"Director: Fred Dekker"

• Robocop Trilogy | Blu Ray | (26/05/2014) from £11.45   |  Saving you £-3.46 (N/A%)   |  RRP £7.99

  No matter how hard you look, the brutal truth of the Robocop Trilogy is that there’s only one film in there that’s consistently worthy of your attention. Yet this keenly priced boxset does offer a chance to look at the two subsequent sequels with the benefit of a high-definition upgrade. And while both have major problems, they still make for intriguing viewing. The original first, though. Robocop is a bone-fide science fiction masterpiece, an hour and a half of satire, violence, humour and the future of law enforcement. There’s a fairly conventional good vs evil story at the heart of it, yet this is nonetheless an ambitious film, gloriously realised on a low budget. The sequel, Robocop 2, tries its damnedest to mirror the original, but it stumbles several times, not least for failing to carve out an identity of its own. So keen is it to be reverent to what went before, that the film suffers. But there are ideas here, and moments that make the movie well worth sitting through. The third? Well, Robocop 3 is car crash cinema, sadly. Shoddy effects, and a decision to tame down the violent edge for a more child-friendly rating costs the film dear. It’s entertaining, albeit not for the right reasons. Yet this remains a fascinating trilogy, boasting one excellent movie, one intriguing failure, and one film that’s as far removed from what made Robocop so interesting in the first place that it’s almost hard to resist. --Jon Foster

• Robocop Boxset | DVD | (02/09/2009) from £32.90   |  Saving you £-22.91 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Synopsis TBC

• Robocop Trilogy | DVD | (04/02/2002) from £39.99   |  Saving you £-7.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £32.99

  Paul Verhoeven was almost unknown in Hollywood prior to the release of RoboCop in 1987. But after this ultra-violent yet strangely subversive and satirical sci-fi picture became a huge hit his reputation for extravagant and excessive, yet superbly well-crafted filmmaking was assured. Controversial as ever, Verhoeven saw the blue-collar cop (Peter Weller) who is transformed into an invincible cyborg as "an American Jesus with a gun", and so the film dabbles with death and resurrection imagery as well as mercilessly satirising Reagan-era America. No targets escape Verhoeven's unflinching camera eye, from yuppie excess and corporate backstabbing to rampant consumerism and vacuous media personalities. As with his later sci-fi satire Starship Troopers the extremely bloody violence resolutely remains on the same level as a Tom and Jerry cartoon. The inevitable sequel, competently directed by Irvin Kershner, thankfully continues to mine the dark vein of anti-consumerist satire while being reflexively aware that it is itself a shining example of that which it is lampooning. Sadly the third instalment in the series, now without Peter Weller in the title role, is exactly the kind of dumbed-down production-line flick that the corporate suits of OCP might have dreamed up at a marketing meeting. Its only virtue is a decent music score from regular Verhoeven collaborator Basil Poledouris, whose splendid march theme returned from the original score. On the DVD: Packaged in a fold-out slipcase these three discs make a very collectable set. All are presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic prints, although only the first movie has any extra material worth mentioning. Here the Director's Cut option allows the viewer to see Paul Verhoeven's more explicitly violent versions of Murphy's "assassination", ED-209's bloody malfunction and the shootout finale. These extended sequences are handily signposted in the scene selection menu, and the filming of them can be seen in a sequence of Director's Cut footage. Deleted scenes include "Topless Pizza" ("I'll buy that for a dollar!") and there are two contemporary "making of" featurettes plus a good, new half-hour retrospective. Both the latter and the director's commentary make abundantly clear the Reagan-era satire and are chock full of quotable lines from Verhoeven--"I wanted to show Satan killing Jesus"--and his producer--"Fascism for liberals". Stop-motion animator Phil Tippett gives a commentary on the storyboard-to-film comparisons, and there are the usual trailers and photos. Showing just how much the sequels are rated in comparison, the second and third discs have nothing but theatrical trailers and their sound is just Dolby 2.0 whereas the original movie has been remastered into Dolby 5.1.--Mark Walker

• Robocop 3 | DVD | (24/01/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Early on in Robocop 3, an action figure of our metal hero on the nightstand in a little girl's room informs us that he's now become a children's toy. The image is right on the money; despite following up two of the most violent, hilarious sci-fi/action films ever made, Robocop 3 is strictly for the kiddies. It's not just that the gore has been toned down considerably to make for a PG-13 rating; also excised is the straight-faced portrait of a world run by corporate fascism. When evil corporation OCP, and its even more evil Japanese parent company, plan to raze a Detroit neighbourhood to put up the shining new Delta City, the residents (including the aforementioned adolescent, who conveniently happens to be a computer expert) gang up to fight back, just like the angry neighbours in Death Wish V. Robocop (played this time out by Robert John Burke, Peter Weller having wisely passed) could be a hindrance to the companies' plans, so a ninja android is sent in to deal with him. Even all this could have been enjoyable, in a campy sort of way, but nothing pays off as either comedy or action--tellingly, the two big showdowns with the ninja start exhilaratingly (Robocop's clunky movements hilariously counterpoised by the android's acrobatic leaps), only to end just when they're getting good. Director Fred Dekker has some nice stylistic touches scattered about, but not nearly enough to save the film. One high note, though: the animated "Johnny Rehab" spot may be the funniest ad in the whole series. --Bruce Reid, Amazon.com

• Robocop - Complete Collection | DVD | (26/05/2014) from £9.98   |  Saving you £-3.26 (N/A%)   |  RRP £6.72

  The ultimate action trilogy. Your move. The future of law enforcement does more than fight crime...RoboCop delivers nonstop action and pulse-pounding excitement at every turn! Here's your chance to experience the original part-man part-machine in 3 tough-as-steel RoboCop thrillers in one must-own trilogy.

• Robocop Trilogy | Blu Ray | (18/10/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Part man. Part machine. All cop. The future of law enforcement. Robocop (Dir. Paul Verhoeven 1987): He's RoboCop. And in the near future he's law enforcement's only hope. A sadistic crime wave is sweeping across America. In Old Detroit the situation is so bad a private corporation Security Concepts Inc. has assumed control of the police force. The executives at the company think they have the answer - until the enforcement droid they create kills one of their own. Then an ambitious young executive seizes the opportunity. He and his research team create a law enforcement cyborg from the body of a slain officer. All goes well at first. Robocop stops every sleazeball he encounters with deadly piercing and sometimes gruesome accuracy. But there are forces on the street and within Security Concepts itself that will stop at nothing to see this super cyborg violently eliminated. Prepare yourself for non-stop action and adventure in one of the most explosive sci-fi stories you'll ever witness: Robocop. Robocop 2 (Dir. Irvin Kerschner 1990): The sizzling sequel to 1987's sci-fi blockbuster brings back The Future of Law Enforcement RoboCop to face his greatest challenge ever! Peter Weller returns as the half man/half machine police officer this time to rid the lawless streets of Detroit of the deadly new designer drug Nuke. Unknown to RoboCop the evil corporate empire which created him wants to take the city private and develop RoboCop 2 a newer bigger and more powerful version to replace the original. The script was - in part - written by comic-book genius Frank Miller (Ronin The Dark Knight Returns). Robocop 3 (Dir. Fred Dekker 1993): Omni Consumer Products (OCP) the conglomerate that designed RoboCop now owns Detroit. The company plans to demolish one of the city's largest neighborhoods to build a gleaming city of the future-after an army of ruthless mercenaries finishes throwing everyone out of their homes. But RoboCop sworn to protect the public joins forces with a band of urban freedom fighters battling to save their neighborhood. After battling a lethally efficient ninja android and equipped with a new arsenal of hi-tech weaponry RoboCop and the courageous residents take on OCP's private army. It's all-out war an explosive street fight that could destroy either the entire city or the evil powers behind the brutal corporate raid.