Basically: Dredd lives in post nuclear war, 22nd century Mega-City One, a city-state surrounded by desert, so full of crime that mob rule would be the order of the day but for the Judges, hard-case cops who apprehend, judge and sentence criminals. Our boy is the hardest hard-man cop of all, a sort of parody of an authority figure with the famous line, "I am the law", popular chiefly with little boys of all ages, from clear-skinned 5 year olds through 14 year old spotty virgins to unimaginative students and SF fans (also spotty virgins, usually). However, if you're looking for that scarce thing, good SF, you need to look elsewhere. The comics can in fact be moderately amusing in small doses but are mostly very much alike, and the film's a bit of an old chestnut too. Dredd becomes a fugitive from the Law he serves, is framed by corrupt superiors, goes to jail and gets a rookie cop sidekick/minor love interest in one (Diane Lane, not too bad). It all comes right in the end and he's hailed a hero. Some scenes bear a (probably accidental, they're standard enough tropes) resemblance to Trancers, which did them better.

Judge Dredd isn't bad visually, and Stallone is actually quite right for the part (such as it is; Dredd has all the character of a wet Sunday night in Brentwood). The SFX and sets are pretty good, and the direction competent. Unfortunately much of the visual style is lost on pan & scan video. So, unoriginal but not too lumbering futuristic thriller; if you're looking for something imaginative to watch leave this in the video shop.