Future Shock! The Story of 2000AD

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07/17/2018 Fun documentary talks to nearly all of the key folks who were part of 2000AD since the beginning, but I'm not sure if this documentary will be of all that much interest to anyone who's not already a fan of the seminal British sci-fi comic. For those unfamiliar, 2000AD was a punk rock comic book at time when comics were mostly routine superheroes and villains, inserting social commentary and controversial topics into a shockingly violent sci-fi stories. Judge Dreddd is the most famous character to come out of the comic, providing an interesting commentary on freedom, justice, democracy, and innumerable other contemporary issues, all set within a future United States that's been devastated by nuclear war and is now comprised of two "Mega Cities" on each coast and a wasteland between the two. In those cities the justice system has been streamlined where the Judges serve as the police, judge, jury, and executioner, issuing out instant justice on the streets. Dredd is less of a character and is more of a vehicle by which a variety of stories can be told around through the rich tapestry that comprises Mega City One. This film is less about Dredd or the major characters and series to come out of the book, but is more about the ups and downs of the comics' 50-plus year history, starting back in the late 1970s. I actually still collect the comic and it's awesome that a number of the original creators of the comic are still regularly creating content for the publication (John Wagner, who co-created Dredd, is still writing stories on a regular basis and is controlling the series main story arc). But on top of that, many of the new generation of popular creators who all grew up reading the original comics and are now the ones making their own cleaver, edgy, original content. It's a lot of fun to put a face and voice to these creators who I've read their names all these years and hear them tell their story of the comic (the most interesting moment in their history is hearing from Neil Gaiman and other how he, Alan Moore, and others left for DC and Marvel in the US, helping rejuvenate dull US comics the same way they did British comics). It's also fun to hear the original creators of the comic and the new generation of writers and artists talk about how the comic is still going strong now because they have embraced being a niche comic and are no longer worried about trying to appeal to a mass audience, as was a tried during a corporate takeover in the 90s that that when horribly wrong. On the downside to this documentary, I was already pretty familiar with the history of 2000AD from a lengthy series of articles included in the Judge Dredd Magazine several years ago, which meant that this documentary didn't provide any new information or new insights. Still, seeing the many creators in person talking about their history with the comic, many of whom have gone on to be icons in the industry, was enough to keep my interest and make this worth watching. See more 09/17/2017 Quite interesting, could have used subtitles. See more 05/16/2017 Made me buy some old 2000ad comics, and I barely own any comic books. A successful documentary will make you interested in a topic you were not aware of. See more 05/17/2016 I loved 2000AD. At one point I had the first 100 episodes in a stack in my bedroom. Until I threw them away. So it was with a good deal of anticipation I started watching this documentary about the innovative and influential comic. There's quite a bit to like; excerpts of animation, great insider reportage from artists, editors, fans and more. But then, after a while, you realise that's all you're going to get. An endless procession of talking heads, occasionally delivering nuggets of insight, but often talking about how bloody brilliant they were back in the day. Why not more emphasis on the characters and how they created and influenced the genres that followed them? This is (IMHO) and opportunity missed. See more 04/09/2016 Interesting rather than insightful, it doesn't particularly paint the office of 2000 ad in a great light. Lots of ego, but there's a feeling that there was more to the story: stories of "bad management" are painted in broad strokes but more detail would have been nice. See more 04/08/2016 As an avid childhood 2000AD reader in the early 80's, I loved this, but it's really a film for the converted which is a bit of a shame, some more info about the stories that filled its pages would have been great. See more Read all reviews

Future Shock! The Story of 2000AD

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