Science fiction is often seen as a genre dealing with imaginative content, futuristic settings and anything go possibility; while sci-fi genre has become much more visual and action focused, but in truth the setting is only a means to discuss much deeper and serious subjects. Dredd 3D, directed by Pete Travis, besides the over the top violence and non-stop action, is an interesting view of the future and one takes criminal justice to an extreme. A movie about law enforcement, but not bound by today’s social value or political view, raises interesting questions and critique on today’s justice system and the future of it. The movie is based on the comic book character, Dred, from 2000AD series. While the comic do involve social commentary and such, but ultimately focused more so on much more fantasy in content. The movie tries to base itself to a believable future, and in to a much broader sense the discussion is related much more than the movie itself and covers much more about the city the movie takes place, Mega City One, a metropolis with 800 million residents “living in the ruins of the old world” where residents live with extreme poverty. Crime rates are so high, the amount of violent crimes reported, that the police force could only respond to 6% of crimes reported, and it is up to the judges, police officers who are granted the power and responsibility to “judge, jury, and executioner” on the spot, to decide.
The absolute and extreme jury system in Dredd, provides a stark contrast with real world jury system, and to the point of satirical. In one scene, Dredd, the street judge, faces a standoff with a criminal who had just murdered innocents, and by following procedure he states the sentencing of the crimes, life in iso-cube without parole, and ask if he complies. Dredd then added that if he does not comply the sentence is death. (The iso-cube is a form of