RoboCop [Blu-ray]

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Price: $140.49   

RoboCop [Blu-ray] Review

On the cusp of HD, RoboCop gets re-released as a 20th Anniversary Collector's Edition DVD that portends quick obsolescence but you shouldn't let that dissuade you from purchasing this standard def DVD to tide you over until the HD format war has ended. However, it appears that there is a "glitch" more severe than a malfunctioning ED-209 present on Canadian versions of disc 2 with a duplication of disc 1 onto disc 2 and the first copy I purchased here in the US had an authoring glitch that would not allow me to select the DTS or alternate audio tracks on Disc 2. I can already hear the Old Man yelling "You call this a glitch!?" If you own the legendary Criterion release featuring the "Extended Cut" you will be pleased to know that the upgrade is well worth getting, though you will probably want to hold on to your original Criterion disc for some of the extras that didn't make the migration over to the new 20th Anniversary disc.

Disc 1 features the original theatrical cut in anamorphic 1:85:1 widescreen (The Criterion release was presented in 1:66:1 which is Paul Verhoeven's "preferred" aspect ratio) and Dolby 5.1 and DTS sound but the real treat on this disc is the excellent documentary "Flesh & Steel: The Making of RoboCop" featuring interviews with Paul Verhoeven, Jon Davison, Ed Neumeier, Basil Poledouris, and Peter Weller. There's also a couple of 8-minute 1987 featurettes: "Shooting RoboCop" featuring Miguel Ferrer in character as Bob Morton introducing RoboCop like an OCP publicity gimmick and "Making RoboCop" with a behind-the-scenes look at the production and interviews from back in the day. "The Boardroom" is a storyboard-to-film comparison of ED-209 accompanied with Phil Tippet commentary, 4 deleted scenes and the theatrical trailer with music from, appropriately enough, "The Terminator," another cyborg sci-fi smash from Orion Pictures.

Disc 2 features the "Extended Cut" in anamorphic widescreen 1:85:1 and Dolby 5.1 and DTS sound which is a phenomenal enhancement over the old Dolby surround mix on the Criterion release and restores :23 seconds of graphically violent shots of ED-209 gunning Mr. Kinny into hamburger in the OCP executive board room, Murphy's hand getting blown-off and his stump spurting blood, and Clarence Boddicker's jugular squirting blood after Robo stabs him in the throat which were edited from the theatrical version to garner an R-rating and have been seamlessly restored back into the film. Why they couldn't just make this a seamless-branching feature on the same disc as the theatrical version like the Commando Director's Cut DVD and put all of the bonus features on the second disc is puzzling though. Disc 2 also features another outstanding featurette: "Villains of Old Detroit" with new interviews with Kurtwood Smith, Ronny Cox, Miguel Ferrer, and Ray Wise and is a terrific follow up after watching the film. "Special Effects: Then and Now" talks about the advances in digital compositing versus the in-camera matte shots and stop-motion animation employed on creating ED-209. "RoboCop: Creating a Legend" features interviews with Peter Weller, Paul Verhoeven, Rob Botin, et al. about designing and engineering the suit and took between 10-11 hours each day to fit Peter Weller into before shooting.

As Murphy's Law would have it, ironically, I ended up having to return my first copy to the store I purchased it from because I was not able to select the DTS track on disc 2. The department manager and I tested this on different players and on another copy and confirmed the problem. Since originally writing this review I have recently obtained another copy from a different retailer and it did not have any of the problems selecting the audio tracks so I must have got one from a bad batch and hopefully it is fairly isolated. This is also going to be released on Blu-Ray but too bad it won't be a combo disc. I'd buy that for a dollar.

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