Filmmaker reacts to Robocop (1987) for the FIRST TIME! 

Verhoeven has the best trifecta of sci-fi movies. Robocop, Total Recall and Starship Troopers are great. Very different stories that are connected on how the media explains on what's happening in their time. His social criticism and concept of the future was ahead of it's time. IMO

"I'd buy that for a dollar!" One of the most classic lines ever.

"I can feel them....but I can't remember them" One of the most depressing lines in any sci fi movie.

Everyone should give a huge thank you to Paul Verhoeven's wife. When he was sent the script to this film. He threw it in the trash. But she retrieved it looked at it and convinced Paul to give it another look.

"What's your name son?" "Murphy." -Music hits and cuts to black. What an ending!

This is actually the "less brutal" version.. the Directors Cut has about 5 to 10 seconds more gore. It doesnt sound like much, but it really is.

As a kid from Detroit I grew up LOVING this movie...I just didn't realize how messed up it was for a kid to be watching until much later. There's some dark shit going on here.

So hard to convince someone who has never seen Robocop that it’s one of the best movies ever, bust satisfying when they finally watch it.

I saw this movie in the theater when it first came out. I was 12. Neither my parents nor the theater gave a crap. The 80s certainly were a different time.

The actor did serious prep work for the role. He trained with and spent a month developing the character's mechanical motions with the help of a master of mime. Really pays off as it elevates the suit from a bunch of fiberglass.

Legendary film. Love Robocops robotic voice as he’s talking to criminals and giving orders. Then by the end when he says his name it’s his real human voice. It’s great how a satirical movie like this can give us such a beautiful moment. Great pay off.

The 80s were a crazy time. I've seen it said that while the violence level in media has gone up since, the amounts of overall gore have actually gone down. Fun fact: the scene of the gas station blown up was actually done. The film legitimately blew up a gas station for the film. It got their permit to film revoked and they had to change filming cities.

One thing about this specific movie that I always found so beautiful is that the more Murphy is getting damaged the more humanity he shows! The moment ED 209 nearly blew off his head, revealing Murphys eye was like seeing a ressurection. From that Mechanical, empty, lifeless stare you suddenly see a frightened human being trying to survive! Than when the cops are trying to destroy him, some of the hydraulics in his legs is damaged and he starts to crawl like an injured human, his movement is suddenly more responsive, more fluid and finally the face reveal where not only do we see Murphy once more but most importantly his voice losses that robotic tune to it! A complete ressurection of a dead man grasping for life. Not to mention the iconic walk in the water where Murphy is literally depicted as resurrected christ! Ah... I love this movie! (PS: sry if its too long... :D )

as a Detroit native I can only say their depiction of the city is far too nice.

To me Robocop is a perfect example of how execution is everything - this movie has no right to be so good, it easily could've been a straight to VHS b-movie and instead it's f-ing amazing.

Love how much fun you had watching this, the 80's was another world sadly missed! The stunning score by Basil Poledouris is almost as good as his score for Conan the Barbarian

I love how you just broke this movie down perfectly. I'm glad to see you're watching all the classics. Thanks.

Murphy walking through his old house always gets to me. Part of it’s the restrictions of the suit, but you really feel the tragedy when it looks like the human is literally trying to fight out of the metal shell. Great physical acting from Weller.

Old action in movies looks so good because its real. Actual vehicles on real streets with real squibs will always look better than the cgi composite crap most movies use today.

James, I gotta be honest. First time I ever clicked a like before I even began to see your video because I knew you wouldn´t dissapoint. And boy you really did a homerun on this! Love your reaction on this and why you excel above everybody else doing reaction videos is your technical cinematic inteprations. This really made me smile and that´s one of twenty. :)

There's a ton of sneaky little narrative tricks - when RoboCop is first seen, it's from a frog's eye view. This view then slowly moves up in every scene he's in, until at the end where it's often at eye-height on Murphy, or even bird's eye view. Just a sneaky little method to make the viewer see him with the same awe as the characters on film, and then humanize him as he becomes more human. *Edit:* Also, Emil dies more horribly than the others because he's shown to be a worse individual than even Boddicker. Boddicker is an a-hole and a mass murderer, but he's *professional.* He only kills anyone getting in his way or failing him through stupidity. Whereas Emil starts threatening a random gas station clerk for being a college student - probably because of an inferiority complex. So as a narrative result, he gets the most torturous death of all of them.

When the memories start flashing back, this is actually a good display of PTSD and how something can trigger traumatic events. They were showing PTSD before PTSD was the thing we know of today. The music is terrific too

I love the dark humor of this movies, and l also love Peter Weller's acting as Robocop..

I saw this movie when I was 6yro. My mom let me watch lots of movies I wasn't supposed too, I love her for that. I remember rooting for Murphy, he was my first hero. Then through the years, when I got older I saw the deeper meaning. It was all about the human soul, the man trapped in the machine. And also about big corporations that think they can own someone, corporations that are psychos, with no morals whatsoever. RoboCop is my comfort movie, my favorite 80s movie, and it's on my top 5 favorite movies. I adore it. Loved your reaction, you get it. Your commentary was on point.

One of my favorite films, love the Story, the Main Character, the suit, the Action, the gore and the soundtrack

"Think you're pretty smart? Think you could outsmart a bullet?"

The best part about this reaction was when Robo was throwing Clarence through the windows because of how you weren't expecting him to keep getting thrown through all the glass after you made a joke about it after the first glass he got thrown though. I honestly hurt from laughing

When we first got a VCR and my mum asked what video I wanted to rent, I asked for this. I was not disappointed. I was about half the 18 years rating it had.

This is another great classic keep them coming James 👌👌

Did you notice that how robotic Robocop’s voice was. And the more he remembers that he was human, the more the robotics leave his voice, and it finally just becomes a normal human voice.

Murphy gets killed 30 minutes in, he has 30 minutes of pure Robocop, and then thirty minutes of regaining his humanity.

One of, if not THE BEST 80s film

Loved this movie at theater. Even by 80’s standards the violence was shocking. However like Starship Troopers there is a lot of depth and social commentary even philosophy. I always linked it to Metallica’s song One for being trapped inside your body kept alive by machines with no self control. “I want a car that gets really crappy gas mileage like 6000 SUXs!”

Fav movie right here Always get excited when people see it for the first time :)

If you dig _Robocop,_ 1962's _The Manchurian Candidate_ and 1976's _Network_ are worth adding to the list. A perfect film & masterpiece, no one in the '80s could have foreseen a hyperviolent robot man movie would be the decade's most articulate criticism of Reagan's America & our current corporate state.

My favorite line: - Nice shooting, son. What's your name? - Murphy. Roll credits. Chills.

One of the most satisfying villain deaths in my opinion!

The soundtrack is also top tier. When Murphy first becomes Robocop, Basil Poledouris uses a lot of electronic instruments, and as Robocop reclaims is humanity, the instruments become more and more organic.

Saw this as a kid, and it's still one of my favorite movies today.

Your reactions and enthusiasm are a real treat. So glad movies I grew up on still hold up to younger people like you. And I also love that I always learn new things from you, scene or plot details I missed, technical info about camera work and whatnot. You bring great, fresh insight to the viewing experience. Keep being awesome.

I applaud your vision. You saw what so many fail to see with this oft-derided (by critics) film. People love it. They get it.

Love you man! Watching you legitimately helps me on my bad days, keep it up!

The scene where you see his eye is so stunning because it shows his human intelligence and willpower to survive. He's beyond Robocop at that point.

Not only is this a 100% classic but it has aged really, really well... I saw this at the cinema upon release, to be honest I did not think it was that impressive but my taste and understanding of movies changed massively over the years, looking forward to more of your reactions...

My favorite line in Robocop: "Bitches leave!"

I can remember seeing this at the cinema.. it was unrelenting and uncompromising in its delivery of the world and the characters it wanted to portray. The subtext was very clear, but the levels of brutality Verhoeven pushed to get audience sympathy for Murphy as this man turned cyborg product, who ironically goes from model cop to rebel to survive and complete his mission.. it was a thing to behold at a time when you really didn't have a movie quite like it that fused satire, violence and philosophical elements so well. The most powerful character moment for me was when Murphy finally took his mask off and confronts his lament at the loss of his life in spite of his resurrection.. amazing stuff from Weller.. the way he did this.

This was a really fun reaction watch. I love how in the beginning from when he becomes Robocop, he has a very digitized type voice, but little by little, as he becomes more human again, the sound designers tone down the digitized robot part, to where at the end, when he says he is Murphy, its pretty much his normal human voice again. I also love the little things like that. I wish Paul Verhoeven had directed the 2nd one.

If you like Peter Weller you need to check out the severely underrated "The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai: Across The 8th Dimension". One of the funniest and clever sci-fi movies I've seen. Amazing cast too with John Lithgow, Ellen Barkin, Jeff Goldblum, Christopher Lloyd and Lewis Smith from the Heavenly Kid (also a pretty good movie)

I feel like it’s structured similarly to an anime (at least in the layering of backstory into the main timeline of the story). Netflix recently released a short documentary about the making of robocop in the “ movies that made us” series.

Man I love your reactions so much, your a great human being. Robocop scared the life out of me not going to lie. The face reveal was a massive scene and still makes me hold my breath when I see it now. Total recall the original would be a great reaction 👌. I enjoy you and appreciate you my man

Thank you so much for this. Your enjoyment was the best thing I've seen in a long time.

"Dead or alive you're coming with me". Every great action movie has an iconic line or two.

Glad you enjoyed this, James! First time viewers sometimes don't really get this movie, so it's great when someone does and also gets to appreciate it like we do! The sequel is pretty decent from my recollection, but I'll admit it's been some years. The recent remake was panned by a lot of critics, but I think it's pretty underrated. It's a different feel, for sure, but I felt like they hit the right emotional notes and made some admirably unique and interesting decisions with the plot and character design.

This is tied for my all time favorite movie along with Batman '89. It's so cool to see someone see this for the first time but also to pick up on the multiple nuances of it. As a kid I loved it for the action, as an adult I love it for the themes... and the action!

Actor Peter Weller was just absolutely phenomenal in this.

Him walking away from the gas station explosion is probly one of my favorite stunts in movies. Just the casual walking as he's practically inside it

If you’ve never seen it, I would recommend Karl Urban’s Judge Dread; there are a lot of similarities and the violence is just as brutal.

Glad you enjoyed this so much. It's one of my all time favorites. When it came on TV in the late 80s/early 90s, my older brother and I secretly woke up after my parents went to sleep and watched it. That was the first time I saw it and I was way too young. The violence and gore was shocking, but since then I've come to love it even more. It was also cool being the only kid my age in school who had seen it. :-D

So my parents took me to every movie growing up as a kid in the 80s. I have sooooo much fun watching you enjoy the movies I loved back then. I remember Robocop stood out to me because it was one the few action movies my mom liked, she said the satire was great. Something I of course appreciate more as I get older.

absolutely love the sfx make up for Murphy when he takes off the head visor, all of its just really good

Robocop is one of my favorite movies ever, glad you enjoyed and appreciated it! If you’ve never seen Sam Raimi’s stylistic action/revenge film “Darkman”, with Liam Neeson, I’d be curious to see your take on it. 👍

You've gotta add Verhoven's 1990 Total Recall to the list now. It's more of a straight violent-action film and doesn't quite have the biting satire of Robocop or Starship Troopers, but they make tonally satisfying trilogy.

watching this as a 12 year old was the best time ever, creating core memories :D

RoboCop was such an amazing and unique film. It's an 80s action movie on the surface, but is really about the power and resilience of the human soul. Peter Weller gave a discussion where he explained how Verhoeven wanted to show how the soul "wakes up" on its own, to finish the work it had to do. It put Robo in the places he needed to be, to solve and avenge his murder. Deep stuff.

One of my favorite movies. I watched this sooooo many times as a kid XD (mostly because I came from a poor family and this was one of the only movies we had on VHS, but it's just a ton of fun, too). Considering I'm very anti-corporate and Emil's death helped motivate me to care about waste management and environmental protection (which is what I do as a professional now), it had a pretty big influence on my life :)

Even though the sequel isn't as iconic as the first I would still recommend it. Especially if you watch it as a satire of action movies written like a dark comic. It's a lot closer to Starship Troopers in how over the top it is. The special effects of Robocop 2 are still pretty incredible today and it has really great moments in it. It might have one of the best openings/character reveal in action history.

when we got this in Finland back in the day, it was cut so hard it even had plot holes. so happy u got this as it was. good job once again my friend!

So happy to see a reactor that "gets" this movie, one of my top 3 of all time.

This is probably one of my favourite films of all time, truly a perfect movie. The sequel is also pretty damn good.. it's absolutely insane.. but great in it's own way. Talking of old action movies you'd certainly enjoy John Woo's "Hard Boiled" if you haven't seen it already.

One of my favorite all-time movies… as a kid ‘cus I loved the “action” and Robocop’ s look, and as an adult, I love it because it’s such a brilliant satire and critique of ‘Murcas love of ‘violence porn”! Robocop 2 is worth a watch too… not as good as the original, but it was written by Frank Miller (Sin City, 300, Dark Knight returns ) it has some really great robot designs as well!

I will love every robocop reaction but this is my favorite. You saw all the stuff i saw when i was small that made me admire that cop

This is one of the rare movies I'd argue is actually perfect. This movie hits home runs with everything it attempts to do and this movie works on so many levels.

Funny thing is you actually watched the toned down theatrical release. The uncut version is more violent.

The satire is heavily influenced by the Judge Dredd comics. Hell, the entire film really. Verhoeven has a weirdly eclectic filmography.

This is over the top 80s cinema at it's finest. And it still holds up so well all this time later. I was a kid when I fell in love with this film. This cut was actually the X-rated cut at the time. It's now the beloved Director's Cut. They had to cut back some scenes in order to get an R rating at the time. You gotta give much love to Peter Weller's performance in this movie. He worked his ass off for this film. He started working with a mime/motion coach early on and started out wanting to move very fluid and serpentine at first. Thing was, the suit design wasn't even done yet, and by the time he got a look at early designs and saw what it would look like and knew his original concept was out the door. So he had to start over working on moving roboticly. I believe he didn't get the suit until they started early shooting, so he had to work overtime in the suit to get his movements down. Funny enough, any shots of Robo driving, he's only wearing the top half of the suit. I remember an interview with the actor that played Clarence when he said he felt drained and worn out from the film, due to playing such an intense role, he would watch Peter working his ass off sweating in the suit between takes, and he felt that maybe he didn't have so much to complain about. Lol. The makeup effects were done by Rob Bottin who did the makeup effects on THE THING. And this movie was one of the last times stop motion effects were used in film by the incredible Phil Tippet, who managed to change with the times and evolve with movies like JURASSIC PARK, remaining a pioneer in movie FX. Also, the ER doctors were not actors. They were an actual ER unit. They just got told to go through the normal motions they normally would with cases like that. I feel that it worked very well. There was just so much thought, care, precision, and a heaping spoonful of over the top violence put into this film. It's great. Also also, you can catch the director making a cameo in this movie too. He's in the nightclub scene, he's the one shot of the dude dancing crazy in the camera. I'd buy that for a dollar!!!

“Bitches leave!” Best line delivery ever. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

James: 6:57 “That was SO brutal!” Me: 😂 It’s only the beginning.

Thank you for this! It's one of my favourite films. Glad you enjoyed it!

This is damn near a perfect movie. Its so economical, there's not a single wasted second in the entire film, every single camera movement has a purpose.

Oh yeah, and 80s movies were outrageously brutal. It was just a thing, we were all used to it back then.

I still remember seeing this in the theater when I was in high school. The effects, the story it was all just fantastic.

I was living in Dallas, Texas when this film came out, so I immediately recognized the lower floors of the corporate office tower was really Dallas City Hall. The upper floors were just some FX.

One of my personal favorites here. Glad you enjoyed it big man.

My nephew grew up on this, his favorite movie at 4 years old. He constantly repeated "Can you fly, Bobby?" From age 4 to 8.

For me, this movie is perfect. I'd recommend digging into the behind the scenes, they consulted a mime teacher to design how Robocop would move but once Peter Weller tried on the suit, none of that worked and they had to completely change it. The guy who dies by toxic waste has had some gnarly deaths in his career to where it ought to be a meme...he got offed by a helicopter in ER and pretty brutally strangled in 24.

One of my favorite films ever. And that main score, Basil you mad genius

There's a great presentation that Peter Weller gives where he talks about moving in the suit. It's very interesting how they ended up approaching Robocop's movements on screen.

My favorite movie growing up. It has so many angles to view it. You can see it as the story of a robot who has a dream of being once a man as he goes for his redemption

James keeping putting a smile on our faces. GOD BLESS YA BROTHER !

man I haven't watched this in a WHILE, what a throwback, awesome video as always much love

A great example of a hero who despite his circumstances and environment became a hero, not by design, but by choice.

I love how you figured out what the movie was really about before it even started!

They didn't use green screen all the time, used squibs instead of CG and didn't bury the image underneath 20 layers of color grading in the 80s. It simply was more raw and less artificial. They allowed for an element of random chaos instead of micro-managing every single inch in the frame. That's why the action looks so cool!

I love that you get this movie 🥰 It's one of the slickest and most satisfying movies of all time. The music, the sound effects (gun holster, glass breaking, his gun sound, his walk sound, the computer when he's looking through criminal records, the BONG when he gets kicked in the Ken crotch, him kicking in the door to the factory), the way he moves, Dick Jones and Clarence Boddicker, the violence 😍, the funny moments, the emotional moments, YOU'RE FIRED.....just brilliant. 9/10. And not 10 because I just can't give any movie I've seen a 10.

Paul Verhoeven is a genuine genious at his time, no hassle, no doubt

Few people know that Paul Verhoeven is a highly educated intellectual, with an insatiable thirst for knowledge, a love for political debate, an obsession with history, religion and morality, and a great sense of humor. He studied at Leiden University in The Netherlands and has doctorate degrees in Math and Physics.

5:33 I've seen this movie multiple times but only now when you talk about the camera movement i realized you can see the reflections of the camera team in the lower right TV screens here

Hi James. Notice his voice change after he has his dream and speaks to Lewis. Its a representation of Murphy gradually rediscovering his humanity. The machine behind the mask, with the metallic voice, to a more natural voice, and eventually, the removal of his helmet to reveal his face. A journey, mapped out incredibly well be those subtle cues. As for the theme music, from the first section (intro), its a mixture of the sound of technology and corporatism. Then the next section goes onto the idea of the 'birth' of the 'monster' as if Frankenstein's creation has come alive. The next section - which everyone knows - has a 'Lone Ranger' kind of vibe to it. Then it carries onto the softer part which represents Murphy's humanity. It finally closes off with the drama and danger of having to deal with it. Its a very, very clever score.

I really enjoy your commentary on the filmmaking swell as the story. It gives me insights explaining more about why I love film. :)

"Oh my God, that was so brutal. Why on earth was this so brutal?" Oh, you just wait for it, buddy. 😀