RoboCop: Prime Directives

Plot synopsis:
Thirteen years after the events of RoboCop, RoboCop has become outdated and tired. Delta City (formerly Detroit) is now considered the safest place on Earth, and he is no longer viewed as particularly necessary.
The first half of the series focuses on Alex Murphy's former partner, John T. Cable, who is slain by RoboCop after his system is hacked to program him to terminate Cable. Cable is then resurrected as a cyborg in most aspects identical to the RoboCop model, save for color and the addition of a second sidearm. "RoboCable" is sent to destroy RoboCop, but after several battles, Cable is convinced to join Murphy. Meanwhile, OCP (on the verge of bankruptcy) is taken over by a scheming executive, Damian Lowe, who manages to murder the entire board of directors. To bring OCP back, he plans to use an artificial intelligence called SAINT to automate the entire city.
The second half of the series introduces Dr. David Kaydick, who plans to introduce a "bio-tech" virus called "Legion" to wipe out not only Delta City but all life on the planet, infecting computers and people alike. He takes control of RoboCable by planting a chip in him that causes him pain or death, at Kaydick's discretion. RoboCop receives aid from a group of tech thieves led by Ann R. Key, who are determined to stop Kaydick, and RoboCop's own son, James – now fully grown and aware of his father's fate. RoboCop and his rag-tag band race to stop Kaydick from infiltrating OCP tower and activating SAINT, which would presumably kill almost all humans. During the confrontation, RoboCop and James reconcile with each other, and manage to rekindle RoboCable's previous personality. Key and Kaydick both die during a confrontation with each other. Utilizing James's EMP device, and having shut down RoboCop, RoboCable and Legion are terminated. RoboCop gets rebooted without his previous OCP restriction programming (as well as restoring his identity as "Alex Murphy" as opposed to an OCP product number) or his prime directives. After viewing a goodbye message left by Cable, Murphy returns to active duty to stop the resultant crime in Delta City due to the EMP pulse blacking out the city, deciding by his own that he will follow his three prime directives: Serve the public trust, protect the innocent, and uphold the law.
In the epilogue, Murphy and his allies form the Prime Directives foundation while OCP is disgraced publicly and facing thousands of indictments and multi-trillion dollar class action lawsuit.

Tags: good versus evil, violence, murder, sci-fi

Review:
At one point, when RoboCop visits his own gravesite, the suit's chin-guard seems to be floating independently from the rest of the RoboHelmet, careening away from Fletcher's jaw by several maddening inches.Furthermore, those who are familiar with Julian Grant's decidedly unimpressive B-movie oeuvre (most especially the utterly dreadful direct-to-video "Airborne") know all too well his pronounced limitations as an action filmmaker.
An uber-cheap, live-action TV-series came and went within a single season and yet another animated show 1998 (selling RoboCop to the kids is like making Bratz dolls based on House of 1000 Corpses!) and one of the worst video-games ever in 2003.
It stomps what's left of Robo right into the maggot-infested mud.The story is hardly worth mentioning but if you're that interested it involves Robo feeling old and obsolete, Delta City politics (now located in Canada, a poor substitute for the real Detroit) and some crazed employee at OCP (the company went out of business in RoboCop 3!) trying to take over with his ultimate doomsday device.
Robo's kid is now a fully-grown exec and his ex-partner (a man with a very, very dodgy moustache) has been killed and made into a new RoboCop. They drag this crap out over 375 minutes and you feel every precious second of it.I could forgive the cheapness if the makers were enthusiastic or spirited or if the actors weren't so bored they are about to keel over and die.
The nobody playing him makes Robert John Burke's performance in RoboCop 3 look Oscar-worthy.
Three movies, a live action TV series and two cartoons later, ROBOCOP returns with a made-for-TV miniseries "ROBOCOP: PRIME DIRECTIVES".
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
Obviously there were fans of the original 2 movies involved, so I'll give them credit for that as well.I do believe, though, that this would have worked much better as a 2-hour movie, with better casting & visuals instead of standardised TV series fare..
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?).
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.
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 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.
Sure those movies and the TV series had their faults, but ALL of them were superior to Prime Directives.
In the first part we have BONE MACHINE, who looks like an old HE-MAN action figure.
This tv-movie is as bad as ROBOCOP 3 - only that it looks cheaper.
Now, they have tried it all: 2 movie sequels, a childish tv-series, 2 animated series and finaly PRIME DIRECTIVES, a mini series, that is quite dark, which is not bad.
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.
Page Fletcher looks like a poor man's Dennis Hopper and far too short to be Robocop in the first place.
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..
I was like 6 years old when I saw the first, and I thought it was one of the best movies I had ever seen, Not the kind of movie that can make another that is as good or even better, but part two stands next to it flawless in every way!!
But as I watched it the first time I started off not knowing what to think, then I heard him speak, they computered over his voice a little too much but I could tell he was even more of a fan of robo than I.
And now I find myself with the thought that I will never see another big budget full production live action feature film with the name Robocop ever again, so these 4 DVD's have to do..
Sure, it's not as violent as the original Robocop and the cast is mostly made up of no-name actors, but dammit, it's so good you wouldn't even care..
The story line is around RoboCop AKA Alex Murphy and his old friend John Cable.
Well, being a Robocop fan is tough:  after the first movie you have to deal with the insanity and cruelity of 2 and the silliness and goofiness of 3, then the various cartoons (?) and TV series.
I expected it to be ripe cheese and my only expectation was that it was better then "Black Scorpion."  And it was.And unlike every sequel before it, it was GOOD.It takes a while but Page Fletcher does a good Robocop despite being a bit short for the role and having some bad makeup, but with the mask on he plays the part to the hilt.
RoboCop has always seemed like a series ripe to be bad.
All the pacing and excitement of RoboCop 3, but this time with daytime soap actors!Ugh. I'd like to be more in depth, but this show wasn't worth the amount of time it took me to type this, let alone watch it.Steer clear..
After the abysmal critical and popular performance of Robocop 3 and the watered down TV series, it seemed like poor old Robo was out of breath which is probably why a Canadian production company was able to get the rights and made big promises to return the character to it's serious, satirical, blood-soaked roots.On paper, this should've been good; it's now been over ten years since the original film and Robocop is aging, both in his organic and mechanical components.
Delta City is no longer just a dream, but OCP has committed serious managerial errors, imposing a non-lethal crimefighting policy, just in time for a new, very much lethal supervillain named Bone Machine to make his appearance, all while a sinister cabal named Trust is formed within the ranks of the OCP.Problem is that the production falls flat straight out of the gate as Page Fletcher is far too small of stature to fill the Robocop shoes.
The new, second Robocop's costume fits slightly better on the person wearing it, but still doesn't look quite right, thanks to his lips practically bursting through the prosthetics.
Suddenly there's a new villain with a new plan, the cabal within the OCP is almost completely sidelined, and the only plot thread carried through all four mini-movies to the end to any kind of a satisfying conclusion is the James Murphy subplot.I never saw this series on it's broadcast, largely because I don't think it was ever actually broadcast here.
It also never really seems to come up when discussing the character; at most people mention the third movie or the TV series saying "oh yeah that was bad", but this never seems to crop up.
I bought the DVD many years ago and despite having watched it then, I realized I remembered almost nothing about it on my re-watch, but I can now see why that was the case; the story is such a mess and the production values so bad, that to be quite honest, if I had to recommend anybody either this or the earlier TV series, I'd probably go with the latter.
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!.
Shockingly Bad. I watched RoboCop 1 and 2 and they may have been violent, but they were good.
The casting, acting, directing, and writing in this make me want to wish I wasn't a Robocop fan, although I am.
He's shorter than just about everyone in the film, so he looks pretty pathetic.I don't know, maybe it gets better in the second half of the mini, but I don't know if I'll push myself to check it out when it comes on video.
I think, unlike some people that this TV series is good in its category: low budget TV film with more or less unknown actors and actresses, who are not absolutely bad here.
I saw these last installments of the Robocop movies, 1st off it was poor casting, that they heck where they thinking casting a guy was 5'7, Peter Weller was 6'0 and the next actor in Robo 3 was 6'2.
The best past of this line was the character of cable; he made a far better Robocop than the actor they cast.
The story was better than Robocop 3 and the TV series.
Well that's almost correct, try Hollywood North.I'm speaking of the new mini series Robocop: Prime Directives made by Julian Grant and written by Brad Abraham and Joseph O'Brien.I had the pleasure and privilege to attend the theatrical showing of the entire series on Sunday afternoon and it was time well spent.
Along with Grant, some of the other cast and crew were on hand to watch it with us as well, writers Brad and Joeseph, RoboCop himself Page Fletcher, along with Maurice Dean Wint as John Cable and actress Leslie Coles as Ashley St. John-Smythe the MediaNet anchor.The series has it all, action, drama, a bit of horror and the outrageous humour that was born with the original.
Joe and Brad put some more human emotion into RoboCop that I quite liked, it makes you really feel for the character.
I feel sorry for the folks that have to watch it over 4 days, I had to know what was going to happen next right then and there.The special effects were well done, you don't feel like you are watching some cheap quickly shot B-movie.
RoboCop looks used and abused and it goes well with the storyline because they mention that many of his parts are outdated and not even produced anymore, it's 10 years after the first movie.
You can tell that the people involved were fans of RoboCop as they stay true to the feel of the original movie.
Try going into viewing this series in a positive frame of mind, it's *GOOD*.Congrats and best of luck to all who worked on the series!Ed. I'd be lying if I claimed I didn't like and enjoy, if not necessarily all, then definitely parts, of this.
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.
Thank God that Page Fletcher wasn't the original Robocop otherwise we might not even of had the next two (the only ones worth watching).
1) the acting is terrible, at first I thought this was just the bad guys, but eventually it turned out that all the actors were terrible 2) the script was awful, it was like someone took a dump, Called it a Robocop sequel and then filmed said excrement.
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.
This is the best robocop film i've ever seen.Part 1 is a load of rubbish but part 2 was ace.U just have to watch the all to find out who lives and who dies it's grate fun.I find this seires of robos the best plus the spesial efects are the best by far like the seires of 4 films i guarantee that u will love it.
As with RoboCop 3 the violence was toned down to be more family friendly and the character was aimed to appeal with children.In 2000 Fireworks Entertainment wanted to make good use of the rights to RoboCop before they would expire so they decided to make RoboCop: Prime Directives and return the franchise to it's roots by making it dark, violent and satirical like the original 1987 Sci-fi classic.The 4 part mini-series is a mixed bag, it's got it's good points and bad points.
One of the good points is that the RoboCop franchise is back to it's old roots again meaning that the violence and satire isn't toned down.Another thing I liked about RoboCop: Prime Directives was RoboCable, I thought the character was great.
It was interesting to see RoboCop meeting his match.The action was pretty good, it was violent and gritty like RoboCop and RoboCop 2.The acting was okay, it's what you'd expect with a made for TV movie.The music was okay but at times it didn't fit in with RoboCop, the overture theme is definitely catchy and I do like it but it feels like it belongs in a Western and not a Sci-fi.One of the main problems with RoboCop: Prime Directives is the low budget, because of it the RoboCop suit does look like kind of rubbery.
Overall:RoboCop: Prime Directives has it's flaws but it's still an alright mini-series.
I love the franchise, and even found Robocop 2 and 3 somewhat enjoying because of this (though I liked 2 more than 3).
It was also a treat to see his son, fully grown, though I was a bit confused about his story of his past (don't want to include too many spoilers here).Cons: The actor playing Robocop is considerably older than Peter Weller or the guy that played Robo in RC 3.
Lastly, Page Fletcher looks nothing like RoboCop. He is short and has an annoyingly shaped mouth and chin (seeing as that's the only part of Robo's skin that you see, you'd think they'd find an actor with a 'handsome' chin).
He also speaks more like Microsoft Sam then RoboCop. His performance would not have been so bad if the storyline did not keep throwing 'Murphy Memories' at us.
Page Fletcher looks more like an average cop then the cool, sophisticated but compassionate Murphy that Peter Weller delivered to us all those years ago.
This was a good move.Second of all was the unique comic-book plot the four movies delivered.**SPOILERS** In the first movie, Robo has to deal with the villainous Bone Machine (who looks a bit campy but anyway).
But I think I've said enough about the abysmal special effects and Page Fletcher's casting.In the second movie, wouldn't you know it, Cable is now RoboCop 2 (or RoboCable).
On a more negative note however, a lot of focus is put on the 'Cable' character, leading me to believe that the series on a whole has got more to do with him than to do with RoboCop.'Resurrection' was easily my favourite of the four TV movies.
We even see that famous Clarence Boddicker mutilation shot (which has appeared in every live-action RoboCop series or movie ever made).
This is another RoboCop 3-style attempt at making something stupid look like something cool.
It was still more or less enjoyable however, what with RoboCop's grown up son James Murphy now one of the good guys.
It showed us how things ended with Murphy, and they ended on a happy note, which is good.'RoboCop: Prime Directives' is a must for fans of Murphy's plight.
There a lot of bad slow motion action scenes used for "effect" really cheese up the movie even more.