It’s a new year and 2019 has come to a close. I always like to reflect on my favorite physical releases of year. Consumers seem to be moving more and more to streaming services with the launch this holiday season of Disney Plus being the latest. However, 2019 was also a banner year for physical media as well. Several companies really stepped up their game with incredible packaging, extras and in some cases sparkling new transfers of classic films. I will always make the case of physically owning a copy of a movie because it is permanently in your collection, it won’t be dropped or eventually removed from your shelf.

Being that it is 2019, I decided to list my favorite 19 releases of the year. So sit back relax and let’s watch some movies!

5. Robocop (Arrow Limited Edition Steelbook)

In the near (?) future Detroit is riddled with crime and corruption. The city is in financial ruins and signs a deal with the Omni corporation.  They introduce the future of law enforcement ED-209. It malfunctions and kills an executive. This paves the way for another suit, Morton to unveil his plan, Robocop a cyborg.

Alex Murphy (Peter Weller) is a cop on patrol in Metro West when he and his partner Anne Lewis (Nancy Allen) pursue a gang lead by Clarence Boddicker (Kurtwood Smith). They follow them into a warehouse where Murphy is shot and killed.

Murphy’s body is soon claimed by Omni, who transforms him into Robocop! Their attempts to control him backfire however as Murphy remembers his previous life, leading to a violent clash with Omni Corp.

Robocop is an awesome blend of sci-fi/action done with the tongue in cheek style of its director Paul Verhoeven (who would use this style effectively again 10 years later in Starship Troopers). It’s lots of fun, full of action and actually has some heart to it thanks to a focused and strong performance by Weller.

Robocop delivers justice with a brand new 4K scan. The film has 3 cuts included and the director cut has elements that are inserted from a different source creating a slight difference in a couple of quick cuts and scenes. Most people will probably not even notice as the transfer on all 3 cuts is first rate. Arrow is always one of the best at fresh scans of the films they acquire.

Robocop destroys crooks with an incredible sound mix. Explosions, gunfire are all top notch. Dialogue is crystal clear. Robocop himself has distinct sounds that make him such an iconic character and those sounds all come through dynamically.

Arrow brings out the big guns with two discs of movie and bonus materials. On the director’s cut there is a new commentary with film historian Paul M. Sammon. It is fantastic. Myself and the Nerds were honored to have interviewed Sammon at Telluride Horror Show 2012, you should give that a listen too as he tells a really funny story about Verhoeven. The first disc alone has many new featurettes with the disc having nearly 4 hours of bonus features alone. The two standouts for me are Analog which discuss pre-CGI effects and Connecting The Shots which is an interview with 2^nd Unit Director Mark Goldblatt who discuss his long working relationship with Verhoeven.

Disc 2 houses the theatrical cut and the TV cut which does have alternate takes from the film and is an interesting watch. Also, on the second disc you can watch the alternate takes separtealy if you don’t want to watch the whole movie. There is also an older commentary with Verhoeven, producer Jon Davison and writer Ed Neumeier.

The Steelbook looks great. It is a shiny repurposed version of the iconic poster. Really a great looking Steelbook.

Film: A

Video: A

Audio: A

Extras: A+

Steelbook: A