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| Peter
Weller, Nancy Allen, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith, Miguel Ferrer, Dan O'Herlihy |
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Anamorphic
widescreen |
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Dolby Digital
5.1 |
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DTS |
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Trailer(s) |
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Featurette(s) |
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Documentary |
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Audio commentary
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Deleted scenes
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Concept art
/ storyboards |
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Multi-angle
feature |
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Robocop
(Peter Weller): Come quietly or there will be... trouble.
A
dead policeman is rebuilt into a robotic supercop by the corporation
controlling the police department.
 Rarely
has an exploitation film proved as surprisingly funny and intelligent
as RoboCop. It makes a nice counterpoint to The Terminator,
also a low-budget science-fiction thriller much better than its credentials
would suggest. For where The Terminator's narrative - like its
titular cyborg - will stop at nothing in its relentless forward drive,
RoboCop provides a more human framework with room for plentiful
humorous asides and satiric diversions. Both movies rise beyond their
exploitation roots without defaulting on the required contents: violence,
explosions, hi-tech gadgetry, etc.
Combining thematic elements from such diverse sources as Frankenstein,
Metropolis, American consumer culture and corporate Reaganism, RoboCop
never develops a completely satisfactory narrative drive, but more than
makes up for its clichéd plotting with its fast pace, its comic-book
visual style and its layers of satire. |
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Both
the Region
1 release from Image, movie-only and letterboxed at 1.85:1, and the
American region-free Criterion Edition [see separate
review] have gone out of print. A movie-only release sporting a
new anamorphic transfer and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio mix is now available
for Region 1 from MGM/UA, and is expected to be followed by a special
edition DVD later in 2002.
MGM/UA is releasing this very Special Edition of RoboCop in a
boxed set together with the two (inferior) sequels for Region 2 in February
2002. The Region 2 Special Edition carries the same anamorphic transfer
and Dolby Digital 5.1 featured on the current movie-only DVD for Region
1; the Region 2 Special Edition served as a basis for this review (the
upcoming Region 1 Special Edition is expected to have identical features).
RoboCop
has built up quite a history of home video releases by now, and to be
fair, any choice that would be made for a new release would prompt
critical discussion from one end or another. The film was originally
exhibited in theaters at American theaters witha 1.85:1 projection ratio,
masking off a small section of the top and bottom of Verhoeven's European-minded
1.66:1 intended ratio. The American DVD release from the Criterion Collection
is the only release so far that was framed at the director-approved
ratio of 1.66:1, revealing more of the frame than was ever visible in
theaters. The new anamorphic transfer is closer to the theatrical 1.85:1
aspect ratio, and the missing parts of the frame are most noticeable
in the video news footage segments, which definitely feel overcropped.The
anamorphic enhancement however adds so much more detail to the picture
as a whole, the stronger, more reliable image - drawn from an excellent
master - will surely be the best option for all but the most fanatical
purists at the moment.
The soundtrack has been remastered as a Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation,
and although some of the sound elements clearly sound dated, it's a
very satisfying mix that offers spare but effective rear channel activity
and powerful if a little inconsisten .1 LFE usage.
As
with the Special Edition DVD release of The Terminator, distributor
MGM/UA Home Entertainment has given their RoboCop Special Edition
a Region 2 premiere, with a Region 1 release of a disc carrying the
same extras expected later this year. And although they have done an
excellent job with the extra features presented here, I'd still hold
on to the Criterion release if you're lucky enough to have it. Like
The Silence of the Lambs, the Criterion and MGM/UA versions of
RoboCop complement each other nicely.
Director Paul Verhoeven and screenwriter Ed Neumeier reappear on this
release in a newly recorded audio commentary track, and joined
this time by producer Jon Davison, their animated chatter on this track
is even more lively and fun than their previous effort on the Criterion
release. Latching on to numerous topical events and talking at length
about the 'excessively violent' scenes cut on the insistence of the
ratings board.
Another meaty extra on this new release is the newly produced 30-minute
documentary 'Flesh + Steel: The Making of RoboCop'. Featuring
most key contributors to the original film (star Peter Weller is the
only noteworthy absentee), this solid item outlines the movie's troubled
production history and difficult shoot. It doesn't delve into any of
the issues in great detail, but provides an entertaining and informative
overview of a landmark film. Two of the film's original 1987 featurettes
are also on board, both clocking in just under eight minutes. 'Making
RoboCop' is the standard promotional item produced for TV viewers,
while 'Shooting RoboCop' may have some added interest as it has
Peter Weller and Miguel Ferrer appearing in character in a kind of RoboCop
mockumentary. For those interested in the film's modest but most effective
special effects, there's a great storyboard-to-screen comparison
for the stop-motion footage of ED-209 from the boardroom scene. The
finished footage is presented in slow-motion at near-fullscreen, with
smaller storyboard sketches in the bottom right of the screen. This
slowed-down footage with commentary from creator Phil Tippett presents
a great opportunity to appreciate the skill and detail that went into
animating the robot, and this three-and-a-half-minute item is one of
the best features on this release.
The deleted scenes section on the other hand is a bit of a disappointment,
containing only a handful of video-recorded segments originally intended
as footage viewed on TV screens within the movie. The four brief clips
presented here range from the superfluous to the downright silly. Also
included within this section is a collection of rough production
footage of the deleted scenes that appear in the longer director's
cut. There's not really anything of interest here that's not already
in the longer cut of the film, so this stuff is for die-hard Robo-fans
only. An extensive animated image gallery holds a huge number
of images, both promotional and behind-the-scenes production stills,
set to music cues from the score and nicely presented. Finally, both
original theatrical trailers (the first of which was set to music
from The Terminator) are on board, as are a TV spot and
trailers both sequels. The
animated menu screens all have a design based on the 'RoboVision' concept
as seen in the film, with still images and some animated segments incorporated
into the main pages. Computer bleeps and other ambient sounds fill the
background, navigation is pleasant and uncluttered.
Dan
Hassler-Forest
Reviewed: January
28, 2002
Click
here for IMDB info on Robocop.
Click here
to return to the front page.
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