DVD Review:
Robocop 20th Anniversary Collector's Edition
Movie
I remember watching Robocop as a kid and I remember liking the movie a lot. So when I sat down to watch Robocop the 20th anniversary DVD, I was really looking forward to it. I watched the extended cut of the film which is on disc 2. To me this is the superior cut and the one I wanted to watch. First off let me start by saying how well the movie holds up after all these years. The choice of dialogue they used in some scenes really makes me laugh. But overall I really enjoyed watching it. As far as the special effects go everything looked really great. The only special effects that looked dated was the Ed-209 robot. It looks like it was done using stop-motion animation. The other effect that looked really cheesy was when the guy is thrown out of the window and you get to watch him fall to the ground. But these special effects did not hurt the movie, and in my opinion made it better. The extended cut is a lot more brutal and bloody then the theatrical cut, so if that is what you like, your better to start with disc 2. Overall this is a great movie, and one that will bring back lots of memories.
8.5 out of 10
Video
The movie opens with scenes of tv newscast. When I first saw these scenes I thought the picture looked horrible. I assumed at this point that they did nothing to the picture and were releasing this edition with the same transfer as older DVD’s. Well after that scene the rest of the movie looked fantastic. I am left wondering whether those scenes were made to look that way. The rest of the transfer is sharp and very colourful. It’s not going to say it’s going to win transfer of the year, but for a movie that originally came out in 1987 it looks really good.
8 out of 10
Audio
In the audio department you get a wide variety of choices. You can watch it in its original 4.0 or you can watch with a 5.1 Dolby track, or you can watch it with 5.1 DTS. I chose to watch the film in 5.1 DTS. It sounded great. The DTS track really did a great job here bringing all the sounds to life. The surround channels are pretty active and I love listening to the sound as Robocop walks. The movie probably has not sounded this good in a long time. It’s great that they have given you all these choices. The purists can listen to the 4.0 track and the rest of us can listen to the 5.1 tracks
8.5 out of 10
Extras
One thing I think I should talk about before I get to all the bonus material is the packaging. It comes in this metal DVD case. It’s really cool, and quite sturdy. Plus the security sticker that you pull off won’t wreck the case. That is a huge bonus in my book. Since this is a 2 disk edition, on the first disc you get these extras:
• Disc One:
o Theatrical Cut
o Audio commentary by director Paul Verhoeven, writer Ed Neumeier and
executive producer Jon Davison
o Flesh And Steel: The Making Of Robocop featurette
o Shooting Robocop 1987 featurette
o Making Robocop 1987 featurette
o The Boardroom: Storyboard With Commentary By Animator Phil Tippet
featurette
o Deleted Scenes
OCP Press Conference
Nun In The Street Interview
Topless Pizza
Final Media Break
o Photo Gallery
Design (13)
Special Effects (16)
Director Paul Verhoeven (22)
Behind The Scenes (20)
Cast (11)
ED 209 (18)
o Theatrical Trailer
o TV Spot
I really liked the featurette Flesh and Steel: The Making of Robocop featurette. I also watched the deleted scenes but there was nothing to special there. Some of the 1987 featurettes are not bad as well. I have not listened to the commentary yet, but I can only imagine what Paul Verhoeven has in store for us. On disc 2 we have these extras:
• Disc Two:
o All new featurettes:
Villains Of Old Detroit featurette
Special Effects: Then And Now featurette
Robocop: Creating A Legend featurette
o Extended Cut
o Paul Verhoeven easter egg
o Trailers and TV spots
o Teaser 1 & 2
o Theatrical trailers
On this disc my favorite extra was Robocop: Creating a Legend featurette. It was really interesting to learn about the problems they had with the suit. Overall the extras were really good, and I can see myself coming back to listen to the commentary.
8.5 out of 10
Overall
Overall if you’re a fan of Robocop you should be picking up this set. There is enough here I think to warrant a purchase. You have 2 discs of material and a really cool metal case. This one I think is a no-brainer. The set is available now so head out and pick this one up.
9 out of 10