RoboCop 3 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

RoboCop 3 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson May 24, 2017

With two feature films, an animated series, video games, and numerous merchandising tie-ins by the early nineties, the RoboCop phenomenon had become as much an ancillary market as it was a franchise brand. By the time RoboCop 3 finally came out in 1993, after sitting on the shelves at Orion for two years as the studio teetered on bankruptcy, the series had sought and reached a wider audience, including the specifically targeted family friendly demographic. Art had pretty much been sacrificed in favor of commerce. As the esteemed British film critic Mark Kermode noted in his review of RoboCop 3, "the syndication of the RoboCop character through children's cartoons, toys, and figures has necessitated a severe softening of the violence in order to retain the lucrative youth market." This is reflected in the film when the camera takes us inside the bedroom of 13-year-old wunderkind Nikko (Remy Ryan), who has Robo and ED-209 action figures on her table. In a brutally honest commentary included on this disc, director Fred Dekker reveals that, with a touch of irony, Nikko was really not written to lure kids into the theaters to see the second sequel. According to Dan Persons, co-writer Frank Miller originally conceived Nikko as computer hacker/Robo ally Keiko in an early treatment of RoboCop 2. (Keiko was later changed to Hob, probably by Wallon Green.)

Dekker takes full responsibility for RoboCop 3's critical failure and for bombing at the box office. I would add the disclaimer, though, that he was severely hampered and constricted by what he could and could not show. Orion pressured him into accepting a PG-13 so the film could appeal to the lowest common denominator. "The studio was adamant from very early on that we had to broaden the audience base for this picture," Dekker admitted to critic Jamie Portman of the Waterloo Region Record while the film was in wide release. "The original RoboCop and RoboCop 2 were very hard, graphically violent films. However, the irony is that kids loved the character, but because of an R rating in most countries they couldn't go and see the pictures when they first came out." Citing some scenic examples, David Lyman of The Cincinnati Post disagreed: "The violence and strong language in RoboCop 3 would more properly warrant an R than a PG." The movie was roundly panned by critics and considered a juvenile imitation of the original (to put it lightly). The film did have its proponents, though they're in the minority. For example, Jim Bullard of the St. Petersburg Times astonishingly proclaimed: "RoboCop 3 is the real steel deal - the best RoboCop yet. This third installment of the film series is far less gory than its predecessors, and has better pacing and a better sense of humor." However, Bullard had some qualms about the film and still only graded it a C+. Other critics who gave it a mixed review seemed to appreciate different aspects compared to its predecessor and in spite of the limitations. For instance, Kermode obsevered: "Even within such limiting parameters, however, there is still more enjoyable material here than RoboCop 2, with all its OTT carnage, could even hint at."

Watch out RoboCop for not one but two ninjas!

I'm not sure if Miller wrote the third film knowing that he had to make the material entirely palatable to adolescents. He was probably not mindful that the picture was going to be PG-13 because he was already preparing a script when RoboCop 2 was out in the summer of 1990. When Dekker was hired to direct the picture, he did a rewrite of Miller's first draft and then sent his own draft back so Miller could rewrite him. In the new making-of documentary on this BD, I got the impression that Dekker would have preferred to keep more of what went into Miller's solo screenplay. The film's premise is alright and would have worked a lot better had Orion not been so MPAA conscious (as well as money hungry). For those who haven't seen the film, it's a classic story of an underground resistance movement rising up against a fascistic military regime imposing martial law on a downtrodden city. The Urban Rehabilitors are hired by OCP to round up citizens in all of Detroit's neighborhoods and force them into foreclosure so the corporation can begin construction on the long-planned Delta City initiative. OCP is working with Japanese architect Kanemitsu (Mako) and his Kanemitsu Corps on the project. The film misses Daniel O'Herlihy as The Old Man. Dekker gave O'Herlihy a copy of his script but the Irish-born actor thought his character was portrayed as too weak and declined the part. (At the UCD Archives in Dublin reside the "Dan O'Herlihy Papers," which contain a Nov. 1990 letter addressed to O'Herlihy from Dekker concerning the role of the Old Man in the film.) Although O'Herlihy's replacement Rip Torn chews up some scenes as "The CEO," his character is depicted as weak and comes across as a cowardly buffoon.

The main problem with Miller and Dekker's shooting script is that it doesn't push the envelope far enough. The third installment most definitely lacks the hard edge that distinguished the first two films. Dekker acknowledges that he couldn't show any drug dealing and there's an element of restraint exercised with the Splatterpunks, Detroit's denizens, for instance. The script is episodically constructed with vignettes that needed greater development. The narrative builds up to a duel between RoboCop (Robert Burke) and Otomo (Bruce Locke), Kanemitsu's cyborg ninja, but the adversaries are only in two all-too-brief scenes together, which don't build to a climatic showdown. Also, Robo's flight pack is introduced way too late and is a letdown. Fans probably will never forgive Dekker for the fate he gives Officer Lewis and Nancy Allen herself had immediate misgivings when Dekker divulged it to her over lunch.

On the plus side, Jill Hennessy is very good as the likable Dr. Marie Lazarus. Remy Ryan is also one of the picture's few bright spots as Nikko. Her scenes with ED-209 are comic fun! Furthermore, composer Basil Poledouris made a welcome return to the series and added some new themes, although the music for the Murphy family he penned for the first film is recycled and overused here. In Poledouris's defense, the schmaltzy material he was presented dictated that theme's reprisal. As a whole, RoboCop 3 is much less than the sum of its disparate parts.

RoboCop 3 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

RoboCop 3 has been given the deluxe treatment by Shout! Factory as one of the label's features-laden Collector's Editions, although the film has not been given a new transfer. The video streams on the Shout!, however, advance ahead with an average bitrate of 35000 kbps (the first BD carried a mean bitrate of 29992 kbps). The movie appears in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this AVC-encoded BD-50. I own the 2010 MGM BD of Dekker's third feature and examining the two transfers side-by-side reveals that the Shout! is not only similar, but also very likely a carbon copy of the MGM. Color spacing, grain, skin tones, et al. appear quite similar if not identical. If there's any disparity between the two, it's that the Shout! seems to have fewer artifacts than its antecedent. I didn't notice as many speckles in the frame. The print used is in mostly pristine condition. Some exteriors and establishing shots exhibit flatness without much depth. The film on occasion has a muddy look but I think that was the filmmakers' intention.

Shout! has divided the feature into twelve chapter stops.

RoboCop 3 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Unlike the MGM, Shout! has supplied the film's Dolby Digital Stereo track (abeit a downmix of the four-channel Dolby Spectral Recording, which was also used for the first two films in the series), rendered here in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (2010 kbps, 24-bit). MGM recorded several Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS language dubs but Shout! hasn't ported any those over on its disc. Shout!'s DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround mix (4166 kbps, 24-bit) sounded similar to my ears compared to MGM's. Depth is very good and there is also excellent balance throughout the channels. The viewer can hear the gunshots and explosions ricochet on the rear speakers. Poledouris's score sounds warm and clear. Dialogue comes across as mostly clean and intelligible except during action scenes when it gets muffled.

Shout! has provided optional English SDH for the main feature.

RoboCop 3 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• NEW Audio Commentary with Director Fred Dekker

• NEW Audio Commentary with the Makers of "RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop" Documentary – Gary Smart, Chris Griffiths and Eastwood Allen

• NEW Delta City Shuffle: The Making of ROBOCOP 3 – Featuring Director Fred Dekker, Actors Nancy Allen, Bruce Locke, Producer Patrick Crowley, Cinematographer Gary Kibbe, and Production Designer Hilda Stark (38:26, 1080p)

• NEW Robo-Vision: The FX of ROBOCOP 3 – Featuring Peter Kuran, Phil Tippett, Craig Hayes, Kevin Kutchaver, and Paul Gentry (12:04, 1080p)

• NEW The Corporate Ladder – An Interview with Actor Felton Perry (10:48, 1080p)

• NEW Training Otomo – An Interview with Actor Bruce Locke and Martial Arts Trainer Bill Ryusaki (8:36, 1080p)

• NEW War Machine – An Interview with RoboCop Gun Fabricator James Belohovek (9:18, 1080p)

• Theatrical Trailer (2:02, 1080p)

• Stills Gallery (7:06, 1080p)

RoboCop 3 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Before it started production, RoboCop 3 was hindered by a prescriptive formula that prevented it from being a success. The film has some small pleasures but is wildly erratic. Shout! Factory equals if not betters the video and audio presentations of the previous MGM Blu-ray. Although the movie is much maligned, this Collector's Edition is RECOMMENDED for the several worthwhile supplements that provide context into the financial and creative decisions that Dekker faced while making it. They can be useful teaching aids for how certain films (especially sequels) are set up for failure.