RoboCop (2014) [Blu-Ray]
Director: José Padilha
Cast: Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton
Release Date: Available on Blu-ray & DVD June 3, 2014
A Review By: Kevin Lovell
Film Rating: 7.5/10
Disc Rating: 8.5/10
Plot Summary:
In 2028 Detroit, when Alex Murphy – a loving husband, father and good cop – is critically injured in the line of duty, the multinational conglomerate OmniCorp sees their chance for a part-man, part-robot police officer.
The reboot of ‘Robocop’ helps itself in a large way by choosing to completely reconstruct this world and character into a new age, with a (mostly) new story and chain of events occurring but at the same time keeping a number of elements (or at least references) to material from the classic present for the fans of the original. In this version, Detective Alex Murphy is drastically wounded in an explosion from a bomb planted on his car. His wife – clueless as to what will really occur or result from the procedure – reluctantly agrees to allow Omnicorp to mold her husband into the first combination of a human and a machine in an attempt to please the public who have thus far been against the idea of robots policing humans and having control over their lives. Naturally the human component starts to coincide with the robotic side and cause problems for the giant conglomerate and its founder who have their own very specific plans for Murphy.
José Padilha does an impressive job directing this modern version of ‘Robocop’ and his talents behind the camera are complimented greatly by the impressive cast present here. Joel Kinnaman does a great job tackling the role of the ‘modern Alex Murphy’ and the rest of the cast is pretty fantastic for the most part in each of their respective roles as well. The top notch cast includes the likes of talented individuals such as Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton, Samuel L. Jackson, Jackie Earle Haley, Michael K. Williams, Jay Baruchel and a number of other familiar faces that fellow movie fans will surely recognize as well.
This modern reboot (or reimagining if you prefer) of ‘Robocop’ was far better than I ever imagined it might be. It redevelops the character of Murphy (Robocop) and the world of future Detroit in a clever way and actually delivers a well written, smart and intriguing story filled with impressive performances in addition to plenty of gun battles, action sequences and explosions to keep action fans satisfied. It’s always refreshing to see a reimagining or reboot of a film you love to be treated properly and executed well. This latest imagining of ‘Robocop’ delivers a smart, action packed good time as well as being a solid film as a whole and I would definitely recommend giving it a shot.
VIDEO:
The Blu-Ray release of ‘Robocop’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing the film’s original 2.40:1 Cinemascope Aspect Ratio. The video presentation on this one looks outstanding. Everything looks sharp, detailed and smooth, even during the frequent fast moving action sequences there were never any visible flaws that I could detect. This high definition video presentation is very impressive and far surpassed my expectations. It should certainly leave most folks quite satisfied.
AUDIO:
The Blu-Ray release features a lossless 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack which I don’t think could possibly hit any harder or sound much more amazing. The tame moments are properly calm and effective, with the frequent explosive action sequences really hitting harder than you might expect and frequently rattling the room as well as taking constant advantage of the rear surround channels. All in all this is one wonderful sounding lossless multichannel soundtrack that should have the fellow audiophiles just as thrilled as I was.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The Blu-Ray release of ‘Robocop’ includes a pretty decent collection of bonus content. Included on the release is a number of deleted scenes (totaling just under four minutes in all), ten Omnicorp product advertisements/announcements, two trailers and 3 behind the scenes featurette’s (totaling just short of thirty minutes in all) that include interviews with members of the cast and crew and give a surprising amount of insight into what went into reconstructing Robocop for this modern take on the character.
*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They additionally will suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.