| 61st | Top programs broadcast by G4 |
| RoboCop 3 | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
|
| Directed by | Fred Dekker |
| Produced by | Patrick Crowley |
| Written by | Screenplay: Frank Miller Fred Dekker Story: Frank Miller Characters: Edward Neumeier Michael Miner |
| Starring | Robert John Burke Nancy Allen Rip Torn John Castle Jill Hennessy Mako C. C. H. Pounder |
| Music by | Basil Poledouris |
| Cinematography | Gary B. Kibbe |
| Editing by | Bert Lovitt |
| Distributed by | Orion Pictures |
| Release date(s) |  April 18, 1993 November 5, 1993 |
| Running time | 104 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $22,000,000 |
| Gross revenue | $10,600,000 |
| Preceded by | RoboCop 2 (1990) |
RoboCop 3 is a science fiction film, released in 1993, set in the near future in a dystopian metropolitan Detroit, Michigan, and filmed in Atlanta, Georgia. Most of the abandoned buildings seen in the film were slated for demolition to make way for facilities for the 1996 Olympics. It is the sequel to the 1990 film RoboCop 2.
Contents |
The main plot of RoboCop 3 involves RoboCop (Robert John Burke) finding a new family, as he has apparently given up hope of seeing his wife or son again. He forms a bond with an orphaned little Japanese-American computer whiz girl named Nikko, as well as coming into contact with an underground paramilitary resistance. The resistance, built up of underprivileged urban families, formed after Omni Consumer Products (OCP) began relocating them in order to build Delta City. RoboCop also finds one of the original scientists from the first two films, Dr. Marie Lazarus (Jill Hennessy), who built and operated on him, and has left the organization after becoming disillusioned.
Meanwhile, OCP is on the verge of bankruptcy and creates an armed force called the Urban Rehabilitators ("Rehabs" for short), under the command of Paul McDaggett(John Castle), to combat rising crime in Old Detroit and augment the ranks of Detroit Police in apprehending violent criminals, while in reality they are actually mercenaries who are forcibly relocating the residents of Cadillac Heights, since it was selected for demolition and reconstruction, killing some of the residents (including Nikko's parents) in the process. The Police force is gradually superseded by the Rehab forces, and violent crime begins to spiral out of control once more. The Delta City dream of the former CEO and "Old Man" lives on through the help of a Japanese Zaibatsu, the Kanemitsu Corporation, who bought a controlling stake in OCP. Kanemitsu sees the potential in the citywide redevelopment, and moves forward with its own plans to remove the current citizens.
The company develops and uses its own ninja robots (called "Otomo") to help McDaggett and the current OCP CEO overcome the resistance of the anti-OCP militia forces. When RoboCop tries to defend unarmed civilians from the Rehabs, he is suddenly inhibited by a fourth directive "Never oppose an OCP Agent" (which is unknown to how it was programmed in there, as all of the directives were deleted in the 2nd film). Powerless to stop the OCP Agents, his longtime partner, Anne Lewis, is killed by McDaggett, and RoboCop listens to Anne Lewis' dying words "Get them for me. Promise me!" as he subsequently becomes part of the resistance.
After the crossfire, RoboCop's systems efficiency plummets as his scanning becomes ineffective. He follows the resistance, and it is shown here how his tracking fails him when Nikko becomes frightened over the multitude of rats in the sewers, to which RoboCop (it is seen here that there are indeed many rats) replies "One or two..." As he systems fall below 30%, he stops suddenly. When asked by Nikko, he replies "I'm...fine" and falls over. The resistance helps him into their base, and he struggles to warn them of a tracking beacon inside him. Nikko finds it, and one of the members throws the beacon into a booby-trapped entrance. As a result, a search team led by McDaggett nearly becomes obliterated, though McDaggett survives.
The resistance mechanics state that they can fix RoboCop's body build, but have no clue over how to fix his plummeting efficiency, where RoboCop responds "Lazarus... Find... Dr... Lazarus." Lazarus is found by Nikko (or Nikko was found by Lazarus, the jury is out), where the little girl says "RoboCop wanted me to give you a message: Thanks for not taking my memories away." Lazarus and Nikko return to base in a police vehicle full of all the supplies RoboCop needs to be fully repaired (and the movie faces a continuity error here, as RoboCop has terrible tracking at this point and yet he can still inform the team that "a vehicle is approaching.")
Lazarus and the resistance work on RoboCop, and while his systems are being reworked, RoboCop, on his own accord, lists the four directives that he must follow. He ignores the systems failure warnings when he deletes the fourth directive. After this, what looks like a worm-hole tunnel rushes by as RoboCop sees images of his wife, Lewis, and Lazarus and finally comes to when Lazarus turns his systems on and says "Welcome back."
RoboCop and Nikko share a character development moment when she asks him how he is doing. "My efficiency rate is 93%; Anything above 90 is considered normal." Nikko asks him if Murphy was his real name. "It was...before." "Before what?" and RoboCop remembers the trauma of him, as Alex Murphy, being slaughtered and left to die. Nikko sits down next to him, talking about how she is eager to see her parents again. RoboCop, having previously looked through the lists of people killed by OCP, is able to identify that Nikko's parents are both deceased, but does not tell her that they are dead. Instead, he questions Nikko. "Your parents, do you miss them? But, you remember them. Because if you remember them, then they're never really gone." Nikko rests on RoboCop's leg, and he, though hesitant at first, strokes Nikko's hair gently as she falls asleep.
The team discovers a Jet Pack system designed for RoboCop and Lazarus immediately begins to work on adapting it for him, with Nikko as her helper. She tells RoboCop that the jetpack also functions as an auxiliary charge if he were to ever have a power drain. She asks Nikko "Get them for me, will you?" when meaning the resistors and it immediately prompts RoboCop to playback the video of him promising Anne Lewis to "Get them for me. Promise me!" He stands up, grabs his helmet and his attachable left-arm cannon and begins to walk. When asked, he turns around says "Unfinished business."
RoboCop enters Metro West (his home precinct) and asks Sergeant Reid where the "Rehabilitators'" base is. Reid informs him that it is just down the hall. RoboCop thanks him and advises him: "You may want to call the fire department." As one of the Rehabilitators asks a colleague for a light for his cigarette, RoboCop unleashes his flamethrower and demolishes the HQ. The "Rehab" who asked for a light attempts to use a SMG on RoboCop, but to no effect. RoboCop uses his flamethrower to then ignite a nearby weapons cache, destroying what little remains of the HQ and throwing the Rehab down the hall. RoboCop then interrogates the Rehab on McDaggett's whereabouts.
RoboCop finds McDaggett and attempts to subdue him, but McDaggett is able to escape, and accepts information from a disgruntled resistance member to find the base. The base is found, and the resistance members are either mowed down or taken prisoner. Few are able to escape. Nikko escapes with the help of Lazarus, and Lazarus is taken prisoner back into the OCP building.
RoboCop returns to the base, not knowing it had been abandoned due to the skirmish between the resistance and OCP. One of the Japanese cyborgs shows up and attacks the Detroit cyborg, knocking him down and even severing his hand. RoboCop experiences another power drain, but is able to reach for his smart bomb gun and fire at the head of Otomo, destroying him. RoboCop falls over, resigned to power failure.
Meanwhile, Nikko infiltrates the OCP building and manages to have Lazarus broadcast an illegal televisation of OCP being behind the entire criminal outbreaks and implicating them for the removal and even possible termination of the residents living there. RoboCop, with his last bits of energy, hears this broadcast and sees the jet pack (the sub-power unit that Lazarus had for him). The broadcast later causes OCP's stock to fall into the zeros, where the OCP CEO tells McDaggett that "OCP is all yours. Sayonara."
The rebels also receive the aid of the Detroit City police department after most of the officers defect to the resistance, due to their outrage of being used by OCP officials to clear out Cadillac Heights, when McDaggett decides on a final all-out strike using street punks as additional help. Just when the combined forces of the rehabs and OCP are about to wipe out the rebels and Detroit Police, RoboCop flies into the scene with his jetpack, using his smart bomb to destroy the tank leading the assault and easily mows down the agents and rehabs. He flies towards a thankful crowd of liberated people and onward to the OCP building, where McDaggett knows he is coming for him.
The Detroit cyborg breaks into the building. McDaggett keeps his candor by asking "how can I help you?", to which he is told "by resisting arrest." Another Otomo unit shows up, and RoboCop quickly fires upon Otomo, but does not fully destroy it, instead causing it to malfunction slightly with a mishapen grin that remains for the duration of the fight. Another Otomo unit arrives, and the Otomo duo attack RoboCop at the same time and prepare for the kill.
At that moment, Nikko and Lazarus, who are both present, hack into Otomos' programming, causing them to fight and kill each other at the same time. McDaggett curses them, since the androids were fitted with a failsafe that will cause everything within 20 yards to be "atomized... we're dead you stupid fools!" RoboCop replies "Don't count on it, chum" and reignites his jet pack, the discharge of flame hitting McDaggett's leg and rendering him immobile. He flies away with Nikko and Lazarus as McDaggett meets his demise through a fitting explosion, destroying OCP's building and more than likely ending the company for good.
As Old Detroit is being cleaned up, Kanemitsu arrives and his assistant tells the OCP CEO that he has been fired. Kanemitsu appears in front of RoboCop and his companions, bowing to RoboCop. When the OCP CEO asks RoboCop his name, he replies, "My friends call me Murphy. YOU call me RoboCop."
The film was directed by Fred Dekker, a director primarily known for cult horror films. Popular graphic novelist Frank Miller returned to write the screenplay for the film. Still optimistic that he could make an impression in Tinseltown, Miller accepted the job of writing RoboCop 3, hoping that some of his excised ideas would make it into the second sequel. Major themes of the plot were taken from Miller's original (rejected) draft of RoboCop 2. Disillusioned after finding that his work was even more drastically altered than before, Miller left Hollywood until the 2007 adaptation of his work 300. “[Working on RoboCop 2 and 3] I learned the same lesson,” Miller said in 2005.[1] “Don’t be the writer. The director’s got the power. The screenplay is a fire hydrant, and there’s a row of dogs around the block waiting for it.” (It’s worth noting that Miller’s time in Los Angeles inspired him to create Sin City and his urge to maintain creative control in film eventually led to the Sin City motion picture.)
The star of the previous films, Peter Weller, did not reprise the role, as he was starring in Naked Lunch.[2] Robert John Burke was signed to play the cyborg character instead. The RoboCop suit Burke wore in the movie was originally built for RoboCop 2 (1990). Since Burke was taller than Weller, he complained that wearing it was painful after a short time.[3] Other important casting changes had to be made for the third film. The actor who played the OCP CEO from the previous two films, Dan O'Herlihy, and his successor are both absent from this film. The cast changes meant that Nancy Allen, Robert DoQui, and Felton Perry are the only three actors to appear in all three films.
Pre-production problems continued, with the film aiming for a PG-13 rating; even after the success of the first two films which had been rated R. The profanity, graphic violence, and references to illicit drugs and prostitution were all reduced, or taken out altogether, causing the gritty environment of the first two films to be severely diluted.
RoboCop 3 went into production soon after RoboCop 2 was complete. Initially scheduled for release in the summer of 1992, RoboCop 3 would languish on the shelf until the following year as Orion Pictures went through bankruptcy[4] and was bought out. RoboCop 3 earned $4.3 million on its opening weekend, ending its run with $10.6 million domestically, far short of recouping its estimated $22 million production budget.
After RoboCop 2's score which was composed by Leonard Rosenman, the RoboCop original composer Basil Poledouris returned to do the soundtrack score[5] and brought back many of the RoboCop themes that were missing from RoboCop 2.[6]
A press release from MGM Studios which listed a bunch of potential upcoming projects included a possible remake of RoboCop or a fourth film in the series[7]. Ed Neumeier and Paul Verhoeven have pitched around ideas for such a film, says producer Jon Davison: "There's been discussions at Screen Gems about a RoboCop picture ever since negotiations began to acquire MGM several years ago. As yet no writer has been hired but things are inching forward in that direction".[8]
At The Licensing International Expo 2008 in New York City, several displays were shown, one including a teaser poster for RoboCop, with a 2010 release date.[9]
RoboCop 3 received mostly negative reviews by critics and fans of the previous two films, and is widely considered to be the poorest of the series. Rotten Tomatoes lists RoboCop 3 at a 4% rating (Rotten) across 28 reviews, and only lists 4 Cream of the Crop reviews--not enough to allow a Cream of the Crop rating. Richard Harrington from the Washington Post says, "...it's hardly riveting and often it's downright silly. The sets and effects betray their downsized budget."[10]
Chicago Sun Times critic, Roger Ebert gives the film 1 1/2 Stars, disputing the characters's longevity and comparing the series to the Detroit car manufacturing industry, "Why do they persist in making these retreads? Because 'RoboCop' is a brand name, I guess, and this is this year's new model. It's an old tradition in Detroit to take an old design and slap on some fresh chrome."[11]
David Nusair from Reel Film Reviews, however, rates the film as 2 1/2 stars, stating, "The best one could hope for is a movie that's not an ordeal to sit through, and on that level, RoboCop 3 certainly excels. When placed side-by-side with the original, the film doesn't quite hold up. But, at the very least, RoboCop 3 works as a popcorn movie--something part two couldn't even manage."[12]
Other points of criticism in this movie include curtailing the graphic violence of the first two films, less humor and the absence of Peter Weller in the title role (replaced by Robert John Burke).
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||
RoboCop 3 | Table of Contents |
Walkthrough
| RoboCop 3 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Developer(s) | Digital Image Design |
| Publisher(s) | Ocean |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | Action |
| System(s) | ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, IBM PC |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Series | RoboCop |
RoboCop 3 is a 1992 video game published by Ocean. It is based on the movie of the same name. The Amiga, Atari ST and IBM PC versions of the game were developed by Digital Image Design, and were renowned and acclaimed for the 3D engine used. The more advanced version of this game for the Amiga, PC and Atari ST featured first-person car chases and first-person shooter sequences as well as a flying sequence.
There are two game modes "Movie Adventure" that follows a story-line and "Arcade Action" where the player can choose between five different single levels. The "Movie Adventure" mode opens up with a cut-scene (the cut-scenes are made with subtitled 2D panels and movies with a mix of 2D and 3D graphics) where a newscasts details how the building of the new Delta City is creating a new class of homeless people and a wave of crime by a new gang called "Splatterpunks". A new police unit named "Rehabs" have been set up in response to this.
 Commodore 64 cover art. |
RoboCop 3/Table of Contents
  | Adudathuda DVD podBLAST alternative DVD commentary for ''Robocop 3'' - Adudathuda DVD podBLAST Season 1: Robocop 3 - DVD podBLAST |
|
|
Wikis
Quiz
Map
Search
