Dredd.
* TheCaligula: Judge Griffin plays a similar role to Judge Cal from [[ComicBook/JudgeDredd the original comics]]. Although Griffin is a bit more sane.

* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Rico turns on Griffin the first chance he gets, replacing the DNA that was in the Janus programme with his own.

* ClearTheirName: To a lesser extent, Fergie expects Dredd to let Justice Department know of Fergie's innocence and let him off the hook. 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.

* 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. On the other hand, [[VoodooShark it does nothing to explain why Joseph looks so different from Fargo as well]].

* HeKnowsTooMuch: Rico (disguised as Dredd) kills a reporter (and his wife) when he learns the secret behind the Judges.
-->'''Reporter:''' The whole system is the problem! Not just-- ''(Rico kicks the door down)'' Dredd?! ''(Rico points his gun at them)'' '''NO!'''

** Near the beginning of the film, a street-rioter kills a rookie Street Judge, and as Dredd lists off his 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."

* PrecrimeArrest: Judge Rico, Dredd's clone brother, was dishonorably disgraced and sentenced to the Titan penal colony when he started executing citizens on the basis that they might possibly commit a crime in the future.

* AllCrimesAreEqual: Judge Griffin proposes to reduce crime rates by imposing the death penalty for "lesser crimes". He is shot down by the more 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.

** Dredd exclaims this when [[spoiler: former Chief Justice Fargo]] is mortally wounded

** Near the beginning of the film, a street-rioter kills a rookie Street Judge, and as Dredd lists off his 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 the punishment is "Death."

* CallingYourAttacks: Justified, as many of the ordinance features offered by the Lawgiver sidearms are activated by voice commands.

* CloningBlues: Rico and Dredd are revealed to be genetically engineered by Justice Department in the BackStory. The restart of these genetic experiments makes up a major portion of the rest of the plot.
* CloneDegeneration: This is the implied reason why Rico not only looks nothing like Dredd and became AxCrazy. It was more clearly seen when Rico hatches the first set of clones early. On the other hand, [[VoodooShark it does nothing to explain why Joseph looks so different from Fargo as well]].

* CoolGun: The lawgiver.

* 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.

** [[{{Catchphrase}} "I am the law!]] are the first words we hear Dredd say on screen.

* ItWorksBetterWithBullets: When Rico's lawgiver runs dry of standard rounds, Dredd simply disarms him and switches to signal flare.

* 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.

* LeaveNoWitnesses: Chief Judge Griffin is quite insistent that Dredd's shuttle crash killed everyone aboard, so insistent that when a recovery team finds survivors, Griffin gives an implicit order to kill them. Also, when the recovery team reports that they can't find Dredd's body they assume correctly he survived, Griffin reminds them ''no one'' survived and to "just find Dredd".

* 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.
* 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.

* OfferedTheCrown: Dredd is asked to become the new Chief Justice, but turns this down because he prefers paroling the city streets.

* ParkingPayback: Dredd blows up with a grenade an illegally parked car, after his drunken owner, Mr. Souza tried to argue.

* PercussiveMaintenance: When the [[CoolBike new Lawmaster prototype]] isn't starting, 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.
* PhotosLie: Dredd's photo of himself as a baby with his parents is a fake. The only thing that's real is the photo is baby Dredd himself.

* 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.

* RealityEnsues: Judge Brisco's attempts to emulate Dredd's tactics alert the armed thugs to his presence and is killed instantly.

* 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.
* 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.

For the 2012 film adaptation , see ''Film/{{Dredd}}''.

!!Judge Dredd: The Film Provides examples of:

* 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.

** Near the beginning of the film, a street-rioter kills a rookie Street Judge, and as Dredd lists off his 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 "Death."

* LeaveNoWitnesses: Chief Judge Griffin is quite insistent that Dredd's shuttle crash killed everyone aboard, so insistent that when a recovery team finds survivors, Griffin gives an implicit order to kill them. Also, when the recovery team reports that they can't find Dredd's body they assume correctly he survived, Griffin reminds him ''no one'' survived and to "just find Dredd".

-->[['''Hershey punches her right on her ass'']]

%%* JudgeJuryAndExecutioner
%%* KillerRobot: The ABC robot.

* IAmTheNoun
** [[Catchphrase "I am the law!]] are the first words we hear Dredd say on screen.

* AffablyEvil: Rico will joke around with you like an old friend, and will keep chuckling even as he puts a bullet between your eyes.