Steven E. de Souza reveals the original cut of Stallone's Judge Dredd.
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- čas přidán 18. 03. 2023
- A deleted scene from my documentary, In Search of the Last Action Heroes, Writer and Director, Steven E. de Souza discusses the original violent cut of the 1995 film, Judge Dredd.
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#stallone #judgedredd #dredd #judgedredd1995 #stevenedesouza #oliverharper #retrospectivereview #insearchofthelastactionheroes - Zábava
The first quarter of the film before Dredd takes his helmet off is great. The sets, costumes and practical effects are all fantastic too.
Showing the upper half of his face is sacrilege.
To be fair, you didn't dish out the millions for mid-90s Stallone to not show his face.
@@agp11001 That is true.
@@agp11001 It wasn't so much him taking off the helmet that ruined the film but it just seemed to be around that mark that the film declined in general and wasn't a Judge Dredd film anymore but a Stallone action film that happen to feature some stuff from Judge Dredd.
@@darkwoods1954 indeed
the opening of the movie is great, then the film nosedives into a sly vehicle
which is not a bad thing per se, but it's just not dredd anymore
To this day, the practical effects for Mean Machine Angel blow me away.
One of the highlights of the movie, it was brilliantly done.
Imagine if they made a legitimate practical ED- 209
Done by the legend Chris Cunningham. He did all the cool Aphex twin videos, window licker and come to the daddy.
I remember when this movie came out of nowhere in 1995...I was a kid and didn't know anything about what constitutes a "good movie", but I sure did enjoy the heck out of all the action, costumes, and the way they presented how the dystopian future looked! Thanks for this upload, Oliver!
I'm sure you didn't expect to see that future in real life.
Yep, they turned a good franchise into a merchandising stunt to shovel Happy Meals into kids' faces.
I still love it almost 30 years later. It’s nothing like the books but still a great movie to quote with friends
@@mattberg6816 "Court's adjourned."
Visually it's something you do NOT see these days, especially when they're outside the city with the rednecks etc. Such rich colors.
The production design on Stallone's Dredd was superb - some terrific practical effects too.
They still hold up 20+ years later
I love both DREDD movies. They couldn't be more dissimilar, but they're wildly entertaining triumphs of production design. Alan Silvestri's score for JUDGE DREDD is simply amazing!
his Avengers theme and overall score are even way more amazing...they're iconic. oh and don't forget..he did Back to the Future!
@@isuriadireja91 who could forget that theme, and Predator
I can watch the Karl version over and over. I just can't stomach the 90's one and what Sly did.
The 90s film Isn't Dredd.
@@emmetlarrissy8228 That's right -- it's JUDGE DREDD.
"if we had social media back then it would all have been over" - that one hits deeper than it should
Nah, the same ppl that own the media own social media. Nothing changed.
@@hansjuker8296 thats not true. the non-existence of social media back then limited the potential of shitstorms cancelling movies even before their release
If it was today an X-rated Dredd movie would be a success precisely because of social media.
He said: "If we had social media back then it would have been all over it" - as in why he had to explain all this.
R/im14andthisisdeep
As a 90's baby, Judge Dredd was absolutely AMAZING when I first watched it. I still enjoy it to this day. The scene he mentioned where the robot pulls the arms and you just see the splatter, that stuck with me for a while when I was young
I hope we get to see this original violent cut one day
I am afraid it never actually existed - not as a fully-locked edit anyway. It was probably a work-in-progress and all the related material is very likely to have been lost, like the NC-17 cut of "Predator 2" or the original ultra-gory edit of "Event Horizon". One can only hope there's still at least one low-quality VHS dub of the more violent edit gathering dust somewhere, allowing for the deleted bits to be featured in a future special edition.
That footage is VERY likely destroyed. Considering the story and the fact that there were two lawsuits and 3 mpaa submissions, they very likely decided it was more trouble than it was worth and destroyed or incinerated that footage.
UPDATE: Confirmation from a comment lower below from Savalas Seed that the footage is indeed destroyed.
@@the-NightStar "Boy, I hate being right all the time!". Jokes aside, that sucks but it was very likely: before the advent of DVD, there was no avenue for deleted footage and it was common procedure to dispose of all the material that wasn't cut in the final negative. I am actually more abashed (and pleasantly so) when deleted footage from 30+ years ago resurfaces. That doesn't negate the possibility that the footage might still exist on a video dub hiding in somebody's basement. VHS work-in-progress tapes were pretty common in the late-80s\early-90s, as that's what was used to show producers how the editing was progressing. That's how the extended cut of "Nightbreed" became a festival sensation about 10 years ago, so there's still some tiny bit of hope.
There's always bootlegs. Among Sylvester Stallone's back catalogue, and the most violent, bloody and brutal film in history, and I love it, is 2008's Rambo. It's well made, well acted, and well directed by Stallone. The climax, with John Rambo taking control of a .50 Calibre Browning M2 Heavy Machine Gun mounted on the back of a Land Rover, with support fire from the mercenaries and the Karen Rebel Army, is by turns loud, bloody, gruesome and brutal. To sum it up in one word: Awesome 👌 👏 👍 😀
You have to wonder where the disconnect really was, as the director seemed to have been steering closer to the original materials tone whereas the writer and producers were trying to push for something more commercially accessible for kiddos. I'd kill to see the original cut.
Commercially accessible for unhealthy food tie-ins.
@@williamchamberlain2263 Yep, hence?
“Eat recycled food.
Recycled food is good for the environment and “OK” for you…”
Sounds like the ideal fast food ad actually…
...the comic books are pretty humorous in tone and are not that violent - you don't see people being torn to pieces by robots or anything like that. Bullet impacts are shown, but they are not graphic at all.
Bisley was super gory. Some of the earlier Dredds were banned for their graphic contents. Late 80s when they started being accepted though.
@@thermonuclearcollider4418 Not graphic at all, in a graphic novel? (^.^)
I’m surprised there was such an uproar about the toys and Happy Meals being associated with an R-rated movie. Robocop came earlier and was as hard an R as you could get, and they made toys, video games, a kids cartoon, etc.
To me I don't see an issue you guys could have promoted toys, let alone the movie was tame compared to today's standards
The soccer moms, the churches, and PTAs probability complained the loudest and got their demands met. They got Invader Zim a kids cartoon which aired on Nickelodeon 00 to 03 show canceled which was aimed at kids 10+, saying it gave kids nightmares. Which was BS the show was on season 3 before it got canceled. The PTAs, the churches, and the soccer moms, they'll do what it takes to get your shit taken down back then.
@@PurpleFlush as we used to say...."F*ck the Soccer Moms"!!!
"Robocop" came out in the late-80s, this was the mid-90s. By that point, American parents (it's always the American parents) had been complaining about their children being exposed to this kind of material for years and corporations were forced to budge out of fear of losing their profits. A few years earlier, "Batman Returns" and its darker tone had caused Warner Bros. to lose a similar deal for McDonald's happy meals and toys, which is why the third Batman movie by Tim Burton was shelved and the more kids-friendly "Batman Forever" happened.
@@thermonuclearcollider4418 and that was one of the most shittiest movies ever made
At least he's honest about it. All he wanted to do was to make a violent, hard-R rated film based on Judge Dredd, but no, studio interference had to happen. If they let him make it the way he wanted to make, it would've been a great film that is more faithful to the comics.
I always thought it quite obvious that in the finale with the clones there's a lot missing
Agreed. It was barely coherent.
I would love a Reconstruction job on this movie, dropping Sly's comedy reshoots, putting back in the whole shootout with the clones etc.
Agreed, would be great to see the X rated original cut.
This was the first rated R movie I saw in the theater. I was 11 and my aunt agreed to let my cousin and I see it. At the ticket booth, my cousin became overwhelmed with fear and ran back to the car where my aunt waited to make sure we got in ok. I bought my ticket and, after pleading with him to join me, went inside and experienced this magical movie by myself. It filled my head with wonder and creative ideas I had never thought possible. I know "die hard" fans hate the film because it isn't a dark comedy about faceless oppression. But I love it. Still to this day, when I hear the drums from Alan Silvestri's score, my mind ignites with excitement and fervor.
I was one of the writers on this movie, right before DeSouza. That film put me in hospital. The behind the scenes stories (all to do with the ineptness of the producers) are hilarious. Until Danny Cannon and Stallone, it was set to be directed by Tony Scott with Schwarzenegger playing Dredd.
Years and years ago, I heard Stephen J. Cannell tell that story about DeSouza writing a big screen version of Greatest America Hero, but Cannell never mentioned what film Disney blamed DeSouza for screwing up. Now, it all makes sense.
FYI - after the DeSouza debacle, Cannell ended up hiring Paul Hernandez (the writer of Sky High) to pen the Hero script.
It's sad. I have been HUGE FAN of both Stevens for over forty years now. DeSouza got his start writing for both Six Million $ Man and Knight Rider (before rewriting 48 hrs., Commando and Die Hard 1 & 2) while the late great Stephen J. Cannell created hits like Rockford Files, Hero, A-Team and Jump St. So having the two of them team up to create Greatest American Hero : The Movie was like a dream come true for me. Too bad it never came to fruition. Since Cannell's death in 2010, there have been three or four attempts at remaking Hero with Cannell's daughter leading the charge. Sadly, every pitch they have come up with was awful! I'd love to hear DeSouza pitch or even read Hernandez's draft. They have to be better than all the others.
Nepotism never works, they should call De Souza.
Holyyyyy SHIT I cannot stress how much I A) Love this film B) How many times I saw this as a kid back in ‘95 C) Have been dreaming of a line of properly done action figures to be made from this movie 🎬
This, THIS was a true blue Summer Action Blockbuster:
The score was so beautifully done and everything about this film was absolutely epic in every sense; the set, matte paintings and costume, weaponry, vehicle designs were stunning and huge in scope, fhe action was fucking fantastically awesome!
I never understood the malice toward it then, still don’t now. Urban’s Dredd was awesome, but this Sly Stallone 1995 Dredd? Pure unadulterated bliss for me. ZERO guilt or shame or irony here: I fucking LOVE this movie.
As a kid I was so beyond disappointed that no major toy company made a movie tie in. The internet wasn’t around for me then, and all I had was the occasional Wizard book which had editorials on upcoming movies/tv/toy stuff. You’d have to wait 30 days to get even a SNIFF of some toy/movie news. I would eagerly flip through pages of that mag looking for toy info on Stallone’s Judge Dredd -I’d even call and bother toy stores saying “Are you sure you’re just not looking around properly? It’s a huge movie! There’s gotta be toys! No ABC Robot!? No Black Troopers or Dredd himself!? Come on!”
Now after all these years it makes sense no merchandise was made! All we had was some shitty 2-inch line of ‘staction’ figures that came in these little 3 packs from Mattel! They had the movie characters names, even had a little Fergie Rob Schneider, but they were most certainly not accurate and were trash.
MAN as if Kenner had the license! So they actually DID want to make toys! ☹️
De Souza said “The toys were destroyed …settlements happened behind scenes.. etc.” Wonder what the line looked like or if any prototypes are around 💚🥹🙌🏼🤔
It’s absolutely criminal this movie isn’t shown proper love. Can’t explain how the trailers gave me goosebumps and how much joy this film gave me growing up. So awesome.
“De Souza That son of a bitch!!” 🤣 Awesome storyteller too! This guy looks like a riot.
The trailers music was done by Jerry Goldsmith who ran out of time to score the entire film so Alan Silvestri of CHiPs fame took over.
I'm one of the people that didn't hate this movie. The fact that they put an A.B.C. Warrior in it bought a lot of forgiveness for whatever shortcomings it may have had.
So... can we get a Director's Cut on 4K Blu-ray or something?
😎
Also digitally put a helmet on Sly for the entire film.
PG-13 ruins movies. I know that it is done to allow a larger audience to watch a movie, but the problem is that I don't really believe the stakes as much when I don't watch the violence happening.
That's why Robocop is an amazing movie. The violence carries weight.
Also, kids are going to buy the comic books regardless of wether they are allowed to see it. Seeing a movie meant for adults is going to prime kids to want to know as much about the thing as possible before being able to graduate to the real thing.
Pretty much like; broader audience over quality, just for short term gains.
PG-13 was created so they COULD show that kind of Stuff but either MPAA or the studios Fucked it up.
Sly learned that the hard way when he went PG13 for Expendables 3
Its normal for films to undergo cuts for cinema. It is what it is. It doesn't always make them better to keep it in. Stallone's Cobra, a film notorious for its action, was also cut down from a much larger cut that was even more graphic. It doesn't always make it better.
That’s not why “Robocop” was a brilliant movie. Robocop was a brilliant movie because of the writing and the direction. Robocop knew EXACTLY what it was, and it didn’t have any large studio or giant superstar “movie stars” to derail it. It was basically Judge Dredd in style, without ever actually saying it.
On an aesthetic level, I thought the film was pretty amazing, and still holds up to this day. One of the more impressive future cities in cinema. I think it stands alongside the Blade Runner series and Fifth Element in that regard. Despite a couple of moments of obvious green screen, this film is somewhat of a technical achievement for its time.
I saw this film as a kid in the cinema 📽️ and absolutely loved it even though it was different to 2000AD but I always wondered why they didn't do a toy line 🤣
so glad this documentary was released. cheesy at times, but so great.
Fascinating! Love all your documentary/films. Would LOVE to see THAT cut of the film!
this channel makes me feel like im watching the extra content on dvds, i do really miss that feeling. thanks for the great job
I was listening to your excellent Judge Dredd audio commentary yesterday. This is a nice follow up! Cheers
This was brilliant. Steve is fantastic and such a good sport. I hope he continues to write and provides this amazing insight again for other projects.
I remember reading years back that a special edition laserdisc version of Judge Dredd was being prepped, potentially featuring reinstated cut footage.
The word was that Disney had destroyed all the cut footage and consequently the special edition laserdisc release was scrapped.
absolute gold, what a story teller! hadnt heard of the docu, but will be watching tonight! who would've guessed ide be drooling over judge dread nostalgia 30 years later.
Good interview, thanks.
Wow this brought me back, I think I'll have to find it again and watch it. I remember seeing it in on video in 1996, then I also got the SNES game which was incredible at the time! Awesome property, thanks for the upload.
Wow, this was fun to watch. I had no idea about any of these things. Thanks for sharing!
Back in 1994, I cycled to Shepperton studios and took some photos of the vehicles used in this film. Also some of the set.
Only a wire fence separated them from the pathway and stream round the back where people were walking their dogs
Please upload those photos.
It's clear watching the film that huge chunks have been cut out, I'd love to see a version of that original cut.
Best thing about this movie is Hammerstein from ABC Warriors and the makeup FX for Mean Machine.
Having grown up with 2000ad and Judge Dredd, the comic strips weren't bloodless so how the studio thought pg13 was a good idea I don't know.
Really interesting stuff! So often the behind the scenes stuff is mythologized into stories about the mean old studio interfering with the director's vision, when there's probably a lot of examples of directors being hired to do a specific job and messing up!
I remember watching the tv ads for this a week before the film was released back in Summer '95. Normally, at the end of these ads, the announcer would say "rated PG-13", "rated R", etc., but for this film he instead said "This film has not yet been rated". Normally that particular statement is used in promotional ads a few months before release (example: an ad or trailer during the Super Bowl for a movie scheduled for release in the summer), when the movie has yet to be finished and submitted to the ratings board.
The fact that the movie was one week from release and they *still* didn't have a rating was a big tip-off that something was wrong. The studio was trying in vain to cut this down to a PG-13 rating to keep the toy and burger chain deals. It still went out with an R, yet the final product is neither fish nor fowl; too harsh for a family-friendly comic book movie and too family-friendly for a Judge Dredd adaptation.
The dystopic vision of this movie is still fantastic. I'd love a 90s nostalgia movie or series with the same kind of exaggerated designs to come out now. (I liked Dredd, but I think the gritty-realism-Batman-Begins approach is wrong for Judge Dredd. It HAS to be all over-the-top.)
Fascinating insights fron the legendary Steven E De Souza himself, thanks
This is fantastic! Love Steven E. de Souza, and I used to watch 1995's Judge Dredd quite regularly as a young'n! Hoping for a good blu-ray release that would go into the backstory on that film, so this is a fantastic free treat, thank you!
This is absolutely fascinating
Man, what a great story. Steven is one of my favorite writers and this movie lives in my heart. I really like it. Knowing all that now, just makes it even better.
I LOVE Judge Dredd and the later Dredd! I'd love to see a much longer version of Stallones film!
Release the Hershey Cut!
@@JDoe-gf5oz bow chicka wow wow
that giant Robot was the reason why I went to see it in theaters
I want to see this cut!!
Not seen this since mid 90s bought today on xbox too watch tonight with my son... cant wait
amazing stuff
And years later, Dredd came out and did the comic justice...but the reputation of this movie screwed it at the box office. 👏👏👏
It would be great if they'd release an completely uncut X-rated version of JUDGE DREDD. This movie still has many fans and we all know that it got butchered before release. Dredd was always a very dark and brutal comic. So the 1995 movie would work even better as an x-rated release.
Greetings from Germany :)
Oh man now i have to watch it again , this hyped me the f up ^^
I'd love to see the uncut version!
Swear to god when I was at boarding school in 1997 a student from SE ASIA had an alternate more violent cut of this on VHS, I have never been able to find it again. This kid also had workprints of MIB and other films as well that are rare/non-existent anymore.
I've never seen Judge Dredd from start to finish...... had no interest at the time. The video game was fun! The Dredd movie later with Karl Urban was awesome!
If you're a fan of the comic then don't bother! It broke my heart at the time, the mean machine is done well but Dredd takes his helmet off and has a comedy sidekick which tells you everything you need to know. I saw the later one at the cinema and was so happy they did the comic justice at last
Great deleted scene and story. Love that movie also. My brother loved 200AD. It was a great comic. proper weird, but Judge Dread and Rougue Trooper where superb.
I hope this comes out on blu ray or 4K over here in the UK soon 🤞🤞
I would love to watch that cut
The art direction very closely matched the comics/graphic novels, but the business minds and egos ruined the final product. The creatives behind the scenes working on production design probably knew about the original dread source material, and knew what it could have been
Fantastic story and great film to watch as well
amazing
One of my favorite movies ever.
We could have got a Greatest American Hero movie? Damn that sucks
Amazing story!
Sounds like the film I’d love to have seen
They should release a directors cut
I want the uncut version!
Honestly aside from him taking off his helmet this was a fairly faithful adaption of the comics. They captured the setting and overall tone well.
Please release a directors cut of Judge Dredd!
I drokkin' love the snek out of this version.
The weird thing is R rated violent films had toylines and cartoons, such as Rambo, Robocop, Aliens etc Because studios knew kids watched these films on the sly, on video mainly. I guess after Batman Returns (a mere PG-13) and McDonalds throwing a fit over content, things changed.
This is a classic example of an IP needing a large budget, but studios thinking they won't get the returns needed on an adult film. Again, crazy considering how much Total Recall and Terminator 2 made (for Carolco, the company previously managed by the founders of Cinergi).
From what I've heard a Judge Dredd movie had been a dream project of Danny Cannon's since he was a teen, so it looks like he was honoring the comic. The studio should have worked out what kind of movie they were making before shooting, as going the route they did ends up with a movie that doesn't please any audience. I do feel sorry for Danny Cannon on this. He should have just been allowed to make it like Robocop (which itself is something of a ripoff of the Judge Dredd comic).
I want the original cut!!!
This makes total sense. Judge Dredd Stallone movie should have been a violent satire like a Paul Verhoeven movie. Instead it was cut down to please the toy companies.
Let’s get that directors cut and a 4K release too!
Nice!
Fantastic
I seen the movie in theaters and I loved it, especially the video game. I even read some of the comics years later. I even own Dredd starring Karl Urban and the video game, Dredd vs. Death was amazing.
Much repsect for at that time young (he was only 27) director, Danny Cannon.
But this is a movie Paul Verhoeven should have made and rated -R.
2:39
By the way, why was this deleted from the documentary?
It's great!
❤ this movie.
Wow what a story
The funny part is that there *did* end up being some toys released around the same time- sets of 2-3 in. figures. I have my original Dredd vs ABC, and eventually got the one I wanted as a kid which was Dredd on the Lawmaster.
I loved this movie as a young teen (first 15 rated movIe I got to see at 13 years old at an Odeon Cinema).
I’ve not seen it in a looooonnnnggg time. May need to rewatch it.
Dredd aka the original Robocop.
The similarities are not accidental though, the writers of Robocop were well aware of Judge Dredd (little known in the US at the time) and have cited it as an influence.
@@chrisward000 yes and Robocop even shares his one liners like "your move creep."
Steven de Souza, I knew you'd say all that.
Watch judge Dredd for these 6 reasons... the practical effects, the set design, the score, Diane Lane, Armand Assante and James Earl Jones' awesome voice.
A Judge Dredd Happy Meal. What a fucking juxtaposition.
Happy meal with the slogan
"Eat recycled food!" 😆
This was bloody lovely and fascinating to hear. But I'm just flabbergasted at how they just didn't edit out the very violent bits and use Steven de Souza's version for the kids = everyone wins... didn't they have a post production team back then or what? 😅🤣
Probably because Danny Cannon didn't shoot the film the way it was written. So they didn't have the footage to edit it Steven's way.
@@TheNameisPlissken1981 Ah right. Big shame that. Seems that Dredd hasn't caught a break, with the Karl Urban one being absolutely amazing but having utter shite marketing...
Maybe third time's a charm 😛
Robocop had toys in the late 80s. I had most of them and loved the original movie. Now I have a Peter Weller signed Alex Murphy figure with interchangeable exploding hand, blown off right arm and shotgun pellet riddled upper torso plus screaming head sculpt.
I wanna see this cut.
This is a deleted scene???? That was great.
Fantastic story ❤ , and one off my favourite movies off all time damm I miss 90s when no one give a f... about social media and just make great movie's
I could listen to Steven E. de Souza talk about movies all day.......
I always loved this movie
I thought this was going to be about the cut scenes with the clones.
I would love to see this
Chris Cunningham is the puppeteer
Nailed the visual, failed in everything else.
It's OK. Original comics are all over the place so the movie doesn't really jumble a lot of stuff.
except the music
that is still epic
The comic was accurate to the world it was potraying this was the Care Bear version
Fascinating. I enjoy the 1995 movie, but I would have loved a version by Souza that was actually *written* for an R rating. There's definitely a disconnect between the comic relief, Marvel-level tone and goofiness and the darker elements, apocalypse, dystopia and horror-tinged clones of the actual film.
I'm still a fan of this film!
The sparks from the guns always makes me chuckle. Like shooting robots
Stallone's Judge Dredd is considered by many to be campy popcorn entertainment and it most certainly was. Fantastic movie. So much fun to see in a theater.
In the adaptation of the film in comics, we see Dredd without his helmet, and drawn by Carlos ezquerra.
Let's start a campaign for the de Souza cut!!!