RoboCop: Steelbook – Arrow Video (4k UHD)

Theatrical Release Date: USA, 1987
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Writers: Edward Neumeier, Michael Miner
Cast: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O’Herlihy, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith, Miguel Ferrer, Robert DoQui, Ray Wise, Felton Perry, Paul McCrane, Jesse D. Goins

Release Date: March 21st, 2022 (UK), April 12th, 2022 (USA)
Approximate Running Times: 103 Minutes 14 Seconds (Theatrical Cut), 102 Minutes 53 Seconds (Director’s Cut)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / Dolby Vision HDR10 (Both Versions)
Rating: 18 (UK), R-Theatrical Cut/NR-Director’s Cut (USA)
Sound: Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD 5.1 English, DTS-HD 4.0 Stereo, DTS-HD Stereo English (Both Versions)
Subtitles: English SDH (Both Versions)
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: £29.99 (UK) / $49.95 (USA)

"Heroic cop Alex Murphy (Peter Weller, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai) is gunned down in the line of duty, only to be resurrected as RoboCop - a cybernetic mix of spare human parts and Motor City steel, and the latest defense against crime designed by the all-powerful OCP Corporation. As RoboCop's memories of his former life as Murphy resurface, only his ex-partner (Nancy Allen, Dressed To Kill) stands beside him to fight against the vicious thugs responsible for his death, as well as a nefarious top-level OCP executive orchestrating the chaos from above." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, “The original camera negative was scanned in 4K and all grading and restoration was completed in 4K at MGM. The restoration was approved by director Paul Verhoeven, as well as producer Jon Davison and co-writer/co-producer Ed Neumeier. Both the original Theatrical Cut and Director’s Cut versions were graded in 4K HDR10 at R3Store Studios, London in 2021. Dolby Vision grading was then completed by Fidelity in Motion. New York.

As the original camera negative only corresponded to the original R-rated theatrical version of the film, additional film elements were sourced from the Crukshank-Davison Collection at the Academy Film Archive in 2021 to restore the additional or alternate shots in the Unrated Director’s Cut version. All additional materials were scanned in 4K at Company 3, Los Angeles and were graded & restored at R3Store Studios, London. Since these inserts were sourced from lower-generation  positive elements due to the negative for these sequences being lost, there is unavoidable subtle shift in picture quality throughout these scenes, in keeping with the condition and generation of these materials.”

RoboCop director’s cut comes on a 100 GB triple layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 91 GB

Feature: 69.9 GB

RoboCop theatrical cut comes on a 100 GB triple layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 88.6 GB

Feature: 73 GB

This new Arrow Video release improves on an already excellent transfer. The result is a superb transfer that takes full advantage of the 4K UHD format. Also, as good as their previous release looked, seeing Robocop in HDR10 or Dolby Vision makes everything that was great about that release’s transfer even better.

It should be noted that moments that were trimmed for this film’s original theatrical release do not exist in the original camera negative. And in order to recreate the director’s cut, these trimmed moments had to be sourced from an inferior source. That being said, Arrow Video has done a great job considering the source limitations for these trimmed moments

Audio: 5/5 (Dolby Atmos)

This release comes with four audio options: a Dolby Atmos mix in English; a DTS-HD 5.1 mix in English; a DTS-HD 4.0 mix in English; and a DTS-HD stereo mix in English. Here's the information given about the Dolby Atmos mix, "The Dolby Atmos mix was sourced from the original LCRS 4.0 mix and was produced by Arrow Films at Deluxe Audio in 2021." All of the audio tracks except the Dolby Atmos track are exactly the same tracks that were included on Arrow Video’s 2019 Blu-ray release. For this review, I only listened to the Dolby Atmos track, which is a solid track that takes full advantage of the sound spectrum while remaining true to the 4.0 original source. Included with this release are removable English SDH for both versions.

Extras:

Extras on the director’s cut disc include image galleries: production stills (108 images), behind-the-scenes (83 images), and poster & video art (55 images), three T.V. spots (2 minutes 3 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), theatrical trailer #1 (1 minute 38 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), theatrical trailer #2 (1 minute 23 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), director’s cut production footage, raw dailies from the filming of the unrated gore scenes (11 minutes 34 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), The Boardroom: Storyboard with commentary by associate producer Phil Tippett (6 minutes 2 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), deleted scenes: OCP News Conference (1 minute 17 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Nun in the Street Interview (15 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Topless Pizza (26 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), and Final Media Break (51 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Paul Verhoeven Easter Egg where he discusses his cameo (39 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a featurette titled Special Effects: Then and Now (18 minutes 21 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a featurette titled RoboCop Creating a Legend (21 minutes 10 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), 2012 Q&A with the Filmmakers (42 minutes 36 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a tour of super-fan Julien Dumont’s collection of original props and memorabilia titled RoboProps (12 minutes 50 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a tribute to composer Basil Poledouris featuring film music experts Jeff Bond, Lukas Kendall, Daniel Schweiger and Robert Townson titled Composing RoboCop (12 minutes 4 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a featurette with special effects artists Peter Kuran and Kevin Kutchaver titled Analog (13 minutes 10 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with second unit director Mark Goldblatt titled Connecting the Shots (11 minutes 6 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with casting director Julie Selzer titled Casting Old Detroit (8 minutes 20 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with actress Nancy Allen titled Truth of Character (18 minutes 26 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a conversation between co-screenwriter Ed Neumeier and filmmakers David Birke and Nick McCarthy titled RoboTalk (32 minutes 8 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with co-screenwriter Michael Miner titled The Future of Law Enforcement (16 minutes 51 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival audio commentary is an archival track with director Paul Verhoeven, executive producer Jon Davison and co-screenwriter Ed Neumeier, an audio commentary is with film historian Paul M. Sammon and an audio commentary is with fans Christopher Griffiths, Gary Smart and Eastwood Allen.

Extras on the theatrical cut disc include a featurette titled RoboCop: Edited for Television (18 minutes 35 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Split Screen Comparisons – Director’s Cut vs. Theatrical Cut (4 minutes 2 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a featurette titled Theatrical Cut vs. TV Cut (20 minutes 16 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), edited for television version of RoboCop (95 minutes 16 seconds, DTS-HD mono English with removable English SDH subtitles), two isolated score tracks, the composer’s original mix and the final theatrical mix and an archival audio commentary with Paul Verhoeven, Jon Davison and Ed Neumeier.

Other extras include steelbook packaging and a 44-page booklet with cast & crew information, an essay titled Tales of Blood and Steel written by Omar Ahmed, an essay titled RoboCop And The Generation That Grew Up With It written by Christopher Griffiths, an essay titled RoboCop: Dismantled & Reassembled written by Henry Blyth, information about the transfer and production credits/special thanks.

Summary:

Fans of science fiction films, on the other hand, are drawn to films that emphasize style over substance. Most films that fall into the former category are forgotten over time. Films where social commentary plays a large role are the films that have enduring legacies. Case in point: RoboCop, a film that has not lost any of its potency over the years.

Content-wise, though, RoboCop has all the elements that have become synonymous with dystopian cinema. The result is a film that has more heart and soul than other dystopian films. And nowhere is this clearer than when it comes to the social themes it explores. With that being said, it’s amazing how many themes, like media manipulation, government overreach, and corporations’ control over society, are still relevant.

Since its beginning, Hollywood has imported talent, in front of and behind the camera, from around the world. And though making cinema in Hollywood gives a filmmaker a larger canvas to work from, Working in Hollywood can be a bitter pill.

By the mid-1980’s, though, Paul Verhoeven had directed for over two decades. He had yet to make a film outside of the Netherlands. Unlike many first-time Hollywood actors, who were suffocated by a system that stifled their creativity, fortunately, this would not happen to Paul Verhoeven.

In lesser hands, it’s easy to imagine how RoboCop could have turned out. Paul Verhoeven’s kinetic direction perfectly suits the story at hand. Other areas greatly influenced by his direction include the role that humor plays in this film and the violent set pieces.

Not to be overlooked when discussing RoboCop is its amazing cast, who are all superb in their respective roles, especially Peter Weller (The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, Naked Lunch) in the role of Murphy/RoboCop. Other notable cast members include Nancy Allen (Carrie, Blow Out) in the role of Murphy’s partner Lewis, and Kurtwood Smith (That 70’s Show) in the role of Clarence, the ringer of the gang who murdered Murphy.

From a production standpoint, there’s not an area where RoboCop does not excel. The premise is well-executed, and the narrative gives key moments an ample amount of time to resonate. Another strength of the narrative is how well it balances exposition moments and mayhem. And despite looking dated, the special effects actually work in RoboCop’s favor.

Robocop makes its way to 4K UHD via a spectacular release from Arrow Video that looks and sounds solid and comes with an extensive amount of extras that leave no stone unturned, highly recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a VLC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer