The ROBOCOP trilogy has just been reissued on DVD (MGM Home Ent., $39.96), and the real selling point is the availability of Paul Verhoeven's unrated director's cut of the original 1987 movie, with a bit more graphic violence involving the half-man, half-robot protagonist portrayed by Peter Weller. This uncut version had previously been available only on the out of print Criterion Collection edition. But this new MGM disc contains an enhanced anamorphic presentation with finer detail (except for the deleted footage, which is not as clean). There is new ROBOCOP commentary by the always outspoken Verhoeven, writer Edward Neumeir and exec producer Jon Davison.
Other extras include a nearly 40-minute doc, "Flesh and Steel The Making of ROBOCOP," including footage of Weller trying to act robotic, and two vintage featurettes, including "Shooting ROBOCOP," which covers the effects and stop motion used in the film. Effects were provided by Praxis Film Works and Visual Concept Engineering.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
