RoboCop 3

Right now you can watch RoboCop 3 in Australia on MGM Amazon Channel, and in the UK on MGM Plus Amazon Channel — and it goes further with its ideas than most genre entertainment bothers to. It says what it needs to say in one sitting, no filler. 1,464 viewers have already rated it on TMDB — the kind of consensus that does not happen by accident. Robert John Burke leads a cast that never lets the concept overwhelm the characters. There is no real reason to keep putting it off — it is right there on MGM Amazon Channel.

RoboCop 3 arrived without much fanfare and built its audience the hard way — through word of mouth. What makes RoboCop 3 work is that the ideas never crowd out the people having them. The mega corporation Omni Consumer Products is still bent on creating their pet project, Delta City, to replace the rotting city of Detroit. Unfortunately, the inhabitants of the area have no intention of abandoning their homes simply for desires of the company. To this end, OCP have decided to force them to leave by employing a ruthless mercenary army to attack and harass them. Robert John Burke and Nancy Allen lead a cast that never lets the concept overwhelm the characters. RoboCop 3 came out in 1993. RoboCop 3 resists the temptation to explain everything, trusting the audience to sit with ambiguity. It knows exactly what it is, and does not try to be anything else.

Sci-fi fans who want ideas alongside the spectacle will find RoboCop 3 genuinely rewarding. It stands on its own even without an obvious comparison point. The complete film is available and best experienced without too much prior knowledge of where it goes. Robert John Burke anchors it with a performance that makes the more abstract moments feel personal. If you have been burned by ambitious sci-fi before, this is the exception.