RoboCop 3 is a science fiction satire film, released in 1993, set in the near future in a dystopian metropolitan Detroit, Michigan. It is the sequel to the 1990 film RoboCop 2. This was the last film in the trilogy of films about the RoboCop and is often viewed as the film that contributed to the downfall of the once popular film franchise.

Taglines:

• He's Back!
• Back on line, Back on duty.

The film was directed by Fred Dekker, a newcomer to directing films who had written the screenplay for the 1991 film Ricochet. Popular writer of graphic novels Frank Miller returned to write the screenplay for the film. The star of the film, Peter Weller, refused to reprise his role and thus it was left up to Robert John Burke to play the cyborg character. Other important casting changes had to be made for the third film. The actor that played the OCP CEO from the previous two films, Dan O'Herlihy, and his successor are both absent from this film.

Another pre-production problem with the film was pressure from media watchdog organizations for the film to be rated PG-13, in favor of the younger audience that had only seen the G-rated animated series. The first two films had been rated R. Hence the profanity, graphic violence, mature sexual content, and references to illicit drugs and prostitution all had to be reduced or taken out all-together. The gritty "Film Noir meets the Blade Runner" environment of the first two films was severely diluted.

Robocop 3 was rushed into production soon after RoboCop 2 was complete (even though some have claimed Robocop 2 was not as successful as Orion hoped). Although completed in 1991, Robocop 3 would languish on the shelf until 1993 as Orion went through bankruptcy and was bought out. Robocop 3 earned a disastrous $4.3 million on its opening weekend, ending its run with $10.6 million domestically, far short of recouping its estimated 22 million dollar production budget.

Template:Spoilers

The main plot of RoboCop 3 involves RoboCop finding a new family, as he has apparently given up hope of seeing his wife or son again. He finds an extended family in the form of the underground paramilitary resistance of underprivileged urban families that OCP wants to relocate in order to build Delta City. While OCP is on the verge of bankruptcy, the dream of the former CEO and Old Man lives on through the help of a Japanese development firm that is prepared to use a mercenary army and its own Samurai robots to overcome the resistance of the defenders of the impoverished neighborhood. Eventually RoboCop defeats the two Japanese robots, and enlists the aid of the Detroit City police department to stop the development and thus blue collar urban neighborhood from the invasion.

The heroes in the film were described as one-dimensional. RoboCop misses his son, but makes no attempt to keep an eye on him. One of the kids in the film is able to quickly reprogram an ED-209 with a simple laptop computer and one would think that a child so gifted in computers (especially given the fact that the adult technicians in the first film were unable to control the ED-209 prototype) would be able to step out of poverty, or perhaps get access to the nation's financial institutions and force a government settlement on their demands. The resistance fighters, young and old, were accused of being without any guiding political philosophy, and no dreams beyond saving a neighborhood that by all accounts is a crime infested mess. For his part, RoboCop was considered by some not to have done much for the resistance, and the climactic action sequences where he dons a jet pack and flies in to help the resistance was described by some critics as 'uninspiring and dull'. In addition, the inclusion of "samurai robots" essentially made the film a parody of itself.

• Robert John Burke - RoboCop (as Robert Burke)
• Mario Machado - Casey Wong
• Remy Ryan - Nikko
• Jodi Long - Nikko's Mom
• John Posey - Nikko's Dad
• Rip Torn - The CEO
• Mako - Kanemitsu
• Felton Perry - Johnson
• John Castle - Paul McDaggett
• Jill Hennessy - Dr. Marie Lazarus
• S.D. Nemeth - Bixby Snyder
• Robert DoQui - Sgt. Warren Reed
• Bradley Whitford - Fleck
• Edith Ivey - Elderly Woman in Bathrobe
• Curtis Taylor - Rehab #1
• CCH Pounder - Bertha
• Judson Vaughn - Seitz
• Ken Strong - Rehab Patrol
• Stanley Anderson - Zack
• Stephen Root - Coontz
• Daniel von Bargen - Moreno

• RoboCop, RoboCop 2, and Robocop: Prime Directives

• RoboCop 3 at IMDb