Judge Dredd, originally a British comic book character, has starred in two movies since his creation, one in 1995 and one in 2012. He is a law enforcement officer in a massive city called Mega-City One. Sounds pretty commonplace at first, other than the overly unoriginal name given to the city in which he works-yes, it is very large, and yes, it is a city, hence the name "Mega-City". However, Dredd is not an everyday type of law enforcement officer, unless you live in this fictional dystopian universe. He is a street judge-hence the name "Judge Dredd"-and he, along with the other members of law enforcement, has the powers of judge, jury, and executioner all in one. No trial. No outside input. The decision is purely in the hands of the law enforcement members, whether it be jail time or the death penalty. Aside from the cops, the megapolis itself is extreme, as well. It is huge and dirty and decayed. Democratic government just doesn't work anymore.
The law enforcement system in Mega-City One is a satire of the extremes of police and government authority. The judges have the authority to make the judgments normally taking days or months all in the span of a few seconds. Dredd, especially, has a zero-tolerance policy on any and all crimes, of which there are many. Within the city itself, a number of current societal issues are represented, such as rising obesity rates - the Fatties, who judge celebrity status on their girth in a mockery of today's obsession over weight loss and looking thinner - and racism, with the Ape Gang, who are Italian (kind of) second generation ape immigrants, which could be seen as poking fun at the way people perceive foreigners.
Trailer for the 2012 movie:
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