The Judge Dredd film?

Well, here's a post that's been about 13 years in coming*. Now, I never used to read the letters people sent in to Tharg. Occasionally I'd read his sarcastic replies, but not so much the letters themselves. But they can be fun from time to time. Anyway, here's a letter from the mid 90s that has stuck with me:


With a recommendation like that, how could I not need to see the film Accion Mutante? And yet, I hadn't managed to track down a copy until this year (I probably wasn't trying very hard, to be honest. I mean, it's on DVD from Amazon and everything).

And you know what? The comments in Matthew Barber's letter are absolutely spot on. The future society depicted even features fanatical policemen who look not unlike the Judges. The film is everything I would want from a film based on a 2000 AD property. That's to say, full of mutants, inappropriate comedy, backstabbing anti-heroes, anti-establishment values, and general future shock weirdness.

It's not a great film, and it rather overreaches itself. There seems to be a plot at first that gets a little lost in a protracted betrayal and chase sequence. But the weird bits hit thick and fast, along with the ultraviolence. It also achieves a lot with what I imagine was a small budget, including an impressive effect with a legless mutant on a hoverchair. It's got a similar thing going on to Cherry 2000 and Circuitry Man 2, another brace of cheap and forgotten sci-fi films that I like.

And yes, for all its flaws, it is better than the Stallone effort.



*not to mention 10 months since the last post. Can't believe I left Mambo at the top for so long!