RoboCop (1987) Orion/Sci-Fi-Action RT: 103 minutes Unrated Director’s Cut (language, extreme graphic violence, gore, nudity, drug use/content) Director: Paul Verhoeven Screenplay: Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner Music: Basil Poledouris Cinematography: Jost Vacano Release date: July 17, 1987 (US) Cast: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Ronny Cox, Dan O’Herlihy, Kurtwood Smith, Miguel Ferrer, Robert DoQui, Ray Wise, Felton Perry, Paul McCrane, Jesse Goins, Del Zamora, Calvin Jung.
Rating: ****
RoboCop is a movie that was ahead of its time when it hit theaters in summer ‘87. It’s futuristic sci-fi, super-violent cop action and dark satire all rolled into one. It made a real impact on audiences as it went on to gross just over $53 million at the box office, not too shabby for a movie that was nearly rated X by the MPAA for its extreme violence.
The scene that caused the most trouble is where the hero Alex Murphy (Weller, Buckaroo Banzai) gets killed. He’s attacked by the main villain Clarence Boddicker (Smith, Rambo III) who blows his hand off with a shotgun. In the uncut version, he holds up the bloody stump only to have his arm shot off. The gang then proceeds to shoot him full of holes until Boddicker finally puts one in his head. It’s an extremely bloody scene. The MPAA forced director Paul Verhoeven (Total Recall) to tone down the violence before they granted him a more box office-friendly R.
Set in a dystopian near future, Detroit has become a lawless hellhole where crime runs rampant in the streets. The Motor City is on the verge of financial collapse as well. The city, as a means of self-preservation, hands over control of the police force to OCP (Omni Consumer Products), a megacorporation with a wide range of interests including military weaponry. They want to replace the human police officers with robots because they’re unable to contain the increasing criminal activity.
Senior president Dick Jones (Cox, Beverly Hills Cop) introduces the ED-209 (Enforcement Droid) at a board meeting. He claims it’s the future of law enforcement. It malfunctions during a demonstration and shoots a junior executive to death right in front of everybody including the OCP chairman (O’Herlihy, Halloween III), commonly referred to as “The Old Man”. BTW, this is another scene that got pegged by the MPAA.
After the bloody fiasco, another junior executive Bob Morton (Ferrer, Twin Peaks) sidesteps Jones and tells the Old Man about his RoboCop program which would replace human cops with cyborgs. All he needs is a recently deceased police officer to launch the program. No problem, he’s already restructured Detroit PD, transferring the most ideal candidates to the worst areas of the city thereby increasing the likelihood of their demise. Now it’s just a matter of waiting. Jones, it goes without saying, is mighty POed about his cocky underling going over his head.
Morton and his team don’t have to wait very long. Murphy, a veteran officer, is transferred to Metro West (the very worst precinct) where he’s partnered with Anne Lewis (Allen, Dressed to Kill), a no-nonsense beauty who can kick ass as well (if not better) than any man on the force. They barely have time to get acquainted when they’re called to assist in the pursuit of Boddicker and his gang. They follow the creeps to an abandoned steel mill where Murphy meets a bloody and violent death. But for him, death is not the end.
The people from OCP waste no time in having Murphy declared dead so they can begin work on RoboCop. He’s a large, heavily armored cyborg with three primary directives: (1) serve the public trust, (2) serve the public trust and (3) uphold the law. There’s a classified fourth directive that will come into play later in the movie. Once he hits the streets, it’s the scumbags’ turn to be scared. He’s a one-cyborg army on a mission to clean up the streets. Plus, he never stops for doughnuts and coffee. He’s the ideal cop.
While foiling a gas station robbery, RoboCop recognizes the perp Emil (McCrane, The Blob) as one of the creeps that murdered Murphy. It’s a serendipitous encounter as it allows RoboCop to use his image to identify his criminal accomplices including Boddicker. I suppose I wouldn’t be giving away too much by telling you the cop-hating crime boss is secretly working for a top executive at OCP. I’ll bet you can guess who it is.
RoboCop is awesome! It’s the best way to put it. It plays like a violent comic book with a storyline straight out of Heavy Metal magazine. Verhoeven, in his second American movie, shows his skill as a master filmmaker. He injects a healthy dose of satire into the mayhem, mostly aimed at the media and consumerism. The action is intercut with news reports of horrible things happening around the world followed by ridiculous commercials for things like board games about total nuclear annihilation and a heart transplant center that offers financing. He maintains a deft balance of dystopian sci-fi, cyberpunk, explosive action, bloody violence and brilliant satire. There aren’t too many directors capable of such a balancing act.
The RoboCop looks pretty realistic. And the things he can do, WOW! He’s been outfitted with a tracking system that allows him to pinpoint a target perfectly. In one scene, he prevents the rape of a young woman by shooting the rapist through the woman’s skirt and hitting him in the groin. I don’t know any human cop who would even attempt something like that, not even Dirty Harry would take such a risk. He can withstand the gunfire of an automatic weapon thanks to bulletproof metal then bend the barrel in half so the criminal can’t fire any more shots.
Weller does a great job as both a family-oriented human police officer and an emotionless cyborg with no memory of his previous life. That’s how OCP tried to program him anyway. They didn’t quite succeed. He still retains memories of his wife and son. He recalls scenes from their life. He also remembers being killed. He reacts accordingly. Weller makes it all work. Allen, who’s always good, is perfect as the partner who manages to bring out some of RoboCop’s remaining humanity. Tough and compassionate, it’s she who first realizes OCP’s latest toy is her old partner Murphy.
Smith plays one of the meanest, scariest villains of the 80s. The actor excels at playing hateful characters; Boddicker is easily his greatest performance if not his most memorable. Cox is equally good as the megalomaniacal company VP who will do everything in his power to pull the plug on RoboCop. McCrane is sufficiently scuzzy as one of Boddicker’s creeps.
The score by Basil Poledouris (Conan the Barbarian) fits the mood of the movie perfectly. The special makeup effects by Rob Bottin (The Thing, Total Recall) are amazing. He brings to life something that existed only in comic books and the imaginative kids that read them. The gore effects are equal parts impressive and icky. There’s a scene where a gang member gets a toxic waste bath courtesy of RoboCop and transforms into a melting, deformed monster before getting hit by a car and exploding, splattering gore all over the place. I love s*** like this!
RoboCop is one of my all-time favorite cop movies. Not only does it have a lot of action and violence, it’s also a perfect example of a dystopian future world where corporations call the shots and everybody is expendable. Verhoeven including satirical elements helps lighten the mood a bit. It doesn’t seem quite as harsh and brutal when you have stupid commercials and some dopey Benny Hill-like comedy sketch show where the main character keeps saying “I’d buy that for a dollar!” while standing next to women with big boobs.
RoboCop is a lot of fun and still holds up well after more than 35 years. I’d definitely consider it a movie classic. It’s a high-concept exploitation movie that crossed over into the mainstream and became part of the public consciousness. It’s also a kick-ass action movie with lots of cool hardware like the cannons Boddicker and his crew sport when they come after RoboCop. They’re still no match for the real man of steel, but what fun would the film be without them?
