Subject: RETROSPECTIVE: ROBOCOP (1987)

From: [email-masked] (Randy Parker)
Date: 14 May 1996 21:01:22 GMT

ROBOCOP
                       A film review by Randy Parker
                        Copyright 1996 Randy Parker

RATING:  ***  (out of ****)

(Review written in 1987)

     ROBOCOP is an intelligent science fiction thriller and social
satire, one with class and style.  The film, set in Old Detroit in the year
1991, stars Peter Weller as Murphy, a lieutenant on the city's police
force.  1991's Detroit suffers from rampant crime and a police department
run by a private contractor (Security Concepts Inc.) whose employees (the
cops) are threatening to strike.  To make matters worse, a savage group of
cop-killers has been terrorizing the city.  On Murphy's first day of duty,
after his transfer from another precinct, these cop-killers brutally murder
him by shooting off his limbs one by one.  (Orion Pictures had to edit this
extremely graphic scene in order to get an R rating from the M.P.A.A.)

     After the emergency room staff at the hospital cannot save Murphy
and declare him clinically dead, S.C.I. recruits his remains for their new
"Robocop" program.  Using the remains of Murphy's body as a foundation,
their scientists build a cyborg, made of both flesh and metal.  The cyborg
(Robocop) is half human (Murphy) and half robot; the S.C.I. engineers have
erased Murphy's memory and replaced it with a computer program (or so they
think).  With his lightning quick reflexes, immense strength, and
impenetrable armor, S.C.I. envisions Robocop as an indestructible
super-cop: the solution to Detroit's problems.  The remainder of the plot
follows Robocop's crime-foiling and vengeance on his murderers.

     As a science fiction action-thriller, ROBOCOP is extremely
effective.  Dutch director Paul Verhoeven combines gritty action with
suspense, shocking gore, and spectacular special effects.  Several
sequences in the film, such as the one in which Robocop employs his
extremely precise aim to stop a rapist, are destined to become
cult-classics.  Because ROBOCOP is so visually and emotionally rousing, it
demands to be seen on a large screen with an audience--in other words, in a
movie theater.

     Although the special effects and action are exciting, they do not
by themselves set ROBOCOP apart from other films in the genre.  Rather,
ROBOCOP stands out for its accurate and biting satire of American society.
The movie makes a mockery of The Star Wars Defense Initiative, terrorism,
board games, and television news broadcasts with air-headed anchors.  These
news broadcasts, which are exceptionally clever, recur periodically
throughout the movie and help to provide comic relief from the intense
action and gore.  The satire in ROBOCOP, however, is almost as frightening
in its own way as the suspense and blood.  1990's America, as portrayed in
the film, may seem far fetched but is in actuality (I think) only a slight
exaggeration of the current state of American society.  The humorous satire
in Robocop is simultaneously credible and absurd.  Verhoeven adroitly
balances the satirical comedy with the gory action to create an
entertaining and enlightening piece of science fiction/social commentary.

     Unfortunately, ROBOCOP possesses several flaws which prevent it
from qualifying as a classic within the genre.  The movie lacks the lasting
impact of such films as THE ROAD WARRIOR, THE TERMINATOR, and ALIENS.
ROBOCOP's main problem, aside from its dumb title, is that it does not
sufficiently develop Murphy's character.  We never learn the degree to
which Murphy (as Robocop) is human and the degree to which he is a robot.
Does Murphy have any human spirit or free will left, or is he merely a
computer following a program?  The script halfheartedly raises these issues
but then abandons them in its climactic flurry of gory action.  Moreover,
it almost completely ignores the question (and tragedy) of denying a man
his right to die in favor of turning him into a machine.  ROBOCOP also
contains several bothersome loose-ends.

     As you watch ROBOCOP, you experience deja vu; you feel as if you
have seen the film before.  In many respects, ROBOCOP is reminiscent of
several other films, including THE TERMINATOR, RETURN OF THE JEDI, and even
DEATH WISH.  However, to its credit, ROBOCOP easily has enough originality
and unique personality to avoid becoming a cheap rip-off.

---
Randy Parker
[email-masked]
http://www.shoestring.org