RoboCop: Prime Directives (2001)

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Bad acting: check Dull way too long dramatic scenes: check Awfuldialogue: check Dull way too long action scenes: check Awful sound effects: check Awful music: check Actor playing Robocop too short: check Actor playing Robocop, not moving like Robocop: check Robocop has a mechanical voice every time he has his helmet on: check Robocop acting more like a machine and less like a human: check Low budget: check Complete and utter crap and insult to the real Robocop (1987): checkIMDb goes on about their 10 lines even though I have nothing else to say.

Three movies, a live action TV series and two cartoons later, ROBOCOP returns with a made-for-TV miniseries "ROBOCOP: PRIME DIRECTIVES". This miniseries consisted of four movies which attempted to bring back the gritty and darker tone of the first movie, as well as some social satire. For all intents and purposes, what we have is an ambitious project limited by lack of budget and inexperience of the creative team.Our story begins 10 years after the first movie (ignoring the continuity of the other movies and TV series). Robocop is obsolete and weary of his years trying to bring peace to the crime ridden Delta City. The megacorporation OCP, who runs the city, is experiencing inner turmoil among the management. Due to new policies preventing use of lethal force by the police, a crime wave is sweeping the city. From Kamikaze gangs to a psycho in Halloween armour armed with machine guns and rockets, this town is going to hell. Fortunately, they have a new kick ass police commander JohnCable; a dual pistol wielding ol fashioned cowboy cop. Oh, and Robocop, the supposedly invincible enforcer of law who spends the entire miniseries getting owned.Every character goes on about how awesome Robocop is, every criminal mentions his name in fear, you never see that. What you get is Robocop being blasted, kicked down, smashed, electrocuted and pummeled in every other combat scene. He only manages to take down people who refuse to take cover in a firefight.This brings me the portrayal of Robocop himself played by Page Fletcher. Fletcher is a fine actor, able to convey heavy emotions with his voice and mannerism. He is not, however, I anyway suited to the role. For starters, he is short. As in really short. And the bulky oversized armour only makes him look shorter. Everyone including the old female scientist is taller than him. His Robocop is a stumbling dwarf, always marching with his fists balled up. On the flip side, with his helmet off, Robocop looks like an old man and even acts like one. Nothing is done to make him machine-like. He very visibly pants when tired, swallows hard when scared, he even sweats.So a crappy Robocop headlines 4 made-for-TV movie length episodes of the miniseries. On the bright side, what the 4 episodes do is attempt to remake and redo some very classic elements from Robocop media history. You have a new more advanced Robocop, something Robocop 2 should have been about. You have a advanced Artificial Intelligence meant to automate the entire city, like th pilot episode of the 90s TV series. Lastly, you have a tale of a machine regaining his humanity. Throughout this story is the tale of James Murphy, son of Alex Murphy, who is now a young executive caught up in the turmoil in OCP. James must come to terms with the discovery of his father's identity as Robocop as father slowly reunites with son.The overall story is good for its drama. The actors are spot on in their portrayals and it is generally well written with many of the themes inherent in the original films. Of particular note is the hammy Kaydick and the absolutely obnoxious Damien. A huge plus is the miniseries return to R-Rated violence rather than the kid friendly style of fighting in the TV series and Robocop 3.Sadly the execution is less than sub-par. Director Julian Grant brings a lazy hand to the directing and seems to have this obsession with skip-frame slo mo (the kind of jerky slo mo you get when shooting something at half the usual Frames Per Second). The overall low budget look to the production is heightened by dated special effects, unremarkable camera-work and crappy costumes. The New cyber terrorist villains have the fashion sense of the Matrix characters, all tight, black and trench coats. They have cartoony electrical powers and can move at super speed with a basic blur effect. The low budget is most obvious in the Robopcop suits. During action scenes, they come apart at the seams letting you clearly see the black leotard underneath.With this, Prime Directives sounded the death knell of the classic Robocop franchise. Perhaps in this new century of movies with fast kicking kung fu combat, high tech special effects and tighter narratives, the concept of classic Robocop as a walking tank is in itself obsolete. With this sad closure to a once remarkably original franchise, perhaps the new reboot in 2014 would be a much welcome revival of the concept.

The Only gripes I Have with This Is One, The Robocop Suit Appearntly Doesn't Fit Fletcher Page (His Chin doesn't Fill Out the Helmet's Lower Part,And The Hands Look More like Gloves) And,The Story Is a Little too long; However,If You Can Get Past That And Follow the Story Closely, It's Pretty good!I Liked The Part Of 'ROBOCABLE' Which I Think Really Gave Robocop A Capable Partner; And, It was Smart Thinking For Murphy To Be Able to Re-Connect With His Son; The 'Stealth Accelerator' Mode Used by the Rebels Was a Little Cheesy; Cable's Ex-Wife Was devious, But Oh,So Smoking HOT!I Think It Does deserve a Place In The History Of This Sci-Fi Icon; GO ROBO!

Blame Canada! Essentially, this is 8 hours of recycling. There's really nothing new here we didn't see in the previous three movies. OCP is evil, Robo is somehow decent, or maybe he's just a robot.Did we really need more of this? Oh, yeah, and then we have all the fun "pun" names. Like Ann R. Key and Lexx Icon. Why not include characters named "Jim Shoo" while you are at it? It seems the bit of dialog and plot are only interludes to hang the shootout scenes on. Lots and lots of shootout scenes, I lost track after a certain point of who was being shot for what, exactly.The plot is that an aging RoboCop is considered a has-been in OCP's new Delta city, lots of corporate maneuvering by evil executives that could never actually exist outside a parody. There were a few actors who didn't phone it in...