“In a dystopic and crime-ridden Detroit, a terminally wounded cop returns to the force as a powerful cyborg haunted by submerged memories.”
Directed by Paul Verhoven (Basic instinct, Starship troopers) RoboCop is violent, darkly comical science fiction action film that pits a cybernetic cop against a gang of ruthless criminals.
Tinged with over the top satire, RoboCop manages to sprinkle in hints of humanity amongst the detritus making us feel for Murphy (Peter Weller) - a straight talking, honourable cop who happens to transfer to a demiliterised zone. On his first day on the job Murphy comes face to face with Charles Boddicker (a brilliant turn by Kurtwood Smith) a would be crime boss hell bent on taking a controlling interest in the sleazier side of the new ‘Delta city’.
The violence in RoboCop is, at points, extreme. Opening on a boardroom filled with obnoxious ‘yuppy suits’ who are equally as cut-throat as any criminal, we are introduced to ED-209 - a state of the art automated police guard the latest innovation of OCP - Guns down an executive turning his litteral dead body into swiss cheese. Another executive screams to call for an ambulance when clearly he belongs in a body bag.
It’s tinged with black humour, making the OTT violence almost comic book in nature. That didn’t stop the MPAA calling for trims to the violence , both in this scene and Murphy’s death - with litteral hands & arms blown off and enough lead in his chest to arm a platoon. The physical effects are brilliant, handled with explosive realism by Rob Bottin.
RoboCops suit is equally impressive, a shinning beacon of hope amongst the detritus. Peter Weller does a great job of selling a cyborg from his stilted movements to his on the nose delivery of dialogue. Other notable turns are from Ronny Cox as Jones, a sleazy corporate wolf who thinks only of the bottom line and his ascention to CEO of OCP. His would be nemesis, a snotty kid ‘Morton’ (Played by the late Miguel Ferrer) half his age who steals his thunder and undermines Jones aurthority with the RoboCop programme.
For an estimated budget of 13 million, RoboCop is an impressive film. Especially given the fact that most of the effects were achieved with stop motion puppets. A sleazy world of corporate greed and nilhilistic gangs was never done any better. Despite two sequels and a short lived series.
In todays PG-13 landscape a movie like this wouldn’t exist. When they tried ot reboot the franchise a few years back they toned down the violence and made what RoboCop wasn’t intended to be: a kids film. Gone was the satire and right wing nihilism being replaced by a sedate, glossy shadow.
For some, Paul Verhoven is a very polarising filmmaker with his in your face approach to violence and sex. In a lot of ways he’s a realist, wanting to get you as close as possible to a gunshot or a sleazy sexual act. You are a voyeaur, travelling with him into a dirty picture of a possible future world.
In some ways we seem to have travelled a lot closer to the world of RoboCop than we would like to comfortably admit.
When all is said and done RoboCop is a very tight action film with explosive violence, over the top characterisation and an iconic creation. Often repeated but never bettered.