Robocop: Prime Directives — Disaster or Forgotten Gem? (Part 1 of 2)

the younger fans of Robocop may not know this but in 2001 there was a four-part miniseries on the Sci-Fi channel called RoboCop Prime directives it's a largely forgotten about piece of media but there's a good number of older fans who tuned into the premiere of this myself included and you can actually watch the entire 6-hour series here on YouTube since I've been talking about the RoboCop sequels lately I wanted to go back and see how this experiment holds up today I remember liking it a lot when it airs but then seeing it again in the late 2000s and thinking it was terrible what about it made me change my mind was I too hard on it is there something to appreciate now that I'm older and my understanding of Robocop has deepened join me as I take us through each episode scene by scene talking about what works and what doesn't I'm under the Mayo and this is RoboCop Prime directives episode one dark Justice we open with a media break segment just like the original did this time called Media Net here we are introduced to the villain bone machine a terrorist wreaking havoc around the city and I just got a punch in here to note that within 5 Seconds of talking about him there's already an ad on the screen where you can buy an official bone machine action figure they are going super cynical future right away ocp spokeswoman Sarah cable is shown saying that these acts of violence are in no way representative of the state of Delta City we also learned that Delta City sec security has just unveiled a new zero fatality policy that prohibits the use of lethal force in the apprehension of criminal suspects oh and guess what it's RoboCop's 10th birthday as a series set 10 years after RoboCop 1 ignoring all the sequels and the Canadian TV show Prime directives is a fresh start for the setting and the character here ocp is throwing a party to celebrate his legacy as a defender of the public and enforcer of the law and mediet showed shows a hilarious Montage of RoboCop's most insane and outlandish moments over the years being sold to the public as a Home Video Collection I absolutely love this the Delta City citizen direct from ocp entertainment technology own a part of history as the man of steel takes care of visit his way shocking thought-provoking highly entertaining you bet get yours today we cut to a hostage situation by a group that calls themselves deals at the Chelsea Clinton Savings and Loan Bank criminals shooting automatic weapons at the cops outside we meet Sandra Smiles a representative of the ocp legal Affairs division as she tries to take control of the situation right away the series is advertising how silly it's going to be we've already seen the greatest hits of Robocop home video and now we have a gang leader calling one of his buddies Napalm Joe Napalm Joe you get out there and show them we are serious let this set the tone for a lot of the show it's ridiculous you just got to embrace the fun of it all if you're going to get any enjoyment out of it poor Napalm Joe doesn't take out anyone in his sacrifice and several more thugs are wired up to blow the cops want to go in and shoot the bad guys but Sandra says that's a violation of ocp policy no lethal Force until the man John cable takes charge as commander of Delta City security he gives the criminals 2 minutes to State their demands and shows Sandra whose's boss his plan to run in with flashbangs and a backup of shotgunners is shut down quickly because ocp has suspended lethal ammunition and cable didn't know about this probably should have notified the high-ups of this new policy all they have is pepper spray tasers and rubber bullets to take on armed terrorists with bombs strapped to their chest the leader sends out his next sacrifice Nitro of course his name is Nitro and cable tries to take him out with his dual pistols but the explosion still goes off and out steps RoboCop here to help Robo sees cable and and his offer to help is rejected we're immediately presented with some kind of flashback a young cable being held hostage with a gun to his head does RoboCop know this guy from before you can hear some musical themes that draw from the original film when he remembers something that's a nice touch Sandra knows RoboCop is a problem for the new ocp policy she tells him don't you kill anybody RoboCop don't you do it Pap officer no unnecessary vience just because you have ammunition doesn't mean you can use [Music] it and if you're a real RoboCop fan you'll probably notice that the actor in the suit Paige Fletcher known for his TV series The Hitchhiker as well as many small appearances and other things he was in an episode of Earth final Conflict a couple episodes of kung fu The Legend Continues he's really really not bad as RoboCop he's got the movements down more or less he's obviously taking the role very seriously he does his best impression of Weller's mechanical performance his posture is dead on at times and his scowl is really good for a TV miniseries of Robocop Mr pige does an admirable job in the suit after headshotting the guy in the window Sarah says we're sending someone in to negotiate yeah negotiate right he pushes in the doors and a laughably cheap effect they were obviously prepared to fall and then they just bounce around like they're made of plastic it looks terrible and then John cable just off cuz he's like you don't need us anymore RoboCop confronts the gang and suddenly bone machine bursts in stealing all the attention he looks like shiao kah with guns on his arm what a nightmare that would be shaon does not need to be a zoner RoboCop disables one of his weapons with a Precision shot and tries to get the hostages out please vacate the premises immediately bone machine fires his other arm at Robo shots bouncing off but then fires a grenade into his chest launching Robo through the glass in a scene that looks way better than when he got hit in the chest in RoboCop 3 Mr gang leader empties his guns into bone machine but it has no effect no Sarah is still trying to negotiate on the bullhorn and Robo is too messed up to pursue bone machine gets away all the terrorists are dead or arrested as the scene ends we see another flashback of young cable saying what are you prepared to do we see the new ocp headquarters in a bad CGI building but hey keep in mind it's 2001 Sci-fi channel budget we can shrug it off they're showing company ads on giant screens stacks of one $1 bills oh wow what a fortune this ad shows us that at this point ocp makes basically everything people use and consume in their daily lives food cars homes devices it's all them but we Fade to a boardroom meeting that reveals ocp is actually in a horrible financial situation the privatization of Delta city is more than $700 billion over budget you think that's a big enough number 700 billion for a company that took one city private ridiculous man just ridiculous well yeah they do a lot more than just run Delta city they're involved in space travel military hardware all kinds of stuff but apparently they're absolutely terrible at it so they need some new ideas to help the company save money and pay off their 700 billion of debt but our next character Damen low may just have the perfect idea aidea and we see that when Damien speaks ocp executive Sarah cable is not exactly thrilled to see it so this is the ex-wife of Delta City security Commander John cable Damien speaks of the Asians progress in cybernetics and Ai and how ocp is far behind a nice nod to RoboCop 3's kanamitsu Corporation and their robot ninjas as he speaks our focus is drawn to another executive looking on curiously we'll soon find out who he is Damien Reveals His plan for ocp's salvation on these rotating boards he already had set up for the meeting that I guess no one questioned his proposal is a program with the most convoluted name ever Saint sentient artificial intelligence neural net Terminus it's like they knew they wanted to call it Saint and just gave up at the end when creating the acronym and he's going to sell it to the board with a terrible cartoon imagine the Poss posibilities a computer capable of thinking for itself a computer capable of not only automating the day-to-day activities of this building but one that can monitor the people at work within it so an AI that monitors and controls everything in the ocp building and eventually every home and Business in Delta City Sarah cable is not impressed officially ocp is not interested but Daman says his department has already built a prototype and they'll be able to run a demonstration in 10 days this impresses the board so I guess they're going to give it a shot without any other details of how this actually works just let an untested mysterious AI take over the building in 10 days from now sure what could go wrong Damien tells Sarah to choke on it choke on it we move to Precinct one and get our first shot of Robocop without the mask the face makeup is obvious viously inferior to the original you don't get the skin overlapping the headpiece but it's fine for the budget they had I guess we're watching RoboCop get worked on by his doctor and she mentions that the repairs he needs require parts that are on back order and won't be here for a few weeks this is an aspect I like a lot RoboCop as an out-of-date concept the world moving on and leaving him behind I think that would make an amazing movie now instead of trying to reboot and remake the original concept that's basically what we get here an old RoboCop fighting against a new world Paige Fletcher doesn't look like Peter Weller he looks like himself so you just got to get over the difference but as Alex Murphy I think he sells it there's a Melancholy in his face that reflects the character's loneliness he's probably the best thing about the series when they first made me when they brought me back [Music] I thought that it was for some reason this is the Alex Murphy I always wanted to see in the official RoboCop sequels at the end of Robocop 1 we got to see The Return of the man Alex Murphy learning who he was and smiling at the end of the movie as he says his name the man was embarking on an emotional Journey but the sequels don't follow that path they keep him fairly cold repressed only sporadically showing emotions like when he bonds with the orphan child in RoboCop 3 which is a nice scene in An otherwise bad movie here in Prime directives this is RoboCop after 10 whole years it is now basically Alex Murphy the man trapped in his cage of armor feeling his age feeling his isolation his sadness it's well done he's contemplating his own existence his purpose and I love every bit of it he he talks about how they keep him hidden away so the public can't get near him but now he feels forgotten and insignificant the lighting and color scheme of this scene is also great its ugly and depressing feeling definitely sells the tone they're going for this is the best stuff in the show cherish these moments back at ocp Damen heads down to the lab to tell his technician Edwin that saint has been greenlit getting it ready in 10 days is a big problem but Damian insists banana Edwin's going to get the job done and we learn they have a decade long history of working together up in the executive bathroom Damian's bragging about Saint and how he's going to be the new Top Dog in the company after this in walks our other company man from the meeting and the urinal greets him with executive urination executive urination PE judgment you got to wonder what the hell that setting is jokes like that help this series out greatly oh my God look at that voice recorder why why does it need that massive antenna our new guy is a fresh graduate in the executive training program and his name it's Murphy James Murphy that's right RoboCop's son is a main character in Robocop Prime directives in Murphy Jr's office he gets a cryptic message from an untraceable Source there are two types of people those who truly listen and those who wait to speak be aware of new allies and new enemies on his way out we see Sarah is a bit flirty with him in the elevator she lets it be known that his quick rise to executive level is very suspicious she wants to know what he did to get here we learn that his drive to further company interests comes from the fact that he grew up in an ocp orphanage after his parents died Sarah seems to be trying to get Murphy Jr on her side to go against Damian suggesting that some policies at ocp might be damaging to the company and he should really stand up against them back in in the lab Robo is trying to figure out where bone machine got his Weaponry since they definitely aren't regular firearms and he's able to identify an ocp logo on some of the tubing time to go get him man when he has the helmet on and he has that determined face he really sells it however Paige's interpretation of Robocop has him always scowling or kind of frowning so even in calm moments he looks like he's about to explode with anger or something and it comes across was kind of funny he heads up to report his findings to Commander John cable and retreated to some more of the flashback sequence still not the whole story cable is in his office playing chess and he's got a photo of him and Murphy on the wall they must have been close but he's not happy to see Robo cable gets to see that bone machine is using ocp equipment and he deduces that it must be a cop taking the Law into his own hands Robo and Commander cable talk a bit about the chess game on the desk and when the scene ends we get a flashback to Murphy and cable playing chess in the locker room hearing the difference in their approach cable taking his time to plan his next move carefully setting up one of his units to take a sacrifice and bait his opponent while Murphy acts quickly without hesitation and he falls right into Cable's trap I have a feeling this is going to come up later in the end it all comes down to what you prepared to do to win cable thinking about his past pulls up Murphy's record and he notices a classified section and becomes very curious surprisingly he doesn't have access even though he's the head of Delta City security it is Odd as a fan to see that someone like cable doesn't know RoboCop's true identity because in the sequels so many people know who he is but in this world the sequels didn't happen so outside of Lewis and people in the company the knowledge that RoboCop is Alex Murphy apparently isn't widespread medianet break the Alamo was blown up by Terror IST avenging Santa Ana 200 years ago and the leader of De balbs from the bank heist a guy named Malcolm explosion is filing a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Delta City security for his injuries and I love how there's all these popups on screen make your own explosives follow Malcolm explosions website here and then he blows himself up in front of the courthouse brilliant we have a new crime scene bone machine shot up a bunch of drug dealers and now RoboCop is on the scene another flashback to Murphy frequenting the dut shop here and the cops are all talking about the Motor City Mangler who mutilates his victims after death Murphy and cable talk about the upcoming ocp acquisition of the police department Murphy thinks it might actually be a good thing cable talks about how his wife is working her way up the company but he doesn't trust them he's in a bad mood too he lets it out that Sarah is going through with the divorce because she doesn't want to be a cop's wife as she enters this new corporate life a call comes in in for a neighborhood complaint on a possible Rabbid dog and this kind of stuff is another thing I kind of like about this series spending time with Murphy doing regular police work it's mundane stuff but if you care about this character it's pretty cool to see how he was working with his old partner before he transferred however I don't think the character is quite right this Murphy is shown to be hesitant a little afraid not The Confident go get him Murphy of the first film the house is locked so they just hop over the fence to check out the dog I don't think that's legal but what do I know oh my God the dog is chewing on human remains Murphy worries they need a warrant and cable dismisses it saying there could be someone trapped inside they break into the basement and find an assortment of torture devices blood is everywhere and there's a freezer full of body parts they free a kidnapped woman from another one of the freezers and cable goes upstairs to check out the house and what's funny is Cable says one of Murphy's lines they're alive you're coming to me maybe that's where he got it from cable gets taken by the killer the Motor City Mangler and cable wants Murphy to shoot him but Murphy doesn't he instead puts his gun down and when the Killer goes to shoot Murphy cable slips out and knocks him against the wall then cable shoots him in Cold Blood showing us just how brutal this character can be and Murphy is shocked by it Cable says you are right about the war War so he killed him so he couldn't get away on a technicality back in our time Murphy Jr gets an email invitation for a secret meeting with Sarah cable down in what she calls the tombs we see rows and rows of boxes holding all of ocp's failures like a Google graveyard of sorts she's got a plan to take control of the company and inject it with new blood a bunch of young ocp workers step out of the shadows in a corny comic book scene and Murphy Jr seems happy to join the family at precinct 1 cable is still staring at his computer screen now printing up the Weaponry that match his bone machines but he can't get past security to see more the man has access to nothing and now Murphy Jr and cable meet but they already know each other it's just been many years he's here as the new head of security Concepts and he's going to let cable know that he's not going to take any crap RoboCop walks into the office and Murphy Jr looks at him but he doesn't react much so he doesn't know this is his dad and then we see what's possibly the main issue with the casting of Robocop he's a little too short you could solve this with proper blocking and camera techniques but when you flatly put him up against significantly taller actors it destroys the hugeness of the character literally and figuratively and now he just looks kind of funny in the lab Robo talks with his doctor doctor about what just happened that he didn't know what to say to his son and then he just gets left in the dark for the rest of the night they don't shut him down manually or something they just turn off the lights and let him sit there alone no wonder the guy is depressed upstairs at ocp cable is waiting for Sarah in her office all mysterious likee in her chair facing away he's here to ask about the illegal combat gear that bone machine is using and complains that he doesn't have access to ocp security files and Sarah says maybe she can help him out but she's being really cold and villainous in how she speaks I wouldn't trust her nice office probably use a woman's touch though damn nice cable Sarah expresses her concerns to Murphy Jr that cable is meddling in ocp business Murphy Jr says he'll do what he can to get rid of him and knowing that cable and his father worked together he asks if Sarah knew him she says no and Murphy Jr said he didn't either which I guess is true because he was a kid when his father died but he was definitely old enough to somewhat know him Damen and Edwin are working downstairs on Saint and Daman is freaking out about Sarah he knows she's going to screw him a sleeping Robo is having dreams in his dark dungeon and the doctor catches a random technician coming out of robo's room but he gets away Robo has no recollection of him being in the room and the doctor asks how he's feeling today a systems check shows him to be working just fine except he's got a new directive terminate John cable he barges out of the building and hits the road it just so happens that cable calls up Robo while he's on the road and tells him to meet him at the security Concepts bunker because there's something he needs to see Robo agrees the bunker itself is a really cheap set you'd imagine some high-tech storage facility with a lot of security or something but it looks like they just rented out an old prison and put a desk with a computer in the center and called it a weapon storage bunker not good cable verifies that the Weaponry for bone machine did in fact come from here but the security log says it was checked out by John cable he's being set up contents signed out by John T cable RoboCop comes in and says he'll arrest cable and cable runs Robo shoots at him and he surrenders he calls him by name which causes Robo to pause so I guess he suspected he was his partner but wasn't sure robo's conflicting directives are freezing him up he even starts bleeding from his nose I really like this scene losing control of his functions the Murphy sight of his brain telling his friend to run we get another flashback this time to Cable getting an award in front of the police department Murphy looks on from the back not so thrilled after seeing what his partner will do to take the law into his own hands and he walks out we see on Media Net that the conspiracy is fully underway with cable being outright labeled as bone machine they're already advertising the hunt for John cable on the next episode of reality TV and the news anchors are excited for the movie that's certainly already in the works I swear some of the satire in this show is really good and Rings true today back at ocp Damen is accusing Sarah of sabotaging ocp with a zero fatality policy just as bone machine appears suspecting the executive board will be forced to resign from the disgrace and then Sarah and others will be able to take over he wants in on whatever she's doing and threatens to blackmail her with video of her meeting her husband yesterday just before he got labeled as being bone machine and then Sarah goes out to visit the real bone machine he's pissed off that cable is getting credit for his work Sarah passes him a tracking device for RoboCop so he can follow RoboCop to cable and then kill cable which sounds like a terrible terrible plan but she promises full reinstatement to the police force once the job is done and we pan over to see that this guy Albert used to Pal around with both Murphy and cable back in the day so I took a break for a couple days and I think I'm getting sick so sorry if my voice sounds different anyway in the flashback we see cable and Murphy talking about the awards ceremony Murphy packing his locker because he's being transferred to Metro West where we know what happens to him cable defends his actions before Murphy leaves I like the tension between these characters it's hard to get a read on if cable is just a guy with Shady morals or if he has a real darkness inside him Murphy is obviously uncomfortable with him and feeling guilty that he didn't say anything about what cable did but he's also loyal to his friend and as a cop and says that he owes him RoboCop pursues cable to the Metro South Precinct where they used to work together which is now abandoned and still they're just not shooting RoboCop correctly he's so small compared to everything else so here's where I'm confused was the security bunker connected to Metro South and that's how cable got here so quickly is that why the security bunker is an empty prison Hall why is Murphy having flashbacks to the dialogue of the first movie at Metro West when this is a completely different Precinct I don't know what's going on we work down here M get your armor and suit up I really like the little head turns he does here good performance moment RoboCop is remembering his moments of playing chess hearing cable talk about the cable maneuver when he made a sacrificing play to set up a victory and then they start talking through the walls Robo continues his struggle with his conflicting directives cable talks about how as cops they have been left behind and decides to sacrifice himself so his partner doesn't self-destruct and this is a strong scene then his ex-wife Sarah's stupid ass plan of sending this bone machine to kill cable screws up everything RoboCop was just about to shoot him but no bone machine bursts in and ruins it cable whips out his dual pistols and takes cover RoboCop tanks a bunch of bullets and is essentially useless because he's trying not to kill Cable cable is being super cool with the Dual pistols until he gets locked down by bone machine RoboCop approaches and Bone machine lets the rockets [Music] fly we end up seeing the same situation as the Motor City Strangler cable held hostage by a mad man telling Murphy to take the shot what are you prepared to [Music] do I'm sorry [Music] [Music] John so RoboCop does shoot Cable in a pretty dark character moment and we get to see something awesome from this an emotional Outburst from RoboCop something I've been dying to see for so long because we know he can yell we know he can get stressed out so I love seeing him yell and act 100% emotionally In This [Music] [Music] [Music] Moment we wi we did what we had to do don't don't die everybody guys [Music] wow this is great stuff it's really violent it's really dark it's one of the darkest moments we've seen ever in anything RoboCop Cable's name is cleared in the press and the whole thing was claimed to be an elaborate plan to B out the real bone machine and catch him with cable being an unfortunate victim we get a quick shot of Murphy Jr at ocp getting a message that his father has been dead for 10 years isn't it time to learn the truth and down in the lab Robo is not doing well this guy is outright traumatized by what just happened reliving the memory over and over we even see him cry we went we did what we had to do and our final scene is some doctors looking into the camera into the eyes of John cable while they and Sarah begin the process of turning him into a copy of Robocop a real RoboCop 2 credits you know this was a lot better than I remembered it there's some cheap aspects to it since it's a 2001 Sci-fi channel special but for the most part it looks all right I disagree with some parts of the portrayal of Murphy in his early days as a cop but it's also really interesting to see the tension between him and his partner when he sees him doing some shady stuff the focus on RoboCop's feelings and memories is well done and there's enough Intrigue going on with ocp to keep me interested overall a solid episode I give it an 8 out of 10 episode 2 meltdown medianet opens with a story about RoboCop single-handedly d destroying the last pieces of the terrorist group to bombs from the previous episode and what a great shot RoboCop just standing there as a building explodes in front of him we're already off to a great start it's also great to pay attention to the news scroll at times rock and roll Superstar Steven Gordon surprised his fans on his out with a bang Tour by igniting 20 lbs of dynamite he had strapped to his body pieces of Gordon continued to rain down on the frenzied crowd for several minutes after the explosion the rest of his Farewell to has been cancelled oh big surprise medianet is asking the question has RoboCop become too violent an author and specialist on RoboCop is shown saying that the question isn't appropriate because he's not human he doesn't have those emotions footage is shown of Commander John Cable's funeral and his of an ex-wife speaks about him G and of course the cable networks already have a TV special ready to air cut to night vision no stealth Vision we've got got stealth technology in Delta City someone sneaking around the ocp labs Edwin is at his desk working on sync which is shown to us in the most laughable way possible a CGI baby face munching on bits of data absurd this is Lawnmower Man levels of bad what could a computer scientist possibly get out of observing his work like this suddenly two women decloak from their stealth suits and shock Edwin with an energy gun they start trying to steal information from Edwin computer looking for money and Saint is making a frowny face and baby noises oh is this it is this when the show starts getting really stupid we've got 4 and 1/2 hours left I hope they don't jump the shark too quickly I remember that they do though the leader of the group has technology so silly and lowbudget it's Charming she has a fully sized PC keyboard on her arm it's awesome and she appears to be transferring data directly to her mind because she's acting really weird and when Edwin triggers the alarm she can't disconnect she hacks into the building's defense grid she knows the password for some reason and when all the cops arrive at the scene the same lady from episode 1's hostage situation takes over there will be no deadly force used here the security forces March in and the hacker defense turrets start cutting the cops in half with lasers decapitating them blowing up cars wow things are dark right away let's go RoboCop is on the scene the lady hilariously screams no unnecessary violence and he breaks through the front glass what's he going to do against lasers though get bodied apparently he does eventually make it through just to get shocked by the energy guns surrounded by invisible criminals and he messes them up like a badass the leader whips out a laser staff and kicks RoboCop through a window which which is quite impressive and then she stabs him in the chest with the staff Robo is all messed up from this and then he gets shocked again and this sad ass kicking by a random group of hacker chicks shows how far the world has moved on what is an Old Slow clunky RoboCop supposed to do against futuristic criminals with lasers and stealth gear so we've got a useless RoboCop getting his ass kicked and a police force wiped out by the new zero fatality policy things are not looking good Murphy Jr stops by Cable's grave and I guess Sarah just happens to be there maybe he called her I don't know but there's definitely a difference in how these two feel about what they've done Sarah is unfazed but Murphy Jr feels no Pride or joy in the situation we do what we have to do yeah we don't have to like it while he's here he takes some time to visit his parents and looking at his father's tombstone he looks really angry still don't know why all he did was get shot and die meanwhile RoboCop is back at the lab getting scolded for his Reckless actions barging into dangerous situations like he has a death wish but he's not paying attention all he can think about is when he killed his friend he storms out and goes looking for Cable's body Robo isn't the only one being being scolded Sarah is getting a good talking down to by her boss as the zero fatality policy has crippled the city's police department and ruined the city's image for tourists but that was her plan the Breakin is also discussed wondering if the invisible thieves were targeting Saint or just stealing whatever technology they could grab as their profile suggests Daman says there was some damage to the development of saint but assures the CEO that there will be no problem with the launch schedule the damage to Saint is not blamed on the Invaders rather on RoboCop but the CEO is having none of it RoboCop Mr low is one of the only reasons any of us still have a job without him ocp in Delta City would be in complete chaos in the basement Edwin is sweeping up the glass alone in a neck brace which is just really funny to me this guy gets treated like saint needs to be delayed but Damien says no so this is probably going to be a disaster right but progress is definitely being made I mean look at this cool Tesla coil they have this is some pretty advanced technology at Cable's grave RoboCop is thinking about everything that's happened including his current self-destructive Behavior he comes across his wife's grave and sees the Roses left by his son and then we get the big moment of seeing his own resting place a man seeing his own grave it's it's a haunting image one that was originally supposed to be in the first film but got cut from The Script because it wasn't necessary after the amazing house sequence it's cool that they were able to make that happen here in another context whether or not they did it while knowing it was going to be in the first movie and it was an idea that we'd all talked about because it's an iconic idea you know oh my God a man seeing his own grave and the idea of a robot looking at a grave it said mercy and perhaps I argued to keep that scene and Ed did to and I kept trying to get it in the movie but I can understand why Paul wouldn't want it there because Paul is the metaphysicist you see and you don't want the physical evidence of the guy that preceded Rubble cop right the physical evidence is gone that's the whole thing so I get it why Paul didn't want a grave so with that statement about why the grave scene was unnecessary and the fact that this is aent a straight up copy of the emotional climax of the house scene in the movie where RoboCop punches the TV screen why do I like its inclusion here after some time to think about it it's because the context is very different I don't see this as unnecessary or as a copy the feelings inside Murphy are quite different this isn't the first week of Robocop being alive piecing together memories to figure out who he is this is RoboCop after 10 years of a lonely existence feeling forgotten and useless and horrible that he killed his friend so whatever he's thinking when he sees his own grave those thoughts are quite different from the ones he'd be having if this scene had happened in the original film that's what gives it power and now the reveal of our new cyborg Robo cable he's running on an upgraded system of what they used for the original RoboCop they've further gutted his memory and given him a second pistol so he keeps his dual wielding style he seems to at least remember who his ex-wife is though what what the hell is this shut it off shut it off the very first thing he's sent to do is attack the ocp CEO in her car and then he empties a 100 bullets into the car and it explodes he empties like the whole clip both Clips in his pistol are spent he'll have to put new clips in his pistol if he wants to fire again and if for some reason he doesn't have any more Clips he'll have to get more maybe from a store or he could order some more clips from a magazine or something the CEO is pissed and calls for the immediate removal of Robocop from the streets Murphy Jr says that's easier said than done he's not just going to accept it so Damian suggests the use of system support we don't know what system support is yet but I'm sure we will soon for now Sarah's got a plan and and she has the CEO's blessing to do whatever it takes Sarah sends Murphy Jr into Cable's office to clear all his records but turning on the computer sees that the last thing he was looking at was his dad's file medianet falsely reports on RoboCop going on a rampage as rooc cable Causes Chaos around the city own the video that critics are calling shocking thought-provoking and highly entertaining when RoboCop attacks order now many citizens are wondering just how ocp plans to deal with this Robo Rampage so the public is now terrified of Robocop and just when you think hey all he has to do is say that's not me I'm right here look I'm not doing anything and then people would realize that it's another cyborg that looks like him just when you're thinking that ocp announces that they've created a new unit that will go out and stop Robocop and they've rescinded the zero fatality act so now rooc cable gets to be be seen as the solution to the problem not the cause I love these random civilians coming around the corner in the background and seeing this and saying nope we're out of here great detail the captain of the officers in charge of arresting RoboCop walks away in protest because RoboCop is one of their own but the rest Hold the Line because the ocp lady says they'll be fired lose their pension benefits all that so they open fire on him and it's comical he just looks like he's dancing that's how I dance when I go out but it's not this embarrassing Robo scares off all the cops when they fail to stop him and he's getting serious now this is it this is the scene I remember being so badass when I saw it as a kid Robocop versus rooc cable Dead or Alive you're coming with [Music] me [Music] John [Applause] oh it's actually pretty lame just two metal dudes standing still shooting pistols at each other they have to drop the frame rate and try to stylize it to make this look interesting RoboCop sees that innocent people are in danger from his shootout so he Dives out the window hops in his car and gets out of there cable is in pursuit of Robocop on the road and rooc cable looks pretty cool right the black RoboCop armor is really nice the chase itself is not very exciting though low budget nothing really happening no destruction oh they crash through a stack of empty cans this is future War levels of [Music] stunts RoboCop drives off the edge into the river cable loses his signal the chase is over Murphy Jr is now looking into his father's records from his own office his personal password is Ellen that's nice but even after getting clearance he's blocked again because the files are restricted to project staff only the session is immediately terminated after a ridiculous commercial for a cartoon about a cyborg police officer that fights homeless ninjas we get an independent journalist what would today be some dirty clout chasing Loser on tickle talker or whatever it's called sneaking into RoboCop's Precinct looking for news desperately looking for anything to say computer database of some kind presumably where RoboCop would store his data what kind of data we can't say how much we don't know but if RoboCop has data that's that's where it would be yeah this show is pretty funny sometimes I got to admit but RoboCop is still alive he emerges from the river but he's messed up his GPS system is offline and well that's all we're told so I guess he's lost in Cable's resting area Sarah is admiring her creation and Daman talks up Saint it's already in charge of the building's environmental controls ooh computer run air conditioning very impressive Damien is sure that RoboCop is still alive and now he knows who's coming after him that puts them in a bad position so Daman has decided to bring in the mysterious system support and Sarah insists on sending rooc cable with them now this is hilarious RoboCop in a giant coat trying to walk inconspicuously through a market that's brilliant and stupid at the same time he's looking for a replacement processor in the local underground markets but he's so outdated I kind of love this scene I don't know why it's got kind of a Blade Runner feel to it a little girl follows him out of curiosity and RoboCop actually hides and pops out at her playing tag these are the moments that make me like this minseries this is the kind of character stuff we just didn't get in the movie sequels seeing him be so fun thoughtful and even playful with an innocent child is what sets him apart from something like the Terminator he's not just a machine learning to act human he's a human trapped in a machine at war with his own programming and these moments show that the creators of the miniseries had a good understanding of who Alex Murphy is under the armor finally he walks away in some wonderful imagery suggesting his superhero status the coat hanging like Superman's cape walking hand in hand with this child to find her mother staying here in Old Detroit we see system support is coming in with cable in the lead they mean business and they make it clear do not touch anything do not drink anything do not eat anything this town is a disease and we are the T in Metro South RoboCop is trying to repair his communication system so we can reach out to cable but he's been followed by the stealth lady and he's no match for her energy weapons it's revealed that the girl is the daughter of this lady so RoboCop doesn't fear the situation too much as he's been showing her kindness outside system support is gearing up for Action if only Damian would stop interrupting carber Carver what's your status we're about to deploy you have the goozy 9,000 pulse rifle 60 KW of raw Robo stopping power it is nonlethal to humans we think so don't screw around [Music] Carver Carver what's your status we're moving into the city they've got anti- cyborg weapons and the captain is making it clear that while cable is there he works for them inside RoboCop is talking to the lady about the situation and they get into a philosophical discussion you can't go there I serve Delta City Delta City wants to kill you I protect its citizens protect them from what I uphold the law you carried out policy you were a tool it's gone past doesn't matter the past is all I have I don't know your name and what's [Music] yours good [Music] luck [Music] bye you hear those nice musical tones that drawn the original sound track that's a really nice touch yeah things are getting too serious how about a commercial breako ATO is cool I love atomo atomo is cool atomo is my friend atomo is my best friend I love AO ATO is my God Tomo Tomo Tomo Tomo AO Tomo Tom Tomo Tomo Tomo give me a Tomo or hold my breath and die you're a bad mommy if you don't buy me a Tomo you don't love me I want a Tomo I need a Tomo I am a Tomo boom system support is messing up the town and RoboCop tunes into Cable's signal he calls him to say they should meet oneon-one and they head out and the scene ends in this really bad totally unnecessary FX shot Murphy Jr is still trying to access his dad's file and uses Sarah's login to do it I don't know how he knows her password I must have missed that in his father's archives he sees a letter to Bob Morton about Murphy being the perfect candidate and the wait is now over as we Fade Out of the scene cable is now at Metro South ready for his Showdown with Robo so cable can switch to armor piercing rounds amongst many others and RoboCop should have been ready for that because according to this show he can do the same damn thing cable kicks his ass for a while an and and her daughter are getting away from the danger but they left her automo toy behind and the girl runs back to get it she has some neverbeen speed Tech which is quite bizarre given they're poor and if poor people can zip around at super speed then shouldn't everybody have this ability Robo and cable are duking it out in what is honestly a pretty decent action scene for a TV budget program 20 years ago [Music] you are a man not a machine you're you're a cop I'm a cop my name is Alex [Music] Murphy Robo broadcasts his memories to Cable showing him who he truly is I'm sorry John kill him Noy sorry John [Music] do hey this with cable shut down RoboCop makes his way out and sees the girl he says it's not safe and she hides as system support rolls in why are you standing there do something ass [Music] head K him down [Music] Carver Carver what's your status oh man why didn't they start with that that approach worked really well Robo tries to get the girl to leave him because he can't protect her and then she ends up getting shot by the possibly non-lethal electrical charge cable starts waking up and we are wondering what's going to happen is he going to fight for the good guys or get back to work Robo desperately tries to make his way to the girl to protect her from the gunfire when really you'd think he would want to try to move away from her what are you doing idiot an is fighting off multiple soldiers in an obvious stunt double that they tried to hide with pulled back cameras no RoboCop don't crawl towards the child while you're being shot at what you doing an gets taken down with shock sticks rocop is almost finished with his plan of apparently collapsing and crushing a little girl and cable is still trying to wake up this scene is going on for way too long so much slow motion but not real slow motion they're just dropping the frame rate to Kalisto protocol levels to stretch the scene out cable snaps out of it and comes to the rescue [Music] primit to stand down all right now we have Murphy and cable back together as partners pretty cool pretty cool mediet announces the deaths of both cyborg officers with no evidence at all and the CEO of ocp is super pissed at Damian for deploying system support without permission and he has been disavowed he's fired and all blame for recent events will fall on him Daman is not happy he sends Edwin home and uses Saints access to environmental controls to raise the barometric pressure and temperature of the executive room while everyone is inside discussing his replacement and just like that the entire executive level of ocp is wiped out before the episod episode ends we see the rest of Murphy Jr looking into his dad's records and RoboCop is actually his father our two cyborg Heroes walk off into the night together cable supporting his injured partner the two of them ready to face the world together and we end with a quote from Henry David thorough which is fine I guess and that's episode 2 again not bad setting aside some cheap stuff here and there a lame car chase an underwhelming first confrontation between k and Robo there was a lot of stuff to like here the fight in Metro South pushing through walls The Underground Market stuff Murphy's self-destructive attitude trying to get cable to remember who he is daman's revenge against ocp I may rate this one even higher than the last and give it an 8.5 it would have gotten a nine if some of the action scenes were better but there's a good number of jokes that land and there's so much good character stuff I like this episode a lot however finishing this episode left me with a sinking feeling in my gut a feeling that things are about to get really bad where do you go from here I don't remember much about what happens next but what I do remember is not good so in case the rest of the series goes down the toilet let's just cherish the time we've had here enjoying a cool look into the world of Robocop and spending some quality time with this amazing character check back soon for part two of my Prime directives breakdown like And subscribe and ring the bell for notifications and we'll see where this [Music] goes

Channel: Under The Mayo

Views: 259,227

Keywords: robocop, mini series, series, tv, show, canadian, sci fi, prime directives, sequel, old man, robodoc, analysis, commentary, review

Id: yz16HQZ9ryE

Length: 56min 41sec (3401 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 28 2023