RoboCop Trilogy [Blu-ray]

Even better than that fantastic Criterion edition
I was skeptical about this when I first saw it at the store, as I already owned the fantastic Criterion edition DVD. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the new MGM unrated version found in the Trilogy boxed set is well worth it. So here is a review for people who already own the Criterion disc and are wondering if they should shell out their hard earned cash for this newer DVD.

Here are the differences I found between the new disc and the Criterion one...

PLUSES:
a.. Anamorphic widescreen. The Criterion disc was not anamorphic. As a result, the picture on the MGM disc is a lot less pixellated than the Criterion one. The color is also more saturated.

b.. New sound mix. The Criterion disc was mixed in Dolby surround. The new mix is in Dolby 5.1, and they obviously had fun remixing it. The surrounds are split and very directional. The sound is really an improvement in every way (see (d)).

c.. It's the same unrated cut that was on the Criterion disc.

d.. They...

SAVE your money....same Robocop as previously issued....
so you can buy it for under ten bucks anywhere (and we all know it not only is a bad transfer but has NONE of the great bonus features available on the normal DVDs)..so all you get for your huge investment is a bare bones 2 and 3...

I can't believe I got suckered into buying this but I couldn't imagine them doing this at that price...fool me once...well I'll wait in the future until some other person does the experimenting.

Almost CRITERION, almost...
The one thing that doesn't seem to be getting any fanfare, with the new release of this trilogy from MGM, is the fact that the first movie, is in fact, the UNCUT DIRECTOR's CUT, that was presently, till now, only available on the out of print (and pricey) Criterion version of this DVD.

Oddly enough, even the new trilogy packaging and extras, don't go out of their way to press, what you'd think would be a GREAT selling point, almost as if the decision to use the directors cut, was a last minute thing.

Funny enough, even the commentary (which, unfortunately, is NOT the commentary present on the Criterion disc) was made, with the director and crew, watching the theatrical version of the movie, as they keep referring to this fact, and discussing the deleted scenes, EVEN as we, the viewers, are watching the very scenes that they are saying are missing in this version. It also amazes me, as to how they managed to sync up the commentary to the cut film, over top of the uncut film,...

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