RoboCop 3

[Guest CoreyLazarus416]

The first one is magnificent. Excellent parody of American media (heavy on the violence and capitalist ass-kissing), with RoboCop as a Jesus figure as well (came back from the dead, children followed him around, his best friend was a woman, WALKED ON WATER).

 

The second one was equal. While not as big a message as the first, it was an overall better story. Everybody worked their ass off for this movie, and it shows. And the scene with all the prototypes for RoboCop version 2? Hilarity.

 

But the third one...ugh...

 

I just watched it again last night after not seeing it since I was 10. That's 6 years without watching it, and only memories of the slightly cool scenes. And in 6 years, my opinion of the movie being a fun experience has changed to a punch to the gut. They couldn't even get Peter Weller, the man that played Alex Murphy/RoboCop in the first two flicks, to reprise his role. And when you can't get the original actor to reprise his role for a sequel, you know it's bound to be bad (only exception I've ever seen was Phantasm II, as the man that replaced A. Michael Baldwin in the role of "Mike" was better than Michael Baldwin himself).

 

The movie actually starts off just fine. A commercial for Delta City that states "for our children" and shows an upper-class family from approximately 1956 with a baby in a carriage. Then it's Media Break, as the reporters (new female anchor, same old guy) talk about the REHAB group. They're a group of people, presumably with military training (although Andrew would kill me for saying that), that are hired by OCP to help move Detroit citizens from the slums to a "rehab facility" in order for OCP (Omni Consumer Products) to tear down their old neighborhoods and begin construction of Delta City. Well, this all looks dandy until Nico and her parents are forced out of their homes at gunpoint by the REHABs. A particularly good line (only about 3 or 4 in this movie, by the way, as opposed to the usual 45 or 50 in the previous 2) happens when an old lady runs up to one of the REHABs as chaos is occurring all around her, caused by the REHABs themselves. This particular REHAB is standing in front of a bus to transport these "unfortunate souls" to a "rehab facility."

Old Lady: "PLEASE help us!"

REHAB: "That's what we're hear for ma'am..." **cocks shotgun** "...now get on the bus."

Another good line occurs about 6 minutes in, when a guy walks into a donut shop CHOCK FULL of cops, pulls out an assault rifle, and tries to hold the place up.

Thug: "EVERYBODY FREEZE! EMPTY OUT THE REGISTER, NOW!"

**red dots from lasers used to aim handguns appear all over the man as he realizes there are at least 16 cops around him, all their firearms concentrated on him**

Clerk: "How's it feel to be a rocket scientist?"

 

I'll stop talking about it there, because that's about 7 or 8 minutes into the movie, and it all goes downhill from there.

 

This entire movie is in parallel to World War II, which may just be the ONLY interesting thing about it. The REHABs tell the world they're trying to make Detroit a better place, when in reality they're rounding people up by the hundreds and shipping them off, without their belongings, to a secured facility. The "rehab facilities" are supposed to be concentration camps, as RoboCop, at one point, accesses the files of those imprisoned, and finds Nico's parents: both were shot and killed on the same day while trying to escape.

Hell, even the ALLIES of the REHABs are a World War II parallel. If the REHABs are supposed to be the National Sozialist (Nazi) party, then their allies should be the Japanese, right? Kenimitsu Corporation.

 

Somewhere in this awful screenplay and piece of crap movie is a high-quality third film trying to break out. You know it's in there, and you will always know it's in there. But the quality is always overshadowed by the bad. The dialogue is something a 4th grader would write, the acting is piss-poor with a few strong exceptions (McDaggart, the head of the REHABs, is one of the downright COOLEST villains in a long time; Rip Torn does his usual good over-the-top job), and potentially HUGE moments in the series are just displayed as though they're nothing. A scene that could have been played as a huge turning point in the series, where ALL of the Detroit Police in the Metro-West precinct throw down their badges and walk out as OCP's main representative Mr. Smith (the black man with the glasses that served as The Old Man's #2 in the first two) tells them that they can't. If only seen when Smith is yelling at all of them as each of them drop their badges by his feet, this scene is downright great. But if taken as a whole, it's exposed as the dreck it really is. No build-up, nobody saying something along the lines of "this is the final straw," and no hype about it happening. If I were directing this movie, THIS would be the pivotal scene, and I would've had the Captain of the precinct (I forget his name, I believe it's Harris) rip McDaggart and Smith a new one about how he put up with the strike, the decreasing salaries, and has been pushed around by OCP long enough. Woulda, shoulda, coulda...

 

The main villains in this movie, aside from the REHABs, are the street gangs of Detroit. Are they the FuBu sporting, malt liquor-drinking, drive-by shooting, wear-it-if-it's-comfortable gangs of the real world? FUCK NO! The gang members in this movie all dress as if they were the honor students in Class Of Nuke 'Em High and just came back from a Black Flag show. Yep, all the gang members in this movie (made in 1993, by the way) look to be straight out of the 1983 hardcore punk scene, and the 1984 glam rock scene. Mohawks, dyed hair, piercings, bad teeth, leather, feathered mullets, kneepads when they don't need to be worn, spandex, etc.

 

Overall, *1/2 out of a possible *****. Only needs to be seen to be MST3K'd or for RoboCop completists. If you don't plan on MST3K'ing it, or are not a RoboCop completist, skip this movie and just rent or buy one of the first two. It will be money well-spent.

[Guest razazteca]

this movie was based on the tv series right?

[Guest Sassquatch]

Robocop 3 was the worst one out of the bunch which was a given since Frank Miller wrote both 2 & 3 with both being heavily panned by viewers and critics when compared to the 1st movie. The 3rd movie was bad but it is not as offensive as it could have been to fans of the series (myself included).

 

The point being is that it could have been a much better movie had Miller been given the boot or at least reigned in with his ideas. Nancy Allen's character had been an afterthought in both Robo 2 & 3 and her death was almost a mercy kill after she had been made into a generic partner made for fodder. She was wasted in her role when Miller took over and it was fitting that he killed her off in the way he did.

 

John Castle did an awesome job in the movie considering what he had to work with and deserves huge props for pulling off his role as well as he did. He just nailed his part as the OCP Rehabs leader which was pretty lack luster to begin with.

 

Jill Hennessy as Dr.Lazarus did an okay job in the movie with the character as a take-no-shit type of person. But she wasn't a standout or anything unlike Nancy Allen was in the 1st movie when she went to the wall for Robo.

 

Rip Torn as always was a hoot to watch and he was the other part of the movie that was enjoyable. It's a shame that he wasn't given a tad more screen time but when he was shown he made it good (or as much as possible).

 

The movie was bad but it was entertaining at times. Nothing to write home about but still an okay waste of about 2 hours.

[Guest El Satanico]

Was it made for TV or direct to video?

 

I don't recall this movie at all.

[Guest Sassquatch]

Robocop 3 did come out in theatres but it did not stay there for long and went to video soon after that.

[Guest Tony149]

I believe this was released in 1993, but originally filmed in 1990, months after Robocop 2, or so I read. That's a reason Weller didn't return. He hated putting on the Robo-suit (first film took 8 hours to put on, second 4 hours). Supposedly when he was asked to come back for a third film, his response was "hell no." The company who produced the series was having money trouble, so the film was delayed for three years. And I think the original director (Paul Verhovern) was going to direct R2 but was too busy with Total Recall.

 

Robocop was clearly the best film of the bunch, with the sequels never touching it. Which is pretty hard for all sequels to do -- match or top the first. I enjoyed the first hour and 10 minutes or so of Robocop 2, but I felt it dragged after that before the final 20 minutes where Robo battles Cain. Robocop 3 wasn't any better outside of a few moments like Corey mentioned. I didn't think Robert Burke (the man who replaced Weller) did a bad job, but Weller made that role his, much like Michael Keaton did with Batman, and Connery with James Bond. Robocop 3 was also the only Robo film to have a PG-13 rating.

 

After Robocop 3, there were at least a few attempts to make a TV series. I remember watching it once. The guy who played Sgt. Reed was the only movie cast member to stay on for the TV series. I also think the Sci-fi network aired another Robocop movie months ago. That may be Robocop 4, which was most likely direct-to-video.

 

I think the original director Paul Verhovern and the original writers of Robocop tossed around doing their own sequel to the 1987 film, where Robo would be taken out of storage years after he cleaned up the city to fight a new battle.

[LaParkaYourCar 0]

I liked the TV Series. Especially the theme music........it was pretty cool.

 

But you're right, part 3 seemed like a made for TV version of a Robocop movie.

[Guest Lethargic]

I never thought it was terrible as people made it out to be. Certainly nowhere near the first two but not the worst movie I've seen. And after seeing Robocop: Prime Directives, it's not even the worst movie version of Robocop.

[Guest caboose]

The first Robocop is good.

The second is a god damn awful piece of shit.

(Except the aformentioned Replacment Robocop Protype scene)

The third is better than the second, but that isn't saying much.

[The Dames 0]

Funny little side note....my mom bought Robocop 3 from a bootleg dealer across the street 2 years before it came out in theaters. I didn't think it was going to be the same movie til I saw clips of it on cable months later. Thanks to Tony, now I understand why.

 

Dames

[Guest CoreyLazarus416]

So, it's unanimous:

RoboCop 3 sucked the big one.

[Guest Bruiser Chong]

Robocop 3 is indeed a horrible, horrible movie. On Christmas night, Encore had a marathon of sorts, where they showed the entire trilogy from 8-1:35. Of course I watched the first one straight up, bits and pieces of the second one, and just the end of the third one simply because there was nothing else on at the moment.

 

The original Robocop is probably one of my favorite movies, cause it just never gets old for me. Every time it's on TV, I can just start watching and be into right away. No parts of it ever get stale for me. It's an excellent satire of American society, and while it was highly exaggerated at the time, you can just see America becoming more and more like this as the years pass on by. After months of searching for an affordable copy, I finally found the Robocop: Criterion Collection DVD brand new for $20 online, which is steal since it usually goes for $40 or so. I can't wait to get it, as it sounds like something anyone who liked the movie would love to own. All in all, it's an excellent film and has held up well over the years, IMO.

 

Now, as far as Robocop 2 goes- I have mixed feelings on it. There are some aspects I enjoy, but for the most part it's unsatisfying. I think Cain is just a straight-up boring villain and can't even compete with Clarence Boddicker, the villain from the original. I didn't really care much for the Old Man playing a villain of sorts, as he was a "good guy" in the original, yet shows few signs of that here.

 

One thing I've been a little confused on was the ending, maybe someone can clarify for me. When the Old Man and Johnson are talking about the main evil broad (name escapes me at the moment) and how she may be responsible for all the trouble, and she comes over to go out with the Old Man, and he tells Johnson to "get right on what they were discussing," is he telling him to find out if she's responsible or what? Cause the first few times I saw it I didn't pay attention to that line and just thought the Old Man was still a dope by going out with her after all that.

 

Like I said, there were some good moments in the movie, but overall it was just flat and there were several moments where asked myself if a sequel was really needed. The ending to the first one sort of put a nice close on his inner-struggle to determine if he was a man or a machine, yet in the sequel, he seems to be back to square one.

 

As for Robocop 3; well, I have to agree with what's been said in this thread so far. This was the only part of the trilogy that I actually saw in theaters, and I remember being pretty pumped up to see it. I think I was still a little too young at the time to realize how horrible it was, since I just remember feeling indifferent about it when it was over.

 

This movie had several problems, the first being the horrible script. It's just boring and really has nothing to do with the first two movies, aside from a few small elements. If the second one wasn't really needed, then that goes for this one even more. The PG-13 rating helped kill this movie, as the language and violence that added a little "spice" to the first two, had to be toned down greatly to fit that rating. Without some of that violence and language, Robocop is a fairly dull, B-feeling comic book movie. The production values blow ass in this one and make you ask what the hell went wrong, when they were able to do some nice things in the first two, yet some of the stuff in the newest ones look like shit. Robocop "flying" is just embarrassing to watch; it just looks like something from the days of film where technology wasn't too advance.

 

So like others, I feel that the first one is excellent, the second one average, and the third one complete and utter crap. Check out the TV listings, as several of the movie channels have had the entire trilogy in rotation lately, especially the third one for reasons I can't fully figure out.

[Guest Tony149]

One thing I've been a little confused on was the ending, maybe someone can clarify for me. When the Old Man and Johnson are talking about the main evil broad (name escapes me at the moment) and how she may be responsible for all the trouble, and she comes over to go out with the Old Man, and he tells Johnson to "get right on what they were discussing," is he telling him to find out if she's responsible or what? Cause the first few times I saw it I didn't pay attention to that line and just thought the Old Man was still a dope by going out with her after all that.

Before that line happened, Johnson and the other OCP lawyer mentioned how she picked the brain for Robocop 2. So I always took that line as The Old Man telling Johnson to get right to work on firing her.

 

Too bad a Robocop DVD hasn't been released in the U.S. I think there's a Special Edition Robocop DVD floating around the U.K., along with the other two films.

[Guest Ravenbomb]

I've got RoboCop on DVD. Or were you talking about an SE?

[Guest Tony149]

Aren't the only Robocop DVD's only in the U.K.? Or were they released in the U.S.? I was always under the impression only the U.K. have Robocop DVDs.

 

EDIT: I just found out Robocop was released in the U.S. on DVD.

[Guest Bruiser Chong]

From my original post:

 

After months of searching for an affordable copy, I finally found the Robocop: Criterion Collection DVD brand new for $20 online, which is steal since it usually goes for $40 or so.

 

All three films were in fact released on DVD in the US, but they are all pretty crummy, aside from the Criterion Collection version (which is now OOP) that I mentioned in my first post. If you can find a copy of the Criterion Collection version, I'd say pick it up, as it's got some nice extras (like a commentary track) and features more footage from the scene where Murphy gets shot up by Clarance's gang. The regular widescreen version can still be found online at a cheap price, but that's because of the subpar picture quality and lack of extras.

 

Aren't the only Robocop DVD's only in the U.K.? Or were they released in the U.S.? I was always under the impression only the U.K. have Robocop DVDs.

 

What you're referring to, Tony, is the set of all three films that was released only in the UK. Actually, Jay Spree did a review of it a few months back on the site. The extras and whatnot are supposedly better on the first film than the CC version, but there aren't any extras to speak of for the second and third versions. I'd like to see it released in the US eventually, but I'm not gonna hold my breath, which is why I ordered the CC version just recently.

[Guest Sassquatch]

One thing I've been a little confused on was the ending, maybe someone can clarify for me. When the Old Man and Johnson are talking about the main evil broad (name escapes me at the moment) and how she may be responsible for all the trouble, and she comes over to go out with the Old Man, and he tells Johnson to "get right on what they were discussing," is he telling him to find out if she's responsible or what? Cause the first few times I saw it I didn't pay attention to that line and just thought the Old Man was still a dope by going out with her after all that.

 

Tony pretty much summed it up.

 

The Old Man was in danger of facing legal action after Cain's slaughter spree which would hurt OCP for sure. After the female doctor had stopped Johnson from saying something to the Old Man about the her using a criminal's mind for the Robocop 2 project, he developed a jealousy/hatred of her from there. Johnson tried to make her look bad in anyway he could in possible fear for her moving up to a higher position than him.

 

Johnson came up with the plan to place all of the blame for the Cain debacle on the female doctor and convinced the Old Man to go ahead with the plan in order to not face jail time or crippling lawsuits. Johnson got his revenge and the Old Man suckered the doctor into thinking she was in his good graces which is ironic since she sweet talked the Old Man into going ahead with the Robocop 2 project plan.

 

So yes, the Old Man was telling Johnson to create a case against the female doctor making her look like the lone culprit so that he would not face legal action from the city or the victims from Cain's slaughter.

[Guest C.H.U.D.]

Robocop 2 is much better than the 3rd. The 3rd is so bad, I've almost completely put it out of my memory.

[Guest Bruiser Chong]

Robocop 2 is much better than the 3rd. The 3rd is so bad, I've almost completely put it out of my memory.

That's not to say that Robocop 2 is some great piece of cinema, but yes, when put up against part 3, it's gold. Robocop 3 almost seems like slap in the face of the true fans of the first two installments of the series. Watching it now, it almost seems like a spoof of the original and the sequel, what with the toned down content and all. And that's not a good thing when a movie feels like it's spoofing something that was a satire to begin with.

[Guest Sassquatch]

Just wanted to chime in here:

 

Utomo was the weakest Robocop villain out of the series and was just a huge waste of film and money.

[Guest CoreyLazarus416]

Utomo was the Japanese cyborg, right?

 

I agree. Complete waste of film, and definitely the weakest villain in the entire series. At least ED-209 shot up Robo pretty bad before falling down the stairs...

[Guest Lethargic]

Has anybody besides me seen Robocop: Prime Directives? Cause you'd forget all about how much part 3 sucked if you saw Prime Directives.

[Guest godthedog]

it's been too long since seeing part 3 to comment on it, but...

 

i'm sorry, but 'robocop 2' was a boring, flat, DEPRESSING AS HELL piece of shit. they went waaaaaaaaaaay overboard on the bleakness of detroit, forgetting completely about those little things like "character" and "empathy." the wonderful black comic tone of the original is completely gone, replaced by the script & the mise-en-scene just screaming, "life here really really really really really sucks," over & over again. totally a one-note movie that's almost as bleak & grimy as 'gummo' (only without the "i don't want to watch but i can't look away" fascination), and watching it didn't excite me or enthrall me at all. it just made me want to take a shower.

[Guest Sassquatch]

Utomo was the Japanese cyborg, right?

 

Correct.

 

I agree. Complete waste of film, and definitely the weakest villain in the entire series. At least ED-209 shot up Robo pretty bad before falling down the stairs...

 

ED was pretty ineffective as a villain but did lay a beating down on Robo that was fun to watch.

[Guest Sassquatch]

Has anybody besides me seen Robocop: Prime Directives? Cause you'd forget all about how much part 3 sucked if you saw Prime Directives.

 

Unfortunately I saw most of PD when it did air on the Sci-Fi channel and yes it was worse than the first 3 movies.

 

Using Robo's son as one of the main villains who was trying to hunt down Robo was extremely weak and to mention very contrieved.

 

Bringing back Nancy Allen's character was also just pissing some more on the grave of the franchise along with her character who once actually meant something to the series.

[Guest Bruiser Chong]

it's been too long since seeing part 3 to comment on it, but...

 

i'm sorry, but 'robocop 2' was a boring, flat, DEPRESSING AS HELL piece of shit. they went waaaaaaaaaaay overboard on the bleakness of detroit, forgetting completely about those little things like "character" and "empathy." the wonderful black comic tone of the original is completely gone, replaced by the script & the mise-en-scene just screaming, "life here really really really really really sucks," over & over again. totally a one-note movie that's almost as bleak & grimy as 'gummo' (only without the "i don't want to watch but i can't look away" fascination), and watching it didn't excite me or enthrall me at all. it just made me want to take a shower.

I agree. A lot of the wit that the first one had is no where to be found in the second one. Something that always bothered me about the trilogy was that one of the movies would have a "happy" ending, yet in the following film, Detroit would be in 10x as bad of shape as we had last seen it. The subplot in Robocop 2 about Robo struggling with the man or machine debate is pretty depressing, seeing as how there isn't much closure on it as there was in the first one. The violence is a lot more graphic in the second one, with scenes like the torture of Officer Duffy springing to mind. I thought that they took the violence up a notch to cover for a weak script.

 

ED was pretty ineffective as a villain but did lay a beating down on Robo that was fun to watch.

 

I actually never really thought of ED as a real villain, since it wasn't really key to any part of the story. I considered any member of Clarance's gang to be more of a villain than ED. And if anyone takes any of the Robocop movies too seriously, they need not look any further than ED trying to chase Robocop down the stairs to see that it's a satire.

 

Bringing back Nancy Allen's character was also just pissing some more on the grave of the franchise along with her character who once actually meant something to the series.

 

But didn't she get killed in the third one? I've seen the beginning and end, and don't recall the middle portion, but near the end Robo trys to place the main villain under arrest for the murder of Ann Lewis.

[Guest Sassquatch]

I actually never really thought of ED as a real villain, since it wasn't really key to any part of the story. I considered any member of Clarance's gang to be more of a villain than ED. And if anyone takes any of the Robocop movies too seriously, they need not look any further than ED trying to chase Robocop down the stairs to see that it's a satire.

 

ED was more of an obstacle than an actual villain but he still nearly put Robo offline for good. The stairs scene was funny just because it looked as if he actually had a chance at making it down only to fall down on the stairs and land on it's back.

 

But didn't she get killed in the third one? I've seen the beginning and end, and don't recall the middle portion, but near the end Robo trys to place the main villain under arrest for the murder of Ann Lewis.

 

We're talking about Robocop: Prime Directives which was shown on the Sci-Fi channel a couple years ago.

 

Lewis was killed off in Robocop 3 but was brought back as a hologram in PD which just pissed all over her character some more.

 

I only recommend you watch the PD only to see how much worse it is than any of the sequels.

[Guest Bruiser Chong]

Lewis was killed off in Robocop 3 but was brought back as a hologram in PD which just pissed all over her character some more.

 

I only recommend you watch the PD only to see how much worse it is than any of the sequels.

 

I knew you were talking about PD, I just wasn't sure how they did that seeing as how they killed off her character in the third part.

[Guest Sassquatch]

They were able to resurrect a dead cop who had been shot in the head by making him into a badass cyborg.

 

I think they could manage bringing back another cop killed in the line of duty.