When RoboCop arrived in the summer of 1987, it seemed like a distant dystopian world where law enforcement is privatized, people would get merged into machines and Detroit would be a lawless hellhole. The part about Detroit being a nightmarish hell hole wasn’t that unbelievable. The city was already seen as a decaying ruin as the Japanese automakers had ravaged the city. The only time America focused on the city was Thanksgiving Day when the Detroit Lions would get torn apart like a turkey on the buffet at the K&W Cafeteria. RoboCop was part science fiction with a huge dose of reality.
Giant Omni Consumer Products (OCP) has taken control of Detroit’s police force. While the city brags about the savings of going with privatization for securing the city, the cops working the beat aren’t enjoying new management. The city is getting rougher and nastier. Cops aren’t coming home from their shifts. Turns out the city’s solution for crime is also part of the problem. OCP has a major building project for the heart of Detroit called Delta City. In order to make this a cost-effective reality, OCP has hired their own goons to bring down property values and eliminate any local opposition to their dream project including the cops. The corporation is in the process of replacing the cops. The first version of a robotic cop is ED-209. However the prototype has a really bad audition. This leads to Bob Morton (Twin Peaks’ Miguel Ferrer) coming out with his version of the cop of the future. His RoboCop involves the barely alive remains of Officer Alex Murphy (The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension‘s Peter Weller) being placed inside a robot to create RoboCop. The scientists have attempted to wipe Murphy’s memory as he becomes the fearless cop that Detroit needs. But can he remain all about the job as OCP demands?
RoboCop is a masterpiece that goes deeper than expected. The film brought Paul Verhoeven over from Holland where he was more art house than drive-in. He created a movie that straddled these two worlds. RoboCop could have easily been a cheap schlock film about a robotic cop cleaning up the streets like a mechanical version of Death Wish. We’re given a film that’s presents a complicated vision of the future and still delivers the promised nastiness. The movie delivered on the promised fire power. Audiences in 1987 were not counting on was a movie that debated letting corporations take over police forces and ultimately control cities. We’ve learned over the decades that private corporations aren’t a great thing when it comes to law enforcement. There have been quite a few stories of judges that were receiving bribes to keep sending kids from their courtroom into private corporation jails. The private corporation had to keep their cells full. They didn’t care if the kids were really guilty. OCP didn’t care about justice. They were all about corporate profits and building their massive project.
The cast in RoboCop is first rate. Weller is able to bring humanity to the resurrected Murphy even when he’s strapped inside a robot costume. Nancy Allen (Dressed To Kill) is tough as the partner of Murphy and RoboCop. Miguel Ferrer is the perfect ’80s corporate slimeball. The biggest surprise of the batch is Kurtwood Smith as the criminal kingpin Clarence Boddicker. If you’re used to him as the dad on That’s ’70s Show, you’ll be in for a shock when he starts blasting away with his guns.
The Blu-ray boxset contains the theatrical cut and the touch bloodier Director’s Cut. You also get the TV safe cut to see how much had to be cut back for airing on through cable box. You’ll want to see Director’s Cut first to get the complete vision of a nightmare future. RoboCop must be experienced at full force.
The video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The 4K UHD resolution brings more action out of the dark shadows of Detroit. The audio is Original lossless stereo and four-channel mixes plus DTS-HD MA 5.1 and Dolby Atmos surround sound options on both cuts. You’ll be blowing out the speakers on your surround system with all the bullets flying around the screen. The movie is subtitled.
Six collector’s postcards featuring images from RoboCop.
Double-sided fold-out poster with the original artwork on one side.
80-page Limited Edition collector’s booklet contains essays on the film by Omar Ahmed, Christopher Griffiths and Henry Blyth, a 1987 Fangoria interview with Rob Bottin, and archive publicity materials.
Disc One – Director’s Cut
Audio Commentary by director Paul Verhoeven, executive producer Jon Davison and co-writer Ed Neumeier has them go deep into the production. This was originally recorded for the Theatrical Cut and re-edited in 2014 for the Director’s Cut.
Audio Commentary by film historian Paul M. Sammon gives context for the film and even more stories surrounding the film.
Audio Commentary by fans Christopher Griffiths, Gary Smart and Eastwood Allen get deep into their obsession with the film.
The Future of Law Enforcement: Creating RoboCop (16:51) interviews co-writer Michael Miner. He talks about how much he was doing in UCLA’s film school. He had hooked up with Ed Neumeier when they discovered they had the same taste. They each had half of the idea for RoboCop and worked together to create the script. He talks of merging the political viewpoints with the science fiction elements.
RoboTalk (32:08) has co-writer Ed Neumeier sit down at a table and chat with filmmakers David Birke (writer of Elle) and Nicholas McCarthy (director of Orion Pictures’ The Prodigy). He talks about what science fiction novels interested him as a kid.
Truth of Character (18:26) talks with star Nancy Allen on her role as Lewis. She talks about creating more to the character than what was on the page. She was sent over the script and was just going to look at the first page, but ended up wanting to read the whole thing. She wanted to be a part of the film.
Casting Old Detroit (8:20) has casting director Julie Selzer describe how the film’s ensemble cast was assembled. She was married to the original director on the project, so she knew about the film before it was given to her to cast. She talks about casting as throwing a great dinner party. She calls it an art movie.
Connecting the Shots (11:06) gets into the details with second unit director and frequent Verhoeven collaborator Mark Goldblatt. He talks about the connecting moments that are usually assigned to him. He had worked with Jon Davison back at Roger Corman’s New World. He met Verhoeven during a special screening of the European cut of Legend.
Analog (13:10) delves into the special photographic effects with Peter Kuran and Kevin Kutchaver. This was the days before digital when you had no idea what you’d get until the print came back from the lab.
More Man Than Machine: Composing RoboCop (12:04) pays tribute to composer Basil Poledouris score. Film music experts Jeff Bond, Lukas Kendall, Daniel Schweiger and Robert Townson give their feelings about Basil’s work.
RoboProps (12:50) lets super-fan Julien Dumont show off his collection of original props and memorabilia from the RoboCop movies. He bought the collection off another serious RoboCop fan. He appreciates the artists that went into creating the props.
2012 Q&A (42:37) with the Filmmakers, a panel discussion featuring Verhoeven, Davison, Neumeier, Miner, Allen, star Peter Weller and animator Phil Tippett. Verhoeven’s wife told him to make the film. He originally thought the script was terrible. She told him to read it again and he saw something in it.
RoboCop: Creating A Legend (20:10), Villains of Old Detroit (17:00) and Special Effects: Then & Now (18:21) are three archive featurettes from a 2007 home video release. The pieces include interviews with cast and crew
Paul Verhoeven Easter Egg (0:39) shows you Paul’s cameo in the film.
Deleted scenes (2:50) includes 4 snipped moments. We get the whole topless pizza sequence.
The Boardroom: Storyboard with Commentary by Phil Tippett (6:02) is from the DVD release. He talks about the stop motion in the scene.
Director’s Cut Production Footage (11:34) are raw dailies from the filming of the unrated gore scenes. This is great for seeing how squibs go off and how the director gets people to not know they’re going to be bleeding all over the place.
Two theatrical trailers (1:38 & 1:23) & and three TV spots (2:03). They present the RoboCop as both a superhero and something to fear.
Image Gallery includes production stills, behind the scenes, poster and video art.
Disc Two – Theatrical Cut
Commentary by director Paul Verhoeven, executive producer Jon Davison and co-writer Ed Neumeier.
Two Isolated Score tracks give you both the Composer’s Original Score and Final Theatrical Mix,
Edited-for-television version of the film (95:16) features alternate dubs, takes and edits of several scenes. The film is presented in 1.33:1 full frame. There are highlights of alternate takes between the two TV edits (18:35) that shows how things have changed between cuts.
Split screen comparisons allows you to see the difference between the Director’s Cut and Theatrical Cut, and the Theatrical Cut (4:02) and edited-for-TV version (20:16). There was a lot of violence snipped away. I’m not sure why the word “Scumbag” at to be turned into “Crumb bag”?
RoboCop: Edited for Television, a compilation of alternate scenes from two edited-for-television versions, including outtakes newly transferred in HD from recently unearthed 35mm elements
Arrow Video presents RoboCop. Directed by Paul Verhoeven. Screenplay by Edward Neumeier & Michael Miner. Starring Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Daniel O’Herlihy, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith, Miguel Ferrer & Ray Wise. Rating: Unrated & R Rated. Running Time: 102 minutes for theatrical – 103 minutes for Director’s Cut. Release Date: April 12, 2022.
