When noted Dutch director Paul Verhoeven moved to Hollywood in the mid-'80s, few could have guessed he would embrace the prevailing action film culture with such unabashed enthusiasm. The assaultive, pulp-on-steroids sensibility of Robocop made it a huge success, but came injected with critiques of American TV and pop culture that were often wrapped in the muscular irony of Basil Poledouris' driving, synth-pumped orchestral score. This new edition of the modern sci-fi classic underscores the point with bonus tracks of the film's jangly TV news and commercial parodies, but it's still the industrial crunch of Poledouris' back-to-the-future neo-modernism that take center stage on this digitally remastered deluxe edition.
Powered by an aggressive performance by a then-newly reformed Sinfonia of London and recorded at legendary Abbey Road (the score's frequent metallic percussion is the studio's fire extinguisher being struck with a hammer), Poledouris' music manages to evoke themes of sacrifice and redemption that are as old as the Bible, yet infuse them with a cold detachment that suggests a future of uncertain humanity. --Jerry McCulley (Amazon review)
