RoboCop |
  • USA • 1987 • 102m •   • Directed by: Paul Verhoeven. • Starring: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O'Herlihy, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith, Miguel Ferrer, Robert DoQui, Ray Wise, Felton Perry, Paul McCrane, Jesse D. Goins, Del Zamora, Calvin Jung. • Music by: Basil Poledouris.      In the aftermath of economic and moral collapse, the city of Detroit has become a cesspool of crime and anarchy, forcing the underfunded police to fall under the stewardship of corporate juggernaut OCP. In his first day patrolling Old Detroit, Officer Alex Murphy is killed by feared gang leader Clarence Boddicker. OCP scientists are able to use Murphy's remains to build a cybernetic soldier codenamed Robocop. Dubbed the future of law enforcement, Robocop begins a one-man war on crime. When memories of his former life begin to surface, Robocop becomes obsessed with tracking down Boddicker and claiming revenge, even as his handlers try to rein him in.
|
Trailers:
| Length: | Languages: | Subtitles: |
Review:
Opening in near future Detroit, we are introduced to the world of Robocop via a fast-paced television news program dubbed "MediaBreak" (It's motto "Give us 3 minutes, we'll give you the world"). What we see isn't pretty: Terrorists have seized Acapulco, white supremacy government in South Africa has a nuclear weapon (one aspect that dates the film), the Star Wars nuclear program is in full swing, and over 40 police officers in Detroit have been murdered by crime boss Clarence Boddicker (Kurtwood Smith). The Detroit police force has recently been privatized and is being run by uber-corporation Omni Consumer Product (OCP), and the recent police deaths has the force threatening a strike. OCP senior vice president Dick Jones (Ronny Cox) is about to introduce a new law enforcement robot, ED-209, but a malfunction during a demonstration of ED-209 gives junior corporate officer Robert Morton (Miguel Ferrer) an opening to pitch his pet project, dubbed Robocop, to the "Old Man" (Daniel O'Herlithy).
At the same time, in a remote Detroit police precinct, officer Alex Murphy (Peter Weller) has just been transferred in and quickly finds himself in a bank robbery chase with his new partner Lewis (Nancy Allen). The chase leads to Murphy being captured by the robbers, led by Boddicker, who shoot Murphy down and leave him for dead. But he isn't quite gone. His brain and face are removed and used as the basis for Robocop: a half human, half robot police cyborg, complete with titanium outer skin and onboard computer memory to allow for recording of his activity. Robocop begins cleaning up crime on Detroit's dangerous streets, but an encounter with one of the gang that murdered him awakens memories within Robocop of his previous life, causing distress to his OCP handlers.
With its title, and a very sci-fi, comic-style look for it's main character, it might be easy to dismiss Robocop as kids stuff, but the reality is much different. Robocop is a film that earned it's hard-R rating, featuring copious amounts of violence, language and occasional nudity, but it all serves a purpose. The 1980s saw the height of the action movie, with grander and more ridiculous sequences in action films multiplying with each passing year. Robocop is very much a reaction to that, and it's over the top violence is pushed to such extremes that it starts being funny. Screenwriters Ed Neumier and Michael Minor and director Paul Verhoeven push the boundaries of a standard action film in terms of violence and quickly makes other action films look as ridiculous as they really often are.
But Robocop doesn't stop there. It comments on the dwindling attention span of television viewers (the brilliant MeidaBreak segments), television advertising (including commercials for a brand of artificial hearts as if they were items in a supermarket) and, most importantly, the explosion of corporate culture and public services falling under private control. Few key social issues that were hot buttons in the 1980's are left unaddressed in this film, and each new issue introduced makes a strong impression. Robocop isn't interested in just providing us with an action tale, it has an underlying message to go along with it. Most importantly, there is no self-aggrandizing or heavy-handed dialog and speeches to accompany this material. Viewers are left to pick up on it themselves.
But, that being said, Robocop is actually a more rousing action film than many of it's counterparts that it is ridiculing. Most of Robocop's action scenes are well-produced and exciting, especially later in the film. It also helps that Minor and Neumier don't spare the character development. Robocop is a tragic character, a man who's life is cut short, who is deprived of his human body and most of his past, yet haunted by visions of his previous existence. He cannot truly reconcile the two, and some of the film's strongest scenes are ones in which Robocop revisits his old house only to become enraged by the fact that everything he remembers that was good is gone.
On the acting front, there are two key standouts: Peter Weller and Kurtwood Smith. Weller has a tough job, getting us to care about a character that is covered in a giant metal suit and has limited facial expressions. But when the necessary moments arrive, Weller delivers, instilling his character with pathos. He pulls it off often with only a quarter of his face revealed. Smith creates a memorable film villain, his Clarence Boddicker so vicious, rude and vile you can't help but hate him. Prior to his role on That '70s Show, Robocop was Smith's most recognized work, and with good reason.
It is unfortunate that time has not been kind to the Robocop character and the franchise in general. Two mediocre sequels, a short-lived television series and a quartet of Canadian-produced TV movies have done to the original film what the multiple Jaws sequels did to Steven Spielberg's initial masterpiece, they diminished it. But, if you strip away all the excess baggage that these other distractions provide, Robocop is still a great film, and one that should be better remembered.
Review by rparham from the Internet Movie Database.
Featurettes:
| Length: | Languages: | Subtitles: |
Movie Database