The Robocop movie, when originally released was quite successful in the theaters. It did well enough that it went on to spawn two sequels. On the surface the film comes off as your standard action film; a tough as nails hero against seemingly impossible odds. What some viewers may not notice right off that bat is the subtle message about the overwhelming control of corporations and the disregard given to the police force.
The first movie stars Peter Weller as Alex Murphy, a new recruit starting his first day with the Detroit Police. On his first day out he and his partner track down a group of thieves who have holed up inside an abandoned warehouse. The crooks get the drop on Murphy and unleash a barrage of gunfire upon him; Murphy does not survive. In comes OCP, a corporation that controls most of Detroit. They are looking to start up a new police program and need a fresh "body" for their experiment. After months of labor, the come forth with Robocop, a half man/half machine who they can use to clean up the crime ridden streets of the city. After some time on the street, it is obvious that the residual memories of the cop they used as a donor are resurfacing. It's at this point where things go downhill for OCP.
Sometime later a sequel came out titled Robocop 2, and in this installment OCP is no longer happy with Robocop now that he is under his own control. They develop a new cyborg, this time using the deceased body of a drug kingpin. As with the first movie, the new cyborg still possesses the memories of his old self and it isn't long before he attempts to re-ignite his old empire.
Finally a third movie was made, Robocop 3, and this time around instead of facing off against an evil version of himself, he has to stop OCP itself from evicting people off land they want to develop. What makes the Robocop movies stand out is not the action but the subtle commentary they offer up on our society. The original was about corrupt corporations, the second about the danger of drugs, and the third showed the plight of the common man. Recently the trilogy was released onto Blu-ray and as with all films put out in this format; we are delivered a better version of the film. The picture and sound quality is top notch; each movie is on its own disc, but unfortunately this time around there are no bonus features for the hard core fans to sink their teeth into. Perhaps with time that will change.
Regardless, owning this particular series is worth the investment for any movie fans given that the outstanding quality that we get with Blu-ray.
The first movie stars Peter Weller as Alex Murphy, a new recruit starting his first day with the Detroit Police. On his first day out he and his partner track down a group of thieves who have holed up inside an abandoned warehouse. The crooks get the drop on Murphy and unleash a barrage of gunfire upon him; Murphy does not survive. In comes OCP, a corporation that controls most of Detroit. They are looking to start up a new police program and need a fresh "body" for their experiment. After months of labor, the come forth with Robocop, a half man/half machine who they can use to clean up the crime ridden streets of the city. After some time on the street, it is obvious that the residual memories of the cop they used as a donor are resurfacing. It's at this point where things go downhill for OCP.
Sometime later a sequel came out titled Robocop 2, and in this installment OCP is no longer happy with Robocop now that he is under his own control. They develop a new cyborg, this time using the deceased body of a drug kingpin. As with the first movie, the new cyborg still possesses the memories of his old self and it isn't long before he attempts to re-ignite his old empire.
Finally a third movie was made, Robocop 3, and this time around instead of facing off against an evil version of himself, he has to stop OCP itself from evicting people off land they want to develop. What makes the Robocop movies stand out is not the action but the subtle commentary they offer up on our society. The original was about corrupt corporations, the second about the danger of drugs, and the third showed the plight of the common man. Recently the trilogy was released onto Blu-ray and as with all films put out in this format; we are delivered a better version of the film. The picture and sound quality is top notch; each movie is on its own disc, but unfortunately this time around there are no bonus features for the hard core fans to sink their teeth into. Perhaps with time that will change.
Regardless, owning this particular series is worth the investment for any movie fans given that the outstanding quality that we get with Blu-ray.
