Question for those who've watched some of the special features:

On the theatrical trailer on Disc 1, does the sound on it sound muttled, muffled, or just plain bad? Mine sounds like someone put a pillow on my speakers, but its only that trailer..

Also, I could have sworn that the music in the trailer is the Terminator theme...is it?!

I have the Criterion with the trailer and that indeed is the "Terminator" theme in the trailer.

Thought so. Is the sound quality in the trailer terrible?

It's fine for a late 80's trailer.

Speaking of sound, I noticed that Robocop: Creating the Legend on Disc 2 has no sound effects or music. Is it just my copy or is it supposed to be like this? It's really weird especially at the beginning where the word Robocop flies at you without making a sound. I thought I had hit mute or somehting.

I agree that the Criterion edition is poor by today's standards and there's no excuse for a non-anamorphic transfer. The only problem is that this new edition seems to have issues as well, as it is cropped and the colours in some scenes are off (as one person mentioned a night scene has been lightened up so much that it looks like daylight). I personally like the trilogy edition better than the Criterion edition (because although the colours are a little washed out it seems a little crisper and it's anamorphic - a big plus for me since I own a widescreen TV), but I already own both the Criterion and the R2 Trilogy edition, so if all I'm getting is a metal cover and a few new extras I might wait on this one.

I understand that the sound is better on the new version, but I've never had very good hearing, so not an issue for me.

Anyway, according to what I've read, the new edition has better sound than any other version and a few more extras, but the picture is still less than stellar. I don't understand it - Flash Gordon (filmed 7 years before Robocop) has a great R2 version that looks as if it was filmed yesterday, but Robocop is still mired in a grainy transfer. It seems we still do not have a definitive version of Robocop on DVD. Maybe the 25th anniversary edition will put things right - or the 30th, or the 40th, or the 50th, or the centennial edition.

Actually I've been looking out for it at Borders and Barnes and Noble but I haven't seen it anywhere. I'm thinking that if I see it I might just say 'what the heck' and buy it, but it seems that my favourite places to shop aren't buying it.

the best sound though was the uncompressed PCM tracks on the OOP Image laserdisc edition, it wasn't even 5.1 but the bass and sound rocked like a mutha.

even Robocop II's laserdisc edition sound, was insanely loud and intense.

I apologize if this has been brought up. This is in regards to all those in Canada who are wondering whether the Robocop 2-disc edition still has that error of having the two same dvds instead of two different ones.

I wish to verify that the "corrected" versions are available in both Future Shop & HMV stores. The way to know whether the dvd is correct is to check the serial code. The incorrect one ends in "997" while the correct one should end in "998".

No apology needed!

You know how many times the question 'should I buy this?' was repeated here ad nauseam?

Thank you for the important info, and I'll be certainly checking this out to confirm this.

Have you ever considered that the grainy look was a stylistic choice by the filmmakers? This is one problem with dvd reviewers and casual home theater junkies. They expect all films too look exactly the same and preferably excessively crystal clear,grain free regardless if it was intended to look that way or not.

And thus films intended to look rough,raw,or just a tad 'grainy'. They complain about the transfers not being 'perfect' compared to another film with a different stylish choice.

All the complaints over the HD dvd quality of U2: Rattle and Hum is a great example of this misguided attitude.

Big ditto.

Uh, no. Not for this movie.

And I think that it's safe to assume that a grainy release for a decade-old film was not because of artistic intent until one of the creative forces behind the movie goes on record and says so.

"We were going for a very grainy look because we wanted a futuristic vibe, kind of like those classic robot cop movies from the 70's. We also really liked the way that the grain enhanced the various mock commercials scattered throughout the movie, just like real TV commercials that you'd expect to see in the future."

The ways people find to defend mediocre products amazes me.

I saw Robocop at the movie theatre - it was certainly not grainy there, so I don't think the filmmakers wanted us to see it this way on our TV sets.

This transfer looked great to me. At times it looked brand new.

Wow you must have a great memory! I also saw the movie 20 years ago and couldn't tell you if the movie had grain or not. In my opinion, I think the transfer looks and sounds great for Standard DVD grain or not. And this may be the best transfer you will get for some time since the Blu-Ray version was yanked by Sony. See the review here, which does not paint a pretty picture. Also the reviews for this release have been good.
Review 1 Review 2

Well, it was only "yanked" by Sony because they lost distribution rights to MGM product to Fox. It's not like Paramount yanking support of all Blu-ray titles. Sony would have put it out if they could have.

And some people may be ignorant and too quick to bash a transfer without any knowledge whatsoever.

I don't see how the new transfer can be considered 'bad' 'inferior' subpar' 'not good enough' 'flawed' 'crappy' ect ect. And the news breaks and commercials always had a different 'grainier' look than the rest of the film. It's to help set them apart from the rest of the film and works wonderfully as well. It makes them funnier in the process. If they looked like the regular film with nothing to set them apart,they'd be less effective I think. And the rest of the film looks about right as well. So all the complaints about the transfer is misguided much ado about nothing in my opinion.

And since I mentioned U2:Rattle and Hum. Go over to the AVS forum and see all the bitching about the HD tranfer that film has gotten! They call it the 'worst HD transfer ever! This should not have been released! Why didn't they clean it up? Paramount is cheap and didn't bother restoring the picture! It looks terrible! AHHHH GRAIN,I HATE GRAIN!!!!!!!!!!".


These are clueless HT junkies that think they know everything about film and technology. When really they know little at all when it comes the look of a film. Not all films are meant to look the same. And that is the one fatal flaw with dvd reviewers who give lower ratings on transfers since it doesn't meet their unrealistic expectation.

Beat me to it! I picked up the "New" shipment and will also confirm that the new versions have the correct discs.

So no one can answer if this edition is better than the Criterion and if it makes the Criterion 'obsolete'?

The commentary track on the Criterion is different than the one on the 20th Anniversary Edition, so it's worth holding onto for that.

The Criterion edition is also the only version of the film in the director preferred aspect ratio of 1.66:1 (though it was shown theatrically in the US at 1.78:1), so it's probably worth holding onto for that reason as well.

Other than those two things, the 20th Anniversary Edition is superior in most other respects.

Hi, I posted this earlier, but nobody addressed it. I noticed that Robocop: Creating a Legend on Disc 2 has no sound effects or music. Is it just my copy or is it supposed to be like this? It's really weird especially at the beginning where the word Robocop flies at you without making a sound.

I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be like that. Mine was that also.

Thanks CRS, it just looked really weird to me.

I thought the DVD was screwed up until the interviews started.

Interestingly, at the beginning of that documentary, a snapshot of the Marvel comic adaptation appears. Got nostalgic and pulled out that mag out of the closet to see if there were some differences. Just in case you were wondering:

-The comic opens with Boddicker's gang ambushing the cops which is reported by the news crew at the beginning. (I always wondered if this was ever filmed)

-Murphy goes to a cemetary (Instead of his old house) IMDB says this scene was storyboarded as well

-Joe dies in the drug factory shoot-out (BTW, I still can't tell if they used a different actor to fill in for Joe during this scene. Is it the same guy?)

-Boddicker uses gernades to try to kill Murphy in the end. I'm sure this would have been spectacular to see, but impossible to film.

-The comic ends with Lewis in the hospital (As seen on the deleted scenes)