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Thursday, November 14, 2013

Robocop (1987)

Robocop
I love Frankenstein movies (see my reviews of the original Frankenstein, and it's latter day successor Deadly Friend for some examples).  I also love weird sci-fi and violent action movies.  So naturally, I'm a big fan of Robocop.

What the Robocop Saw
Robocop tells the story  of detective Frank Murphy, a Detroit cop who is murdered in the line of duty, and then brought back to life as Robocop, a hybrid of man and machine, designed to work as a robotic crime fighter for the Detroit police department.  Robocop is supposed to be more machine than man, with all of his memories of life as Frank Murphy erased.  But slowly, Murphy's mannerisms, figures of speech, and eventually, his memories, begin to re-emerge.  Robocop then struggles to regain his humanity, while hunting down his own killers.

"Dead or alive, you're coming with me."
Peter Weller is fantastic as Robocop / Frank Murphy, giving a Karloff-quality performance.  He basically plays three characters in this film. First as Frank Murphy, an average Joe police officer, father, and husband.  Next, as Robocop, an unemotional robot programmed to be enforce the law.  And, finally, as a hybrid of the two, as he struggles to reconnect with his humanity.

Battle Damaged
Director Paul Verhoeven, fills the film with violent and bloody action scenes, but also with a sly sense of humor.  Verhoeven seems to parody and criticize the commercialization of violence in American pop culture, while at the same time reveling in it.  This is something he would take to an even greater extreme in his later film Starship Troopers.

Murderous Stooges
All in all, I would rank Robocop as one of the best sci-fi action films of the 1980s, alongside other off-beat classics such as  Total Recall and They Live.

Big Mac Attack
More screencaps after the jump...


TV Eyes

Peter Weller as Officer Alex Murphy

Sgt, Mustache is a No-Nonsense Cop Who Won't Tolerate any Nonsense

Dan O'Herlihy as "The Old Man"

Enter ED-209

Enforcing the Law

Blood Soaked Business Man

Officers Murphy and Lewis Respond to a Call

Hot Pursuit

Filmed at the Kaiser Steel Mill in Fontana, CA

Broken Wndow

TJ is Not a Hooker Anymore

System Check

Robert DoQui as Sgt. Mustache

Robocop Walks

Spring Loaded Holster

Robocop Behind the Wheel

Marvel Comics Sold Here

Convenience Store Cop

Thank You For Your Cooperation

Attempted Rape

Nukem

Executive Washroom

Nancy Allen as Officer Anne Lewis

Officer Lewis Looks in Robcop's Eyes

Stoic Robocop

Down in Flames

Get the Point?

Deceased

You Can't Go Home Again

Gloating Villains

In the Drug Den

The Fourth Directive

The Return of ED-209

A Flash of Humanity

The Man in the Mirror

What Remains of Murphy

Wasted

"Zoiks!"

Bloody Murphy

Final Showdown

Robocop



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