Crime is escalating and more and more cops are dying; so when a good cop gets gunned down, scientists decided to turn him into a half man, half machine super-cop in hopes of strengthening the arm of the law and cleaning up the streets and it worked rather well for the first couple films.
It’s hard to believe that ROBOCOP came out all the way back in 1987. I remember wanting to see it oh so very badly but naturally I was too young (ten years old) and mum said no. But even at ten, I was sneaky and managed to rent it the day it came out on video, loving every second of it. The idea of a half man, half cyborg cop is still cool as hell nowadays so it’s no surprise that this baby developed quite the cult following back in the day and let me tell you, it’s a welcome on Blu-ray.
Aside from putting Peter Weller on the map (Weller’s also guest starring in this season of DEXTER for anyone who wants to know), ROBOCOP became one of the best icons to come out of the eighties. This film had the violence and gore (I’ll never forget the toxic waste/windshield scene), the gratuitous eighties club scene, classic one liners like “Dead or alive you’re coming with me,” and “Bitches, leave!” and THAT 70’s SHOW’s Kurtwood Smith as the bad guy which didn’t mean much then but certainly adds to the flavour these days, so what’s not to love? ROBOCOP did a lot for action films and Sci-Fi in general as far as I’m concerned with stuff like the Cobra Gun and Ed 209 living on and on through the ages (and one of my personal favourites, the TJ Lazer show). Bottom line, I can’t think of a negative thing to say about this gem of a film.
Now for me, ROBOCOP 2 was one of the first sequels to push the envelope and end up being just as good if not better than the original. Aside from True Blood, I think Nuke is probably the coolest fake drug ever invented and certainly had the coolest villain spawn because of it. Now, I do find it incredibly hard to believe that they’d use an addict’s brain to power what’s meant to be the new age of Robotic fighting machines but he made for a sweet nemesis to follow in Ed 209’s footsteps. Peter Weller continued to shine and grow into the character and though the corporation didn’t fall at the film’s end, Robocop became more in tune with his humanity and the promise of revenge was at hand…or so I thought, which brings me to one flaw in this three film package: ROBOCOP 3.
Most people have no idea that ROBOCOP is a trilogy. Everyone I’ve mentioned getting this Blu-ray package to responded by tilting their head in confusion and saying “There’s a ROBOCOP 3?!” Indeed, my thoughts exactly. Not only did this film veer from the universe created in the first two films (and I mean drunkenly swerved off a bridge veered), it also lost its R rated edge (a fact that automatically hurt the film’s integrity) as well as its leading man, Peter Weller. I really can’t blame him though as one quick look at this script would have sent any rational actor running for the hills crying bloody murder. There’s so much wrong with this film it’s hard to pick a place to start so instead I like think it didn’t exist and feel it’s one of only two things wrong with this Blu-ray package.
The ROBOCOP TRILOGY is a balls the wall, leave your inhabitations at the door, adrenaline soaked action orgy that’ll have most guys swimming in sweet, sweet nostalgia…that is until you get to ROBOCOP 3. Now that second flaw I mentioned comes in the form of extras or to be more specific, the lack thereof. How in God’s name you pack up three films without as much as one extra or special feature is beyond me, I mean, have you seen the long list of extras attached to the BACK TO THE FUTURE TRILOGY!? I have, I reviewed it and let me tell you, they didn’t hold back. Sure, Robocop isn’t exactly Marty and Doc but it sure would have been nice to see a little effort here as this package comes off a bit cheap as a result. Still, the first two films are totally worth the price.
Video: 1.85:1 Widescreen in 1080p HD with AVC codec. The films themselves look great considering how long ago they came out. Ed 209 still looks a bit choppy at times but he’s cool so I forgive him.
Audio: 5.1 DTS-HD in English, French and Spanish with the same subtitle options. Everything sounds find until the hip-hop gangsta Robocop from part 3 comes a calling. Sigh.
Again, there are no extras whatsoever, which sucks but it can’t rain all the time.
