Customer Reviews

RoboCop: Prime Directives - Crash & Burn

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Supposedly RoboCop Prime Directives was originally a TV miniseries released in 2001. I'm not sure where it aired, but each episode is feature film length and the violence/language varies from PG to R rated material.

The series includes Dark Justice, Meltdown, Resurrection, and Crash and Burn...and the movies should be watched in that order for them to make sense.

Page Fletcher (from HBO's The Hitchhiker) stars as RoboCop. He does about as good a job as Robert John Burke did in RoboCop 3. In fact, the whole Prime Directives series is on par with RoboCop 3...and that's not a compliment. It's not really a knock either. It's a declaration that Prime Directives is an average sequel-set to what were two great initial RoboCop films (RoboCop and RoboCop 2).

Prime Directives takes place ten years after the first RoboCop. Alex Murphy/RoboCop is no longer needed in Delta City and is now considered a nuisance by OCP. John Cable, Alex Murphy's former partner, is killed and brought back as a new RoboCop and is instructed to destroy Murphy/RoboCop.

OCP is now in the hands of corrupt executives (one is a malevolent new CEO, one is Cable/RoboCop's ex-wife and one is Murphy/RoboCop's own son) and they have a new technology called SAINT that they will use to run the city and market to consumers "to make all of your decisions for you". But there is a terrorist that wants to infect SAINT with a computer virus that could take down all computers on the net and release a deadly nanotechlogy into humans.

All 4 episodes run apx 90 minutes each, so we're talking about 6 hours of 3-star RoboCop. So if you've got a rainy day and a craving for RoboCop, this series is for you.

As of this writing, the series is available as a set only from Amazon resellers, and the set is about 1/2 the price of buying all 4 separately. But Prime Directives is far from collector caliber, so I'd recommend just finding these to rent, and keep the viewing order that I mentioned earlier in mind.

I did not even know these new Robocop movies had been made. I take it they where T.V movies or something? However the big reason that they do not have part 4, 5, 6, or 7 on them is because it would have to be called Robocop 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4. These are a 4 part series all spanning over into the continuity of each other. I saw these DVD's for sale individualy on the shelf at very cheap prices, but I thought they where the TV series that was made a few years ago. They are not. These are 2001 made movies, each running for about an hour and twenty minutes and all continue the story into each other. But I never watched these untill I rented all 4 in one. Amazon dont show anything like it, but here in Australia it is titled as ACTION PACK 2, and is 2 DVD's with 2 double sided discs in each. The last one is the four Robocop series movies. On 2 flip sided discs.

The lowdown on the adventure is that it's ten years since robocop was made. He has been serving the public trust, protecting the innocent, and in some ways upholding the law. There are all new crime bosses in Delta City. And OCP as as in charge and as corrupted as ever.

Robo has a new cheif John Cableat the station who was Robo's partner when he was alive as Alex Murphy. Throguhout the first episode Robo is having memory flash backs of John, and eventualy John discovers who it is underneath the titanium armour known as Robocop. Eventualy John Cable is shot dead in the line of duty but reserected as the new and improved version as Robocop, but corrupted by an OCP executive, his first mission, while being unknown to anybody yet, is to frame Robocop by attacking the head of OCP and various other things. Robocop is then disgraced as a fugitive and hunted down to be taken off the streets. OCP send out Cable and introduce the public to the new and improved Robocop unit. Robocop tries to make Cable remember who he is. Will Robo make him remember or not? Eventualy another of OCP's executives gets his plan to make every hom ein Delta City run by the one mega computer operating in the OCP biulding will let nothing get in the way of his dream, even if it means murder. Eventualy when the machine is about to go online and take over everything in the city, a bad guy attempts to upload a virus on the computer that will spread to all computers, and then to humans!! Will Robocop be able to defeat the new and improved Robocop unit with his friend John Cable inside? Will Robo be able to do something about the new computer virus while being hunted down as a fugitive by OCP and Cable? Find out by watching, it might suprise you what happens in the end.

Overall I thought the whole thing was very interesting. Lots of comedy and fun and action, I thought some parts where pretty lame and boring. Some things I did not like, I hated the way Robocop sounded when he walked, being so used to the sound he is supposed to have, the new one did not work for me. There is no sign of an ED-209 anywhere in sight. During a grave sight scene, it shows Alex Murphy as having died in 1992, obviously they never bothered to work out what year Robocop (original) was supposed to be set in.

Apart from that the whole thing is pretty enjoyable. You'll have to own all 4 DVD's to enjoy the whole story line. Other wise it is just movies that dont make sense. Robocop's ultimiate challenge is another Robocop, new and improved and the man is also one of Alex Murphys best friends. So join Robo on an adventure through Delta City and see what happens if your interested.

No Bonus Features.

These four movies are like a TV miniseries, so they aren't as good as a movie with a big production budget might be. Still, they're pretty good, and if you're a sci-fi or Robocop fan it's certainly worth the time and money to watch them. It doesn't say on the box what order to watch them in, so here it is: Dark Justice, Meldown, Resurrection, Crash & Burn.

Given that Robocop is as popular as he is, it's no surprise that a quality miniseries like this was produced. Everything from the writing to
the character arcs is splendid. Understand that this is not Hollywood, so the effects are not what you'd see in a summer blockbuster.

If you understand what this series represents, then you are in a for a great treat! Fleshing out the character of Alex Murphy is one of the most highly
sought after things in the Robocop world, so you are in a for a wonderful and fulfilling ride!

All things considered, I give this 4 part series 5 stars, due to the fact that I would rather have these, than nothing at all. That statement does not
detract from the series at all. The acting, and writing is on par with the very finest movies and tv series ever produced. It's a shame that more
money could not have been spent for better fx, but in all honesty, it DOES NOT detract from the series at all. ALL fans of Robocop should be pleased
with the product you are presented with. There is no cheese.... the production was quality enough to keep this from having any cheese factor, as
you would expect from a series of this caliber. Extremely entertaining!

5 stars, a very strong recommendation.

5 stars for Robocop!!!

Despite its low budget this movie builds upon the original RoboCop movie and picks up 10 years after the end of that film. This four part movie (Dark Justice, Meltdown, Resurrection and Crash and Burn), shows the continued growth of the character Alex Murphy/RoboCop and his struggle to balance his current existence with the past life he knew. It has a lot fun action sequences and introduces new characters such as John Cable and James Murphy. Take a look its a lot of fun.

It's okay, but completely unnecessary if you have Robo part 1 and 2. All the other Robos after that is a waste of film.

This is one of a series of 4 RoboCop movies made for TV. The effects / story are a bit sub par compared to the three original movies, but RoboCop fans will enjoy them nonetheless.

I heartily recommend these DVDs being a RoboCop fan myself.

Ever seen robocop vs robocop, no, well now you can with part four of the prime directives series. a smash em' up fanally for a great series.

It seems that everywhere you look on-line to fine the DVD tech specs you get different answers. Well, I'm here to set things straight.

Despite what some sites say, this R1 release is issued in Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1) with English Dolby 2.0 Surround. Surprisingly it's a good strong surround mix. Dialogue, despite some negetive reviews of the broadcase version, is strong and easily understandable.

The R2 release however appears to be in Dolby 5.1, which is ashame because the R1 could have benefitted from a 5.1 mix. But anyway...

Picture quality? Pretty good for a TV show. The only issue is with out-of-focus background lights. They have that digital compression "dot crawl". But other than that, all live action and special f/x look extremely sharp and clear.

Just recently bought this series in geer up for the new release of the Robocop Trilogy. Now, I'd like to see the mid-'90s Robocop series released on DVD. The only thing lacking in this series is the lack of use of Robo's automated targeting grid system. I always found that aspect very cool about the theatrical movies.

Everything about this movie is a monstrosity. The only thing that would even be considered as descent is the story line. How does a machine/human have the ability to cry? Unless there's an evolution in his organic parts that allow him to have human fluids, there is no sense at all. Then in the past, Alex Murphy looks like he's in his 60s, wasn't he about 40 when he transfered in Detroit in Robocop? The other thing about this crap is it's a ripoff from Terminator 3. 2 robots with humans beating each other up, and one computer that can take over computers everywhere. Skynet anyone? I rather watch Robocop 3 which they also screwed up on. The only true Robocop is Peter Weller w/ Paul Verhoeven and Irvin Kershner as the directors. ALL OTHERS SUCK!