RoboCop: Prime Directives (2001)

Truly Dreadful Film

Beautiful, moving film.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Hmmm, this series doesn't seem to be very popular but on closer inspection the criticism seems to be from the "watched the first 10 minutes then turned off" crew. I'm unsure how you can fully judge something without watching it but that's the level of mentality here.Anyway, I think Prime Directives is a great slice of binge entertainment. Nearly 6 hours of action and story set in the Robocop universe and the stories are very interesting too. The usual Robocop themes of family and greed are here but they throw in some plot points about obsoletion as well which I found very cool.This is a TV production so don't expect any great special effects here but the cinematography is top notch and very moody and it's all absorbing enough to hook you in.Now it has some bad points and most of that comes from the acting. It's pretty bad right across the board with maybe only one or two standouts but yep, it's really corny. Page Fletcher looks like a poor man's Dennis Hopper and far too short to be Robocop in the first place. He's "ok" as Alex Murphy but honestly he bungles about in the Robo suit looking constipated and his shoulders are so hunched up it loos like he could explode. The rest of the cast fare better but honestly, not by much.It's surprising because the script, while not the snappiest is really quite good and fuses well with the extended stories and even throws in a some memorable lines here and there.The best thing about it is that this is the extended runtime. Here we have FOUR feature length episodes all connected to the same skeleton story and it's great fun immersing yourself in the Robocop universe for that amount of time. The 6 hour running time means that the story and plots can really breathe and be fleshed out quite a bit so this adds tremendously to the connection between audience and program.I honestly think that some people watch this and expect the same quality as the films and that just isn't going to happen.Regardless aside from some bad acting and Robo himself being somewhat miscast this is a great pieces of quality entertainment that lasts a good while and there is PLENTY to enjoy here believe me so give it all of it) a shot and if you keep in mind it's production you shouldn't be disappointed.Terrific for tearing into on a binge after the first three films.

If you've seen the TV series and thought it was garbage, then you can avoid this and not regret wasting four hours of your life. This version took elements from the first movie and the TV series and tried to make something out of it. Alas, you just can't go any higher than the first movie. I watched the TV series only because it was Robocop and he's one of my all-time favorite heroes. It's a shame that people in Old Detroit make so many bad decisions that they end up looking like middle school dropouts who were given positions in power. If they had made the series out of the short-lived comic book then it would have been a gigantic hit among Robo fans. But, back to this movie. The actors did their jobs well, but the scripting was disastrous and unrealistic. If you want Robocop then I suggest you see Robocop or even Robocop 2. Watching this will only tarnish fond memories of the originals.

I'm a big Robocop fan. The only Robocop thing I HAVEN'T seen, was the cartoon, so I can't compare it to that one.But in comparison to the 3 movies and, yes, even the TV series, this is the saddest Robocop has ever been.Robocop is, of course, the ultimate superhero movie.Robocop 2 was almost as good. It's biggest shortcoming was the lack of the classic Robocop theme music. If Basil's music could somehow be edited into this movie, I think people would be amazed at the improvement.Robocop 3 was almost as good as Robocop 2 (seeing a trend here?). The music is back, most of the characters from the previous movies are present. Robert Burke is no Peter Weller, but he does his best, and his best is just barely good enough. Robocop 3 is a bit cheesier than the previous entries, and Robocop SHOULD NEVER FLY. However, the movie does have some moving moments, and on the whole did feel like "Robocop."Robocop: The Series was geared towards a younger audience. The violence was toned WAY down, and some of the acting was about as cheesy as what was found in Robocop 3. Unfortunately, none of the villains measured up to any of those found in any of the movies. All were too cheesy. HOWEVER, Richard Eden did an excellent job as Robocop. Better than Robert Burke in Robocop 3. The supporting cast of good guys were also quite good on the whole, with the possible exception of the popularly despised "moppet." The creators did a pretty good job of maintaining the visual style of the movies, with the same cars, uniforms, gear, etc. I could tell they cared about what they were making. Yes, it was juvenile, but it had heart and it still felt like "Robocop." The show's opening music theme was particularly good, an expansion on Basil's original theme.Robocop: Prime Directives was very, very sad for me. I'd been anticipating this quite a bit, and was prepared to give it a lot of slack. I'd kept up with production on their website, and had heard that the folks involved were big Robocop fans.I was VERY disappointed.As many have mentioned before, Page Fletcher was totally miscast. I'm sure he did his best, but he was just way too short, and did not know how to move or act as Robocop. The worst portrayal of Robocop in existence. The plot of the miniseries I found to be dull, cheesy, and clichéd. The effects were not even up to the level of what was found in the TV show. Because this story takes place so many years in the future, there are no familiar images to tie in with what has transpired before. It's almost like Robocop was dropped into some other town, where nothing is like it was. He is the only familiar image, and a sad miscast image at that. There is no sense of history. The fact that Prime Directives pretends that Robocop 2, Robocop 3, and Robocop: The Series all never happened is an insult and a cop-out (a Robocop-out?). Sure those movies and the TV series had their faults, but ALL of them were superior to Prime Directives. A sequel should only ignore what has come before under the most dire, DIRE circumstances. Say... Alien 3. And if that sequel does ignore what came before, it had better be good enough to merit that. What came before Prime Directives was not that bad, and Prime Directives was not NEARLY good enough. F-

After suffering through the miscarriage that was Robocop 2 and the complete comic book homage that was Robocop 3, it was good to see that the writers of the original finally put Robocop down once and for all.While the story seems a bit on the goofy side, it's important to remember that the whole premise of Robocop is comic bookish to an extent. But it works: Bone Machine, the mysterious invisible people, RoboCable all form a coherent and somehow satisfying end to the Robocop saga. Murphy regains his humanity once again (a plot thread that was always ignored in each Robocop movie) and establishes ties to his son and walks into the sunset. The only fault I can find is that the miniseries is one part too long. If it was cut the miniseries would flow better. But this is a minor flaw.Clearly the best offshoot for Robocop since the original by far.