Review

If your only exposure to the Robocop franchise is through cable–TV airings of the two dreadful sequels (or the short–lived television series), then you should overcome those understandable prejudices and embrace the savage satirical brilliance of controversy–magnet Paul Verhoeven's original 1987 classic, once labeled "the greatest science fiction film since Metropolis" by director Ken Russell (while Jack Nicholson attacked the film as being "a disease").

Its reappearance on DVD now is particularly exciting, for MGM has issued the legendary uncut, originally X–rated version of the film, previously only available on a long out–of–print Criterion disc; Paul Verhoeven's ultra–violent excesses can now be appreciated at full strength. The original Robocop endures as a gripping, lean and mean comic–book sci–fi adventure filled with hyper–bloody mayhem, whilst also functioning as a slyly subversive attack on media, corrupt government, and corporate greed—think Michael Moore and David Cronenberg collaborating on an episode of The Six Million Dollar Man.

Peter Weller delivers a strong performance as the Detroit cop turned metallic superhero, facing off against two entertainingly sleazy adversaries, a pre–That 70s Show Kurtwood Smith as a sadistic gangster with a penchant for quotable bon mots, and slimy CEO Ronny Cox. Robocop functions as a sort of warm–up for Verhoeven's ultimate sci–fi fascist satire Starship Troopers, yet his cynical wit and gift for gore are already well in place, and the film stands as one of the best genre pics of the 80s.

Oh, uh, yeah, about those sequels: unfortunately, MGM is (quite shrewdly) only making this new unrated special edition of Robocop available in a boxed set with its two inferior, Verhoeven–less successors (which, infuriatingly, are available on their own outside of this box). So… you could consider this to be one slightly overpriced single disc that happens to come with two complimentary DVD's that will likely be of little use, or you could disregard everything that has been said about the sequels, and pretend that I think they're really great follow–ups to a contemporary classic. Either way, the original Robocop is worth the inflated price of admission on its own, so buy away.

 -- Travis Crawford