Futuristic movies are exciting because we get to see different interpretations of what our world will look like years from now. Movies like Passengers and Interstellar show us a future where space travel is possible, while Children of Men shows a bleak Earth that’s lost hope.
Dredd takes a different direction and keeps things simple. There’s no expansive world to traverse, and most of the action takes place in a single building crawling with baddies. The closed setting creates a pressure cooker because there’s no escape, and brutal conflict is inevitable.
The movie is based on the Judge Dredd comics, in which the titular antihero dishes out justice in Mega-City One, a heavily populated city in the center of the wasteland, The Cursed Earth. Judge Dredd is a law enforcement officer with the power to arrest, sentence, and execute criminals. He is known for being incorruptible and having no mercy on the criminals he takes down.
There’s no thinking required, and Dredd is the perfect movie if you want to switch off and enjoy stylish action scenes. The premise is as simple as can be. Ma-ma, a drug dealer who owns a massive apartment block called Peach Trees, kills three dealers and dumps their bodies in the Atrium. Judge Dredd and his rookie partner, Anderson, arrive at the scene to investigate. Ma-Ma disables communications and locks down the building. Dredd and his partner need to battle her minions on the way to the top of the building and take her out if they want to make it out alive.
Dredd is directed by Pete Travis from a script by Alex Garland of Ex Machina and Annihilation fame. Karl Urban plays Judge Dredd and perfectly encapsulates his unforgiving personality. Lena Headley looks like she’s having the time of her life playing the unhinged Ma-Ma, who’s just as ruthless and on a collision course with Dredd for control of Peach Trees.
For a movie with an excellent 80% critics’ score and 73% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, Dredd was a flop on release and only made $41.5 million on a budget of around $45 million. It’s gone on to become a cult classic, with fans clamoring for Karl Urban to reprise the role he was born to play.
- notable shows
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Kitchen Nightmares, Merlin
- notable movies
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Clueless, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, How to Train Your Dragon, Mean Girls, Star Trek
- Premium Subscription
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Yes, $13.99 per month
- Originals
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No
- Live TV
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No
Dredd is now available for free on Youtube
It’s also available ad-free on other platforms
Dredd is currently available on YouTube for free with ads, and it’s best to catch it while you can before it’s replaced by other titles on the platform. You can also buy or rent it without ads on Amazon Prime Video or Apple TV. It’s also available on Blu-ray and 4K UHD on Amazon if you’d prefer a physical copy for your collection,
Other free movies available on YouTube
All-out action for free
Action fans can catch other high-adrenaline movies for free on YouTube. Hard Target is a Jean-Claude Van Damme banger featuring John Woo’s stylish choreography. The basic plot involves the bad guys hunting humans in the Everglades, and it’s up to Van Damme to stop them. Point Break is another classic action movie featuring Keanu Reeves as an undercover cop who must infiltrate a surfer gang that’s pulling off bank robberies.
- Release Date
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September 21, 2012
- Runtime
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95 minutes
- Director
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Pete Travis, Alex Garland
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Olivia Thirlby
Cassandra Anderson
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