{"id":2267,"date":"2024-08-14T04:35:36","date_gmt":"2024-08-14T04:35:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=2267"},"modified":"2024-10-13T19:32:14","modified_gmt":"2024-10-13T23:32:14","slug":"robocop-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/08\/14\/robocop-3\/","title":{"rendered":"RoboCop 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"RoboCop 3 <\/strong>(1993)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Orion\/Sci-Fi-Action\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 104 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG-13 (language, violence, child in peril, frightening moments)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Fred Dekker\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Frank Miller and Fred Dekker\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Basil Poledouris\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Gary B. Kibbe\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: November 5, 1993 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Robert John Burke, Nancy Allen, Rip Torn, John Castle, Jill Hennessy, Mako, C.C.H. Pounder, Remy Ryan, Mako, Daniel von Bargen, Stephen Root, Robert DoQui, Felton Perry, Bradley Whitford, Jodi Long, John Posey.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $10.6M (US)\/$47M (World)<\/p>\n

Rating:<\/strong> ** \u00bd<\/p>\n

\u00a0In this case, the third time is more harm than charm.<\/p>\n

\u00a0There are three things indicating all is not right with RoboCop 3<\/strong>. First, the three-quel carries a PG-13 rating instead of an R like its predecessors. The producers decided to tone down the trademark graphic violence and make a more kid-friendly RoboCop movie by having him bond with an orphaned child, 8YO Nikko (Ryan, Monkey Trouble). I guess it\u2019s supposed to tug at the heart strings or something. Whatever, it\u2019s totally out of character for the metallic wonder.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Second, Peter Weller does not reprise his role as the title character. He was busy on another project and couldn\u2019t do it. He\u2019s replaced by Robert John Burke who bears more than a passing resemblance to Weller. I noticed it the first saw I laid eyes on him in the independent film The Unbelievable Truth, his film debut. He doesn\u2019t do a terrible job; it\u2019s just not the same without the OG.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Third, RoboCop 3 <\/strong>was supposed to come out in summer ’92, but got pulled from the schedule due to financial problems at Orion. It went unreleased for 18 months before seeing the inside of movie theaters. Such was the fate of several Orion projects that sat in limbo after the studio declared bankruptcy in late \u201991. The studio eventually got itself squared away and started releasing delayed titles like Love Field, Blue Sky, Clifford and RoboCop 3<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Directed by Fred Dekker (The Monster Squad), RoboCop 3<\/strong> is the weakest entry in the series, but it’s surprisingly watchable nonetheless. It has a few good action scenes and the plot isn’t too bad. However, it\u2019s missing one of the key components of the RoboCop movies, social satire. No bogus commercials, no commentary on the media, NOTHING. What\u2019s left is a somewhat standard sci-fi-actioner.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Since we last visited futuristic Detroit, OCP has been taken over by a Japanese corporation whose CEO Kanemitsu (Mako, Conan the Barbarian) wants to go forward with the Delta City project. It would require the involuntary removal (they call it \u201crelocation\u201d) of the residents of Cadillac Heights. The police aren\u2019t on board with this plan of action so the company sends their own private security force, the \u201cRehabs\u201d, to handle the operation. Led by the fascist McDaggett (Castle, The Lion in Winter), they\u2019re more like a Nazi army.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Among the citizens that get relocated are little Nikko\u2019s parents. They get taken away right in front of the girl leaving her alone to fend for herself. Luckily, she\u2019s taken in by Bertha (Pounder, End of Days), the leader of the resistance against OCP.<\/p>\n

\u00a0One night, RoboCop and his partner Anne Lewis (Allen, Blow Out) find themselves on the wrong side of the law when they try to defend civilians in a church from McDaggett and his goon squad. Lewis is shot and killed. RoboCop can\u2019t do anything because of that pesky fourth directive, the one that doesn\u2019t allow him to arrest or harm any OCP executive. Consequently, he joins the resistance fighters after he\u2019s fixed up by former OCP scientist Dr. Lazarus (Hennessy, Law & Order).<\/p>\n

\u00a0RoboCop certainly has his work cut out for him this time. It’s a shame that the screenwriters didn’t provide a better script. What\u2019s even more disappointing is the studio once again rejected most of co-writer Frank Miller\u2019s ideas, just like they did with RoboCop 2. He subsequently gave up on Hollywood and focused his efforts on comics until he returned to do Sin City in 2005.<\/p>\n

\u00a0RoboCop 3<\/strong> comes the closest to being an all-out exploitation flick. It has some cool OTT ideas like the robot ninjas, the \u201cOtomo\u201d, sent by Kanemitsu to deal with RoboCop. Yeah, like that\u2019s going to work. There\u2019s also a gang of \u201csplatter punks\u201d terrorizing the good citizens of Detroit. They look like extras from The Road Warrior (1981). Additionally, RoboCop is given an upgrade of sorts, a jet-pack that enables him to fly around like the Rocketeer. It\u2019s silly, but do you really expect realism from a movie like RoboCop 3<\/strong>? I certainly hope not. Besides, the makers had to find something to fill the void left by the removal of graphic bloody violence.<\/p>\n

\u00a0All things considered, I suppose RoboCop 3<\/strong> isn’t all that bad of a movie. Some of it is fun in a dopey sort of way. There’s still plenty of action, violence and mayhem on display. The climax is a huge street battle between the Rehabs and the resistance joined by Detroit PD. It\u2019s cool, but it doesn\u2019t make up for the loss of the original\u2019s satirical edge. The acting is about what you\u2019d expect. Burke is okay, but he\u2019s not Weller. Allen leaves the party too early. Rip Torn (The Beastmaster) hams it up as the ineffectual new CEO of OCP. Castle sneers and intimidates as the Rehab commander.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Let\u2019s talk about Remy Ryan for a moment. She\u2019s not a bad little actress. Her character is a smart, feisty type who\u2019s a genius with computers. She can reprogram an ED-209 to be as loyal as a puppy with just a few keystrokes. I like this kid, but her character isn\u2019t a good fit in a RoboCop movie. The whole girl and her RoboCop storyline doesn\u2019t work. Fans don\u2019t want to see a softer RoboCop. They want to see him mow down scores of punks, fascist bad guys and robot ninjas. RoboCop 3<\/strong> plays more like a dumb kid\u2019s movie because of it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The studio probably thought they\u2019d make more money with a PG-13 RoboCop. They were dead wrong. RoboCop 3 <\/strong>is the lowest grossing entry in the series. Me, I kind of\/sort of like it, but it isn\u2019t even in the same zip code as the 1987 original or the 1990 sequel.\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RoboCop 3 (1993)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Orion\/Sci-Fi-Action\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 104 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG-13 (language, violence, child in peril, frightening moments)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Fred Dekker\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Frank Miller and Fred Dekker\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Basil Poledouris\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Gary B. Kibbe\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: November 5, 1993 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Robert John Burke, Nancy Allen, Rip Torn, John Castle, Jill Hennessy, Mako, C.C.H. Pounder, Remy Ryan, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3221,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,20,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-action-adventure","category-sci-fi-fantasy","category-sequels-remakes"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/RoboCop-3-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2267"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2267\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3222,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2267\/revisions\/3222"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}