RoboCop (1987)Technology's no substitute for humanity. RoboCop (1987) is an action movie set in a "dystopian" future Detroit, where corrupt corporations like Omni Consumer Products (OCP) own the police (literally) and consumerism carries more weight than national sovereignty. RoboCop is the story of Alex Murphy (Peter Weller), who is slain in the line of duty by cop killing crime boss, Clarence Boddicker (Kurtwood Smith), and his cronies, while his new partner, Anne Lewis (Nancy Allen) is forced to bear witness. When Bob Morton (Miguel Ferrer), a hot shot corporate officer at OCP gets a hold of Murphy's lifeless body, he resurrects Murphy like Frankenstein's monster, and transforms him into a cyborg enforcer of justice and corporate policy: RoboCop.
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Although RoboCop is an action film filled with explosions and violence, it is also a satire about consumerism and the perils of forfeiting one's freedoms for luxury and complacency. RoboCop prefaces this cyberpunk future with fake news delivered by a banal news crew, punctuated by even more vapid commercials marketing ethically questionable products (e.g. branded heart transplants pitched by the medical equivalent of a used car salesman). Subsequent interjections into RoboCop also include sardonic advertisements for board games like "Nukem", a global-political "game" that makes light of the threat of a nuclear confrontation hinted at in the film. RoboCop depicts a world that has been bled dry by corporate excess and greed, where the government is so impotent, that it has sold out to the likes of OCP. Police are pressed to the limit and cops like Murphy and Lewis can't expect reliable backup when chasing down Boddicker, because some bean counter didn't see the cost/benefit ratio in it. Cops are so disposable that they have sliding nameplates on their lockers--tours of duty don't run very long in this urban hell. OCP is an institution that is so soulless that when the walking tank known as ED-209--the brainchild of OCP Vice President, Dick Jones (Ronny Cox)--runs amok and kills a board member, it isn't more than thirty seconds later that the chairman of OCP (Daniel O'Herlihy) is entertaining Morton's "RoboCop" proposal as an alternative peace keeping "investment". In RoboCop, both the street criminals and those who dwell in skyscrapers are indulgent, remorseless, and unapologetic. Cops represent the only forces of good in the film, and they are outgunned against killers with machine guns and those who kill with their gold cards. While RoboCop is all but a corporate symbol of law enforcement, the hint of humanity beneath his titanium armor and unwavering monotone makes RoboCop an appealing alternative to ED-209 (and he can walk down stairs).
Edward Neumeier (co-writer of RoboCop) cites that he came up with the idea for the film after being inspired by Blade Runner, itself a dystopian, corporate-dominated near future science fiction film. Made in 1987, RoboCop emerged alongside several other films like it, including The Running Man, and following other films like The Terminator. Certain tropes between these films--like the question about just how human Murphy really is beneath his exoskeleton--identify RoboCop as a "cyberpunk" story. The audience often shares the point of view of RoboCop, with his grid-like targeting system to his thermal imaging, which he uses to stop crime along with his imposing sidearm. RoboCop speaks in a stoic monotone, but manages to quip a few fierce one-liners while bringing perps to justice. ED-209 resembles a crude, monstrous prototype of RoboCop equipped with heavy ordinance, with its reverse-jointed knees and an smooth cockpit-like skull that vaguely resembles that of the xenomorph from Alien. The stop-motion animation used to depict RoboCop's fully robotic opponent is unnerving, and this discomfort is lampshaded later with a rampaging dinosaur in another "fake" commercial--an advertisement for a car, mordantly named "6000 SUX". When Morton plugs RoboCop in at the cop shop, he recalls his "three" prime directives--all noble and reasonable restraints, especially in light of ED-209's infamous rampage. There is also a classified "fourth prime directive", although it is clear that this directive likely exists to protect OCP. Even the suggestion that this directive exists underscores the cynical motif in RoboCop regarding corporate greed and cowardice. Dick Jones is emblematic of this self-serving, arrogant, white-collar entitlement. He is the antithesis of Murphy in his disregard for the welfare of others as he ascends to the throne of OCP and his ruthless means to that end. Little of Murphy's past is explored in RoboCop, except that he had a home in the suburbs, and that his son liked to see him to twirl his gun around his finger like a cop on TV. There is the faintest degree of innocent flirting between Murphy and Lewis at first, but RoboCop avoids pursuing a romantic angle, instead focusing on action and the occasional moment of satire. This focused and tight story gives RoboCop the ability to offer social commentary within the confines of a shoot-em-up flick, without disengaging the audience from the thrills and excitement.
Recommended for: Fans of a violent and clever action film and dystopian satire of consumerism and corporate greed. RoboCop is a depiction of a future where corporations are able to sway seemingly immutable tenets of justice with raw wealth. Like many dystopian futures thirty years later, it seems prescient in some ways, which makes watching the film ironic and a bit chilling in seeing how close it hits its mark.
Edward Neumeier (co-writer of RoboCop) cites that he came up with the idea for the film after being inspired by Blade Runner, itself a dystopian, corporate-dominated near future science fiction film. Made in 1987, RoboCop emerged alongside several other films like it, including The Running Man, and following other films like The Terminator. Certain tropes between these films--like the question about just how human Murphy really is beneath his exoskeleton--identify RoboCop as a "cyberpunk" story. The audience often shares the point of view of RoboCop, with his grid-like targeting system to his thermal imaging, which he uses to stop crime along with his imposing sidearm. RoboCop speaks in a stoic monotone, but manages to quip a few fierce one-liners while bringing perps to justice. ED-209 resembles a crude, monstrous prototype of RoboCop equipped with heavy ordinance, with its reverse-jointed knees and an smooth cockpit-like skull that vaguely resembles that of the xenomorph from Alien. The stop-motion animation used to depict RoboCop's fully robotic opponent is unnerving, and this discomfort is lampshaded later with a rampaging dinosaur in another "fake" commercial--an advertisement for a car, mordantly named "6000 SUX". When Morton plugs RoboCop in at the cop shop, he recalls his "three" prime directives--all noble and reasonable restraints, especially in light of ED-209's infamous rampage. There is also a classified "fourth prime directive", although it is clear that this directive likely exists to protect OCP. Even the suggestion that this directive exists underscores the cynical motif in RoboCop regarding corporate greed and cowardice. Dick Jones is emblematic of this self-serving, arrogant, white-collar entitlement. He is the antithesis of Murphy in his disregard for the welfare of others as he ascends to the throne of OCP and his ruthless means to that end. Little of Murphy's past is explored in RoboCop, except that he had a home in the suburbs, and that his son liked to see him to twirl his gun around his finger like a cop on TV. There is the faintest degree of innocent flirting between Murphy and Lewis at first, but RoboCop avoids pursuing a romantic angle, instead focusing on action and the occasional moment of satire. This focused and tight story gives RoboCop the ability to offer social commentary within the confines of a shoot-em-up flick, without disengaging the audience from the thrills and excitement.
Recommended for: Fans of a violent and clever action film and dystopian satire of consumerism and corporate greed. RoboCop is a depiction of a future where corporations are able to sway seemingly immutable tenets of justice with raw wealth. Like many dystopian futures thirty years later, it seems prescient in some ways, which makes watching the film ironic and a bit chilling in seeing how close it hits its mark.