RoboCop 2 isn't just the title of the first sequel to RoboCop but refers, in a plot prefiguring Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), to a second, more powerful cyborg introduced as an adversary to the tin-can man played to perfection by Peter Weller. Generally dismissed by most fans, here director Irvin Kershner does much the same job as he did with the first Star Wars sequel, The Empire Strikes Back (1980), which is to make a darker and in some ways more involving follow-up. Nancy Allen returns from the original as RoboCop's policewoman sidekick and Kershner sticks to the jet-black satire and ruthless comic-book morality of the original, making this a rarity for Hollywood: a multi-million-dollar franchise movie anti-capitalist assault on the "greed is good" mentality of the Regan era. There's even a hilariously prescient dig at the way the studio would eventually dumb the series down into family-friendly fodder, a process that began with the immediate sequel, RoboCop 3 (1993). Action is to the fore and among the spectacular set-pieces and furious carnage RoboCop 2 offers a last stand before digital effects took over for some excellent stop-motion animation for RoboCop's psychotic new foe.
On the DVD: this is a perfunctory release with nothing in the way of extras bar the original trailer presented cropped to 4:3. Fortunately the 1.77:1 picture on the main feature is excellent, with minimal grain, strong colours and plenty of detail. The sound, though four-channel Dolby Prologic rather than Dolby Digital, is likewise excellent, with every word clear and gunshots, explosions and pulsating score combining to full cacophonic blockbuster effect. The disc also contains dubbed versions in Italian, French and Spanish, as well as a vast selection of subtitles. --Gary S Dalkin
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![RoboCop Prime Directives: Meltdown [DVD] [2001] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]](http://img.listal.com/image/products/200/B00009MECJ/dvds/-robocop-prime-directives-meltdown.jpg "RoboCop Prime Directives: Meltdown [DVD] [2001] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]")
