We all know the drill by now. A classic movie gets rebooted for the modern audience, and the whole world moans in unison. One recent example is the sci-fi remake of Total Recall. Let’s just say that Total Recall was nowhere close to matching the original. Does RoboCop follow in its footstep, or is the movie able to bring something fresh to the table?
If you’re not familiar with the classic RoboCop film from director Paul Verhoeven, then you may get more out of José Padilha’s take on the movie. For those who live by the original, this will feel like another cookie cutter film to squeeze more money out of the iconic robotic supercop.
Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman) is a cop trying to do what’s right in the tough city of Detroit. He crosses the wrong guys and is targeted for assassination, which leads to him getting blown up outside his home. Now OCP, the company that specializes in robotics, has an in with bringing its program to the States. This is done by swaying the American population by combining the soul of a good cop with a robot body. Thus, RoboCop is born.
RoboCop is very iconic, and everybody knows how he looks. The movie was able to keep close to the original suit design. I did wish that the suit would be used for the entirety of the movie, but later on RoboCop gets a black version. One of the biggest WTF thoughts was why his right hand is still human. Perhaps they wanted to show that he’s still human, but it just looks weird. (It is explained in the deleted scenes.)
OCP, the company behind the creation of RoboCop, has more of an approachable face. Michael Keaton playes CEO Raymond Sellars. His product is out in other countries, but the one thing he wants is to have his robots in American soil. You then have Gary Oldman as Dr. Norton, the scientist responsible for creating RoboCop. These guys are great in their resepctive roles, especially Oldman as the conflicted scientist having moral battles of right and wrong.
The movie still retains the satirical themes by poking fun at the state of our society and politics. It tries to focus on everything, especially RoboCop’s humanity, but in the end it loses out on the core message. Although it can never live up to the original, it’s still an entertaining watch.
With these new releases, having a crystal clear image and boastful sound is a must, and RoboCop delivers on both. RoboCop looks great in 1080p, whether you’re seeing his black suit or the gray/silver suit. The colors are well saturated and the contrast is balanced. The scene that reveals the inner workings of RoboCop shows off the clarity and levels.
RoboCop features a lossless DTS-HD MA track that will excite, whether it’s the war scene at the beginning, RoboCop entering crime boss Antoine Vallon’s warehouse, or the attack on the OCP building. Dialogue is clear and centered. Also, hearing Basil Poledouris’ RoboCop theme during certain parts will surely give you goosebumps.
The extras include 5 deleted scenes. The most interesting of them all is the “Right Hand” deleted scene that features Michael Keaton’s character wanting RoboCop to have a human hand. The rest of the deleted scenes aren’t as memorable.
The meatiest of the extra is the 30-minute making-of featurette that includes the filmmakers’ take on the remake, the difference between the old and the new RoboCop films, the weapons that RoboCop uses, and the different suit versions.
There is also a featurette that talks about the weapons and robots of OCP, trailers, and sneak peeks (my favorite being the X-Men: Days of Future Past trailer).
Paul Verhoeven’s RoboCop still remains untouched, but Padilha’s remake is still an entertaining watch if you don’t expect it to top the original. Many of the characters are fun to watch, and it’s a great Blu-ray to showcase the home theater system.
