"Dead or alive, you're coming with me!"-- RoboCop

Compare "RoboCop" (released July 17, 1987) to most of the big summer movies splurged out this year (2003) and you’ll see how the state of big, fun, violent and loud cinema has drastically declined over the years. Aaaaaahh...1987, a year when summer movies still had some heart to go along with the goodies! God, I’m feeling nostalgic! Where’s my GNR “Appetite for Destruction” CD...I need some sanity! Now I love Paul “excessive” Verhoeven’s body of work (even "Showgirls"…zippp!) and although "Total Recall", "Hollow Man" and "Starship Troopers" owned, "RoboCop" (his first foray into American Cinema) for me, still stands tall today as his most unquestionable masterpiece.

"RoboCop" shoots countless rounds at us and masterfully hits us in the head with each and every bullet. I was riveted to the screen by its simple, yet well constructed, storyline and mucho touched by Murphy’s (Wellers) journey. That “family revisiting” subplot killed me and had me reaching for the cry baby tissues! Didn’t you feel that shite? I sure did. Action-wise, the flick went KABOOM real loud with all kinds of heavy fire power in the house, big explosions, enthralling shoot-outs and a crazy car chase. We even get a slick “mano-a-mano” between RoBo and a giant lapdog-like robot (Ed-209) that growls like a lion and squeals like a pig (much like that chick I met in Vegas). FUN TIMES!

I’m also happy to report that in true Verhoeven fashion, the sweet, sweet violence found on this ride was cranked up to the “offend” level. Talk about brutal! Although the pussy ass, fascist-like regime known as the MPAA had a scissor field trip with this celluloid, trimming lots of the graphic stuff out before giving it an R-rating, gorehounds should still rejoice, this RoBo doesn’t cop out on the red stuff. Murphy’s demise kicked my skull to ashes and the toxic waste dude was definitely one for the barf bag book! NICE!

The strong characterization and the impeccable casting also came through, right down to the secondary characters. The good guys were all likeable and endearing (Lewis was a cutie, loved the gum) and the bad guys were of the “love to hate them” variety. At least they enjoyed their criminal/psychotic work! Now that’s enthusiasm! Before I forget, let’s have a Tequila shooter for Kurtwood Smith who gave us an extremely memorable villain in Clarence Boddicker. WOW! Who knew that the dad from “That 70’s Show” had it in him to be such an unapologetic, sadistic, yet charismatic, bastard? Now if he would only apply that same brand of razor panache to a certain Ashton Kutcher…just kidding Ash…or am I? Sick him Boddicker!

Distributor: MGM
Release Date: June 8, 2004

IMAGE: We get an anamorphic 1.85.1 widescreen image.

SOUND: We get a Dolby Digital 5.1 sound with optional subtitles (English, French and Spanish).

EXTRAS: It should be said that the version of ROBOCOP on this DVD is the Director’s Cut with one minute of added nastiness tagged to the film (Murphy’s death and Ed 209’s shooting spree, for example, are longer) HIP HIP HURRAY!

Extras-wise, the first disc from the ROBOCOP TRILOGY puts out the bulk of the goodies, whereas "Robocop 2" and "Robocop 3" only sport a trailer each.

Commentary Track: Paul Verhoeven, writer Edward Neumeier and executive producer Jon Davison all come in to reminisce about the experience that was the shoot on every level. The three men are always on, share pleasant chemistry and provide lots of info, making for a slick listen. I must ask though: where was Peter Weller?

Flesh and Steel – The Making of Robocop (37 minutes): This incredibly insightful feature covers the history of the film from development, pre-production (Michael Ironside and Stephanie Zimbalist were almost Murphy and Lewis) and the arduous experience that was the shoot. Director Paul Verhoeven, producer Jon Davison, writers Michael Miner and Edward Neumeier and more, come in to talk shop and give us mucho substance on everything that was, and is, Robocop. A stellar feature, but I must ask again...where was Peter Weller? I guess he wanted nothing to do with contributing to this disc…bummer.

Shooting Robocop (9 minutes): This feature, which was shot at the time the film was made, starts off with a mock press conference with Bob Morton and Robo and then features the actors talking about their roles, some on-set shooting and more bits with the director, writer and producer. A short, yet very enlightening, segment!

Making Robocop (8 minutes): This bit, which was also shot around the time the flick was made, provides us with more minutes with the cast and crew. Funnily enough, Peter Weller yaps about his part as “John Murphy”, when in reality, it's Alex, Peter…Alex Murphy! We also get some on set footage. This segment felt somewhat redundant after watching the two other featurettes, but it was still a pleasurable sit-down, due mostly to Weller and Allen getting more air time.

And that’s not all! We also get Storyboards (with commentary by animator Phil Tippet) and Deleted Scenes (~ 3 minutes) entitled: OCP Press Conference, Nun in the Street, Interview, Topless Plaza (we get some tits and that “I’d buy that for a dollar” dude returns) and Final Media Break.

It took more than 11 hours for Peter Weller to get out of the Robo-suit the very first time. By the time he was done, the shooting day was almost over. It took 10 hours to put the 150-pound suit on. Poor Pete!

The design of the ED-209 droid was based upon a "BELL UH-1H HUEY" gunship, a helicopter during the Vietnam War.

Director Paul Verhoeven has a cameo in the club scene when RoboCop seeks to arrest Leon Nash.

JoBlo himself included "Robocop" as one of the films in his book: "The 50 Coolest Movies of All-Time".