Robocop

Rating:
Summary: Robocop
Review: By far one of the technically best movies ever made. I may be over stating here,but consider these points.

I beg you to find a single section of the movie that didn't relate to other parts of the movie. In this respect it is phenominal. The only other Sci Fi movies I have encountered that come close are the original Alien and T2. An almost Shakespearian use of foreshadowing, plot device, and humanity.

2. Continuity: Robocop shows down with Dick Jones, Drops his gun. Later in the movie, does he magically have his gun? NO! Lewis has sneak into the police dept. to give him one. Freakin perfect. Many other instances of this.

3. Realism: Have you seen other action movies from the 80s, (including Robocop 2 and 3). Bad guys are lame characitures (wrap around shades, headbands, mohawks, etc.) This movies' bad guys look act and feel like genuine people and bullies. "You a good cop? Yeah, I bet you're some kind of a super cop, Comin in here all by your self". Clarence, Emelio, Dick Jones. Dag, these guys come across as real today as they did back then.

4. Socio-commentary: The adverts are brilliance. The hatred of yuppie indulgence (before yuppies were a "thing"), the deprecation of society. Compare the gas mileage of the 6000SUX to the modern SUV (SUX, SUV... 1 letter off) hmmm...

5: That gun!!!!

6: Premonition: Yuppies, Vehicle Extravigance at the price of Gas (6000SUX), DVD, (think about the time it was made), The TV show everyone watched in the film seems a little to like Howard Stern for my likes (I'd buy that for a Dollar!)

7. The scene where he walks through his own home and remembers his past (or pieces) is one of the most touching pieces of filmmaking ever.

8: realism #2: Computers work like computers. No flashy pop up displays, truncated words to fit a screen. Realism over flash. Brilliance!

Well, anyhoo, this is an amazing movie, and I've watched a lot. this is the one to watch and own. Go get this. I mean it. go get this movie. I know where you live.

Rating:
Summary: Brutal and Scathing Sci-Fi
Review: Before "Robocop" displays its extreme violence in a parade of bullets and blood, it opens with a newsbreak that details a world on the verge of disaster and a city out of control, Detroit. While the world deals with Star Wars, impending Nucleur doom and war, Detroit deals with drugs, rampant violent crime and corporate scum who control the police, hospital system and prisons. The one bit of actual integrity is the police, who still go out on the streets to try to find some order in the choas.

Now, "Robocop" is never as serious as I put on. That newsbreak and corporate scum is scathing satire that prevails throughout the film on 1980s' America, hitting close to home. Everything is privitized, the world on the edge of disaster and America riddled in crime and decadence. Man in the future isn't pretty.

The police however, are trying to do some good in this world. One of their men, Murphy (Peter Weller) ends up being shot to pieces by crime boss Clarence Bodiger (Kurtwood Smith) and his cohorts in one of films' most graphic sequences. But Murphy returns, sort of, as Robcop, one of the company OCPs' projects to try to clean up crime (but only for a company project called Delta City). Murphy, however, is still holding some of his shattered humanity, and when he learns of who exactly killed him, he goes on a revenge mission to find them. He encouters Bodiger and his cohorts in a cocaine plant and an old abadoned steel mill, each attempts to kill each other.

Besides that satire, director Paul Verhoeven is the films' insatiable and bloody energy, showing his fetish proudly for lots and lots of bloodshed. But editor Frank Urioste and cinematographer Jost Vocano are the bulk of the reason why "Robocop" is a fluid, fast-paced action flick. And writers Ed Neumier (who also signed on as executive producer) and Michael Miner make "Roocop" an intelligent and pessimistic view of the future.

Rating:
Summary: Robocop
Review: In the near future, Detroit is jam-packed with gangs and narcotic dealers. After being shot to pieces by a vicious gang, a cop (Peter Weller) is redesigned into a cyborg cop (Robocop) that is capable of stopping any crime. Though he works very well, he seeks retaliation over the punks who killed him.

Although the sequel does a superior job utilizing the bleak, cartoonish future, Paul Verhoeven (Total Recall, Basic Instinct, Showgirls) does a commendable job displaying the action scenes and scenarios with an accompanying, cohesive plot. The most notable scenes are the ones that mock modern news by displaying them in the ugly future, where considerable disaster is spoken of as a normalcy.

If you like this film, I'd also recommend Terminator 2.

Overall rating 4.7 stars (rounded to 5)

Rated R for strong graphic violence, gore, language, drug-use, brief nudity.

Rating:
Summary: Robocop, the way it was meant to be seen
Review: Another fine edition to the Criterion Collection, director Paul Verhoeven's 1987 "Robocop" functions on many different levels, not only as a very entertaining science fiction movie, but also as a piece of social satire. Verhoeven and screenwriters Michael Miner and Edward Neumeier surely had the ability to see into the future, as the world they envisioned has, in many ways, come true.

Old Detroit, the near future. The city is terrorized by a gang of thugs, headed by Clarence Boddicer ("That 70's Show" Kurtwood Smith) and his men. The city has decided to turn over the operation of the police department to the OCP corporation.

Enter cop Alex Murphy (Peter Weller), freshly transferred to the Old Detroit police department. Partnered with Anne Lewis (Nancy Allen), Murphy and Lewis hit the streets.

An encounter with Boddicer and his boys leaves Murphy, well, dead. Enter smarmy OCP executive Bob Morton (Miguel Ferrer), who has been developing a program to create a cyborg cop. Murphy becomes his guinea pig and "Robocop" is born.

Much of the social satire and humor Verhoeven interjects into the movies comes in the form of in-movie television broadcasts, the sort of which are common now, on CNN, MSNBC and the like. Smiling reporters dish out daily doses of sex and violence to the masses.

The story is essentially the robot Murphy's regaining of his humanity. His creators erase his memory, or so they think, until Murphy begins to experience flashbacks from his former life, including memories of his death, which leads him on a search to avenge his death. His search takes him back to OCP as he confronts the man who was responsible for his death.

As submitted to the MPAA, "Robocop" was going to be awarded with the dreaded "X" rating for violence. The Criterion Collection release of "Robocop" restores Verhoeven's original vision, which is a few seconds here and there of blood and gore. While the film is indeed violent, the bloodshed is certainly tame by today's standards -- Verhoeven's "Starship Troopers," released in 1997, is much bloodier and violent than "Robocop" and it received an "R" rating.

The transfer, while non-anamorphic, is still very good; the film is presented in 1.85:1 widescreen. There are two audio tracks, a Dolby Digital 2.0 track and commentary track. The commentary is lifted from the laserdisc edition of "Robocop," and is an entertaining discussion with Verhoeven, his writers, and others involved in the production.

Until "Robocop" gets the special edition DVD treatment, this Criterion version is worth hunting down. "I'd buy that for a dollar!"

Rating:
Summary: i just love this movie!
Review: one of my all time favorites!

Rating:
Summary: Robocop Rules!
Review: This is one of the best movies I have ever seen. Sure it was ultra violent, but strangely enough, It wasn't as violent as I expected it to be. There were only two parts I considered extremely-ultra violent. The first one is when ED-209 blasts the OCP guy to death. The second is when Boddicker and his thugs shoot Murphy about 20 times with their shotguns. The part where one of the thugs falls in to the toxic waste is pretty gruesome. The ending is great. It completely sets up for the 2nd movie. I recommend this movie for anyone over the age of 13 who can stand extreme violence.

Rating:
Summary: Cyberpunk Extraordinare
Review: I first saw "RoboCop" in 1988 when I was real young. I didn't know it at the time, but this film--full of violence, language, and mature subject matter--was a landmark film in the budding science-fiction sub-genre known as "cyberpunk".

This is a film that explains in great detail what happens to one unfortuate man that is caught up in the corporate world around him, and is murdered by bank robbing drug dealers. His dead body used as the proverbal genea pig in an experiment that turns him into a feared and emotionless robot cop that eventually remembers who he was before.

Director Paul Verhoven took what he know of Eurpoean cinema and showed what could happen if the world becomes more corporate. Don't look at "RoboCop" as an violent (and this case ultra-violent) cyberpunk film that should be dismissed; take it as a warning.

Rating:
Summary: Hardcore
Review: Kudos to Paul Verhoeven for doing this flick. He really didn't go the safe route with this one, which would have been an easy play due to it's comic book subject matter. You could have done a PG-13 with this one. Nosiree, Bob! Verhoeven likes to spit in the face of Hollywood and makes flicks down and dirty, the way he likes. It's interesting to go back and watch this film after not seeing it for a long time. Talk about violent! Hard to believe they made a cartoon, tv series and action figure line based on this. This isn't really for kids if you ask me. The Criterion version restores violence trimmed by our pals at the MPAA in case the R version wasn't violent enough for you already. The cut scenes consist of bits in the first hal hour of the movie. It all probably adds up to 40 seconds total, but those 40 or so seconds add a new dimension to the scene though it doesn't really add depth to the story at all. I'll tell you what you're missing so you can ponder it before you invest in this edition. 1) The scene where ED-209 is introduced to the board, malfunctions and kills a guy. Remember that? It's basically the same except there's a few more seconds of ED blasting that poor schmuck after he has fallen down(and obviously dead). Gruesome! Fun! The other cut material is Murphy's death scene. When Clarence blasts his hand off with the shotgun("Give the man a hand!"), you actually see Murphy holding the bloody stump. Icky! Fun! Remember after that, all three gang members shoot him a million times while he shakes and yells? Well, the very first shot completely takes his arm off. That would explain how his arm magically disappeared in the R version. Then, they stop shooting him for a moment and let Murphy sit there and scream in pain as one of the gang says in amusement: "Hey, Clarence! He's still alive!" A few more bloody snippets follow of Murphy's murder, but that's pretty much it for the censored stuff. Either way this is a great movie. Even with the corny name and concept, this manages to be an emotional, thought provoking, satirical, well written, well directed movie. Watch it again, you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Rating:
Summary: Much Violence in this Dark World
Review: First, you've got a villain in glasses! Forget Joker and Penguin and Riddler, Clarence Boddiker is much better. I wish he did not have to spit so much. He is the real hero of the story, the Robocop is there for special effects and for blowing away corporate villains. There is lots of violence in this movie, but it is obvious that a lot of work went into portraying it. One can easily see the director trying to be original in depicting violence and actually succeeding at it.

I am sure some time next century cyborgs will be running around as robocops and what not. I am not sure about reviving dead people, but from the standpoint of combining man and machine this movie is not such a stretch.

This is a dark movie. There are no positive characters, no "role models." The media, the government, the businessmen, the corporations, the criminals, they are not portrayed in a positive light. The good character, the "hero" of the story, is part revived dead man, part machine. But as said in the beginning, the real hero is Clarence. He does what he wants, he respects no one, he gives full play to his instincts. I think the makers of this film were jealous of him and that's why they made the movie.

Rating:
Summary: Cult classic of the 80s and a dark satire
Review: [MY REVIEW FOR THIS FILM IS 4.5 STARS, NOT JUST 4]
After doing the cult classic "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai," Peter Weller would go onto another film that would be labeled a sci-fi classic alongside "The Terminator" and "Aliens." "Robocop" was an unexpected hit which starred Weller as Alex Murphy, a cop who is brutally murdered by a gang of criminals. The government decides to reanimate him by fusing his body with mechanical parts and weaponry and essentially, he was born as Robocop. While his former partner (Nancy Allen) is trying to determine if Murphy is still himself and the bad guys are out causing havoc, Murphy still hangs on to his last shred of humanity and overrides his programming to eliminate the creeps that "killed" him.

Electrically charged action and a rather sick satire about our government in control of our lives are enhanced by director Paul Verhoeven's bloodlust. Back before "Starship Troopers" and "Total Recall" became famous, Verhoeven kicked off his success with this one. Weller is truly an underrated actor as he we see him become tormented by his humanity literally being taken away from him. The action would please even today's action buffs and its view of society is unremittingly bleak and ugly, which enhances the mood of the film.

Of course, with Verhoeven at the helm, this film is bloody. Don't be fooled by the fact that this film is old, it's relentlessly bloody and violent (remember the acid scene? yuck!). Other actors that deserve praise: Ronny Cox, fresh out of the first two "Beverly Hills Cop" films, portrays an evil tyrant here and with menacing taste. Kurtwood Smith (currently on "That 70's Show") portrays the evil gang leader, who killed Alex Murphy in a bloody death scene. Nancy Allen is vulnerable, yet tantalizingly tough at the same time.

The special effects were done by Phil Tippett and he proved his worth with the "Star Wars" and "Dragonslayer" films. Basil Poledouris once again provides a dramatic musical score.

All in all, this is definitely a classic. Its grim view of satire and society is not for the weak-hearted and some of the gritty, ultraviolent scenes might turn you off. But if you want a good action/sci-fi to view and especially a fan of older action films like "The Terminator," you will definitely enjoy this. A unique action film that's been countlessly ripped off and unfortunately spawned some sorry sequels.