VIA PRESS RELEASE | Varèse Sarabande and Craft Recordings are proud to announce Deluxe Edition reissues of Basil Poledouris’ celebrated RoboCop 3 original score. Set for release on January 17th and available for pre-order and stream today, Poledouris’ 1993 score will be made available on vinyl for the first time ever as a special “Delta City Yellow” 2-LP pressing, which comes housed in a gatefold jacket featuring brand-new artwork from acclaimed illustrator Estevan Silveira.
In addition, the lauded Varèse Encore series is relaunching with a reissue of the 2016 CD Club release of the RoboCop 3 Deluxe Edition score. The revitalized series will focus on out-of-print, highly coveted Deluxe Edition releases from its illustrious catalog, ensuring these cherished works remain available to collectors and new listeners alike. Accordingly, this Encore series edition was produced using the original design elements in order to ensure a faithful recreation and is now available for pre-order in limited-quantity exclusively on the Varèse Sarabande webstore.
Director Paul Verhoeven’s original RoboCop film featured one of Basil Poledouris’ most iconic scores. In 1993, he was recruited to bring his signature sound to RoboCop 3, which featured the titular character defending the citizens of Detroit against the devious Omni Consumer Products in an all-out war for the city.
Though Basil Poledouris wasn’t on board for Irvin Kershner’s 1990 sequel RoboCop 2, he returned for the third installment of the hit franchise with director Fred Dekker at the helm, assisted by the legendary Frank Miller on the screenwriting duties, cooking up a score that, states AllMusic, “returns to the first movie’s distinctive, marching synth-orchestral themes that were missing from the Leonard Rosenman-scored RoboCop 2. Brass, percussion, and strings mark the alternately anxious and tender compositions as RoboCop again tries to save Detroit.”
It’s Megacop vs. Megacorp when Detroit’s cyborg crime-fighter hits the streets to protect the innocent, this time from corporate greed. Laced with a sardonic sense of humor and packed with action scenes coming at a deliberate clip, RoboCop 3 is a thrilling sci-fi adventure that will have you on the edge of your seat, highlighted by Poledouris’ one-of-a-kind approach to film scoring.
In a 1997 interview with Soundtrack magazine, Basil reflected on his innovative blend of synthesizer and orchestral compositions, utilizing the variety between the two modes to create something unique and affecting. He said, “Often-times when I combine synthesizers with the orchestra the focus will shift from one to the other…Whether it’s large or small or soft or loud really depends on the formal dictates of the drama within the film itself; the style of the film, the intent of the film. And as a composer I need a range of colors, and the synthesizer truly is just another color.”
In the film, it’s this blend of colors that highlights the film’s particularly intriguing plot line, which revolves around the ruthless corporation that runs Motor City, which begins kicking families out of their homes to clear space for their project of building a profitable new real estate development called Delta City. The film finds RoboCop (Robert John Burke, taking over the role from Peter Weller) joining forces with a renegade band of freedom fighters to save Detroit and defeat the evil Omni Consumer Products for good. Fully leaning into the B-movie kitsch of the franchise, RoboCop 3 features campy nuggets beloved by fans, like the villainous ninja android Otomo, and the iconic Robo Jet Pack.
