# Dredd (film)

Dredd is a 2012 science fiction action film directed by Pete Travis and written and produced by Alex Garland. It is based on the 2000 AD comic strip Judge Dredd and its eponymous character created by John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra. Karl Urban stars as Judge Dredd, a law enforcer given the power of judge, jury and executioner in a vast, dystopic megalopolis called Mega-City One that lies in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Dredd and his apprentice partner, Judge Anderson (Olivia Thirlby), are forced to bring order to a 200-storey high-rise block of flats and deal with its resident drug lord, Ma-Ma (Lena Headey).

## Judge Dredd

* [voice-over, first lines] America is an irradiated wasteland. Within it lies a city. Outside the boundary walls, a desert. A cursed earth. Inside the walls, a cursed city, stretching from Boston to Washington D.C. An unbroken concrete landscape. 800 million people living in the ruin of the old world and the mega structures of the new one. Mega blocks. Mega highways. Mega City One. Convulsing. Choking. Breaking under its own weight. Citizens in fear of the street. The gun. The gang. Only one thing fighting for order in the chaos: the men and women of the Hall of Justice. Juries. Executioners. Judges.
* Inhabitants of Peach Trees, this is Judge Dredd. [Ma-Ma: Let him talk.] In case you people have forgotten, this block operates under the same rules as the rest of the city. Ma-Ma is not the law. I am the law. Ma-Ma is a common criminal. Guilty of murder, guilty of the manufacture and distribution of the narcotic known as Slo-Mo, and as of now, under sentence of death. Any who obstruct me in carrying out my duty will be treated as an accessory to her crimes. You have been warned. And as for you, Ma-Ma...Judgment time.
* [voice-over, last lines] Mega City One. 800 million people living in the ruin of the old world and the mega structures of the new one. Only one thing fighting for order in the chaos: Judges.

## Judge Cassandra Anderson

* I was born and raised in a block like this before the Justice Department took me. I know there are good people inside, good families just trying to get by. Yes, I believe I can make a difference.

## Madeline "Ma-Ma" Madrigal

* Peach Trees. This is Ma-Ma. Somewhere in this block are two Judges. I want them dead. Until I get what I want, the block is locked down. All clan, every level, hunt the Judges down. Everyone else, clear the corridors and stay the fuck out of our way until the shooting stops. If I hear of anyone helping the Judges, I will kill them and the next generation of their family. As for the Judges...sit tight, or run. Makes no difference. You're mine.

## Dialogue

    Judge Dredd: Release the hostage unharmed, and I guarantee you a sentence of life in an iso-cube without parole.
    Ethan Zwirner: Life without parole? That's the deal you're offering?
    Judge Dredd: Only if you comply. Your crimes include multiple homicide and the attempted murder of a Judge. If you do not comply, the sentence is death.
    Ethan Zwirner: You aren't a very good negotiator, Judge. You know why? You got no fucking leverage! Here's the deal. You let me walk or I blow her fucking brains out. Okay?
    Judge Dredd: Negotiation's over.
    Ethan Zwirner: What're you doin? Didn't you hear what I said? I'll kill the bitch!
    Judge Dredd: Yeah, I heard you, Hotshot.
    Ethan Zwirner: What'd you say?
    Judge Dredd: I said, "Hot Shot."
    Chief Judge: Her final Academy score put her three percentile points below a pass.
    Judge Dredd: So what's she doing in a uniform?
    Chief Judge: [To an intercom] Rookie Anderson.
    Cassandra Anderson: Sir.
    Chief Judge: What can you tell me about the person I am with?
    Cassandra Anderson: Male. Another Judge. I can feel anger. And control. But.....there's something else. Something....behind the control. Something... almost...
    Chief Judge: Thank you, Anderson. That will do.
    Judge Dredd: She's a mutant.
    Chief Judge: The Judges Council have chosen to overlook her status. You will, too. She's the most powerful psychic we've ever come across by a huge margin. The Judges are losing the war for the city. We believe she could be a major asset. As I said, her final score was only three points below a pass. It's marginal.
    Judge Dredd: It's not marginal. She failed.
    Chief Judge: The girl's getting one more chance. I want you to take her out. Give her one day in the field, supervised. See if she makes the grade. Sink or swim. Chuck her in the deep end.
    Judge Dredd: It's all the deep end.
    Judge Dredd: A rookie Judge on assessment is likely to be involved in armed combat. One in five don't survive the first day. You may be required to carry out on-the-spot executions of convicted felons.
    Judge Cassandra Anderson: Yes, sir.
    Judge Dredd: Incorrect sentencing is an automatic fail. Disobeying a direct order from your assessment officer is an automatic fail. Losing your primary weapon or having it taken from you is an automatic fail.
    Judge Cassandra Anderson: Yes, sir.
    Judge Dredd: You ready, rookie?
    Judge Cassandra Anderson: I am.
    Judge Dredd: Your assessment starts now.
    Kay: I bet you thought you were gonna make your family proud, huh? Not much chance of that now. [Picks up Cassandra's Lawgiver] Now, this, I've always wanted one of these. You were shit out of luck when you ran into the Ma-Ma clan. But don't feel too bad. I seen a lot of Judges in my time, and you're just not cut out for this. I mean, if you didn't get killed today, it was going to be tomorrow. Or it was going to be the day after that. Anyway. Today it is. You got any last words, bitch?
    Judge Cassandra Anderson: That's funny. I was going to ask you that. Bitch.
    Judge Dredd: What's the price of a Judge these days?
    Judge Lex: Million. Split four ways.
    Judge Dredd: Three ways now.
    Judge Lex: Suits me.
    Judge Dredd: Doesn't sound like much. To betray the law. To betray the City.
    Judge Lex: Save that shit for the rookies. Twenty years I've been on the streets. You know what Mega City One is, Dredd? It's a fucking meat grinder. People go in one end. And meat comes out the other. All we do is turn the handle.
    Judge Dredd: [after killing Judge Alvarez] Two-way split.
    Judge Lex: Yeah, I'd be breaking a sweat, if you hadn't just run out of bullets. Armor-piercing.
    [Lex fires several times through the wall Dredd is behind, and hits him once. He moves around the wall and raises his weapon to execute Dredd.]
    Judge Dredd: Wait.
    Judge Lex: [lowers his weapon in disbelief] Wait? Are you kidding me? Did you just say "wait"? Judge Dredd, the Judge Dredd, finally gets on the wrong end of a gun, and what he says is "wait." You know what? I expected more of you. I mean, wait for what? Wait for me to change my mind? Wait for another two or three seconds of life because you're so fucking weak you just can't stand to see it end?
    Judge Dredd: No.
    [Anderson guns down Lex from behind.]
    Judge Dredd: Wait for her to shoot you.
    Judge Cassandra Anderson: Go. Get out of here.
    Judge Dredd: Mind explaining yourself, rookie? Abetting a felon is not just a fail offense. It's a crime.
    Judge Cassandra Anderson: I already picked up the fail when I lost my primary weapon. I am not going to be a Judge, and I don't need to be a mind-reader to know it. He's a victim, not a perp. And until my assessment is formally over, I am still entitled to dispense justice. And that's what I just did by letting him go. Maybe that will be the one difference I do make. Let's finish this.
    Ma-Ma: You're a piece of work, Dredd. But then so am I. You think I didn't know I'd get busted some day? Goes with the territory. This entire level is rigged with enough high explosives to take out the top 50 stories. If they go, the rest go, too. Like the jewelry? It's a transmitter synched to my heart beat. My heart stops beating, the building blows. Everyone in it, ash. You got no way out, Judge. Put your gun down. Do you know how many people live in this block?
    Judge Dredd: This isn't a negotiation. The sentence is death.
    Ma-Ma: You can't afford to take the risk.
    [Dredd shoots Ma-Ma but doesn't kill her. She falls and he approaches her.]
    Judge Dredd: We're a kilometer above ground. What do you figure the range is on that thing? Could it get through a hundred levels of concrete? How about two hundred? Let's find out. [Dredd picks Ma-Ma up and holds her in front of a window.] Citizen Ma-Ma. Your crimes are multiple homicide and the manufacture and distribution of narcotics. How do you plead? [Ma-Ma stares defiantly at Dredd] Defense noted.
    [He throws Ma-Ma of the window near atrium to her death]
    Judge Dredd: Anderson. Your assessment's now over.
    [Anderson hands Dredd her badge and walks away. The Chief Judge arrives and approaches Dredd.]
    Chief Judge: When I heard you called in a 10-24, I figured I'd better check it out, seeing how I forced the rookie on you. So, what happened in there?
    Judge Dredd: Drug bust.
    Chief Judge: Look like you been through it.
    Judge Dredd: Perps were uncooperative.
    Chief Judge: So how did she do? Is she a pass or a fail?
    Judge Dredd: She's a pass.
    Chief Judge: I knew she would be.

## See also

* Judge Dredd (film)

## Cast

* Karl Urban - Judge Dredd
* Olivia Thirlby - Judge Cassandra Anderson
* Lena Headey - Madeline "Ma-Ma" Madrigal
* Wood Harris - Kay
* Domhnall Gleeson - Clan Techie
* Warrick Greer - Caleb
* Deobia Oparei - TJ
* Jason Cope - Ethan Zwirner
* Langley Kirkwood - Judge Lex