Directed by: Paul Verhoeven
Genre: Sci-Fi, Action
Release date: July 17, 1987
Running Time: 103 minutes
MMPA rating: R
The Good: Lots of sci-fi shoot'em up action, Good soundtrack,
The Bad: Bad acting by most of the minor characters, Some of the dialogue was very cheesy
Plot: In the near future, Detroit, Michigan is on the verge of collapse due to financial ruin and unchecked crime. The mega-corporation Omni Consumer Products enters into a contract with the city to run the police force. OCP plans to destroy "Old Detroit" to replace it with the utopia of "Delta City". Recognizing that human law enforcers are insufficient to stop the crime spree, OCP runs several programs to find robotic replacements. One program, the ED-209 enforcement droid, headed by senior president Dick Jones (Ronny Cox), malfunctions and kills an executive during its demonstration. As a result, the OCP Chairman (Dan O'Herlihy) opts for a cyborg program helmed by junior executive Bob Morton (Miguel Ferrer), named "RoboCop". Jones is furious at Morton for going over his head.
The RoboCop program requires a recently-deceased "candidate" for conversion; to obtain one, OCP reorganizes the police force to the crime-ridden Metro West precinct expecting an officer will die in duty and become a candidate. One such officer is veteran Alexander James Murphy (Peter Weller), who is partnered with Anne Lewis (Nancy Allen). On their first patrol, they chase down a team of criminals led by crime boss Clarence Boddicker (Kurtwood Smith) to an abandoned steel mill. Murphy and Lewis separate. Lewis is later rendered unconscious by one of the gang, while the rest of Boddicker's men corner Murphy and sadistically mutilate him with shotguns before Boddicker executes him with a pistol shot to the head. Lewis, disarmed and unable to help, witnesses the murder in horror. Murphy is pronounced dead at the hospital, but OCP takes his body and uses it to create the first RoboCop.
RoboCop is guided by three prime directives written into his programming: serve the public trust, protect the innocent and uphold the law. This is followed by a classified fourth directive that he is unaware of. He is able to single-handedly deal with much of the violent crime in the city, causing the rest of the police force to become worried they may be replaced. Unknown by his human monitors, RoboCop still retains memories of his life as Murphy, including brief glimpses of his wife and son, and the action of spinning his gun before holstering it, a trick Murphy had done for his son. Lewis recognizes these elements from Murphy's mannerisms, and tries to learn more from RoboCop, but he remains silent on the issues. Because of Robocop's success, Morton is promoted to become one of OCP's Vice Presidents. Watch the movie to see what happens next.
Plot: 7.4/10- The plot is original but some stupid and cheesy plot decisions keep it from greatness.
Action: 9.4/10- RoboCop is a shoot'em up with some of the best sci-fi shooting action and one really awesome kill at the end.
Acting: 5.7/10- Peter Weller(RoboCop) and Nancy Allen(Anne Lewis) were the only stand out good performances but most of the minor characters were really bad actors and had cheesy dialogue.
Special effects: 7.6/10- For 1987 the effect were good but today they are a little dated but still work.
Soundtrack: 8.2/10- The soundtrack fit the feel of the movie perfectly.
Comedy: 8.3/10- RoboCop had some "it was so cheesy it was funny moments" but it have some funny fake commercials.
Overall: 7.8/10- Overall RoboCop is a very good action movie that had to munch cheesy dialogue that kept it from being great.
Closing comments: If you like action movies you should check this RoboCop out.
You might have already read this post on A Cynical Geek at A Cynical Geek if not go check out his channel now.
Note: We watched the movie on a cable channel so it censored out profanity and anything other extreme content except violence the movie had and it was rated "R".
Recommended for: Action movie fans, Sci-Fi movie fans,
Would you keep an eye out for more 'historical fiction' movies? Btw, don't watch Braveheart unless you see it on that cable channel you have. If you do that, you'll probably be grading the same Braveheart The Scarlet Pimpernel and I think is so awesome.
ReplyDelete@:JT/King Valun I will be review the recent "King Arthur" movie soon. It is a 'historical fiction' movie. I know I am waiting for it to come on some channel I have. Braveheart is at the top of the list of movies I want to see.
ReplyDeleteGreat movie, great one indeed, you should check out the remake, it's still in the works.
ReplyDelete