Review of Robocop: Director`s Cut

Introduction

I went to see Robocop at the cinema when I was about 16 or 17, ignoring the 18 rating having seen the trailers and programs etc on television. I went along with a couple of friends and I think we were all a bit gobsmacked by the violence in the film, particularly the scene where Murphy gets shot to pieces.

Despite this however, Robocop was a very good film and has been on my wish-list of DVDs for some time - and of course, the Criterion Director`s Cut is the only one to go for!

Video

The video is transferred in a downright irritating ratio of 1.66:1 and is non-anamorphic. 1.66:1 is annoying because it is not as wide as a 16x9 television, but wider than 14:9 mode, so you have to fiddle about to get the image in the correct position on the screen!

The quality of the video is pretty good although the TV commercials/news segments which didn`t look good in the first place, don`t look very good now either.

As far as effects go, ED-209 was just about the coolest thing I`d ever seen when I saw Robocop at the cinema, but now it`s a badly animated plastic model superimposed over the live action - it really is embarrasingly cheesy in fact!

Otherwise everything else still looks pretty good and the locations used are perfect for the lawless future Detroit where the film is set.

Audio

Audio is Dolby Pro-Logic and is acceptable throughout, although the centre channel was rather low and the level had to be adjusted to hear the dialogue above the action.

Features

As expected with a Criterion release, there is a reasonable selection of extras including audio commentary, Film-to-Storyboard Comparisons, Storyboards, Illustrated Essay and Trailers.

Conclusion

Firstly, let me deal with the "excessively violent shots cut from the theatrical release to avoid an X rating" which are included on this edition of the DVD. Luckily, I still have a UK Certificate 18 version of this film on video, so I was able to watch a few key scenes to make a comparison.

When we are given out first glimpse of ED-209 in the infamous "you have 20 seconds to comply" scene, in the UK version, the executive gets shot and we see it from the front and back before he falls onto the model of Delta City and then ED-209 stops shooting. In the unrated version, ED-209 continues pumping bullets into him when he is lying on the model. It`s fairly nasty!

The scene where Murphy gets shot to pieces by the gang is heavily cut in the UK. After the initial shot where his hand is blown off, UK viewers see him struggling to his feet, whilst the unrated version sees him lift up his bleeding stump and examine the wound! Similarly, the the UK we don`t actually see his right arm get blown off, but guess what - it`s there in all the gory detail on the unrated version. And finally in this scene, UK viewers "merely" see him collapse when he is shot in the head, whereas this DVD includes bits of head flying off etc!

If you didn`t like the UK version, you`re definetely not going to like this one!

I sat and watched this film with a friend last night and we both enjoyed it - apart from ED-209 it has aged quite well. It`s just a shame that the sequels were such utter toss.