RoboCop (1987)

RoboCop (1987)

9/10

Starring

Peter Weller

Nancy Allen

Directed by Paul Verhoeven

My sister and I bought the VHS tape of this movie when we were younger, and we watched it so much that the tape started to coil up. Later on, it began to skip, and pretty soon, the tape was worthless, and the movie was gone.

Who knew the future would hold such great things like DVDs and Blu-rays? Now, many of us have DVDs and Blu-rays of our favorite films.

The sad thing is, my sister and I were not even over 11, when we purchased this, we did not know it was a dark, adult movie. The joke on us was, many of the drugs, sexual reference and cruel theme went over our head, we just loved the action, shooting and that part of the plot we understood and could follow.

Robocop 1 is the best of the best in the entire Robocop series. It’s even better than the remake and stands as one of the most brutal entries in the franchise.

The movie focuses on a cyborg’s internal battle between his robotic side and his human side. It doesn’t shy away from making monsters out of practically everyone involved—from the group that saved Murphy’s life and turned him into Robocop, to the group determined to keep crime alive in Detroit. Almost everyone in the movie (except the cops, who seem to be the victims) has hidden agendas.

The plot is set in crime-ridden Detroit, Michigan, sometime in the future. A mega-corporation called Omni Consumer Products (OCP) has taken over the Detroit Police Department because the state can no longer fund it.

Police officer Alex Murphy (Peter Weller) is transferred to the Detroit Police Department and is brutally murdered by a gang of criminals. But his death isn’t the end—OCP brings him back as a superhuman cyborg police officer known as "RoboCop."

The downsides I noticed now, which I didn’t catch when I was younger, is how Robocop magically traces down the guys who shot him. He just seems to know where they are at exactly the right time which was very convenient. I liked the movie and the way it played out, but I’m not sure if it’s the editing or what, but there’s something about the flow that could’ve been done better. Then a lot of the characters feel one-dimensional, lacking depth and just there to move the plot along.

After Peter Weller’s incredible performance and the movie’s great reception, a sequel was made. However, it didn’t get the same applause as the first. Even then, the production company went ahead with a third movie, which was also not as good.

If you haven’t experienced Robocop yet, stop what you’re doing and make sure you watch this movie. If you liked the remake, you’ll love the original.