Product Description

At its core, Munich is a straightforward thriller. Based on the book Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team by George Jonas, it's built on a relatively stock movie premise, the revenge plot: innocent people are killed, the bad guys got away with it, and someone has to make them pay. But director Steven Spielberg uses that as a starting point to delve into complex ethical questions about the cyclic nature of revenge and the moral price of violence. The movie starts with a rush. The opening portrays the kidnapping and murder of Israeli athletes by PLO terrorists at the 1972 Olympics with scenes as heart-stopping and terrifying as the best of any horror movie. After the tragic incident is over and several of the terrorists have gone free, the Israeli government of Golda Meir recruits Avner (Eric Bana) to lead a team of paid-off-the-book agents to hunt down those responsible throughout Europe, and eliminate them one-by-one (in reality, there were several teams). It's physically and emotionally messy work, and conflicts between Avner and his team's handler, Ephraim (Geoffrey Rush), over information Avner doesn't want to provide only make things harder. Soon the work starts to take its toll on Avner, and the deeper moral questions of right and wrong come into play, especially as it becomes clear that Avner is being hunted in return, and that his family's safety may be in jeopardy.

By all rights, Munich should be an unqualified success--it has gripping subject matter relevant to current events; it was co-written by one of America's greatest living playwrights (Tony Kushner, Angels in America) and an accomplished screenwriter (Eric Roth); it stars an appealing and likeable actor in Eric Bana; and it was helmed by Steven Spielberg, of all people. While it certainly is a great movie, it falls just short of the immense heights such talent should propel it to. This is due more to some questionable plot devices than anything else (such as the contrived use of a family of French informants to locate the terrorists). But while certain aspects ring hollow, the movie as a whole is a profound accomplishment, despite being only "inspired by true events," and not factually based on them. From the ferocious beginning to the unforgettable closing shot, Munich works on a visceral level while making a poignant plea for peace, and issuing an unmistakable warning about the destructive cycle of terror and revenge. As one of the characters intones, "There is no peace at the end of this." --Daniel Vancini

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Product Description

The first Robocop was thrilling, hilarious, and totally original--none of which has as much to do with the film's spawning two sequels (plus two separate television shows) as its $50 million-plus take at the box office. Though the Law of Diminishing Returns inevitably applies to the theatrical trilogy, the central premise is so strong that each of the lesser sequels has at least a few moments worth catching. That's because the original (wherein Detroit cop Peter Weller, killed in the line of duty, gets transformed into a crime-fighting cyborg) set up an entire world. Director Paul Verhoeven spends as much time lampooning television news, commercial products, and big business as he does on the story; however violent or gory things get (and they get quite icky), the tone throughout is comic, even giddy. Robocop 2, helmed by Irvin Kershner of The Empire Strikes Back fame, sobers up considerably. The film is rather underrated; sure, there are fewer ads and newsbreaks this time around, but there are several inventive touches--Robocop is briefly reprogrammed into a homily-spouting Dudley Do-Right; drug dealers step in to bail out the financially strapped city--and the villains (including the most foul-mouthed, amoral 12-year-old in movie history) are less outrageous than in the first installment. Robocop 3, however, is profit-driven hash. Having Robocop (now acted by Robert John Burke) join a citizens' uprising is a nice idea, and even the ninja android could have been fun, but the movie tries too often to be heartwarming, an emotion thoroughly out of place in this wickedly satirical series. --Bruce Reid

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Don't throw that Criterion DVD out just yet...

Since I've already reviewed the single-disc versions of RoboCop (Criterion Collection edition, dated July 18, 2002 at www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1559408898/qid%3D1090823802/sr%3D11-1/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F1/002-5229942-8183256), RoboCop 2 (July 25, 2004 at www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0001VTPW2/ref=cm_aya_asin.title/002-5229942-8183256?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance) and RoboCop 3 (July 26, 2004 at www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0001VTPWC/ref=cm_aya_asin.title/002-5229942-8183256?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance), I'm gonna spend the vast majority of this review covering the RoboCop 1 extended edition disc and its extra features, and make comparisons and contrasts between it and the Criterion Collection version DVD.

And away we go...

While the picture in the MGM box set version of `Robo 1' is not quite as grainy as the Criterion edition, it's also a fair deal darker-- which doesn't help out the nighttime and low-lit scenes, `natch. The remastered 5.1 soundtrack mix adds a few new layers of sound to the movie that have never been heard before. I noticed the sound difference when I did a side-by-side comparison of the Murphy death scenes on both DVDs. The MGM box set version featured more screams of agony from our ill-fated hero than what could be heard in the Criterion rendition. And before you ask: yes, doing side-by-side comparisons of my fave DVD movies is something I consider "fun". Hey, you didn't think I attained my status as a Top 100 reviewer (as of this writing) by having any sort of social life, did'ja? Let's get real here, folks...


Anyway, let's get back on the track. The MGM version also contains a new secondary commentary track with most of the same guys who did the Criterion commentary track, including director Paul Verhoeven, executive producer John Davison, and co-writer Ed Neumeier. Most of the stuff covered in the new track was not discussed in the old one, which means you'll inundated with a whole new set of info and anecdotes that ya didn't hear on the old track. The weird thing is, the guys talk about the scenes that they had to shorten for the theatrical release-- which were restored to this DVD-- as if they hadn't been restored to the DVD at all. Kinda makes me wonder if MGM was originally going to include just the cut-down version of the movie to this box set, but then thought better of it without getting the guys to record a new commentary track. Eh, like it really matters all that much...

The MGM version also includes a wide array of special features that weren't on the Criterion release, such as deleted scenes like an extra vignette with Bix "I'd Buy THAT For A Dollar!" Snyder, a Q&A press conference with Bob Morton (Miguel Ferrer) about RoboCop, and a couple other excised bits that look like they were recorded on that film they use to film actors testing for screen roles. I think it's called "B-roll" film or something.

Also included is a slo-mo look at the initial ED-209 stop-motion scene and corresponding storyboards featuring commentary with stop-motion man Phil Tippett. I found myself zoning out about halfway through this piece out of sheer boredom, and bailed on it as soon as I could. Topping things off is a trio of behind-the-scenes/"Making-Of" featurettes that give ya a peek at the effects, stunts, and other things that went into the production of the movie. I found these featurettes reasonably interesting, but I'd get a bit wacky when the director and actors would talk a little too seriously about the "depth" and "significance" of the production and the characters they play. If I wanted to hear about that stuff, I'd have hit the local sci-fi con where Peter Weller is the keynote speaker, thank you very much. Oh yes, we mustn't forget the obligatory theatrical trailers and a fairly cool TV spot.

Unfortunately, the Criterion version of the DVD contains extra features that aren't available in the MGM release. Such Criterion-exclusive extras include film-to-storyboard comparisons, storyboards of unfilmed scenes, and a text article on the making of `RoboCop'. So needless to say, if you're a completist Robo-fan DVD-phile who's just GOT to have every single `RoboCop'-related bit of bonus material available on digital video, you're gonna hafta grab both this set AND the Criterion Collection DVD (available at www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1559408898/qid%3D1090823802/sr%3D11-1/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F1/002-5229942-8183256) if ya wanna have it all...

`Late