RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop Blu-ray Movie Review

I'd buy that for a pound.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III January 5, 2024

Just over two months after its domestic Blu-ray debut (later available in a Steelbook variant), Eastwood Allen and Christopher Griffiths' exhaustive documentary RoboDoc -- a five-hour exploration of Paul Verhoven's celebrated sci-fi classic RoboCop -- was finally released to European markets from international distributor Kaleidoscope Entertainment. Those following the film's long-awaited home video debut stateside should know that, while not a complete botch job, the domestic Blu-ray was a bit of a disappointment for two reasons: (1) all of its contents were hastily crammed onto a single dual-layered disc, and (2) a few promised extras were absent. This inexpensive region-free import corrects both problems, making it closer to the definitive edition of this essential and highly entertaining documentary.

Resembling a more playful, extended version of those great feature-length Laurent Bouzereau documentaries that adorned old Collector's Edition DVDs, RoboDoc is a thorough, enjoyable, and engaging account of RoboCop's turbulent production with lots of great first-hand info from its cast, crew, and other notables. For a full synopsis and appreciation of this crowd-funded documentary, please see Kenneth Brown's review of Cinedigm's domestic Blu-ray.

RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

There's no getting around it: Kaleidescope's region-free Blu-ray set clearly features better visuals than Cinedigm's domestic Blu-ray; while they use identical source elements, the sensible choice to divide this five-hour documentary (plus an additional hour of extras) onto two dual-layered discs instead of one is the main reason. While both releases overwhelmingly look similar -- if not identical -- as far as their general appearance and overall levels of fine detail are concerned, the most obvious difference here is better compression on this two-disc set, which yields fewer artifacts and other anomalies including light occasional banding, black crush, and (perhaps most notably) macro blocking. Don't get me wrong: Cinedigm's single-disc release was far from a disaster due to the occasional presence of low-quality footage and assorted vintage materials that usually accompany documentaries (though it at least wasn't uniformly cropped to 16x9, which certainly helps) and, for that reason, this isn't a night-and-day improvement over the domestic Blu-ray during most stretches. But the differences are there if you're looking for them and will most certainly be more evident if you have a medium to large-sized display or, of course, a projector. It's an easy solution to a problem that shouldn't have existed in the first place, and well worth the sacrifice of getting up and changing discs exactly once.

For those hung up on pesky star ratings, I'd rate Cinedigm's Blu-ray a straight 3.5 and this one a fairly firm 4.0 (closer to a 4.25, but not quite 4.5 territory), a bigger improvement than my half-star difference indicates.

RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix sounds identical to the US version to my ears, with very clean and crisp interview dialogue that's sweetened by occasional music clips and other effects. It's actually perhaps a bit too aggressive in the rear channels, but otherwise I've no complaints about this plain-wrap presentation that gets the job done.

Perhaps the only real flaw of this release is the absence of English (SDH) subtitles, which were present on the US Blu-ray and, in my opinion, a requirement for Blu-ray releases. (For that matter, foreign subtitles might have been a good idea to broaden its worldwide appeal.) That's certainly disappointing and potentially a deal-breaker for some.

RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This two-disc release ships in a sturdy hinged keepcase with attractive cover art; no slipcover is included, but we do get a few printed goodies tucked inside, including four bound-together art cards and a folded A4-sized poster. Both are nice surprises and they're not even mentioned on the packaging. The bonus features are divided between both discs; those marked "new" are detailed below, and the others are identical to those found on the domestic Blu-ray.

DISC ONE

• Meet the Makers (10:15)

• NEW! Roboteam Assemble (12:08) - Stephan Dupuis, Bart Mixon, and Gregor Punchatz of "Roboteam" -- a group of creative types who worked closely with Peter Weller in his iconic suit -- share more thoughts on their involvement and combined efforts, using experience on films like The Fly and A Nightmare on Elm Street to create some of RoboCop's most iconic visual elements like suit construction/repair and Emil's horrific mutant makeup. Other members of the team who didn't participate in RoboDoc, such as the notoriously reclusive Rob Bottin, are at least name-checked or credited for their invaluable contributions on the film.

• Major Firepower (7:50)

DISC TWO

• NEW! Call to Action (12:38) - This assortment of unused interview segments covers a wide variety of topics. Assistant director Stephen Lim briefly discusses his turbulent relationship with director Paul Verhoeven (who's aptly described as "vibrant and volatile"), mostly stemming from cultural and personality differences as well as the stress of the production as a whole. First impressions of the film's title are admitted (some of which led to second thoughts about auditions), and supporting/bit players also share stories about their first contact with the director. Participants include Peter Weller, executive producer Jon Davison, co-writer Ed Neumeier, second unit director Mark Goldblatt, production manager Charles Newirth, and many more cast and crew members.

• Robo Cast Quotes (2:00)

• NEW! Art of the Steel (3:00) - Peter Weller talks about the artwork used for RoboCop's original poster, which later sold for nearly $100K at a Dallas auction, as well as his lifelong appreciation for art and philosophy.

• NEW! Part Man, Part Machine, All Video Game (8:23) - RoboCop game developer Gary Bracey shares a few stories about working for the British company Ocean Software, who released dozens of movie-licensed games for the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, NES, SNES, and other platforms. He speaks about early trends and the new popularity of pop culture-based video games, going into particular detail about the unique challenges of adapting complex, hyper-violent franchises into simple games produced primarily for the younger crowd.

• NEW! Guns! Guns! Guns! (3:52) - A stylish animated slideshow of weapons featured in the film.

• RoboDoc Trailer (1:42)

RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Eastwood Allen and Christopher Griffiths' exhaustive documentary RoboDoc is as entertaining as you've heard and, if you're a self-respecting fan of RoboCop, basically a no-brainer. It's at least worth a good once-over but, in my opinion, the kind of endeavor worth re-watching every so often and thus belongs in your library right next to you-know-what. Although Cinedigm's domestic Blu-ray may be good enough for casuals, the double-disc treatment and reinstatement of several missing bonus features makes this relatively cheap region-free import the version to get -- only missing SDH subtitles keep it from being basically a definitive release. Highly Recommended to the right audience.