RoboCop

"RoboCop" is a surprisingly impressive action film about a young cop (Peter Weller) who is killed by a gang of cruel criminals and is brought back to life with both human and robotic characteristics. Now he is cleaning up the city of Detroit and going after those who brutally murdered him when he was 100% human. This film is ultra-violent in every sense of the word. Anyone under the age of 17 should be strongly cautioned before seeing this film. However, the violence makes the film realistic and more exciting. Paul Verhoeven does some of his best work as a director. The screenplay is very smart for an action film and all the actors give bravura performances. Peter Weller will always be remembered as the original "RoboCop". Ronny Cox, Nancy Allen, Miguel Ferrer, and an incredibly evil Kurtwood Smith all do the best work of their careers. An impressive film from the action genre. 4 stars out of 5.

In a crime ridden Detroit of the near future a corporate company OCP has the answer to fighting crime - invent a new type of policeman who won't go on strike . After the death of a policeman called Murphy they stick his body in to a metal shell . Murphy however can still remember a time when he was human

I once did an evening film course called Talking Pictures which would involve watching a film then having a two hour group discussion on the film . I saw the filmography before the class started and the vast majority would be art house foreign cinema . The one exception was ROBOCOP and I knew instantly this was the one that was going to split the group right down the middle in to love it or hate it with no in between . True to form this how things worked out . Most the class despised it wondering why the class had to watch such a cartoonish commercial film . I however did state I loved it and considered it to be the third best SF movie of the 1980s behind THE TERMINATOR and ALIENS

What makes ROBOCOP such a cerebral enjoyable film is the uncommon mix of social satire and no holds barred Verhoeven excess . While " greed is good " to a certain extent the idea of corporate capitalism is something to be rejected . A small self elected clique ruling over the Universe in order to maximise profits is a bad mix of capitalism meets self serving communism . Not so much a mixed economic system but more a combination of greedy speculators from one system being merged with the unthinking party loyalty of the other system . It's greed for money plus greed for power which is a marriage made in hell and being dead isn't enough to make you escape the clutches of OCP and the film revolves around the human element of Murphy remembering who he once was and it's this that is at the core of the movie

Of course Verhoeven isn't a director who does sentimental mawkish stuff and I doubt if the audience was wanting to see a Walt Disney film . What they were wanting to see was bad things happen to very bad people and you can't help cheering as criminals get killed , maimed , mutilated and in one case melted . It's a violent film but one that is so cartoonish that the violence is not to be taken seriously , a fact reflected in the loud slightly unrealistic acting style . This attitude wasn't enough to stop its British network premiere on ITV becoming farcical with a TV version being broadcast with notorious lines like " you gonna be a bad mother crusher " along with key scenes like the ones with mister melty conspicuous by their absence

There is of course a new version of ROBOCOP hitting the cinema this week but is a film I have no interest in watching judging by the clips I've seen of it . It's strange to think that another Verhoeven classic TOTAL RECALL was also recently remade . As it stands the original ROBOCOP remains one of the greatest genre films from the 1980s containing wit , satire and enjoyably mean carnage

In a futurist Detroit, crime is high and the police are run by a massive private company, keener to reduce running costs than reduce crime. When their new police robot ED209 develops a glitch, they turn to a prototype that blends human tissue with high-tech circuitry. Meanwhile Police officer Murphy and his partner Lewis are out gunned by criminals leaving Murphy mortally wounded. OCP take Murphy's body and use it to make Robocop. However Robocop is so successful that he is targeted by criminal Boddicker. Boddicker turns to his shadowy partners in crime, while Robocop struggles to deal with human memories and a programming system that seems designed to control him and keep him in the dark.

Verhoeven's first US film was to set the mould for how the rest of his career would pan out - extreme violence and very little idea of restraint. However this is one of his best films and has much in common with one of his other best (Starship Troopers) - ultra-violence, funny black humour, great action and tonnes of satirical digs at modern life. Here the plot revolves around the creation of Robocop and his fight against crime that goes right to the top. This is complimented by the sub-plot of him trying to rediscover his human side. This is full of great action scenes and eccentric villains.

The black comedy is funny, although sometimes you feel bad laughing at so much violence, but the sideswipes are the best. Verhoeven takes digs at TV with his advert filled news broadcasts, at privatisation by showing the crumbling police stations and the huge corporate towers and at heroism by showing Robocop creating just as much mayhem and destruction as the criminals he pursues. His strength however is the action scenes and the sense of tension he creates - I'll don't think anyone can forget the sheer terror of ED209's `glitch'.

Weller is good - cast because of his strong jaw and ability to project emotion through a suit of armour - and he does manage to bring out the human side. Allen is good but a but dry. The real support comes from the eccentric, and well known villains and corporate bosses. Ronny Cox, Smith, Ray Wise, Perry, O'Herlihy and Miguel Ferrer are all great in various capacities. Criminal or greedy corporate leader - it's hard to tell which is which at times.

A classic bit of sci-fi. Verhoeven has sadly not had a moment as fine as this since and has recently had problems being excessive in Hollywood - the land of excess! This is a landmark film that may not be to everyone's taste.

Paul Verhoeven's career in recent years has been wildly uneven, but back in the 1980s he rocked! His movies 'Spetters', 'The Fourth Man' and 'Flesh & Blood' are all brilliant and worth tracking down. His next movie, his first Hollywood one, could have been a complete disaster. Verhoeven initially passed on it without reading the script and wasn't experienced in working with special effects or a fan of science fiction. Thankfully his wife insisted he make the picture and the end result was a triumph. Apparently this was a very tough shoot for all concerned but the bottom line is what is on screen, and it really works. Few movies if any have managed to juggle SF, action and grim satire in such an entertaining and original fashion. Verhoeven was blessed with an excellent script, a well chosen bunch of actors, and a great behind the scenes team, and added to his own vision 'RoboCop' turned out to be one of the best movies of the 1980s, whatever the genre. Peter Weller ('Buckaroo Banzai') pulls off a difficult job - making the audience care about a guy in a monster suit. Probably the best performance of its kind since Boris Karloff in James Whale's 'Frankenstein' back in the 1930s. Nancy Allen ('Dressed To Kill'), Kurtwood Smith ('12.01 PM'), Ronny Cox ('Deliverance'), Miguel Ferrer ('Twin Peaks'), and the rest of the supporting cast are all first rate, and everything about this movie is perfect. Verhoeven stumbled with his next movie 'Total Recall', and apart from 'Starship Troopers' has pretty much failed to fulfill his potential, but 'RoboCop' remains a classic SF/action movie and a fantastic way to end a great decade of work.

My favorite Paul Verhoeven feature by a mile. It's a decent film if you like action but everything around it makes Robocop a different film in the genre. It's a movie that's blatant and upfront about its story but depending on who you are you can interpret it in different ways. It could be about public funding, gentrification, humanism, or just a dude who goes around shooting drug dealers. But what I really like about it is even though it's a movie that might seem fascistic on the surface it surprisingly doesn't punch down, at least not like films of the era that were just military propaganda. I know not everything I'm mentioning is an intentional decision on the writer's part, and to be honest I never thought the action was that great (except during the end), but my main point is this movie deserves more thought IF you're a fan of the genre.