Robocop 4K HDR

Robocop is a film that shouldn’t have succeeded on any level, starting with a title that even its own writers found embarrassing.  But somehow Dutch director Paul Verhoeven turned the script’s trite sci-fi escapism into a hilariously brutal satire of American capitalism – and still managed to keep the action fast and furious.

Peter Weller is Murphy; an honest cop who is brutally murdered then resurrected as the future of law enforcement, Robocop.  Fighting his scattered human memories, along with the corrupt executives within OCP, the Reagan-era mega-corporation that now own old-Detroit, Murphy finds himself torn between his programming and his cop instincts. His partner Lewis (Nancy Allen) helps him bring down the bad guys and restore his humanity.

 

Not only does Robocop work as a gruesome sci-fi adventure (especially in the longer unrated cut included here), but its barbed-wire wit cuts right to the core of 80’s excess, particularly the laughably over-the-top TV commercials and newsbreaks which interrupt the action (featuring a young Leeza Gibbons).  Yet Verhoeven manages to follow through on Murphy’s quest for identity with a deft touch, aided by Weller’s career-making mime mannerism inside the suit.  Robocop is fearless filmmaking that goes out on a limb from anything the sci-fi genre has seen before or since.  And why not?  With a title like that, there was nothing to lose.

 

Robocop has certainly been well-represented on home video, but Arrow's new 4K version will probably be the final word, featuring an Ultra-HD presentation of the restored transfer from 2013.  That might sound a little sketchy, but the results are tremendous on both the theatrical and director's cut (yep, they're both in there).

 

There are two archival commentaries from Verhoeven, producer Jon Davison and writer Ed Neuremeyer (one edited for the theatrical version, another delivered in a more seat-of-your-pants style).  Verhoeven and Neuymeyer never stop talking, while Davison interrupts every so often as the voice of reason, pointing out facts and figures.  The three compliment each other very well.  The new commentary by film historian Paul M. Sammon has the benefit of a few decades perspective, while the third "fan" commentary is just overkill.

 

There are scads of new interviews, archival featurettes, raw dailies of the uncut gore scenes, a Q & A from 2012, trailers, TV spots, image galleries, two isolated score tracks, even an edited-for-television version of the film with alternate takes and edits running just 95 minutes.  Add in a collector's booklet and you have a truly ultimate edition of one of the '80s most subversive films.

 

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