INDEPENDENT COMICS: Judge Dredd (1995 Judge Dredd)

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PLOT:
In the 3rd millennium, much of Earth has become an uninhabitable wasteland. The majority of humanity resides in huge Mega-Cities, where the traditional justice system has been replaced by a corps of Judges whose role combines those of police officer, judge, jury, and executioner. The most dedicated "Street Judge" in Mega-City One is Joseph Dredd (Sylvester Stallone), who assists Judge Hershey (Diane Lane) in ending a block war. Herman Ferguson (Rob Schneider), a hacker recently released from prison, is caught in the firefight and hides inside a food dispensing robot, only to be arrested by Dredd and sentenced to five years' imprisonment for tampering with city property.33Rico (Armand Assante), a former Judge turned psychopathic murderer, escapes from prison and reclaims his Judge's uniform and "Lawgiver" gun as well as a decommissioned combat robot. A news reporter (Mitch Ryan) critical of Dredd is soon murdered, and Dredd is the chief suspect. Hershey acts as Dredd's defense lawyer in a trial before a tribunal of Council Judges including Dredd's mentor Chief Judge Fargo (Max von Sydow) and Judge Griffin (Jürgen Prochnow). Dredd is found guilty based on DNA evidence: The Lawgiver encodes the DNA of the wielder onto each round fired, and the DNA from the murder weapon matches Dredd's. Fargo steps down as Chief Judge, asking as his last request that the Council spare Dredd's life. Dredd is sentenced to life imprisonment while Fargo embarks on his "long walk", a tradition in which a retiring Judge ventures into the "Cursed Earth" wasteland "to bring law to the lawless". Griffin, who freed Rico and had him frame Dredd for the murder, succeeds Fargo as Chief Judge and instructs Rico to sow chaos throughout the city.33Dredd finds himself seated next to Herman Ferguson on a transport ship to the Aspen penal colony. While passing over the Cursed Earth the ship is shot down by the Angel Gang, a family of cannibalistic scavengers who capture Dredd and Herman. A squad of Judges tracks Dredd to the Angels' camp and a battle ensues. Fargo arrives just in time to save Dredd's life, but is mortally wounded by Mean Machine Angel (Chris Adamson). Before dying, he saw the Blind Lady and he tells Dredd that she was justice before the Judges was created. He tells Dredd that he and the Judges should never had taken justice out of her hands and created more chaos. Fargo reveals the secrets of Dredd's past: Dredd is the result of the Janus project, an experiment in genetic engineering intended to create the perfect Judge. DNA from the Council Judges was combined to create two clones, Dredd and Rico. Both were given artificial memories of childhood, and they became close friends. However, while Dredd became the ideal Judge that the Council hoped for, Rico's personality twisted and he instead became the perfect criminal. Dredd was forced to judge Rico for murdering civilians, but instead of being executed Rico was sent to Aspen by Griffin. Since he and Rico share the same DNA, Dredd deduces that Rico framed him for the reporter's murder. Fargo concludes that Griffin is trying to reactivate the Janus project, and begs Dredd to stop him. Dredd looks up to the Blind Lady and he vows to bring justice by stopping Rico.33Back in Mega-City One, Rico creates panic by assassinating 108 Judges in two days. Griffin uses this to convince the Council Judges to unlock the Janus files, but when they refuse to reactivate the program he has Rico kill them. Arriving immediately after this, Dredd and Herman are accused by Griffin of murdering the Council. They evade the Judges and seek help from Hershey, who has been investigating Dredd's past. Dredd tells her about the Janus project, and the trio head to the Janus laboratory at the Statue of Liberty.33Rico betrays Griffin, having the robot kill him, and replaces the DNA for the Janus clones with his own. Herman uses his hacking skills to save Dredd and Hershey from the robot. Rico orders his clones activated prematurely, but they are incomplete and unable to stop Dredd. Dredd pursues Rico to the top of the statue, and after a final struggle sends Rico falling to his death. Central, the city's controlling supercomputer, has recorded the entire event and broadcasts the information, clearing Dredd's name. The remaining Judges ask him to become the new Chief Judge, but Dredd passes the title over to Hershey, preferring to remain a Street Judge.