Judge Dredd MPAA Rating: R Entertainment: +3 1/2 Content: -3

Sometime during the next millennium, Mega-City One (formerly, New York City) holds 65 million residents despite its being designed for only 20 million. The overpopulation leads to poverty and crime. Enter the Judges, macho cops with the authority to judge, sentence and, if necessary, execute. The toughest of these law enforcers is Judge Joseph Dredd (Sylvester Stallone). Framed for the murder of a journalist and his wife by bad guy Rico (Armand Assante), Dredd is sentenced to prison. On the way, the prison spacecraft is shot down and Dredd returns to Mega-City One to stop Rico from taking over the government. The battle heats up when Dredd and his goofy sidekick break in on Rico and his Terminator-like henchman who are trying to create an army of Rico-clones. Based on a popular British comic book, JUDGE DREDD is packed with impressive futuristic sets, spectacular special effects and action galore.

Unfortunately, the visual excitement is JUDGE DREDD's only redeeming feature. The rest of the movie is filled with shootings, explosions, foul language, and a direct assault on Christianity through the demented "Angel" family. Daddy Angel and his weird kids praise God for sending new human victims to torture and eat, and the filmmakers opted to show a toasty corpse on a spit just to drive the point home. While not overtly graphic, violence plays a big part in the movie. For example, an old man is run-through with a sword and many people are gunned down. The more bloody violence occurs off-screen and even the language is somewhat toned-down. At times, it seems that the filmmakers weren't sure they wanted an R rating. But then a character starts saying the ear-hurting g-d word with almost malicious intent. Sci-fi buffs will go wild for the special effects, but in every other way, JUDGE DREDD is simply dreadful.

Preview Reviewer: Bob Liparulo
Distributor: Buena Vista Distribution Company, 3900 W. Alameda Ave., Burbank CA 91521