Max Sci-Fi Crime Thriller Director’s Cut Is The Only Version You Should Stream
In case you need a gentle reminder that the best satirical sci-fi action thriller of all time is currently streaming on Max, I’m here to spread the good word that the unrated (like God and Paul Verhoeven intended) Robocop director’s cut can be viewed from the safety of your living room. Now, you may be asking yourself, “how much longer is the director’s cut of Robocop compared to the theatrical cut, and why should I care?” The answer may surprise you because this extended version is only about a minute longer than its widely released counterpart.
You need to trust me though, because it’s a very revealing minute that you’re not going to want to miss out on.
Tens Of Seconds Of Extra Runtime
What can I say about Robocop that hasn’t already been said over the decades, and why is the director’s cut the superior version? The most succinct elevator pitch that I can give you is the promise of more violence. The Robocop director’s cut doesn’t add any side stories or character development, but instead adds appropriately placed seconds of runtime that elevate its satire to ridiculous proportions.
Or, in some cases, we get some pretty graphic closeups instead of wide shots that will make your stomach churn.
We’re talking about “pump him full of lead” levels of comically placed violence that you just have to see to believe. The kind of violence I’m talking about can’t even be supplemented with pictures in this article because the censors will find out where I live and try to eliminate me like Alex Murphy’s (Peter Weller) cybernetically-infused RoboCop body eliminates crime from the mean streets of Detroit.
RoboCop’s Satire Gets Better With Age
If you’ve never seen RoboCop, or if you’re like me and haven’t watched it since you were six years old when it scarred you for life, you owe it to yourself to watch the director’s cut.
And if you’re worried about the satire aging poorly, you’re gravely mistaken. From the overzealously insensitive and smiling news personalities rattling off death counts in perfect non-regional diction to Omni Consumer Products botching the launch of their ED-209 killbot during a board meeting, Robocop is dripping with tongue-in-cheek commentary on urban crime, corporations taking over public services, and what it means to be a hero in a dystopian hellscape that’s slowly being taken over by corrupt militarized police.
A Poignant Take On Technology And Humanity
At its heart, RoboCop is a story about a man who becomes a machine and loses himself to his crusade against crime. Having had his memory wiped after being brutally gunned down by Clarence Boddicker (Kurtwood Smith) and his goons – which is way more brutal in the director’s cut, by the way – Alex Murphy becomes a killing machine in his own right, but one that errs on the side of good as RoboCop.
However, Murphy has moments of clarity when he fights his programming, as he vaguely recalls his life before becoming RoboCop, and suddenly we have a story that’s not just mindlessly violent for the sake of violence, but to show how this man has been reprogrammed and stripped of his humanity for the sake of “progress.”
Streaming The Director’s Cut
GFR SCORE
If you don’t believe me that such a small amount of extra run time enhances RoboCop by about 1000 percent, then you need to put your money where your mouth is and stream the director’s cut immediately. Forget about the theatrical cut (also streaming on Max), and forget about the sequels. The only version of Robocop worth watching is the director’s cut on Max.
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