I'll never see Red Forman the same again. 😭😂 What do you think of Robocop? Let me know below and please suggest more movies and TV shows to me here: forms.gle/XZVvZhfhwFzsDpRU9 For a complete list of reactions, visit kaiielle.com 😊 Wishing you the best September ahead!
I love your reactions. I wish you would react to a show called “Sherlock” from BBC which an adaptation of Sherlock Holmes in modern times. It’s very fun and engaging and not long. It’s brilliantly acted as well specially by the main actor Benedict Cumberbatch. It’s definitely over the top in some episodes but it’s really fun and engaging.
Why is it so funny? It's just two words but it says so much about his character. Most hit men don't want to leave witnesses but Clarance DGAF. He's in a good mood today, feeling perhaps a little chivalrous, but only enough to warn them once in as few, misogynistic words as possible. And it's all he needs to say, even those two brain surgeons didn't need him to say "or else" or describe how much worse their night would get if they didn't.
@@AFMountaineer2000 just watched a new interview with Kurtwood Smith on the Rich Eisen Show: "Celebrity True or False: Kurtwood Smith on Robocop...," he says that they were already together before doing Robocop but, they got married when he was filming Dead Poet's Society. I'm wrong that they were married, you're wrong in that this movie is how they met.
A Paul Verhoven classic. A fun mix of social commentary, satire, and over-the-top... everything. With a healthy dose of delicious cheese topping. Total Recall and Starship Troopers are two more of his in a similar vein that are a fun watch. Lots of stuff touched on in this one that's still relevant today... Privatization/militarization of police and other civil services, corporate culture, consumerism, bodily autonomy, and rights after death (thinking of a lot of the controversies around bringing famous people 'back to life' via AI/deepfakes/voice emulation). The gun twirl wasn't something he was programmed to do, it was just the first bit of Murphy that started to poke back through.
I didn't really dive into my thoughts on the social commentary of this movie, I'm now just realizing. I think it's because I have expressed my thoughts on corporations/CEOs in past reactions and for this movie I just wanted to kick back and have fun. 😂 The world is still very much like it is in this movie in many ways.
@@kaiielle That's the best part about Verhoeven movies... They're often just a ton of fun so you can just sit back and just enjoy the ride or chew on it a little. Glad you enjoyed.
@@kaiielle Here's another nod to Total Recall and Starship Troopers - a non-Trilogy of Verhoven films. The satire is thick in all three, with Troopers and Recall both AWESOME films. All three had Rob Bottin's effects (the gunshot squibs, etc). He also did The Howling's effects and The Thing.
ngl when trump was president and had his whole debactle of "I WANT A RECOUNT" it was a magical time of watching robocop reactions with the mayor and the hostages scene lol
Fun Fact: Peter Wellar could fit head phones under the helmet, so during the famous drug den shoot out scene, Peter Wellar was listening to Peter Gabriel’s Red Rain
He has played the “bad guy” so much in his career. You ever see the Star Trek Voyager two part episode Year Of Hell? And all the kids in “That 70s Show” were initially afraid of him!
I wouldn't call it violent just to be violent at all. It's a reasonably clever, well written satire and the violence is part of that story. It's over the top, but for a reason.
Yeah it's a Paul Verhooven trademark. To satirize the over-the-top nature of the story by making the violence so cartoonish that it loses it's grim realism and becomes ridiculous. Starship Troopers will take this concept and go even further with it. It's what makes Robocop seem less edgy and more like a real life Marvel Comic from the 80's.
Growing up in the 80's-90's you'd always see Ronny Cox as the scumbag villain in a 3 piece suit. A few years ago visiting my mom she was watching "Bound for Glory" and for the first time I saw him as a good guy. That was weird.
I was a voice actor in the 90s and I was disappointed that all I ever booked were “bad guy” roles. My agent pointed out that Ronny Cox was always working and for a young VO actor that is a good thing.
When this film came out, it was hailed as dark satire of Corporations running everything. It still rings true on that! BTW, it was wild watching this in theaters! The level of audience participation was insane; every 'big-bad' death had us howling!
Wish I'd seen it in the theater. I thought it sounded like a stupid movie (Robocop! That's dumb!) so didn't catch it until later on VHS and realized I was very wrong. Still love this movie, it's the director's best one.
I was 17 and a sci fi nut so you know I had to see this in the theater! I even caught the second one in the theater as well. It was not as good but it’s bad guy Caine had some fun moments. I can’t speak on the third. Peter Weller didn’t put on the suit and I didn’t buy a ticket. I still haven’t seen it.
Kurtwood Smith plays another memorable, albeit more subdued, villain in the futuristic prison movie "Fortress" with Christopher Lambert of "Highlander" fame in the lead. Cult horror actor Jeffrey Combs is also present as one of his many bizarre characters. Kurtwood Smith is not villainous, but still badass as a military officer in both "Under siege 2" (starring Steven Seagal) and "Broken arrow" (starring John Travolta and Christian Slater). All these movies, especially the latter, are true 90s action classics.
I remember that film because it was made here in Australia. Haven’t seen it in over 25 years. My favourite scene is when Jeffery Combs tries to get the explosive ball out of a fellow inmates stomach. I vaguely remember there was an alternate ending for this film.
@@Paul77ozee Yeah, it's a little like "The descent". One version where they have deleted the final minute of the original version, so more characters supposedly make it.
I like his TV work. He played a few Star Trek characters. The Federation President in ST:VI, and a Cardassian on DS9, and a Krenim who mucks with time on ST Voyager. And on “That 70s/90s show as Red Foreman the father, the kind of father that would put his foot in his kid’s ass!
This film really deserves multiple rewatches IMHO. The small (and not so small) details, the double meanings, the symbolism... It's worth turning on our brain. It's a much clever film than it seems at first glance. And it is much more than a satire. It´s a profound movie and a really sad and dark view of what humanity could (and has) become. Are we even still human anymore or just want to believe that? Do we even know what being human is.
Studying this movie really rewards you because there is massive depth that is beyond the surface when it comes to the visual storytelling and subtle character moments.
Fun Fact: The scene where Boddicker was strutting through the office and told the receptionist to "fit him in" and you said it was creepy? That was Kurtwood Smith meeting his future real life wife on set.
Love this movie! The Future Of Law Enforcement. Before Peter Weller was cast as RoboCop, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Armand Assante, Michael Ironside, Sylvester Stallone, Rutger Hauer and Tom Berenger were considered for the role, until Weller was cast, because the producers wanted someone with a slimmer frame to fit suit. It was 113° in Dallas Texas where they were filming, and in order to prevent Weller from passing out, the effects team put an AC unit inside the suit. Weller lost 3 lbs a day from wearing the suit, and couldn't eat any solid food, except for Yogurt, Ice Cream, and Oatmeal. The stop motion animation sequences were done by Oscar Winning VFX artist Phil Tippett, who did VFX work on Star Wars, JURASSIC PARK, Starship Troopers, Cloverfield and The Twilight Saga. It won the Oscar for Best Sound Editing. It made $60 million dollars against a $13 million dollar budget. It's now regarded as one of the best Sci-fi Action movies ever made.
Robocop 2, although not as good, is still worth seeing just because it's the last movie Phil Tippet used stop motion for VFX before switching to CGI for Jurassic Park.
@@chrisleebowersYes it is not as good but still good. Caine was a good villain, lots of great lines… People want paradise,they will have it. Jesus had days like this! Hounded and attacked like a criminal. But like him, I don’t blame you. They program you and you do it. Caine was a great villain. Fun fact: When Caine is in the mobile lab talking to the drug chemist Frank, that’s the writer of the story of the film Frank Miller.
One thing I didn’t notice when I first saw this movie, but have noticed it upon repeat viewings, is that when Robocop is there at the end to get Jones, the Old Man kept what Robo said about not being able to arrest Jones in mind. If you watch the Old Man’s eyes while Jones has him, he never stops looking in Robocop’s direction. He realizes that Robo can’t do anything, and at just the right moment, fires Jones. It’s actually pretty clever thinking on the Old Man’s part.
Saw this in the theater when I was 6 with my parents. The origin scene and toxic waste scene traumatized me for sure. It was a different time. Fun fact: for years Robocop had the record for the most blood squibs used in a film. A blood squib is a small pouch of fake blood with a tiny explosive used to simulate gunshot wounds.
As the film progresses, and RoboCop regains his humanity, you'll notice the robotic, echoey sound to his voice slowly disappear until he has just a normal speaking voice at the end
You're the first reaction to recognize Robocop's repeat of the line Murphy used at the old factory: "Dead or alive you're coming with me." Right after you said, "I wonder if he's going to recognize the bottom half of his face?" Kudos. No one else I've watched remembered Murphy using that line on the exact same guy in the factory. That's how he remembered Murphy.
@@theendisthebeginningistheend I have still no idea where you got that I was rude from. Again, I think you're projecting here. I'm not the one who was attacking someone for not liking a film and calling them names. Grow up.
Great reaction Kaiielle. What I love about this movie is that OCP and most others only see the machine. Lewis and Sergeant realize there is man mixed in with the machine. He is still a man with thoughts and feelings. Lewis is great partner. She stays by Murphy regardless. This reminds me a lot of Halo...with Master Chief as cyborg. He is still man underneath it all.
Apart from the very last stop motion shot, which is awful, this film is still basically flawless. Myself and friends still say quotes from this all the time, and there are so many. "Are you a college boy?" "I LIKE IT!" "I'd buy that for a dollar!" and so it goes :)
1. That wasn't stop motion, it was the Dick Jones actor with arm and leg extensions for perspective shot against a green screen plate and composited over a background of falling. 2. It wasn't that bad, it was just that they misinterpreted how the "perspective" would appear when the opticals were put together.
@the-NightStar The actor who played Dick Jones, Ronnie Cox, is quite lanky, so the scene of him falling isn't as out of whack, as it appears. I can't quite remember which movie, but the effect of him falling is an homage to a scene, from a movie from decades earlier, so they did it unrealistically on purpose. Some special effects are not meant to seem real, but are meant to be surreal. What many Millennials & Gen Z'ers don't realize, is sometimes more primative special effects are purposely chosen for a variety of reasons. For instance, the stop motion of EDD 209 gave it a certain intimidating presence, & as I've already pointed out, Dick Jones falling was paying homage to another movie. Another reason to choose an other than realistic effect, is for comedy, because it's funny. For instance, in the 1990's movie, "Mars Attacks", primative special effects were used both for comedy & to give it a classic 1950's Sci-Fi movie feel. Bottom line, don't be distracted. A special effect may not be realistic for a reason. Lean into your suspension of disbelief. It's a movie!
When this movie came out it was the most "violent" film I had ever seen (as a 16 year old), and I LOVED every second of it. It's an absolute classic, and one that I watch a few times a year. The (practical) effects were SO good, and Weller's performance was excellent IMO.
It was the most violent movie ANYBODY had seen when it came out. They had to cut several seconds here and there just for it to get an R rating instead of an X for violence. Now you have rated R action movies where people get blown to chunks and all kinds of other gore but back then it was a different story.
In 1988, aged 11, I awoke a couple of hours before my 7am paper round (route) and sneaked downstairs. My auntie worked in a video shop (store) and had pirated copies of lots of films. That day we had a 240min VHS of Predator and ROBOCOP! It was the theatrical edited version, not the super fun directors cut I would later get several times in various formats. It’s still in my top ten of all time. Love it to bits.
My mother and I saw RoboCop in theater, I was about 12. Don't know if before or after (since they came out same year) but I saw Predator on HBO on a Saturday night (like the 7:00 pm showing).
Honestly one of my favorite movies of all time. It pretty much had it all. You're right about the effects... in 87 they were amazing. Even the Taurus' they used for the police cars was a brand new design and gave it a futuristic feel.
Great reaction to this multi layered film. Americans gave a Dutchman millions of dollars to critique their own society and he got away with it in spades. Do check out the other two movies in the Verhoven sci fi satire trilogy "Total Recall" and "Starship Troopers", all classics the latter being particularly biting, well worth your time.
They filmed a scene with Lewis recovering in the hospital, but it was not included in the final cut. The second film is fun, and Weller is back, hope you will watch it.
It was originally the last scene in the movie, but test audiences went so wild for the scene where he tells the CEO his name, that they knew that was the right note to end on.
28:20 I always felt this was the moment that Murphy fully came to himself 28:58 Fun fact the lady playing Dick Jone’s secretary is Kurtwood Smith’s real life wife. They met on the set of Robocop and have been together ever since.
Fun Fact: this movie is based on the true story of a cybernetically enhanced Kansas sheriff in 1874. Artistic liberties were taken, however, as the real man used double-wielded laser pistols.
History would have you believe the first laser was invented in 1960 by Theodore Maiman but that’s just a cover up. Let us never forget the real Robocop, Sheriff William “Steel-Jaw” McGraw.
My older sister and I tricked our Mom into taking us to a late movie while Dad was on a business trip. We knew RoboCop was the only movie showing late. She was shocked, but enjoyed it. 😂😅
This was my childhood movie. Lol. Robocop had toys, cartoon, videogames. R was no big deal back then. Now, as an adult, I notice lots of social commentary and drama that gets my brain going. Great reaction. Keep up the work.
I love how when you whittle this movie down to its bare essence its about a human ensconced into a machine that pushes his humanity out of the way, but throughout the movie he regains it. You never expect the allegory in an action film, but when its done with the right approach, it makes for a very memorable flick and an protagonist you root for. Robocop starts out as very matter of fact, cold, almost inhuman very machine like, robotic, and routine. By the end, he goes by his actual name that the execs at OCP tried to repress - they jsut needed a body to act as a cash cow for their own bureacratic advancement. Robocop is the titile of the film, but when you refere to Robocop by his actual name, it fills you with relief because he has his identity again, his humanity. Kaielle, you should aslo know - there's an animated series and a live action series, not jsut the 2 other feature films. Comics, too, obviously.
FINALLY someone understood that gas station scene on how that guy recognized him. I've watched a few other reactions and people can't figure out it was from the same line he used on the bad dude earlier.
When I had this on VHS I showed this to my older cousin. I forgot that he didn’t see R rated movies like I did. The melting guy and him getting splattered on the windshield scared him for life. 🤷🏾♂️
One thing that few people realize is the order in wich the 3 prime directives are. The first one is not "uphold the law", but it is the last one. It tell a lot.
13:16 The twirling of the gun isn't something OCP intended; it's the first sign that something of Murphy's consciousness still survives. 29:45 She brought actual baby food because she couldn't get into the station to get his normal nutrient paste. BTW Robocop II is one of those rare sequels that's just as good as the original, IMO. Robocop III is...well, it's a movie.
I think it's funny that the only time Robocop makes a joke, no one picks up on it. 😅 "They fix everything" is not about Lewis getting made into a cyborg (she was injured, not maimed to pieces), but about the absurdity of OCP managing to rebuilt him, which makes her injuries seem like a paper cut. I guess he retrained his sense of humor.
Yeah, the toxic waste effect is classic. Perspective: you know the psychotic villain in this movie as Red, but many people know the father from That 70's Show as Clarence Boddicker. 😁
For the big explosion at 30:41, Kurtwood and the other guys got stunt pay in addition to their regular pay. A couple of them got slightly hurt by flying debris.
fun fact, Kurtwood Smith (aka clarence boddicker or red forman) got to meet his future wife on set of the first Robocop movie, and it was barbara :D 28:55
Awesome reaction to an 80's Classic, Me and my buddies had our minds blown when we saw it as kids more than 30 yrs ago. Just so you'd know, Rather than "The Terminator" this movie took a lot of inspiration from the 2000AD comic called "Judge Dredd".
You’re reacting to a lot of my faves, and I love it. I watched it in cinema on release weekend and it was glorious (people cheered). Fun fact - the hostage negotiation scene in infrared was shot in the dark while the actors wore fluorescent body paint.
I was 14 when this came out and the theater was packed. Everyone loved it. What a great movie. Also, Kurtwood Smith was the Federation President in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and he also played a villain in Star Trek: Voyager named Annorax in a 2 parter and a Cardassian in Star Trek : Deep Space Nine.
Some people always ask how Murphy didn't straight up die from the barrage of bullets, it's because they were shooting him on the chest where the bullet proof vest was taking most of the shots. Also, it's a movie.
It was really awesome to see someone react exactly like I do every time I watch this longtime favorite. Pt 2 is definitely worth a watch even though it’s no where near as awesome.
Another fantastic review of a great film This is a great 80's action film. The practical effects and the level of the violence meant that this was always a favourite at the video hire shop.
It is a bona fide classic. As a kid in the 80s, movies simultaneously blew my mind with their special effects, hilarious politics and very variable computer game spin-offs!
I love all the Paul Verhoeven trifecta of sci fi movies (RoboCop, Total Recall, Starship Troopers). Each one of them brings campy, over-the-top sci fi violence combined with dark social satire. Verhoeven also did an adventure drama movie set in medieval Europe called 'Flesh & Blood' (1985) that I enjoy as well. Seeing Murphy regain his humanity is a great character arc. Some of the special effects look a bit cheesy (Dick's elongated arms as he is falling from the building), but that just adds to the fun of it all. Peter Weller is one of those actors I think deserved more career attention.
17:33 Fun fact, when we enter into REM sleep a chemical is secreted to partially paralyze the voluntary muscles. It appears to be intended to keep us from acting out the physical movements in our dreams. But Robocop doesn’t have an organic human body. So everything in his dreams got acted out. I thought this was great touch by the director.
The studio responsible for "Robocop" is located in Irving, Texas, just a couple of miles from my office. That studio also made the "Barney" TV series for kids.
There was a lot of comics of Robocop VS Terminator back in the day and even a few games. I always wished they could have done it on film. If I remember right in those comics it turned out OCP was actually another Skynet, and Robocop just woke up in the future after being offline for a while.
There's one by Frank Miller and in that one they sent one of the human soldiers from the future to the past to kill Alex Murphy before he became RoboCop.
The guy who played Emil (Paul McCrane, the toxic waste guy) is in the remake of The Blob (1988), where he also gets an awesome death. If you like cool effects and makeup, The Blob is essential viewing.
Phil Tippett, who did the stop motion fx for this and Robocop 2 just released his stop motion magnum opus, "MAD GOD", which was started oved 30 years ago but shelved after Jurassic Park (which he worked on) led him to believe his profession was dead.. he started it up again 10 years go. Its basically a wordless nightmare phantasmagoria. Well worth a look. I believe its streaming on Shudder.
At 11 years old and watching a VHS copy of this movie taped off TV (edited to have bad language dubbed and more extreme violence removed) even in that neutered state, knew it was special - the satire, the violence, just a nice blend of the serious and absurd.
When me and a friend of mine went to watch this in the theater back in the day, we were so blown away by it that we actually got back in line and watched it again. Sooo good. The eighties kicked butt for movies.
Apparently the whole shooting process was incredibly difficult for Peter Weller. The full costume was incredibly difficult to move in and the man couldn’t see for most of filming
True, they almost pulled the plug on the entire movie over the suit being too heavy. They stripped it a little bit eventfully and made it somewhat manageable, but it was still hell to wear and made Weller loose ton of weight during the filming. The silver lining is that it gave Robocop his signature static moves which in first concept were supposed to be way more fluid. Then they added these genius heavy machine sound effects which turned him into the ultimate steel beast, and the rest is history.
So many familiar places, I heard they damn near blew up Deep Ellum during the filming. Thank God they didn't cause it's just to much fun down there!! I wish they'd make more movies in Dallas like they used to. Fukin classic!!
STAN WINSTON was the genius behind many special effects and creature creations from the 80s. Look him up, and you will see why it reminds you of Terminator. Great review. This was o ne of my favs as a teen. Aliens was the best if you haven't seen it yet
I don't know if anyone brought it up, but the film is structured like a palindrome... It intentionally has a mirror symmetry scene for scene where Murphy loses his humanity and then regains it in the second half of the film, from man to robot to man. People have broken it down, including almost all of the news and commercial breaks (the one big difference is not ending on a news segment after we began on one... there originally was one featuring Lewis's recovery, but it was cut.) Things like Murphy pursuing the criminals to the factory/the criminals pursuing Murphy to the factory... Him coming online as Robocop and using the shooting range/him removing the face mask and practicing targeting in the factory, etc... You can find a corresponding scene to most everything, all in reverse order. It's actually quite neat and worth looking into.
He's also robot Jesus. When Lewis finds Murphy he's crucified, he's resurrected as Robocop, and when he yells "Clarence!" at the end he's walking on water.
Robocop 1987 is a masterpiece. I think the only thing I don't like about it is ED 209 animal noises. I understand why they added them, but I think it would have been more menacing without them. 10/10 movie
I was 12 when this movie was in theaters (yes, I absolutely snuck in) so this is the Kurtwood Smith I grew up with so watching young people discover this side of him is awesome!!
One can absolutely watch this movie with the brain turned off and just enjoy what's happening, but if you do leave the brain on there's actually a lot more going on beneath the surface. Peter Weller, who is a very very intense and knowledgeable guy has talked a lot about Robocop and the making of that movie (it was...difficult), and actually describes the movie as a tragedy. A man is murdered because of the deliberate indifference of a mega corporation, and is subsequently robbed of his humanity and personality in addition to his life. He's literally made into a product to do the corporation's bidding. Add Paul Verhoeven's fixation on the christ mythos, the crucifixion, the resurrection and all of that - Robocop literally walks on water at the end, having not absolved the sinners of their sins, but rather shooting them instead with his gun. "An american Jesus", like he says on the DVD commentaries track - or if it was the scriptwriter, sadly I forget his name; there were actually two of them, but this was the younger of them. There's a lot more of that sort of dark social satire stuff to be found if one just goes looking for it, you already mentioned the Reaganism and the privatization stuff, and there's also the "Media Breaks" that cram everything into just 5 minutes of shallow reporting, the absurd TV ads, and the pointlessly pointless and bizarro TV show one sees snippets of throughout the movie (which was called "It's not my problem", btw.) We've got this show already at this stage, what we see in Robocop predates all of the "Jackass" stuff which was to come later, the increasingly screwy and faked "reality" TV shows, all of that crap. Robocop, which by everything we know of this society of ours should have just ended up as a marginalized B movie, has had such an impact on western culture. You still hear people say "I'll buy that for a dollar" for cripes sake, and that's just the start of it. :P
15:05 Clarence is Riddler, Leon is Penguin, Emil is Clayface, Steve is Deadshot, Can You Fly Bobby who burned the money is Firefly, and Joe Cox "HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!" is Joker. At OCP, Dick Jones is Hugo Strange, Bob Morton is Harvey Dent, Don Johnson is Lucius Fox, and the Old Man is Bruce Wayne. On the police force, Ann Lewis is Barbara Gordon, Sergeant Reed is Commissioner Gordon, Lt. Hedgecock is Bullock, and Skinny-Boy Alex Murphy is Jonathan Crane while RoboCop is Scarecrow.
The movie was director Paul Verhoeven's satirical commentary on 80s Reagan capitalism. I grew up in the 80s and can still recall my entire family loving this movie. Even my mom, who usually hated violence and horror, enjoyed it. She even let me keep my issue of Fangoria magazine that had Robocop on the cover. The movie seemed to speak to what everyone was feeling back then. Btw, this is just one of Verhoeven's trilogy of commercial satires. The other two movies, Total Recall and Starship Troopers, are just as fun, just as critical of that Reagan 80s era, and even more over the top.
You may want to check out Dead Poets Society. More Kurtwood Smith and one of Robin Williams best flicks. I saw Robocop when it came out and loved it! It’s such a classic 80’s movie.
That scene where they’re trying to save Murphy - that was actually a real ER team, so everything you see is pretty accurate for how an emergency room worked in 1987.
I'll never see Red Forman the same again. 😭😂 What do you think of Robocop? Let me know below and please suggest more movies and TV shows to me here: forms.gle/XZVvZhfhwFzsDpRU9 For a complete list of reactions, visit kaiielle.com 😊 Wishing you the best September ahead!
I saw Robocop way before I saw That 70's Show. So for me it was opposite. When I saw the show I was like, "Hey it's Clarence Boddicker!" 😅
Part 2 you`ll like too...
I love your reactions. I wish you would react to a show called “Sherlock” from BBC which an adaptation of Sherlock Holmes in modern times. It’s very fun and engaging and not long. It’s brilliantly acted as well specially by the main actor Benedict Cumberbatch. It’s definitely over the top in some episodes but it’s really fun and engaging.
Can you fly, Kelso?
When you saw this movie before the show, Red was really scary... :D
"Bitches leave!" is just the most glorious line.
Why is it so funny? It's just two words but it says so much about his character. Most hit men don't want to leave witnesses but Clarance DGAF. He's in a good mood today, feeling perhaps a little chivalrous, but only enough to warn them once in as few, misogynistic words as possible. And it's all he needs to say, even those two brain surgeons didn't need him to say "or else" or describe how much worse their night would get if they didn't.
My favorite was “Can you fly Bobby”?
@@chrisleebowers He doesn't care about witnesses because his boss owns the cops.
@@redrick8900 That and he's already wanted for a zillion other things, what's one more murder?
@@chrisleebowers He isn't wanted. He's just a suspect.
The “bitches leave” line has been burned into my brain since childhood lol. Great reaction!
The ending of this movie is so damn satisfying.
Yes, and when he answers that his name is Murphy, it's like an internal triumph in reclaiming his humanity and personhood. Just perfection.
@@Daniel-Strain People miss this, but right after he say that the end title goes "ROBOCOP". It's more satire!
The woman who plays Dick Jones' secretary is Kurtwood Smith's wife. This movie was how they met.
Nope. They were already married. In an interview, she says that she never knew he had a character as sadistic as Clarence in him.
@@ZoeDuneCorp Robocop came out in 87 they were married in 88.
That’s a kicker!
@@AFMountaineer2000 just watched a new interview with Kurtwood Smith on the Rich Eisen Show: "Celebrity True or False: Kurtwood Smith on Robocop...," he says that they were already together before doing Robocop but, they got married when he was filming Dead Poet's Society. I'm wrong that they were married, you're wrong in that this movie is how they met.
@ZoeDuneCorp ok thanks for the correction. Good to know the truth from the source.
A Paul Verhoven classic. A fun mix of social commentary, satire, and over-the-top... everything. With a healthy dose of delicious cheese topping. Total Recall and Starship Troopers are two more of his in a similar vein that are a fun watch.
Lots of stuff touched on in this one that's still relevant today... Privatization/militarization of police and other civil services, corporate culture, consumerism, bodily autonomy, and rights after death (thinking of a lot of the controversies around bringing famous people 'back to life' via AI/deepfakes/voice emulation).
The gun twirl wasn't something he was programmed to do, it was just the first bit of Murphy that started to poke back through.
I didn't really dive into my thoughts on the social commentary of this movie, I'm now just realizing. I think it's because I have expressed my thoughts on corporations/CEOs in past reactions and for this movie I just wanted to kick back and have fun. 😂 The world is still very much like it is in this movie in many ways.
@@kaiielle That's the best part about Verhoeven movies... They're often just a ton of fun so you can just sit back and just enjoy the ride or chew on it a little. Glad you enjoyed.
@@kaiielle Here's another nod to Total Recall and Starship Troopers - a non-Trilogy of Verhoven films. The satire is thick in all three, with Troopers and Recall both AWESOME films. All three had Rob Bottin's effects (the gunshot squibs, etc). He also did The Howling's effects and The Thing.
ngl when trump was president and had his whole debactle of "I WANT A RECOUNT" it was a magical time of watching robocop reactions with the mayor and the hostages scene lol
Fun Fact: Peter Wellar could fit head phones under the helmet, so during the famous drug den shoot out scene, Peter Wellar was listening to Peter Gabriel’s Red Rain
I love the way Clarence has the courtesy to close Bob's front door as he leaves, even though there won't even be a house for much longer.
26:17 "He's so good at playing a bad guy" Could not agree more.
He has played the “bad guy” so much in his career. You ever see the Star Trek Voyager two part episode Year Of Hell?
And all the kids in “That 70s Show” were initially afraid of him!
I wouldn't call it violent just to be violent at all. It's a reasonably clever, well written satire and the violence is part of that story. It's over the top, but for a reason.
Yeah it's a Paul Verhooven trademark. To satirize the over-the-top nature of the story by making the violence so cartoonish that it loses it's grim realism and becomes ridiculous. Starship Troopers will take this concept and go even further with it. It's what makes Robocop seem less edgy and more like a real life Marvel Comic from the 80's.
Great reaction! Fun fact: The main villian in "Robocop" is played by Ronny Cox who also costars in "Beverly Hills Cop".
Growing up in the 80's-90's you'd always see Ronny Cox as the scumbag villain in a 3 piece suit. A few years ago visiting my mom she was watching "Bound for Glory" and for the first time I saw him as a good guy. That was weird.
@@tancar2004 Ronny Cox played mostly good guy roles until Robocop came along.
I was a voice actor in the 90s and I was disappointed that all I ever booked were “bad guy” roles. My agent pointed out that Ronny Cox was always working and for a young VO actor that is a good thing.
26:14 Kurtwood Smith improvised that moment and the response from the actor who played the Sergeant was genuine.
When this film came out, it was hailed as dark satire of Corporations running everything.
It still rings true on that!
BTW, it was wild watching this in theaters!
The level of audience participation was insane; every 'big-bad' death had us howling!
I'll buy that for a dollar
Wish I'd seen it in the theater. I thought it sounded like a stupid movie (Robocop! That's dumb!) so didn't catch it until later on VHS and realized I was very wrong. Still love this movie, it's the director's best one.
@@JasonHauser125 I loved robots so when this came out I was excited and really didn't think much of the title being bad lol.
I was 17 and a sci fi nut so you know I had to see this in the theater!
I even caught the second one in the theater as well. It was not as good but it’s bad guy Caine had some fun moments.
I can’t speak on the third. Peter Weller didn’t put on the suit and I didn’t buy a ticket. I still haven’t seen it.
when Robocop responds by saying that his name was Murphy, he was actually regaining some of his humanity...a perfect ending to a great cinema classic
Kurtwood Smith plays another memorable, albeit more subdued, villain in the futuristic prison movie "Fortress" with Christopher Lambert of "Highlander" fame in the lead. Cult horror actor Jeffrey Combs is also present as one of his many bizarre characters.
Kurtwood Smith is not villainous, but still badass as a military officer in both "Under siege 2" (starring Steven Seagal) and "Broken arrow" (starring John Travolta and Christian Slater). All these movies, especially the latter, are true 90s action classics.
I remember that film because it was made here in Australia. Haven’t seen it in over 25 years. My favourite scene is when Jeffery Combs tries to get the explosive ball out of a fellow inmates stomach.
I vaguely remember there was an alternate ending for this film.
@@Paul77ozee Yeah, it's a little like "The descent". One version where they have deleted the final minute of the original version, so more characters supposedly make it.
I like his TV work. He played a few Star Trek characters. The Federation President in ST:VI, and a Cardassian on DS9, and a Krenim who mucks with time on ST Voyager.
And on “That 70s/90s show as Red Foreman the father, the kind of father that would put his foot in his kid’s ass!
This film really deserves multiple rewatches IMHO. The small (and not so small) details, the double meanings, the symbolism... It's worth turning on our brain. It's a much clever film than it seems at first glance. And it is much more than a satire. It´s a profound movie and a really sad and dark view of what humanity could (and has) become. Are we even still human anymore or just want to believe that? Do we even know what being human is.
Studying this movie really rewards you because there is massive depth that is beyond the surface when it comes to the visual storytelling and subtle character moments.
"Murphy, it's you." - Lewis, helping RoboCop remember who he is
"Murphy, it's me." - Lewis, letting RoboCop know she can be trusted
Fun Fact: The scene where Boddicker was strutting through the office and told the receptionist to "fit him in" and you said it was creepy? That was Kurtwood Smith meeting his future real life wife on set.
Robocop is truly one of the most legendary movies of it’s time.
Love this movie!
The Future Of Law Enforcement.
Before Peter Weller was cast as RoboCop, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Armand Assante, Michael Ironside, Sylvester Stallone, Rutger Hauer and Tom Berenger were considered for the role, until Weller was cast, because the producers wanted someone with a slimmer frame to fit suit.
It was 113° in Dallas Texas where they were filming, and in order to prevent Weller from passing out, the effects team put an AC unit inside the suit.
Weller lost 3 lbs a day from wearing the suit, and couldn't eat any solid food, except for Yogurt, Ice Cream, and Oatmeal.
The stop motion animation sequences were done by Oscar Winning VFX artist Phil Tippett, who did VFX work on Star Wars, JURASSIC PARK, Starship Troopers, Cloverfield and The Twilight Saga.
It won the Oscar for Best Sound Editing.
It made $60 million dollars against a $13 million dollar budget.
It's now regarded as one of the best Sci-fi Action movies ever made.
Sylvester Stallone had a slim frame, but he was probably too short.
Robocop 2, although not as good, is still worth seeing just because it's the last movie Phil Tippet used stop motion for VFX before switching to CGI for Jurassic Park.
@@chrisleebowersYes it is not as good but still good. Caine was a good villain, lots of great lines…
People want paradise,they will have it.
Jesus had days like this! Hounded and attacked like a criminal. But like him, I don’t blame you. They program you and you do it.
Caine was a great villain.
Fun fact: When Caine is in the mobile lab talking to the drug chemist Frank, that’s the writer of the story of the film Frank Miller.
One thing I didn’t notice when I first saw this movie, but have noticed it upon repeat viewings, is that when Robocop is there at the end to get Jones, the Old Man kept what Robo said about not being able to arrest Jones in mind. If you watch the Old Man’s eyes while Jones has him, he never stops looking in Robocop’s direction. He realizes that Robo can’t do anything, and at just the right moment, fires Jones. It’s actually pretty clever thinking on the Old Man’s part.
Saw this in the theater when I was 6 with my parents. The origin scene and toxic waste scene traumatized me for sure. It was a different time.
Fun fact: for years Robocop had the record for the most blood squibs used in a film.
A blood squib is a small pouch of fake blood with a tiny explosive used to simulate gunshot wounds.
Were 75% of those squibs used on Kinney?
It made me so happy to watch someone experience this movie for the first time.
Thanks for watching!
As the film progresses, and RoboCop regains his humanity, you'll notice the robotic, echoey sound to his voice slowly disappear until he has just a normal speaking voice at the end
You're the first reaction to recognize Robocop's repeat of the line Murphy used at the old factory: "Dead or alive you're coming with me." Right after you said, "I wonder if he's going to recognize the bottom half of his face?" Kudos. No one else I've watched remembered Murphy using that line on the exact same guy in the factory. That's how he remembered Murphy.
Then you don't watch a lot of reaction channels, many pick up on it.
@@Atlas_Redux Are you this rude to everyone?
@@theendisthebeginningistheendHow in the world was that rude? Think you're projecting here.
@@Atlas_Redux And I think you're a hypocrite.
There is nothing I hate more than a hypocrite.
@@theendisthebeginningistheend I have still no idea where you got that I was rude from. Again, I think you're projecting here. I'm not the one who was attacking someone for not liking a film and calling them names. Grow up.
Great reaction Kaiielle. What I love about this movie is that OCP and most others only see the machine. Lewis and Sergeant realize there is man mixed in with the machine. He is still a man with thoughts and feelings. Lewis is great partner. She stays by Murphy regardless. This reminds me a lot of Halo...with Master Chief as cyborg. He is still man underneath it all.
One of my favourite action movies from the 80s!
Apart from the very last stop motion shot, which is awful, this film is still basically flawless.
Myself and friends still say quotes from this all the time, and there are so many.
"Are you a college boy?" "I LIKE IT!" "I'd buy that for a dollar!" and so it goes :)
1. That wasn't stop motion, it was the Dick Jones actor with arm and leg extensions for perspective shot against a green screen plate and composited over a background of falling.
2. It wasn't that bad, it was just that they misinterpreted how the "perspective" would appear when the opticals were put together.
I find it part of the wonderful goofy charm of the film and less as something 'awful', personally.
@the-NightStar The actor who played Dick Jones, Ronnie Cox, is quite lanky, so the scene of him falling isn't as out of whack, as it appears. I can't quite remember which movie, but the effect of him falling is an homage to a scene, from a movie from decades earlier, so they did it unrealistically on purpose. Some special effects are not meant to seem real, but are meant to be surreal.
What many Millennials & Gen Z'ers don't realize, is sometimes more primative special effects are purposely chosen for a variety of reasons. For instance, the stop motion of EDD 209 gave it a certain intimidating presence, & as I've already pointed out, Dick Jones falling was paying homage to another movie.
Another reason to choose an other than realistic effect, is for comedy, because it's funny. For instance, in the 1990's movie, "Mars Attacks", primative special effects were used both for comedy & to give it a classic 1950's Sci-Fi movie feel.
Bottom line, don't be distracted. A special effect may not be realistic for a reason. Lean into your suspension of disbelief. It's a movie!
When this movie came out it was the most "violent" film I had ever seen (as a 16 year old), and I LOVED every second of it. It's an absolute classic, and one that I watch a few times a year. The (practical) effects were SO good, and Weller's performance was excellent IMO.
It was the most violent movie ANYBODY had seen when it came out. They had to cut several seconds here and there just for it to get an R rating instead of an X for violence. Now you have rated R action movies where people get blown to chunks and all kinds of other gore but back then it was a different story.
probably still is lol
@@hackerx7329 You clearly haven't seen many 80's movies.
In 1988, aged 11, I awoke a couple of hours before my 7am paper round (route) and sneaked downstairs. My auntie worked in a video shop (store) and had pirated copies of lots of films. That day we had a 240min VHS of Predator and ROBOCOP! It was the theatrical edited version, not the super fun directors cut I would later get several times in various formats. It’s still in my top ten of all time. Love it to bits.
My mother and I saw RoboCop in theater, I was about 12. Don't know if before or after (since they came out same year) but I saw Predator on HBO on a Saturday night (like the 7:00 pm showing).
Honestly one of my favorite movies of all time. It pretty much had it all. You're right about the effects... in 87 they were amazing. Even the Taurus' they used for the police cars was a brand new design and gave it a futuristic feel.
Great reaction to this multi layered film. Americans gave a Dutchman millions of dollars to critique their own society and he got away with it in spades. Do check out the other two movies in the Verhoven sci fi satire trilogy "Total Recall" and "Starship Troopers", all classics the latter being particularly biting, well worth your time.
They filmed a scene with Lewis recovering in the hospital, but it was not included in the final cut. The second film is fun, and Weller is back, hope you will watch it.
It was originally the last scene in the movie, but test audiences went so wild for the scene where he tells the CEO his name, that they knew that was the right note to end on.
I'll buy that for a dollar! This movie is pure brilliance and the satire on point, I love it.
I love the sound effect when robocop enters the boardroom in the final scene
28:20 I always felt this was the moment that Murphy fully came to himself
28:58 Fun fact the lady playing Dick Jone’s secretary is Kurtwood Smith’s real life wife. They met on the set of Robocop and have been together ever since.
I guess she did find time to fit him in?🤣
Fun Fact: this movie is based on the true story of a cybernetically enhanced Kansas sheriff in 1874. Artistic liberties were taken, however, as the real man used double-wielded laser pistols.
History would have you believe the first laser was invented in 1960 by Theodore Maiman but that’s just a cover up. Let us never forget the real Robocop, Sheriff William “Steel-Jaw” McGraw.
The town was Mercy, Kansas.
Is this a reference to something?
He was steam powered
Ah is that a Doctor Who reference by any chance?
My older sister and I tricked our Mom into taking us to a late movie while Dad was on a business trip.
We knew RoboCop was the only movie showing late. She was shocked, but enjoyed it. 😂😅
This was my childhood movie. Lol. Robocop had toys, cartoon, videogames. R was no big deal back then. Now, as an adult, I notice lots of social commentary and drama that gets my brain going. Great reaction. Keep up the work.
I love how when you whittle this movie down to its bare essence its about a human ensconced into a machine that pushes his humanity out of the way, but throughout the movie he regains it. You never expect the allegory in an action film, but when its done with the right approach, it makes for a very memorable flick and an protagonist you root for. Robocop starts out as very matter of fact, cold, almost inhuman very machine like, robotic, and routine.
By the end, he goes by his actual name that the execs at OCP tried to repress - they jsut needed a body to act as a cash cow for their own bureacratic advancement.
Robocop is the titile of the film, but when you refere to Robocop by his actual name, it fills you with relief because he has his identity again, his humanity.
Kaielle, you should aslo know - there's an animated series and a live action series, not jsut the 2 other feature films. Comics, too, obviously.
FINALLY someone understood that gas station scene on how that guy recognized him. I've watched a few other reactions and people can't figure out it was from the same line he used on the bad dude earlier.
The gun spin is pure memory, there is no way the people who reconstructed him could ever have know about that to programme that into his system.
When I had this on VHS I showed this to my older cousin. I forgot that he didn’t see R rated movies like I did.
The melting guy and him getting splattered on the windshield scared him for life. 🤷🏾♂️
One of my favourite movies of all time - literally blew me away in '87!
"What's your name son?"
"Murphy."
Cuts to music.... Fucking epic.
Thanks for a fun reaction. I felt like I was sitting in a theater watching the movie with a friend.
I'm glad! Thanks for watching!
Love your lights in the background! Very cool 😃
One thing that few people realize is the order in wich the 3 prime directives are. The first one is not "uphold the law", but it is the last one. It tell a lot.
13:16 The twirling of the gun isn't something OCP intended; it's the first sign that something of Murphy's consciousness still survives.
29:45 She brought actual baby food because she couldn't get into the station to get his normal nutrient paste.
BTW Robocop II is one of those rare sequels that's just as good as the original, IMO.
Robocop III is...well, it's a movie.
I love that computer logic was used at the end to defeat the bad guy. Thanks.
I think it's funny that the only time Robocop makes a joke, no one picks up on it. 😅
"They fix everything" is not about Lewis getting made into a cyborg (she was injured, not maimed to pieces), but about the absurdity of OCP managing to rebuilt him, which makes her injuries seem like a paper cut. I guess he retrained his sense of humor.
Yeah, the toxic waste effect is classic. Perspective: you know the psychotic villain in this movie as Red, but many people know the father from That 70's Show as Clarence Boddicker. 😁
For the big explosion at 30:41, Kurtwood and the other guys got stunt pay in addition to their regular pay. A couple of them got slightly hurt by flying debris.
fun fact, Kurtwood Smith (aka clarence boddicker or red forman) got to meet his future wife on set of the first Robocop movie, and it was barbara :D 28:55
Awesome reaction to an 80's Classic, Me and my buddies had our minds blown when we saw it as kids more than 30 yrs ago. Just so you'd know, Rather than "The Terminator" this movie took a lot of inspiration from the 2000AD comic called "Judge Dredd".
You’re reacting to a lot of my faves, and I love it. I watched it in cinema on release weekend and it was glorious (people cheered). Fun fact - the hostage negotiation scene in infrared was shot in the dark while the actors wore fluorescent body paint.
I was 14 when this came out and the theater was packed. Everyone loved it. What a great movie. Also, Kurtwood Smith was the Federation President in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and he also played a villain in Star Trek: Voyager named Annorax in a 2 parter and a Cardassian in Star Trek : Deep Space Nine.
Some people always ask how Murphy didn't straight up die from the barrage of bullets, it's because they were shooting him on the chest where the bullet proof vest was taking most of the shots. Also, it's a movie.
"Also, it's a movie" is a great rebuttal to a lot of nitpicks 🤣
It was really awesome to see someone react exactly like I do every time I watch this longtime favorite. Pt 2 is definitely worth a watch even though it’s no where near as awesome.
I met Peter Weller at comic con. Nancy Allen plays Lewis. She was the lead bully in the original Carrie. This movie shows she has range.
Another fantastic review of a great film
This is a great 80's action film.
The practical effects and the level of the violence meant that this was always a favourite at the video hire shop.
It is a bona fide classic. As a kid in the 80s, movies simultaneously blew my mind with their special effects, hilarious politics and very variable computer game spin-offs!
Paul Verhoeven films are always a wild, satirical ride with a much deeper message than it seems initially, I love them.
I love all the Paul Verhoeven trifecta of sci fi movies (RoboCop, Total Recall, Starship Troopers). Each one of them brings campy, over-the-top sci fi violence combined with dark social satire. Verhoeven also did an adventure drama movie set in medieval Europe called 'Flesh & Blood' (1985) that I enjoy as well.
Seeing Murphy regain his humanity is a great character arc. Some of the special effects look a bit cheesy (Dick's elongated arms as he is falling from the building), but that just adds to the fun of it all. Peter Weller is one of those actors I think deserved more career attention.
In Terminator you see the human eye come off and reveal the robotic one underneath. In RoboCop you get the opposite. Awesome.
17:33 Fun fact, when we enter into REM sleep a chemical is secreted to partially paralyze the voluntary muscles. It appears to be intended to keep us from acting out the physical movements in our dreams.
But Robocop doesn’t have an organic human body. So everything in his dreams got acted out.
I thought this was great touch by the director.
Loved your reaction . your personality and insight make viewing your channel so much fun. Thank you.
I loved your reaction. I re-experienced most of my 1st watch with you, was very fun. Thanks for sharing
The studio responsible for "Robocop" is located in Irving, Texas, just a couple of miles from my office. That studio also made the "Barney" TV series for kids.
There was a lot of comics of Robocop VS Terminator back in the day and even a few games. I always wished they could have done it on film. If I remember right in those comics it turned out OCP was actually another Skynet, and Robocop just woke up in the future after being offline for a while.
There's one by Frank Miller and in that one they sent one of the human soldiers from the future to the past to kill Alex Murphy before he became RoboCop.
The guy who played Emil (Paul McCrane, the toxic waste guy) is in the remake of The Blob (1988), where he also gets an awesome death. If you like cool effects and makeup, The Blob is essential viewing.
In Er he was a not well liked Dr,who had his lower right arm removed then a falling helicopter killed him.
Kurtwood Smith's (Clarence Boddicker) wife, in real life, plays the secretary which his is creeping on.
I grew up watching the Robocop series before seeing That 70s Show so it was weird for me to see Kurtwood Smith as a dad.
I imagine that the "[B's] leave." line is the nicest thing Clarence ever did.
20:32 I love this shot. Even with a gas station exploding around him Robocop just casually turns and starts shooting.
Bad a$$ for sure.
"Maybe don`t have robots as police officers!" California would like to have a word with you!
Phil Tippett, who did the stop motion fx for this and Robocop 2 just released his stop motion magnum opus, "MAD GOD", which was started oved 30 years ago but shelved after Jurassic Park (which he worked on) led him to believe his profession was dead.. he started it up again 10 years go. Its basically a wordless nightmare phantasmagoria. Well worth a look. I believe its streaming on Shudder.
Little known fact that the USA did have plans to build a space station armed with lasers that was called "Project Star Wars" back in the 80`s.
Great reaction, love that you truly enjoyed the movie. You can really see that you were into it.
It was a fun one - still thinking about it!
Dan O'Herlihy As the “Old Man” puts in another stellar performance. He killed it in Halloween III: Season Of The Witch.
...and as Grig in "The Last Starfighter".
I've been on a couple studio tours where much of the movie was filmed in Texas. They have a life-sized Robocop in a glass case that looks amazing.
At 11 years old and watching a VHS copy of this movie taped off TV (edited to have bad language dubbed and more extreme violence removed) even in that neutered state, knew it was special - the satire, the violence, just a nice blend of the serious and absurd.
So many great lines in this film..."Go get 'em Frank!" 😂
When me and a friend of mine went to watch this in the theater back in the day, we were so blown away by it that we actually got back in line and watched it again. Sooo good. The eighties kicked butt for movies.
That's legendary man ...❤
@@deg6788True story too. I think we did the same thing for Back to the Future.
Apparently the whole shooting process was incredibly difficult for Peter Weller. The full costume was incredibly difficult to move in and the man couldn’t see for most of filming
True, they almost pulled the plug on the entire movie over the suit being too heavy. They stripped it a little bit eventfully and made it somewhat manageable, but it was still hell to wear and made Weller loose ton of weight during the filming. The silver lining is that it gave Robocop his signature static moves which in first concept were supposed to be way more fluid. Then they added these genius heavy machine sound effects which turned him into the ultimate steel beast, and the rest is history.
So many familiar places, I heard they damn near blew up Deep Ellum during the filming. Thank God they didn't cause it's just to much fun down there!! I wish they'd make more movies in Dallas like they used to. Fukin classic!!
STAN WINSTON was the genius behind many special effects and creature creations from the 80s. Look him up, and you will see why it reminds you of Terminator. Great review. This was o ne of my favs as a teen. Aliens was the best if you haven't seen it yet
"I am what you call a repeat offender. I repeat, I will offend again! I get my orders from a higher source." 🤣😅😆😂🤣
I don't know if anyone brought it up, but the film is structured like a palindrome... It intentionally has a mirror symmetry scene for scene where Murphy loses his humanity and then regains it in the second half of the film, from man to robot to man. People have broken it down, including almost all of the news and commercial breaks (the one big difference is not ending on a news segment after we began on one... there originally was one featuring Lewis's recovery, but it was cut.)
Things like Murphy pursuing the criminals to the factory/the criminals pursuing Murphy to the factory... Him coming online as Robocop and using the shooting range/him removing the face mask and practicing targeting in the factory, etc... You can find a corresponding scene to most everything, all in reverse order. It's actually quite neat and worth looking into.
He's also robot Jesus. When Lewis finds Murphy he's crucified, he's resurrected as Robocop, and when he yells "Clarence!" at the end he's walking on water.
Robocop 1987 is a masterpiece. I think the only thing I don't like about it is ED 209 animal noises. I understand why they added them, but I think it would have been more menacing without them.
10/10 movie
Perfect reaction to this iconic/masterpiece of a sci fi movie it has beyond stood the test of time and still holds up to this day.
I was 12 when this movie was in theaters (yes, I absolutely snuck in) so this is the Kurtwood Smith I grew up with so watching young people discover this side of him is awesome!!
One can absolutely watch this movie with the brain turned off and just enjoy what's happening, but if you do leave the brain on there's actually a lot more going on beneath the surface. Peter Weller, who is a very very intense and knowledgeable guy has talked a lot about Robocop and the making of that movie (it was...difficult), and actually describes the movie as a tragedy. A man is murdered because of the deliberate indifference of a mega corporation, and is subsequently robbed of his humanity and personality in addition to his life. He's literally made into a product to do the corporation's bidding.
Add Paul Verhoeven's fixation on the christ mythos, the crucifixion, the resurrection and all of that - Robocop literally walks on water at the end, having not absolved the sinners of their sins, but rather shooting them instead with his gun. "An american Jesus", like he says on the DVD commentaries track - or if it was the scriptwriter, sadly I forget his name; there were actually two of them, but this was the younger of them.
There's a lot more of that sort of dark social satire stuff to be found if one just goes looking for it, you already mentioned the Reaganism and the privatization stuff, and there's also the "Media Breaks" that cram everything into just 5 minutes of shallow reporting, the absurd TV ads, and the pointlessly pointless and bizarro TV show one sees snippets of throughout the movie (which was called "It's not my problem", btw.) We've got this show already at this stage, what we see in Robocop predates all of the "Jackass" stuff which was to come later, the increasingly screwy and faked "reality" TV shows, all of that crap.
Robocop, which by everything we know of this society of ours should have just ended up as a marginalized B movie, has had such an impact on western culture. You still hear people say "I'll buy that for a dollar" for cripes sake, and that's just the start of it. :P
15:05 Clarence is Riddler, Leon is Penguin, Emil is Clayface, Steve is Deadshot, Can You Fly Bobby who burned the money is Firefly, and Joe Cox "HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!" is Joker.
At OCP, Dick Jones is Hugo Strange, Bob Morton is Harvey Dent, Don Johnson is Lucius Fox, and the Old Man is Bruce Wayne.
On the police force, Ann Lewis is Barbara Gordon, Sergeant Reed is Commissioner Gordon, Lt. Hedgecock is Bullock, and Skinny-Boy Alex Murphy is Jonathan Crane while RoboCop is Scarecrow.
The movie was director Paul Verhoeven's satirical commentary on 80s Reagan capitalism. I grew up in the 80s and can still recall my entire family loving this movie. Even my mom, who usually hated violence and horror, enjoyed it. She even let me keep my issue of Fangoria magazine that had Robocop on the cover. The movie seemed to speak to what everyone was feeling back then.
Btw, this is just one of Verhoeven's trilogy of commercial satires. The other two movies, Total Recall and Starship Troopers, are just as fun, just as critical of that Reagan 80s era, and even more over the top.
And he smiled at the end.
You want violent in Sci-Fi? "Starship Troopers"
You may want to check out Dead Poets Society. More Kurtwood Smith and one of Robin Williams best flicks.
I saw Robocop when it came out and loved it! It’s such a classic 80’s movie.
That scene where they’re trying to save Murphy - that was actually a real ER team, so everything you see is pretty accurate for how an emergency room worked in 1987.
That's why I love this movie so much ...Paul Verhoeven and James Cameron are on another level