“I’d buy that for a dollar!” I was dragged to a movie theatre back in 1987 to see Paul Verhoeven’s Sci-Fi action flick “Robocop.” I had seen the trailers and was only mildly interested, thinking it was just another low-budget B-movie. I wasn’t familiar with Verhoeven so I had no reason to think otherwise. Upon leaving the theatre, I thanked my friend repeatedly for making me go, and immediately set out to get others to see it as well. For those of you who have been living under a rock, “Robocop” told the story of Alex Murphy (Peter Weller), a family man and police officer who lives in Old Detroit (actually Dallas). He is assigned to one of the most violent precincts in the city, which is only made worse by the fact that the police are horribly underpaid and on the verge of a strike. While on duty, he and his partner Anne Lewis (Nancy Allen) stumble across one of the city’s worst criminals, right after an armed robbery.

They give chase, finally ending up in the bad guy’s warehouse hideout. In the film’s most gruesome scene, Murphy is tortured and left for dead. Murphy as we know him is gone. Thanks to the uber-scientists at OCP, he is resurrected in the form of Robocop. Part man, mostly machine, criminals beware.

I don’t care what some people say. “Robocop” was a great movie. Was it super violent? Well, yes. Was there a lot of senseless bloodshed? Well, yeah. Were there scenes of grotesque mutilations? Umm… uh-huh. It was pure escapist fantasy, fueled by some of the darkest, sharpest sarcastic humor I’ve ever seen. Verhoeven successfully mixed in some broad comedy that poked fun at America’s consumers. Mixed into the film were any number of ‘commercials’ and news reports that reflected our need to buy useless junk and voyeuristic tendencies. These were similar to Verhoeven’s parodies of ‘propaganda’ films that he used extensively throughout “Starship Troopers.” Of course, not everyone got the joke. I actually knew people who wondered if some of the items offered were real (they didn’t stay friends long).

“Robocop” had it share of detractors and considered it to be no more than violent garbage. But those who actually took the time to watch the film knew there was much more to its bloody veneer. Aside from the humor, the underlying story surrounding Murphy’s lost humanity is haunting. He doesn’t remember who he is, but as the memories start coming back battle between the inner man and machine take hold.

Of course, the other thing that makes “Robocop” such a cool movie is the way it presents Corporate America. It is shown to be a place full of greed, with little or nor regard for other people. And, for the most part, that is an accurate depiction. Of course, there is all manner of stereotypes represented. We have the evil corporate dude, who is played with convincing reality by Ronny Cox. Of course, he goes head to head with up and coming power hungry showboat played by (you guessed it) Miguel Ferrar. There is even the total butt-kissing flunky (of which there are many) in the form of Felton Perry. Everything about the way Corporate America works is seen here with a frighteningly funny reality.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Kurtwood Smith. This was the first time I had ever seen this actor, and most recently he has hit the big time as the father on “That 70’s Show.” But I daresay you would not recognize him as the villainous Clarence Boddicker. I have yet to see a more despicable and disgusting bad guy in any film since.

Now, the problem with “Robocop”, is that as you might expect, it was popular enough to warrant sequels. And unfortunately, these sequels were helmed by directors other than Verhoeven. The problem with this is that they tried to emulate Verhoeven’s style, as opposed to making them in their own image. The 2nd film was directed by Irvin Kirshner (“The Empire Strikes Back) and fortunately still retained Weller in the lead role. While it wasn’t as good as the original, it was still well worth seeing.

But then Fred Dekker took up the reigns for the 3rd film. I liked Dekker’s work prior to this outing, enjoying both “Night of the Creeps” and “The Monster Squad”, but for some reason things just didn’t gel on “Robocop 3.” On its own merit, it might have worked, but as a sequel it just couldn’t compare to what had come before. Some people blamed it on the fact that Weller was replaced by actor John Burke (Weller did not wish to return), but in fact Burke did a fairly good job in the role.

MGM’s “Robocop Trilogy” delivers some of the best versions of all three films available, in terms of audio and video, but they chose to only include extra features for the first one. Of course, in retrospect, this might have been wise. There is an audio commentary with director Paul Verhoeven, writer Edward Neumeir, and executive producer Jon Davison, which is fairly interesting and well worth a listen. But even better is a documentary on the making of “Robocop” that runs a little over 30 minutes, as well as two shorter featurettes. There is also a storyboard with comments from animator Phil Tippet and some deleted scenes.

The packaging itself is kind of unusual as you have to unfold it in several directions after taking it out of the initial slipcover. Its kind if cool, but it takes a minute or two to get it folded back. There is also a small booklet included that has all manner of Robocop facts and trivia. (Did you know that former President Richard Nixon was recruited to help promote the “Robocop” home video? He plugged the tape in return for $25,000 which he donated to the American Boys Club.)

Aside from the fact that the first film is really the best, having all of them in a 3-disc trilogy is kind of cool. I still like the character, and this is just one more step in the direction of having all of Robocop’s adventures available, good or bad. For the record, there was also a short-lived TV series, an animated series and a four-part mini-series. The mini-series was made up of four 2-hour films and is also currently available on DVD.

Robocop
Directed by: Paul Verhoeven
Starring: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O’Herlihy, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith, Miguel Ferrar
Extras: Deleted Scenes, “Flesh and Steel” - The Making of Robocop, “Shooting Robocop”, “Making Robocop”, Audio Commentary by the Director, Co-Writer and Executive Producer, Storyboard with Commentary by Animator Phil Tippett, Photo Gallery, Original Theatrical Trailers, TV Spots
MPAA Rating: NR

Robocop 2
Directed by: Irvin Kershner
Starring: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O’Herlihy, Tom Noonan, Belinda Bauer, Gabirel Damon
MPAA Rating: R

Robocop 3
Directed by: Fred Dekker
Starring: John Burke, Nancy Allen, Rip Torn
MPAA Rating: PG-13

Specifications: Widescreen (1.85:1) Enhanced for 16X9 Televisions, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Studio: MGM
Release Date: 6/8/2004
Region 1
Website

We'll give The Robocop Trilogy a B.