RoboCop Trilogy (DVD)

RoboCop is a definite sign of the 80s as the film not only dates itself right from the start as it depicts an extremely obvious era of an extremely exaggerated Reagan administration, it also removes any idea of seriousness from the film with its corny news broadcasts, while appealing to the gore-mongers with over-the-top violence. Its follow-ups RoboCop 2 and 3 slowly degrade while sticking to the same formula of corny storyline, but slowly moving away from the graphic nature of the first film with the final installment completely watered-down to the expected PG-13 type movie we have come to recognize for the mass audiences.

The RoboCop films are by no means examples of excellent cinema as they are more of an example of what people like to call "popcorn flicks" that take absolutely no brain power to stick to the storyline while watching cyborgs battle it out.

All three films follow a similar premise as the police of Detroit have been purchased by the company OCP, which has designs of letting the city destroy itself so that it can build its dream city, Delta City. RoboCop was the first product of OCP in an effort to design a fully functional robotic protector of the peace, but along the way they also have designs of improving on Robo, which doesn't quite ever seem to work out.

As far as the DVDs go they all look very good and the original film even includes an extra minute of gore, which was originally cut to keep the MPAA happy, which I actually enjoyed since the majority of films now are steering clear of blood to ensure a PG-13 rating making it marketable to the young ones.

Each film also comes equipped with its original theatrical trailer, but the only one that comes with any special features is the original. The disc comes equipped with audio commentary with director Paul Verhoeven, writer Edward Neumeier and producer Jon Davison, four deleted scenes, three featurettes, storyboard with commentary and a photo gallery of 101 stills.

The audio commentary is one of the most lively features of the disc as the three men laugh and are on the entire way through the film their banter is extremely lively and insightful and will be a treat for all Robo lovers, but you have got to wonder where was Peter Weller. You will also soon grow tired of listening to Verhoeven talk about how the end product, RoboCop, is a metaphor for Jesus being killed by Satan and how Murphy's death is just a way of having "the crucifixion before you can have the resurrection." The theme also continues to RoboCop 3 where Dr. Lazarus is the only one that can bring Robo back to life.

Next we have the three featurettes, one of which is new and the other two are products of the 80s when the film was made.

The first, "Flesh and Steel – The Making of Robocop" is 37 minutes long and covers EVERYTHING RoboCop from how each actor came to be chosen, how Verhoeven finally decided to join the project and how it all came to be at Orion. This is definitely the feature to watch as the other two are pretty much garbage as they are obviously dated and both around 7-8 minutes and only touch upon a couple of items not covered in the new featurette.

Lastly you have the usuals; deleted scenes, photo gallery and trailers. The deleted scenes don't add any gore but do give the pervs some T&A but for the most part I could have done without the deleted scenes and the photo gallery, which I never enjoy.

All-in-all the RoboCop trilogy is a dream come true for Robo fans as it pays most of its attention to the first film, which is certainly the best of the three, if that is saying anything. Plus it is certainly impressive as they were able to get three of the key personalities involved in the first film to provide commentary. It is also reasonably priced at Amazon for $33 just click the BUY NOW button above to check it out.