I was at the Dollar Tree and the Blu-ray of RoboCop was in the bin. I yelled "I'd buy that for a dollar" and disturbed a few people, but I was pretty proud of taking advantage of that moment.
If it was the last one in the bin and some other person was going to grab it, you could've also used the line "Your move creep", or "Dead or alive, you're coming with me" when you're down to your last dollar.
@@B33FY2011 no I haven't but thanks for the info I'll check it out right now. That thump thump of his walk was just perfect for him. It really showed the viewers, even if they didn't realise it, js5 how mechanical he was and how heavy.
I used to like this movie because of the cool sci-fi premise, as I've grown older I've come to appreciate the biting social commentary a lot more. Plus the soundtrack is ageless.
RoboCop is one of those rare stories that is somehow even more relevant now than when it was made. Amazon is literally an "omni consumer products" corporation, and it has divisions for AI and robotics, and it routinely works closely with the police doing things like giving them warrantless realtime access to Ring doorbell cameras. All that sort of thing was fictional in the 1980's. It's a shame so few people really "got" what it was talking about back in the day.
2 is just as good. Although the development of Murphy is a rarity in robocop. The filming techniques used to characterize him and his development as well as his perspective literally and within that narrative, isn't something very many filmmakers have the skill for in modern films. There's a reason robocop will be timeless but most moder films you forget about a week later.
@@HealthySkepticism1775 Just before Hollow Man, almost 25 years ago, I was praising him on RoboCop, Total Recall, and Starship Troopers. He sent me a black and white image of himself on the set of Starship Troopers, and drew 3 boobs on himself with his Sharpie 🤣🤣. Talk about Last Resort 😁
I worked for a computer games magazine in the late 80's-early 90's and we were invited to Pinewood Studios for a screening of this movie (a computer game tie in was planned so I think that's why we were invited). To this day it is still one of my favourite action movies. I'd buy that for a dollar 😄
@@dragonmac1234 I never read it but I do know of it and I also know it was quite popular. I think Robocop on the ZX Spectrum was also well received. Did you know that Crash was 'revived' in a form? It now focuses on reviewing newly made Indie games as well as oldies of the ZX Spectrum.
@@TheDutchGhost Yes, I have heard that Crash has been revived for the modern day (I think Zzap 64 our Commodore 64 sister magazine also received a revival). It's good to know interest in the ZX Spectrum is still there.
@@dragonmac1234 My brother used to have one back in the day and when I was young I played games like Jet Pac and Psst! on it. By my first home computer was the MSX2, and later on I moved on to console gaming before I switched to the PC. But these last twenty years I developed an interest in retrogaming. Games on old home computers I had played but also games that I never had the chance to play. And while looking into this I also discovered that there was quite an active retro developer scene for home computers like the ZX Spectrum, C64, Amiga and Atari ST, and other home computers. I have been playing a number of newly made games on the emulators such as Aliens Infestation, Dead Zone, Castlevania Spectral Interlude, Power Blade: Shadow of Delta, Rocky Memphis - The Legend of Atlantis, Shadow over Hawksmill. I do wonder how you and the others would have reacted if some of these titles from the last ten years had been released on the Speccy during your review days.
There's this wonderful camera trick Verhoeven uses with RoboCop - when we first see him as a cyborg, the camera tends towards frog's eye view angles, emphasizing his power and superiority. But as he slowly regains humanity, the camera moves up more and more until it mostly stays around or even above him. And then in the board room...frog's eye view again. But it's _Murphy's power,_ not the cyborg's.
And that's why films like Robocop are timeless. It's also not just perspective for Murphy's development, but framing, positioning, how much Murphy is seen, how he sounds when he talks, how he uses his voice when he talks, what he does with he walks, etc. Robocop, the entire time, is building to his humanity scene by scene and frame by frame and we watch that journey from start to finish. Most modern films lack the creativity and effort to make a character like that and give it the depth and respect Verhoeven did with Robocop. Which is one of the reasons why it will be timeless and the vast majority of modern films you forget a week later.
I cannot belive it took only 12 milion. The fine details on the art design were all over the place. All the characters had a unique charisma, even the smallest parts. The cast worked so well that I don't think that Ironside or Schwartzenneger could make the film any better. And the immersive tone of the whole movie in this cheap cyberpunk setting is unmatched in its generation.
Damn straight. The whole "face search" sequence to identify Emil Antonowski was really cutting edge for its time. Pure sci-fi at the time, but apparently in use right now by police...just like with the black riot gear and face-shielded helmets for the OCP police force; another instance of Robocop pre-empting reality. :P
Pouledoris was absolutely one of the best ever. Conan, Robocop, Total Recall and Starship Troopers all had amazingly fabulous scores. All of them are bombastic and epic enough to have been written by a German composer! :P
This movie is a masterpiece. I showed it to a friend about a year ago who thought it would probably look outdated and too "80's"... he considers it one of the best movies ever made. tbh, it's amazing how well this movie holds up even today.
At the age of 10, I loved it for the violence. At the age of 20, I loved it for its political commentary At the age of 30, I loved it for its satire At the age of 40, I just love it, all of it, every last detail
One of the more interesting characters in Robocop is Miguel Ferrer’s Bob Morton. You start out sort of rooting for him, because he is in competition with the definitely evil Dick Jones and he’s the underdog at OCP. It’s only when you listen that you realize that he doesn’t give a crap about the humans who might be in that suit. Not only does he tell his team to remove Murphy’s arm, but it was his orders that transferred cops to that beleaguered station as fodder for Bodecker and his ilk just to get more Robocop candidates into the pipeline. He richly deserved that grenade.
I always appreciated that the movie concludes that he’s only the lesser of two evils. Would have been so easy to go the ‘rotten apple’ route with Dick and presented Bob as the model, ‘moral corporate executive’. Glad they stuck to their guns and made sure they stayed on message.
The "news report" feature is one that Verhoven returns to in Starship Troopers, another movie which satirizes American society, violence, and capitalism.
Compared to those who deal in "subversion of expectations" in today's Hollywood, Verhoeven did a truly intelligent subversion with Starship Troopers. Robert Heinlein's book was a more serious take on militarism and criticisms at the time called it "fascist" because military service was a prerequisite to voting in the world of the book. Considering when it was written and Heinlein's military experience, it is a product of it's time. Verhoeven took that concept, dialed it up to 11 (the sweet spot for satire, 10% beyond believability), and created a master satire of a fascistic, militant society. I remember the howling of book purists about the subversion of the themes, but I think time has shown that both stand on their own merits. I loved Heinlein's book and I love Verhoeven's movie. It is truly subversion done correctly. Brilliant film!
Paul Verhoeven is my favorite Director and RoboCop is up there as one of my favorite movies ever. I love this film. It really captured the era of the Reagan 80s and I feel it’s starting to resonate again today.
A great movie that aged well along side me growing up. From a fun, cool action flick when I was a kid to a biting satire as I became older and more aware this is a movie I can always watch and gain immense pleasure.
Many actors who played in RoboCop ineeed also played guest star roles in Star Trek series and films including Peter Weller himself as John Frederick Paxton in Star Trek Enterprise's two parter Demons and Terra prime! Yet again a very nice retrospective! Really enjoyed watching!👍🏻
I saw this as the 'B' movie at a 20 cent drive in movie night. This became my yardstick of film excellence, with Starship Troopers and Total recal in the same list.
I liked the gun Robocop used . That "f!kin gun" with that burst mode when fired is simply awesome. I think it's a heavily modified Baretta , but I don't know for sure . Great 80's scifi masterpiece !
The 2014 film had one moment that got me. The moment Murphy sees himself and exclaims "oh, there is nothing left!" The imprecise nature, sounds like somebody shocked and just reacting without having thought out the right words. The desperation of the character is right there and palatable
I agree - that's the highlight of that film. It's such a waste though, get a director known for ultra violet cop films then restrict him to a stupid family friendly rating
Cheers Rowan. An excellent Essay. Muchly appreciated. Robocop could have been a disaster in the hands of a lesser Director. Fortunately, we have one damn fine Film to celebrate.
What I find interesting is the original screenwriter had a pretty clear vision of what he wanted his story to tell but constantly had a challenging up hill battle to convince EVERYONE (studio execs, the director, actors) that this wasn't some goofy direct to video bargain bin action movie shlock but a action movie with some very deliberate messages and social commentary
_Robocop_ is the best _Judge Dredd_ adaptation that exists. With it's tongue in cheek ultra-violence & political satire, it's fitting that Miner & Neumeier provided _2000 AD_ comics to Verhoeven as reference.
The difference there is that whereas Judge Dredd is an amoral character, Murphy/RoboCop is anything but. Dress fails in adaptations when he's treated as a hero.
This movie also disturbed me when I was like 10. The junior executive in the board room. Wasn't quite ready for the movie then. Picked it back up a few years later, and it is one of my favorite movies.
I was 13 when Robocop came out and thus to young to legally watch it, though I thought it looked cool as hell. I played it on several home computer formats (C64, Spectrum etc) and drew a 1m tall Robocop on my bedroom wall! A few years later one of our my friends who was passable as 18 was able to hire it on VHS and we watched it and were blown away. I've seen it multiple times since and it still kicks ass today. A real classic of the genre. Anyway thanks for making a great Retrospective, it made my morning!
Great retrospective. Robocop is one of my all time favourite films, let alone sci-fi/action, its always one I love to re-watch. My favourite behind the scenes info is how Peter Weller said he tried to use bird like movements to portray Robocop - its dedication from an actor that comes across so well on screen.
One of my favourite Verhoeven films, stands up great. Looking forward to Part 2! Would be great to see you do a retrospective on Starship Troopers in future
Verhoeven made some timeless masterpieces with Robocop and Total Recall, the man is a genius. this is one of the greatest Sci Fi and action films ever made and still looks amazing today.
I always thought that if Lewis had been given more to do, we'd be talking about her the same way we talk about Ellen Ripley or Sarah Connor as an example of a kickass sci-fi heroine done well. Not that she isn't, but she doesn't get quite the chance to shine that the character and the actor deserves.
best movie almost ever, I can come back to this movie and watch it many times and time just flies. Im born in the 80s, the feel of this movie and movies of this era is so raw, cant be replicated in todays polish.
The scene when the criminals are torturing the main character is deeply horrific. The acting is horrifically good, the shock of it is depicted horrifically well. It made it nice to watch the toxic waste guy suffer. That's how I remember it. This is after they reduced it to R rating? Wow. ED-209 fan though.
I had the pleasure of sneaking into this movie with my best friend as a young teen. Even then it seemed so far past the usual 80's movies we had seen together. Damn those were the days.
This is one of those movies that I heard about so much as a classic, that I never actually understood the significance that it was a movies with THEMES. Until watching it as an adult, I genuinely thought it would just be violent for no purpose. Of course, Starship Troopers is among my favorites for the same reasons
This is nearly a perfect film and one of my favorites since I was a kid. The only thing that ever bothered me was the scene where Robocop saves the woman from those two animals. They cut the end of the scene way too short. They should’ve held on to her face for just a few more seconds. That would’ve given us more time to see her realization that she’s pouring her heart out to a machine and not a man. I’ve always felt like they missed a great emotional opportunity there.
I loved the news breaks. They were an unique idea but really work / add to world-building. For contemporary viewers it was familiar, and for new viewers years later it set it up.
a really nice retrospective. Really enjoyable. I know you're doing a Verhoeven trilogy but please do Robocop 2 as some point. I like R2, i think it gets more hate than it deserves.
I had the pleasure of "working" on this film during its production in Dallas, as some of the scenes were filmed at Plaza of the Americas in Dallas, where I was safety and security manager at the time. There was a huge buzz around having the film crew on site although we all agreed that the "Robocop" title was about as dorky as you could get. The Detroit police station was filmed across the street at what was then the old Crozier Tech high school building, and a lot of us watched them shooting there as well. Robocop remains one of my all-time favorite films and this is an excellent essay on its creation and insights. Well done, Rowan!
Oh, man. One of my favorite movies ever. Was probably too young to see at the age of 5 or 6, but the movie has stuck with me all these years. I'm now 37 and I still love this one and it's one of my favorite movies.
1987, holy smokes...I was about to get out of the Navy, and was only 6 years after I had left HIGH SCHOOL..Man, I am old. Oh well. When this came out, it was BIG for us military people. In the US Navy, and this MAYBE something you did not know, while we are out at sea, we got ALL the movies sometimes BEFORE they hit the theater. I mean really, at the time, who are we going to tell, we were in the middle of the Ocean. I remember THIS movie because every guy, in every what we call berthing compartment (where we slept and lived) was in front of the TV. I think they played it 4 times in a row so EVERYONE on the ship, that might of been on duty and missed it could see it. It was one of those special movies EVERYONE had to see... and see multiple times. I can't even count how many times I have seen it, but I have fond memories with my Navy buddies watching it... Good Times.
I love this movie, as a kid I watched it over n over, but watching now as an adult I inderstsnd the plot etc more than I did,, love it, true classic and my all time fav movie
You are not a RU-vidr, you are a craftsman. I keep coming back over and over to your pieces and every time I end up saying to myself "Aw nuts...it's over."
I already loved this channel for your Star Trek retrospectives, but now I love it even more, when you started to reference Star Trek everywhere, RLM style :)
You and I love the same movies for the same reasons. I cant wait for real stuff like this to come back. Great movies, great people, worked hard to produce with original ideas.
The ties to Star Trek are indeed numerous. I remember when I saw Into Darkness and Admiral Marcus came on screen, someone just called out "OMG it's Robocop!". Whole theatre started laughing.
Another great piece Rowan, thank you. "Not a lot of actors can work with just their chin" ...hmmm, I know it a much more modern film than you usually do, but that line made me imediately think that a retrospective of the 2012 Judge Dredd would make a worthy addition to the retrospective series! Is that film a worthy successor to this one in its themes? They share some DNA of course...I'd love to see your thoughts on it one day.
@Latest Obsession I feel like "Robocop" has the same kind of relationship with storytelling as the movie "Super Troopers". It is a very subtle parody of the institutions they represent, but also a very overt and over-the-top parody at the same time. I love both movies. Also, I kinda liked the new Robocop but only because I really like Joel Kinnaman and was happy to see him get a starring role. It could have been a lot better but at least he did a good job acting in it.
Me in 2011 on Twitter: Wow. The dad from That 70’s Show is a total badass in Robocop. A friend of mine who was a retired actor: I was in a play with a friend of Kurtwood Smith and he took us all out for dinner. Very nice guy. Me: Whoa, cool. I still get a kick out of the car ad. Funny stuff.
Graphic violence that achieved an X-rating back in the day is featured heavily in a RU-vid retrospective without any age restrictions. My, my how the times have changed! We are living RoboCop right now
It's mind-boggling the number of 'kids' that saw this -- myself included. Our parents were clueless. And the fact that this movie supposedly satirizes Reagonomics and 80s capitalism while selling toys from an X-rated movie...well, no one seems to talk about that. Today, I would consider showing this movie to kids a form a child abuse.
I can still clearly remember watching Robocop in the small cinema of a passenger ferry between somewhere in Denmark (Copenhagen, maybe?) and London, UK. It was such an incredible experience, and even then in my teenage youth in the summer of 1988 (we didn't get US movies immediately over here back then) and my own inherent joy for action movie carnage, I could still pick up on a lot of the social satire of the film. Such was the strength of the direction, the script, and the acting. Not to mention that fabulous score, chills still travel down my spine when I hear that throaty synth sound when Murphy sees his own face for the first time after becoming Robo reflected in that dented, dusty piece of metal. That whole sequence never ceases to move me. This is the strength of Robocop, it's not just a schlocky B-type action movie like say, Arnold's Commando or whatever (even though it has plenty of that!), it has onion layers upon onion layers underneath the surface. And stellar actors everywhere. I mean - who can forget Keva Rosenberg, Unemployed Person?! :D I don't think Robocop will ever cease to be the greatest action movie, in my view. It has such tremendous heart, and soul. Dang, now I gotta go watch it again! lol
I saw Robo Cop when I was 14 years old in the movies and it was very violent and dark at the time. I remember it as being one of the first films of the time (like Batman 89) that began the new dark and violent era of 90s movies that we now are used to. It also showed what the future would be like, and surprisingly much of it has come true.
I credit this movie with significantly and positively influencing the development of my empathy as a child. My parents let me watch it when I was about 5 years old, probably not being aware of just how violent it was (they tended to restrict graphic violence much more than they restricted sex in the films my siblings and I watched), and that scene where Murphy is killed really hit home with me and shook me to my core. That part where Kurtwood Smith puts a foot on Murphy's arm and then blows off his hand stood out to me more than any other, and my response was very introspective. I had a lot of thoughts at that point, including, "What if that was _my_ hand being shot off like that?" and "What kind of a cruel, evil person would you have to be to do that to another person?" Obviously, I was 5 years old, so my thoughts weren't quite that articulate, but I really put myself in Murphy's place, thought about how horrible it would be if someone did that to me, and I really think that whole thought process had a strong effect on my sense of empathy and taught me from an early age that, if I didn't want these kinds of terrible things being done to me, I probably shouldn't ever do anything like that to another person. More importantly, I didn't want to _be_ the kind of person who would do that to another human being (or animal, for that matter). Of course, I doubt I ever would've done anything like that anyway, but it materially reinforced a set of ethics that can be summed up by the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," or, conversely, "Don't do unto others what you would _not_ have them do unto you."
Hello RJC great Analysis of Robocop. I Loved Robocop one of best Sci-Fi Films out there so excited for your in-depth look on Total recall(1990) and Starship Troopers.
I've devoured hours of RJC content the last month or so having been fed a Star Trek video by the algorithm and gone through the rest of them like John Hurt scoffing his last meal in Alien. I got to go and see RoboCop at the cinema when it first came out and have watched it way too many times since. Even now I still pick up on things I've missed previously and this video gave me more things to look out for on my next rewatch. Top work.
Great Video RJC but I really worry for this video because the rights holders of Robocop are infamous for copyright claims against simple RU-vid Videos about it. I really hope I'm wrong but good luck regardless
I was 3 years old when I saw Robocop on 📼 (born in ‘97) and this is a defining part of my life. Robocop is a beautiful tale of disastrous circumstance turned into triumph and journey of finding one’s self again. Year after year, I find myself watching the first two over and over because of the story telling. I’m glad Robocop is still amongst the mouths of the modern film watcher.
All of Paul Verhoeven’s sci fi movies are so fun because when you watch them when you’re younger, you can get kickass action movies but when you get older, you can appreciate the layers and satire to them.
To me you can't go wrong if you want a action filed 80's triple feature with Robocop, The Terminator and Predator! You may have different shows but that's my keep the popcorn coming film night
Can't disagree with anything you have said. Well done. You for me captured the very reasoning behind why I loved and still love this movie. And is such a classic
