The flick
Another Verhoeven joint, RoboCop tragically portrays Officer Alex Murphy savagely shot to death by the dad from That 70’s Show and then resurrected into a Corporate-controlled manborg. We usually forget Robo’s deeper themes like consumerism, fascism and poverty because there’s so much awesome bloodletting - fingers fly when a hand explodes, a street punk gets his nards shot up, and a toxic waste-drenched thug explodes into mush when struck by a car. Originally rated X (the old NC-17 rating), Robo had to trim away the excessive gore for the R-rating.
The disc
Never mind that R rating, ‘cause Robo’s release includes the full uncut version of the film, previously only seen in a standard-def trilogy box set and the out-of-print Criterion Collection release. Overall, the picture is so-so, varying between a fine level of detail and drab, muted colors. The sound is pretty good though with a lossless 5.1 track for all those bullets and blood sprays. And like Recall, you’re shafted on special features.
