Director Paul Verhoeven is from the Netherlands. As a child during WW2, he saw the Nazis invading his country but also the Americans bombing his city in order to "free" his people. He grew up having no sympathy for any of them. When he started making movies in Hollywood during the 80s and the 90s, he brought his European view on the American culture and it didn't disappoint. He was able to get away with it through a dark sense of humour. See also Starship Troopers and Showgirls. He was seen as provocative for his depiction of nudity and violence, although he wanted to normalize nudity (men and women) and depict violence for what it is: gruesome, bloody and not fun, unlike what Hollywood was used to show on the small and big screen (mainly for censorship reasons). He also hated comic books and found them stupid. Yet, Robocop is recognized as one of the best unofficial comic book movie ever.
You are not only one of the very few reactors, who understood why Lewis and Emil recognized Murphy (the gun swirl and the catchphrase), but you also noticed that the guy from the gas station left in time before the explosion. Thank you very much for being so attentive, please stay that way. :)
The other reactors always annoyed me that at the gas station Emil remember what Murphy said to him the first time not recognizing his lips and how they said the gas station attendant died in the explosion.
You're right about Lewis, she survives and turns up in the sequel! The original cut of the movie ended with Murphy visiting her in the hospital, but test audiences went so wild for the scene where Murphy tells the CEO his name, that they decided (correctly) that that was the right note to end on.
"I'd buy that for a dollar!" Fun Fact: Nancy Allen first arrived on set when Paul Verhoeven was shooting the deliberately cheesy sitcom "It's Not My Problem" which appears on television screens throughout the film. Allen was initially horrified to think that she had signed on to make a film with an incompetent director. Movie Magic Fact: Most shots of Robocop and the police car show him getting out or preparing to get in. Peter Weller didn't fit into the police car in full costume. When he needed to be in the car, he wore the top part of the costume and sat in his underwear. To maintain the illusion that RoboCop wears the entire suit while inside a car, most shots show his robotic feet exiting first. What Script Fact: For the attempted rape scene, writer Edward Neumeier originally had RoboCop (Peter Weller) shoot past the victim's cheek, hitting and killing the rapist. While getting ready to shoot the scene as scripted, Paul Verhoeven noticed that Donna Keegan's legs were spread apart, giving him the idea to have RoboCop shoot between her legs and hit the rapist in the genitals. Neumeier loved the idea and that was how the scene was shot.
Paul Verhoeven who felt he didn't do Sci-fi films well delivered to us three of the greatest Sci-Fi films ever, Total Recall, Starship Troopersa and Robocop. All three are must watch films!
'Dead or alive, you're coming with me.' That catchphrase is suitable for RoboCop. He means what he says, and when he wants you to surrender, you better make that decision lol That club scene tho 🤣 What was that guy thinking?
You mentioned that Murphy was killed on the same day that he got transferred to the new police precinct (36:46). In the board-room scene, after the ED-209 malfunction, they mention that--as part of the RoboCop program--they restructured the police department "...to place prime candidates according to risk factor". This implies that Murphy was one of these candidates who was transferred to a more dangerous part of the city on the hope that he would get killed so they could repurpose his body for the cyborg project.
2:21 "Police Officers don't strike" If i'm a cop, I would before taking orders from a sleazy company like OCP . 2:39- Cop cars were the brand new Ford Taurus... Company used the movie to debut it, best advertising they could've got, sold millions, many still on the road today. 25:26 Yeah, I still LOL at that..like a spoiled toddler having a tantrum. Don't worry about Lewis..she was wearing Body armour, recovers in time for Robocop 2 (Not as good) Sad thing is, not matter what the mayor says, Old Detroit is still crime-heavy now and the city's bankrupt...some urban renewal efforts, but a long way to go.
I worked in a video store in the late 80's, and the company hired an actor to come in as Robocop to promote the movie coming out on home video. The costume was very impressive, it even made that noise when he walked, I believe. I had a Polaroid of the guy throttling my neck, it was a lot of fun.
At the time Ronny Cox (who played Dick Jones) was better known for playing friendly roles, so seeing him playing a villain here was probably quite a shock to the system, especially for those who knew him as Andrew Bogomil from _Beverly Hills Cop_ (1984) and _Beverly Hills Cop II_ (1987).
Kurtwood Smith was also used to playing corporate, gentleman politician types so having him play a thug gang leader was also a shock. Not to mention Paul McCrane was also a crooner and Ray Wise played a scientist in Swamp Thing.
@@burnikshrapnelPaul McCrane I knew before this was as playing nice guy roles in Rocky 2, Fame, The Hotel New Hampshire. Ray Wise I knew playing different roles on TV since the 70s. Ronny Cox also played one of my favorite films Harper Valley PTA.
The reason Murphy took a 'hella long time to shutdown" after Directive 4 is that the ROBOT part of him DID shut down, but not the HUMAN part. It's one of the many subtle clues that the movie is trying to tell you that his soul is still in there. To me, this elevates Robocop above mere sci-fi action and into art: it's poses the question: what IS human? How much can be taken from you and you're still you? How little of you can remain and you still be alive? Along a similar vein, his lower jaw is all metal. In fact, Murphy has NO face. He's bulletproof all over his head. According to the original source material: a Japanime story, they left the "face" on because it is believed that if a person is alive but cannot see their own face, it will drive them insane. This probably why there is a limit on how long you're allowed to keep someone in solitary confinement. So, the fake face was applied to keep their robot/human subject a prisoner who can still work for them and follow orders and not just go crazy when they see themselves in the mirror. It's an exercise in thought: imagine if you wake up and think "i'm alive. who am i? WHAT DO I LOOK LIKE?" ANd you find a mirror and see that nothing recognizable stares back at you. So....the idea that the MEMORY of who you are will anchor you to your conscious reality.
SO MANY people miss that RoboCop's jaw is a moot point because it's a robot head with Murphy's face stretched over it. Also, as per humanity, it's important for people to see a human associated with the police dep't instead of a robot they feel like they can't trust.
@@Paulo_1701 Thank you. To me, it's still one of the best parts of the movie: when a robot is shut off. It's off. The only thing keeping Robocop alive is MURPHY's will to live. Like most people who are alive, he doesnt want to die....and that fight for life is what you see. Fighting to live is a very human thing, whereas allowing yourself to be shut down is very robot thing. Also, later in the movie when he said "I'm not arrest you anymore, Clarence," you can now tell that SOME of Murphy is now ignoring his (robot) programming (Directive 1 : "uphold the law," ) in favor of justice and (very human) retribution. He's still half-and-half as he needed Jones to be fired, but he's clearly not simply a machine anymore.
@@slchance8839 I've absolutely loved this movie since the original theatrical release. Great characters, great action but most of that man in the machine struggle with the soul gives it so much emotional weight.
@@Paulo_1701100% While not as good Robocop 2 touched off a LITTLE on Murphy's humanity by showing us NON-Murphy's going haywire in the Robocop 2 montage. One of them shot himself. One of them screamed and pulled himself part. One of them just died. Even the antagonist had trouble reconciling his identity. It became clearer to me that the crux of the Murphy Robocop was the SOUL Murphy. His law-and-order nature and "pretty neat," choir boy nature are what helped him find meaning in Justice in his second life ("Excuse me. I have to go. Somewhere, there is a crime being committed.") THe second robocops didnt have that inner sense of justice to anchor their humanity to their machine and ultimately failed.
Thank you so much, #AriaC, for uploading this awesome movie reaction. I love your content so much because it's absolutely amazing, and I really enjoy watching your reactions to different movies.
Sometimes, I am REALLY 'slow on the uptake'. I only recently realized, after watching/loving this movie HUNDREDS of times that Murphy's face skin is stretched over a robot head. That's why RoboCop Murphy sounds robotic, not like the man. It also took me that long to realize that the immense level of gore is ACTUALLY what connects the audience to the humanity undertones. Fun fact; the magazines that the first criminal RoboCop 'arrests' in the Mart are Cyborg and Iron Man comics.
The whole thing with ED-209 poked fun at American business at the time. It was designed to look & sound impressive enough to get sold, only for customers to discover it didn't work right. American-made cars at the time had the same reputation; that was part of the reason the movie was set in Detroit. God, I love this movie! My favorite movie of all-time!
I worked as a practical special effects artist for years and Robocop is one of my all time favorites because I'm also a fan. Robocop is a special effects bonanza and the thing about the gore (especially the toxic waste melting guy) is that there is some real talent on the screen there! The design of that melting effect as well as the acting of the performer under all that rubber and goo is absolutely brilliant. You were only partly correct about this not being a comedy film because there's a ton of laughs in it and very intentionally so. That becomes more apparent the more times you watch this film, I've seen it oodles of times and the jokes in it get funnier over time because everyone's first time is like yours... where it's so deadly serious that you don't have time to recover from terrifying scenes to be in the right state of mind for the parts that are funny. I guess it's what would be called a 'dark comedy'. There are memorable moments in every scene and every performance by every actor is top notch. Even the people who got only bit parts as victims and criminals were awesome. There's the first crime scene where the rando criminal robs the grocery store, the actress who plays the woman at the cash register has not one line of dialog but her acting when the bad guy pulls the gun on her and threatens to shoot her was completely believable that it's worthy of applause. I really enjoyed your reaction video partly because you really pay attention to what's happening. A lot of people who make reaction videos talk too much, to the point where they're important missing stuff that happens. Others who react to this video miss the connection to when Murphy says "Dead or alive, you're coming with me" the second time later in the film and so they can't understand why the criminal recognises him from only the lower half of his face... when it's what Murphy says that's the real reason... YOU got that. You clearly respect the idea that every line of dialog is there for a reason and I appreciate that.
First all I just want to say thank you for being a few out there that doesn't blur the gore nor guns. This is what a reaction should be like and please don't go changing too. But please don't take too long to do Robocop 2 like a year or so lol. Fun fact was that the movie was almost not made. The director read couple pages of the script then he threw it away. The wife saw it and started reading it, then convince her husband to actually read it and the rest is history right there.
This movie was a satire. If you think about it, yes it was graphic and extreme, but just about every scene it happens it was exaggerated to a ridiculous level. So ridiculous it was funny at times.
What makes this movie so effective is that while it has all the awesome action it's really a drama at its core. Murphy's tragic story permeates the whole film and makes you care for him that much more. Add in the brilliant social commentary, the humor and an iconic score by Basil Poledouris and you got yourself an almost perfect motion picture.
dude see my comment , this movie can not be peged in any one genre or even two genres, it covers aspects of almost ALL genres. Comedy , horror , sci-fi, drama and thriller. only genre's it doesn't tickle is documentary (because it's fiction) and fantasy (no dragons or magic stuff)
I like this channel so much. Aria seems like such a caring, gentle, sweetheart that you just have to like her. But then you get, "It was very satisfying watching all those villains die. . ." Then you gotta love her.
I absolutely loved this movie as a child. I just didn't realize at the time how absolutely effed up and disturbing of a movie this was for a kid to be seeing. This is a commentary on violence and the runaway marketing of the 80's. "I'll buy that for a dollar!" For sure. If you thought Red Forman was grumpy in That 70's Show... 💙 From Detroit
I remember specifically that i thought..... "daaaamn thats fucked up!" 🤣 even more ducked up but fun to watch. In spite of what people may say...... was robocop 2!!!! 😳😲
Super reaction Aria! Your reaction is reminiscent of my sisters' when we all saw this movie back in '91. Even had this show on VHS to a point where I'd watch it so often that I wore out the magnetic strip 🙉
3:59 Now it's standard procedure, when a new weapon is being demonstrated, for initial board-room demonstrations to have it either _not_ loaded, or loaded with _blanks._ Under absolutely _no_ circumstances should the lives of any of the _executives_ be in danger.
Good reaction! The director, Paul Verhoeven, is well known for his not-so-subtle social commentary. Hence the TV cuts and corporate malfeasance. For more, you could check out "Starship Troopers".
Murphy's death was deliberately made extremely brutal so we would feel for him as there hadn't been enough time for us to really build up a proper emotional connection to the character.
Aria, Dutch director Paul Verhoeven was heavily influenced by the horrors of World War 2 and so many of his films deal with violence in a graphic, unflinching way. He tends to throw in social satire and commentary in many of his films. Famous academy-award winning animator Phil Tippett (who did the stop-motion puppeteering on this film) came into his own working on the original Star Wars films. The other Robocop films really drop off in quality, so you may want to skip them for now.
Greetings from Czech Republic :-) that was awsome reaction :-) I can't wait for another reaction :-) i'm bored from type reaction but your reactions are very good :D :D :D Don't stop pls :-D :D :D
If you haven't seen them, check out Starship Troopers and Total Recall. They're from the same director. Starship Troopers, especially - it's a favorite of mine.
There are elements of comedy in RoboCop, more so in Total Recall - which stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, so lots of cheesy lines. And Starship Troopers is much more clearly a dark comedy, but still an action movie.
19:38 Aria seems like the type of girl to make sure her family stays "in tact" no baby daddy, no child support. She just wants to see her son and his father be happy! 😆 thats rare now a days.
This is such a good action movie. And I really love how you are reacting to this movie. And I really like watching this movie with you. And the very first time that I ever saw this movie was when I was only 11 years old when I was watching this movie on VHS and Home Video.
The actor, Dan O’Herlihy, was a well-respected actor from the 1960s through to the 80s. His other big 1980s sci-fi role was as the alien sidekick in THE LAST STARFIGHTER.
28:12 "Is she happy? Is the _kid_ happy?" I think it's too soon for that question, Aria. They both clearly had a healthy _relationship_ with Murphy, and as far as they know, he's dead, now. They have to grieve for a little while.
Peter Weller, who plays Robocop, is such a cool brainbox in real life. In 2015 he finally got his doctorate in Italian art history, but he'd already been teaching it strong New York etc universities for years. In Rococop, when he says things like "your move, creep" or "come quietly or there'll be trouble", I wondered if the film is a subtle homage to the Judge Dredd comic strips. I've seen people online saying there was a 2002 interview where director Verhoeven confirmed this. Obviously, there have been two actual movies of Judge Dredd but I can't say either of them do its whole crazy bubblegum-coloured skyscrapers, circus atmosphere and brutal deadpan hero cop stuff fully enough.
Robocop is one of those movies that transcends multiple genres. it's sci-fi , it's action , it's got comedy , it's got horror , it's got drama , and thriller vibes. It's why this movie is just one of the greatest classics of all time. it's also one of the few movies in history that nearly got an X-rating despite having next to no nudity and not one drop of pornographic sex or even "in the dark" sex.\ fun fact: robocop is not actually a robot , he is a text book cyborg. that beign a life form that requires both organic and machien components tot function as a living organism. fun fact 2 : the terminator , which is often called a cyborg is not a true cyborg since it is 100% function with out it's skin. Fun fact 3: they never specified a year or even a decade that robocop takes place in. so it could still be seen as the future from waht ever year you watch it in.
I would love to do a Robocop cosplay, down to the opening thigh compartments and sliding gun holsters, but that would be time-consuming and expensive to replicate. Also, if you don't recognize the actor who played Clarence Bodicker, that's Kurtwood Smith....AKA Red Forman from That 70s Show.
Thank you Aria for reacting this classic one of my favorites RoboCop directed by Paul Verhoeven starring Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Ronny Cox, Daniel O'Herlihy, Miguel Ferrer, Kurtwood Smith and music score by Basil Poledouris. This film has two sequels and one remake RoboCop 2 (1990) RoboCop 3 (1993) and RoboCop (2014)
the tv shows are great but for the films, I'd skip pt 3. It's pretty garbage. The remake is good for what it is - It's satirizing drone warfare and the MIC.
22:27 I imagine it would be much like what happens with The Terminator. The flesh would be damaged but it probably wouldn't really do a whole lot to stop him.
It was rumored that to explain Robert Burke portraying robocop in the 3rd film instead of Peter weller was that when he got set on fire in the opening scene there was some sort of plastic surgery done to him to repair the damage but was dropped in the final version. I don’t think anything would happen if he wear to be shot in the face or mouth, apparently Murphy’s face was grafted onto a mechanical face/head with his brain encapsulated within. Now weather or not they used any bone material for his face is never confirmed but I believe so along with the inside of his mouth and possibly esophagus similar to how he was in the remake with the heart and lungs. If you think about it it’s an extremely impressive medical surgical procedure that ocp can provide 😂 “I’ll buy that for a dollar!”
19:44 Here, they showcase a key fact about Alex Murphy. His life at home wasn't too bad. He had a healthy relationship with his son. He had a healthy relationship with his wife. He was the kind of guy people tended to get _along_ with. He wasn't livin' it up in the lap of _luxury,_ but he was doing pretty well for himself.
Robocop, Verhoeven's first coup in his masterpiece Science Fiction trilogy. You probably will also love Total Recall (1990) and Starship Troopers (1997).
New York had a police strike in protest of complaints about brutality ( choking someone to death over selling loose cigarettes) if I recall correctly crime went down during the strike
