Robocop (Steelbook)

If you love really violent, really bloody 80s movies that don’t dote on people’s sensitivities while providing some social commentary, then this is for you. Want cybernetic cops out for revenge? Then this is EVEN MORE for you.Director Paul Verhoeven (Total Recall, Starship Troopers, Hollow Man) delivers us to a dangerous Detroit. Known for using media and commercials in his films, Verhoeven stylishly paints his dystopian near-future with news clips of foreign conflict and violence against police, as well as commercials about medical breakthroughs in artificial organs to set his stage for the future in law enforcement.As we’d later see in Total Recall (1990) and Starship Troopers (1997), Verhoeven loves co-ed locker rooms and showers and, likewise, is an equal opportunity presenter both male and female nudity. Not only that, Verhoeven is all about tough-as-nails women. Starship Troopers (1997) had Dina Meyer, Total Recall (1990) had Sharon Stone and Rachel Ticotin, and here we have officer Lewis (Nancy Allen; Carrie, Strange Invaders, Poltergeist III) credibly kicking the crap out of a perp in the police station lobby.With the development of “Delta City” underway, Dick Jones (Ronny Cox; The Car, Total Recall) has big plans for a privatized police force: ED-209, a menacing stop-motion law enforcement droid. The violence and blood run HEAVY in this movie! ED-209’s first kill is brutal. A fellow suit, Bob Morton (Miguel Ferrer; DeepStar Six, The Guardian) has his own ideas for a RoboCop program, but it requires… volunteers.So enters the savage Clarence Boddicker (Kurtwood Smith; Amityville: The Awakening, Boxing Helena) and his gang of criminals (including Ray Wise; Chillerama, The Rift, Twin Peaks, Jeepers Creepers 2). When officer Lewis and new Detroit cop Alex Murphy (Peter Weller; Of Unknown Origin, Leviathan, Screamers) step onto the scene, these criminals destroy poor Murphy—like, literally. When Murphy’s hand is blown off it splatters (explodes really) and leaves a chunky stump. Then they blow off his arm leaving flesh shrapnel and they blow out his brains in a sloppy exit wound. But now Morton has his volunteer!The RoboCop design is sleek and a bit Vader-esque, his movement is robotically rigid and his vision is a lot like the T-800 (i.e., The Terminator). Watching him work the streets is violent 80s bliss. He shoots a guy in the crotch, punches through walls and throws someone out a second story window.Despite allegedly having no memory of his life, RoboCop has bad dreams echoing his murder and his family. Eventually he seeks revenge.The performances in this film were on point. Kurtwood Smith brings his stone-cold, no-nonsense A-game as a criminal who shoots first and sometimes even kills before idle asking questions later. Miguel Ferrer is delectably corporate-slimy down to his habits for snorting coke off bimbos’ cleavage. And Ronny Cox has that OG emotionless game face. Their an admirable line-up of bad guys.And when these bad guys get theirs, they really get it. I love when the dude’s flesh melts from the toxic waste. The make-up work is great; he looks like an absolute monster. Then he about disgustingly liquefies when hit by a car. LOL. Awesome death scene.Moreover, despite being an armored cybernetic cop, RoboCop gets the crap kicked out of him much like Bruce Willis in Die Hard (1988). By the end, RoboCop is covered in armor-piercing round holes, cracks, black powder scuffs and blood.My favorite thing about this film (as opposed to the ultra-soft 2014 remake) was how it didn’t try to please everyone. Outside of his memories viewed in first-person, we never see Murphy with his family or try to reconnect with them.They explain why, and it makes perfect sense. And after Murphy exacts his revenge there is no attempt at verbal reconciliation of his catharsis. It’s simply done. He shot the crap outta the guy one minute. RoboCop starts identifying himself as “Murphy” the next minute. The end. It’s a good “tough guy” ending a la Schwarzenegger.

So, I already own the director's cut of RoboCop on Blu-Ray, it's somewhere deep in my collection, but it's a rather boring release. Honestly, there's so little of a difference between the director's cut and the theatrical cut (they both clock in at about 100 minutes) that I honestly have a hard time differentiating the two. I saw this release in my recommendations based on the fact that awhile back I got Arrow Video's collector's edition of "Waterworld" on Blu-Ray (the one with the theatrical cut, TV cut AND the never before seen "Ulysses cut") and my review for that movie has helped a lot of people so I figured I'd write a review of another Arrow Video release that's in a similar vein.First of all, the packaging is simply beautiful. It comes with a very thick sleeve with some nice artwork, inside that sleeve is the Blu-Ray (which has reversible artwork, which I almost immediately reversed) which contains two discs, a neatly folded two-sided poster with the new artwork on one side and the original poster artwork on the other side and a rather thick booklet with all sorts of knowledge goodies about the movie. Inside the case for the Blu-Ray are the two discs, but also some photographs and at least one sticker you can put somewhere that says "These Premises Protected By ROBOCOP." It's a gorgeous release, it has everything a fan of the original RoboCop could want!On the first disc is the director's cut of the movie, along with a slew of special features. I have not yet popped this disc into my PlayStation's Blu-Ray player, yet. I've seen both the director's cut and the theatrical cut many times. But on the second disc is a cut of the movie I've not seen since I was about six years old back in 1993 and that's the "Edited for TV" cut. It's the version that was broadcast on network television so Dads could show their six year old boys (or girls, I guess, if they're into this kind of thing) the movie RoboCop without exposing them to all the bad language and gratuitous violence that could very well scar a kid that age if he somehow got his hands on a copy of the uncut version.This cut isn't radically different from the theatrical version, but it is a lot more fun to watch. I'm watching it in the background as I write this review right now. What I find really fascinating is that a lot of the actors from the movie seemed to come back for extra recording sessions to dub over all their naughty language. Another cool thing is that it's in 4:3 ratio, beginning with the old words many of us in the 90s remember being on the TV before a movie aired on TV: "This film has been modified from its original version, it has been edited for content and formatted to fit this screen." So that really adds to the nostalgic experience of watching the "Edited for TV" cut of the movie.One odd thing about the "Edited for TV" cut is that they replaced the word "scumbag" with the word "crumbag," which isn't really a word. Anyway, I give this release the full five out of five stars just for including the "Edited for TV" cut of the movie, which they say is in SD, but looks fantastic for being transferred from an old network videotape. I got this Blu-Ray set with a gift card I received for my birthday early in the month and pre-ordered this Blu-Ray right away and waited almost a whole month for it to come in the mail. I got free same day shipping on it because I pre-ordered it early enough. All in all, if you're a fan of the original RoboCop, you need to pick this one up as soon as possible!

It's a lovely looking set. Hard protective box, perfect-bound book, attractive (if rather redundant) poster, and some other bits 'n' bobs to boot.And yet....I can't help feeling that for the asking price of £25 it is *seriously* overpriced.Bear in mind that a Director's Cut blu-ray of this film has been available for several years and can be easily obtained for around £7 or less. Sure, the re-mastered film in this package may look a tad sharper - but £18-worth sharper?Now, if this set had included a 4K UHD of the film rather than (or in addition to) the blu-ray - that WOULD have been a 5-star package :)

This is for the LIMITED EDITION ARROW release of RoboCop. Just in case this shows up elsewhere.Have always been a fan of the movie and most of us have already seen it by this point. It's a solid science fiction action/horror and one of the very finest to ever be created.The bad:This is the same master that already exists at a less expensive entry point. Minor clean up aside.The good:New extra features alone are worth the price of admission.You also get the Theatrical cut of the movie along with the full length "edited for TV" version, which is still hysterical and fascinating that the producers shot so many alternate takes to replace the violence. ED-209 gunning an exec down with no blood anywhere is hilarious.If you're a fan of RoboCop then this is well worth the money. Also includes a set of postcards, poster and new booklet on the making of process.

Another great release from Arrow Video, awesome poster ( which I might get framed and put on wall) and Booklet full of information about the movie (79 pages) comes with cool cards as well and a set Full of extras over 2 Blu-Ray discs , hours worth of extras for fans of the movie this is an brilliant set, Directors cut of the movie which is my fav to watch, the Theatrical version of the movie and also an edited for TV version of the movie which i have not watched yet in this set but I seen few versions of this movie edited on tv with swearing cut out and replaced with some funny words can be fun to watch for a laugh. All in all this set is great and I hope arrow do a Robocop 2 in this type of set not bothered about the 3rd movie though

This is a really neat collectors package for Robocop fans. Comes with both the theatrical and directors cut (the latter having scenes extended, noticeably in two of the movies more graphic shootings). The 4K master is done really well in my opinion, it retains a respectful amount of the original film grain, whilst adding the level of detail you would expect from an UHD upgrade. The use of a wide colour gamut and Dolby Vision is welcome adding extra vibrancy and depth to certain highlights and settings. Sure, there are occasional shots in scenes where the enhancements seem to have been missed out, which look even more apparent, probably because the rest of the content looks much more improved, but they are infrequent. The additional content that comes included (collectors cards, booklet etc), make this a great package for Robocop fans. Definitely the current most premium way to enjoy the movie, a nice addition to any collection. (Watched on an LG CX oled and Panasonic DPUB820)

This is by far the best looking version of Robocop that I have seen and includes both the director's cut and the theatrical cut of the movie. The limited edition box set includes a lot of extras as well as a very nice booklet, a poster, plus a few postcards, all packaged in a very sturdy, good-looking and practical slipcase. Arrow once again delivers!It is a good thing that the slipcase is sturdy, otherwise this blu-ray box set would have ended up looking less than pristine due to poor packaging.