March 23, 2006
Robocop
Movie Review By: SFAM
Year: 1987
Directed by: Paul Verhoeven
Written by: Edward Neumeier & Michael Miner
Degree of Cyberpunk Visuals: High
Correlation to Cyberpunk Themes: Very High
Key Cast Members:
Overview: One of the truly unique movies in the cyberpunk genre, Robocop seems to be slowly receding from our conscious. No longer (in the US) is it carried at places like Best Buy. This is truly a shame because Robocop offers us one of the best instances of near-future cyborgs on film, and in the process, raises some pretty interesting questions. One top of this, Robocop offers some really fun satire along with an in-your-face realistic violence tone throughout that only adds to its mood.
The Story: In a very near-future setting, general law and order has broken down. In the crime-ridden city of Detroit, Omni Consumer Products (OCP) has taken over the public safety duties. To cut costs, they have decided to explore options for automating the police force. One option supported by Dick Jones (Ronny Cox) the number 2 guy at OCP, involves the development of a fully automated mobile weapon system called “ED 209.” While ED 209 is an absolute badass, it screws up in the final demo and ends up peppering one of OCP’s employees in the process.
Enter up and coming executive, Bob Morton (Miguel Ferrer). Bob takes ED 209’s demise as an opportunity to convince the CEO to give the Robocop project a try. This involves taking a “just-dead” cop, and embedding the key parts of his body (brain, lungs, heart, etc.) into a robotic body that interfaces and “controls” the mental processes through controlling prime directives. Detective Murphy (played wonderfully by Peter Weller), who has just died in a gruesome death at the hands of Detroit’s crime lord (Kurtwood Smith) becomes the new “volunteer.” His memory is erased, his limbs are removed, and then becomes OCP’s corporate property as their latest innovation.
Murphy is transformed into a fully encased crime fighting machine. Robocop is released on the streets to start kicking ass. Unfortunately, Dick Jones doesn’t take his defeat gracefully, and begins to cause trouble both for Robocop’s creator, Bob Morton, and finally for Robocop. It turns out that OCP’s plan for managing detroit’s crime situation isn’t all above board, as there appears to be some linkage between OCP and Detroit’s crime lord. Robocop’s troubles get even worse as he begins to remember who he was in a past life.
The Satire: Verhoeven is known for having an off-beat sense of satire. In a technique later used for Total Recall and Starship Troopers, Robocop does this primarily through its news reports and commercials. These, along with the corporate greed thematics transforms Robocop into a social commentary on the 80s excesses. The Commoditization of society permeates every aspect of human life in Robocop. Corporations are inherently evil and humanity is a cheap sales pitch. Like Starship Troopers, you’ll continually catch yourself smiling at the commercials and news reports, as Verhoeven really has a talent for this type of satire.
The Violence: Fair warning – Robocop is an extremely violent movie – so much so that upon its initial release, they had to cut two seconds of violence to prevent from receiving an “X” rating. Nothing is held back here, as Verhoeven continually strives for hyper-realism. We see limbs getting blown off, blood spattered faces and walls, and in-your-face gore of all varieties from beginning to end. However, the violence doesn’t stick out as a sore thumb – instead it serves to give the near-future city a nourish realism feel. In short, it works within the context of the narrative and surrounding visuals.
The FX and Set Designs: While Verhoeven gives us a somewhat futuristic city, he seems to err on the side of looking “normal.” We see this most clearly in the Ford Taurus police cars (which were brought in after everyone agreed the futuristic police car designs looked too tacky to be considered). However, the set designs are all wonderfully constructed, and all seem work well with one-another. The ED 209 looks terrific, and the stop-motion animation for it generally works. Robocop’s exterior design does look hoaky at first, but you eventually get used to it. On the other hand, Robocop without his helmet looks flat-out awesome.
The Cyborg Questions: Robocop/Murphy give us a rich set of questions to ponder relating to cyborgs, the integration of programming with human minds, and in determining ownership after death.
- Cyborg and Humanity: As Murphy begins to realize who he was, and worse, what he’s become, the question asked is what degree of Murphy’s humanity remains? Murphy’s partner, Anne Lewis (played by Nancy Allen) serves to surface these concerns, as she still thinks that Murphy is inside somewhere. Yet, every aspect of humanity has been taken away from Robocop – he doesn’t have a home, but instead returns to a borg-like podchair at night to regenerate. Even if Robocop eventually considers himself human in some sense, it’s no longer clear what that even means. At best, Robocop is part of that strange category we call “post-human.”
- Man-machine interface – Robocop Style: Robocop gives us an interesting look at human brain-matter that has been fully integrated into a cybernetic body. Even more interesting though is the notion that external programming could limit the functioning of the human brain from controlling its new cyborg casing. If we think about it, this isn’t as far fetched as it may initially look: similar to how firewalls block “targeted” information from either entering or exiting a network, Robocop’s programming ensures the human mind adheres to the prime directives. But while the prevention part seems possible, the “directive” nature of the rules seems dubious, as does the erasing of his memory. These perhaps, are far harder to do without destroying the “cop experience” they so desired by picking Murphy in the first place.
- Dixie Flatline Construct Concerns: Similar to the Dixie Flatline Construct in Neuromancer, for all intents and purposes, Murphy is dead prior to being transformed into Robocop. At best we can consider him a zombie as his brain matter was re-animated after death. But like Dixie Flatline, he can think and perform sensemaking. Also like Dixie Flatline, he is limited by programming constraints. However, unlike Dixie Flatline, Robocop can still “feel.” So the question is this – if we develop the capability to re-animate someone’s consciousness after death, do they have the same basic human rights as they did when they were alive? Or are they the property of the corporation who revived them? Even weirder, could corpse’s estate executor (or spouse, for that matter) “sell” the corpse’s consciousness to a third party? If this is so, could your conscious be sold after the fact to pay off unpaid debts? Truly, the questions are mind-boggling!
The Bottom Line: Robocop has to be considered one of the essential films of the cyberpunk genre. Some of the action scenes could have been better choreographed (a lot of the bad-guy deaths had the worthless storm trooper feel to them), but truly, the quibbles with this film are minor. Unlike the sequels, which largely come across as pathetic attempts to cash in on the original’s success, Robocop takes itself seriously from beginning to end. Because of this, it really does rise to something special. Even though Best Buy no longer considers Robocop worthy of carrying, don’t let this fool you – assuming you can stand the violence, Robocop deserves to be watched.
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28 Comments on Robocop »
March 23, 2006
DannyV_El_Acme @ 2:24 pm:
Man, do I ever LOVE this movie. Not only is it a great cyberpunk movie(hell, great MOVIE period), it’s also a product of its time. It’s satirizing of the sacharine sweet consumeristic 80s culture is a sure sign, but also its balls-to-the-wall violence and take-no-shit attitude. There’s NO WAY a movie like this could have been made in the 90s, or even today. Well, unless you count Starship Troopers, another Verhoeven piece.
And fun fact: just like Blade Runner was the inspiration for Bubblegum Crisis, Robocop was the inspiration for episode 3 of Bubblegum Crisis’ prequel,the AD Police OVA, called The Man Who Bites His Tongue. But while Robocop explores a man-machine regaining his humanity, AD Police explores the other extreme: humanity being lost in the throes of cybernetic induced dementia. Pretty good story, actually.
Fun fact number 2: This movie was written by FRANK FUCKING MILLER. Another reason to love him, folks! Between Robocop, Sin City and Batman: The Dark Night Returns, nobody delivers noirish, dystopic action like the big M!
And on a final note, the main theme for Robocop RULES.
SFAM @ 11:46 pm:
Hi DannyV, yeah, Robocop is terrific. And I definitely need to watch the AD Police. But the Frank Miller thing? I found a link that mentions this started in 2003. He didn’t write the original Robocop, did he? He’s not listed at IMDB (then again, as we see with Renaissance, IMDB isn’t always complete).
March 24, 2006
DannyV_El_Acme @ 4:07 pm:
Frank Miller ghostwrote the first one, and he took full credit for the second one(why? beats me!), and he wrote both the old Marvel Comics, and the newest series that’s on sale right now.
SFAM @ 7:11 pm:
Ah cool! Didn’t know that. That’s terrific.
Although, um, I think he’da been better off taking credit for the first one.
April 8, 2006
Neuromancer @ 8:39 am:
To be frank i was surprised when this movie came out (after Flesh and Blood and The Hitchhiker) it was a hit outside of Europe.
The gritty realism, black satire, lots of nudity and ultra-violence usually doesn’t do well in mainstream commercial movie-land on the other side of the ocean.
I sure am glad it did since after this Verhoeven made the excellent Total Recall and Starship Troopers. Same thing with the latter: it was seen as fascistic propaganda by some reviewers while it is exactly the opposite (hate against Nazism is firmly rooted in the Dutch conscience)
I’ll buy that for a dollar!
SFAM @ 12:01 pm:
Hi Neuromancer, I think it’s fair to say that Robocop went right up to the boundaries of becoming an X-rated movie, and due to the publicity of this, many were intrigued to see it - so much so that it got almost immediate cult-hit status. But also it was the relative polish that Robocop provided that I think made it do well - this was just a well shot movie.
July 8, 2006
Adam Messinger @ 3:12 am:
This movie also has one of the best final dialog exchanges among movies of its kind.
“Nice shooting, son. What’s your name?
“…Murphy.”
SFAM @ 5:30 am:
Hi Adam - agreed. That was a terrific exchange. Too bad the CEO character was ruined in Robocop 2. Looking back, it sort of takes the cool quality away from that scene.
August 28, 2006
ed crunk @ 9:54 am:
this movie was filmed in DALLAS because they had one of the most forward thinking, futuristic skylines of the 1980’s…
if you are familiar with the city…you will notice quite a few landmarks.
SFAM @ 11:57 am:
Hi Ed Crunk, thanks for sharing that! I hadn’t known where it was filmed - Dallas really did look pretty futuristic for the 80s. BTW, you have a very cool Myspace site.
August 31, 2006
kakumakoo @ 9:42 pm:
Who in his right mind would do a movie like this in this time and age where everything has to be pg-13 in order to get as much people to watch your cut and dismembered, crappy and happy family piece of sh**?
Who would make a sci-fi “robot” movie so violent and so crude that almost got an X rating and that, to many people, contains the most violent scene of the 80s? (the execution)
Well the guys from Robocop did and I salute them for it!
Robocop it’s an excellent movie and they don’t make ‘em like this anymore!!!
September 23, 2006
edcrunk @ 4:21 am:
hey, thanx…seeing that i don’t have a girlfriend or a life…i just pour countless hours into useless facts and crappy myspace pages. =-)
microchip @ 11:13 am:
check out my MySpace page then http://www.myspace.com/grozdan
microchip @ 11:14 am:
the only robocop for me is the first one, the others are crap
December 3, 2006
Mysterious @ 3:00 am:
I know this a little late, but the Frank Miller thing is a bit misunderstood. He wrote the original DRAFT of RoboCop 2, but the studios took it and changed it to to the final mess of a product it was.
Speaking of which I need to get the graphic novel.
February 25, 2007
Binary 384 @ 2:37 am:
Man Robocop was the best movie out there, it is too bad that they do not sell it in the US any more. Well I guess I will go rent it at the mom and pop movie store, see ya!
SFAM @ 4:27 am:
Hi Binary 384, you can still buy this online. Just Best Buy, and other brick and mortar stores don’t carry it.
June 6, 2007
iris bas @ 1:36 pm:
hai i have seen the fillm two and i love it
June 28, 2007
robofreak @ 2:09 pm:
I remember seeing this on home video in 1988 (I was 14; couldn’t see the 18-rated version at the cinema in the UK). It totally blew me away then, and I’ve watched it regularly over the years since. I owned the VHS tape, and now I have the extended version DVD - fantastic! This is one movie that’ll always be a favorite. Everything about it is great
“Thank you for your cooperation. Goodnight.”
June 29, 2007
randomrob @ 2:52 am:
I always felt this movie had a wonderful Frank Miller feel to it. With another director, it would have been a disaster. Only Verhoven could pull it off. Genius, and so telling about where security in this country is still going, and has gone.
July 15, 2007
Burnt_Lombard @ 6:52 am:
Some of the Mill scenes where shot out my way in a small town called Monnesson which is about an hour away from Pittsburgh.
I’m just repeating what others have said, but this film is a great satire, and wonderfully done. Probably my favorite film out of the 80s.
….And yeah the sequels and series afterward were horrible.
August 31, 2007
Hugo @ 10:11 am:
Has anyone seen a four-part Canadian series called ‘RoboCop: Prime Directives’ featuring Page Fletcher as Murphy/RoboCop?
It harks backs to the original in respect to its social satire (including overly violent children’s cartoons, a brainwashing Japanese toy franchise and just about everything else in between), its violence (though not as bad or gorey) and features a splash here and there of the original, ‘What is humanity?’ equation.
Of course, it’s no match to the original and lacks the same sort of cyberpunk edge (it’s obviously a major Canadian city :P). I just wondered if anyone had seen it…?
September 29, 2007
asad013 @ 8:16 pm:
paul verhoeven made this movie sooo amazing i luv it without him it
would have been crap 9.5 / 10 i think ta
October 14, 2007
HASRUL RAZIE @ 5:00 am:
Saya minat robocop sebab robocop best
November 20, 2007
piotr @ 8:23 am:
Hi
Remember what I wrote about “Running man”?
The same in here. Robocop is a terrific sociological forecast.
And the scene with ED 209 http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=o0kWgcIlWn0 is marvellous!!!
Robocop is a ingenious dark vision of the future!!!!
And it is better visually made than “the running man”
And one thing about the cyborg stuff. Someone said to me that robocop (Murphy) had transplanted only the cortex the rest went out.
If that’s true this is another terrific psychological/biological question made.
With only the cortex the consciousness is heavily altered!!!
March 12, 2008
^ RAM @ 7:38 pm:
AMÉN!
March 14, 2008
Synthoid @ 6:48 am:
You a COLLEGE BOY or somethin’, huh? Bet you think you’re pretty smart, huh? Think you can outsmart a bullet? What’dya say we find out!
April 2, 2008
CRIGKILO @ 10:26 am:
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