Blu-Ray Review: ‘Robocop Trilogy’ Features One Great Movie

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CHICAGO – Movie collectors can be gluttons for punishment. We strive to have complete collections of certain filmmakers or film franchises, even if we know better when it comes to actual quality. Such is the case with those of us excited that the “Robocop Trilogy” is now available on Blu-ray, given the fact that the first movie is an absolute classic while the two sequels are perfect examples of what NOT to do with a franchise.

HollywoodChicago.com Blu-Ray Rating: 2.5/5.0
Television Rating: 2.5/5.0

Paul Verhoeven’s “Robocop” was a dirty adrenalin shot to the stale ’80s trend of muscle-driven action that had polluted the genre at the time. It was a merging of what was so great about the science fiction genre in the ’80s with a true vision of the future of the movies: One in which extreme violence could be used intelligently not merely as a crutch for incompetent writers. “Robocop” is spectacular and it spawned an entire franchise.

Robocop Trilogy was released on Blu-ray on October 5th, 2010
Robocop Trilogy was released on Blu-ray on October 5th, 2010
Photo credit: Fox

Sadly, arguably more than any other franchise, it should have stopped after the first film. Frank Miller notoriously worked on a script for “Robocop 2” that was discarded (some say wisely) in favor of more mindless fare. While “Robocop 2” has serious problems, it looks like a damn-masterpiece next to the pure junk that is “Robocop 3.”

All three films have been assembled into the “Robocop Trilogy” release, which is the only way to get the second two films in HD, probably because no one outside of family members of the cast and crew would possibly want to want to buy JUST “Robocop 3.” Knowing that only hardcore fans of the whole franchise will be willing to suffer through the awful two-thirds, one would think that MGM would go out of their way to entice them with exciting special features. One would be wrong.

In a truly baffling move that’s not unlike the horrible decisions made in the wake of Verhoeven’s classic, MGM has released “Robocop” as a standalone BD and now in this set and both releases are completely bare-bones. And it’s not merely because the material isn’t out there. The 20th anniversary DVD release of the film in 2007 has hours of special features, including great documentaries about the making of the movie and a commentary. Why the hell wouldn’t people who buy “Robocop Trilogy” be treated the same? As for the transfer, it’s good, not great, making the film itself the only reason to buy “Robocop Trilogy.”

Maybe when the 30th anniversary of the original film comes around, fans will finally get what they deserve. Or maybe if that long-rumored reboot of the franchise ever takes place, this series can finally return to the glory of the first film. I’d buy that for a dollar.

“Robocop Trilogy” stars Paul Weller, Nancy Allen, Kurtwood Smith, and Miguel Ferrer. It was released on Blu-ray on October 5th, 2010.

HollywoodChicago.com content director Brian Tallerico

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

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