Review of RoboCop (1987) by Victor T — 14 Jan 2015

The 80´s is mostly remembered as the golden decade of the action genre with films like "First Blood", "Die Hard" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark"". But it also saw memorable and beloved sci-fi films like "E.T.", "Blade Runner", "The Terminator", "The Empire Strikes Back", "Return of the Jedi", "Wrath of Khan" and the most violent, and most overlooked, "Robocop".

Its 2029, Detroit is at the edge of complete anarchy due to bankruptcy and an alarming increasing of crime. Desperate to save the city, the mayor makes a deal with mega large company Omni Consumers Products (OCP) in which OCP would run Detroit´s police department in order to finally clean the city of crime. Wanting to make the police force cheaper, OCP starts to look for alternatives and one of those is o create a cyborg to replace humans as the law enforcement.

With a title as simple and silly as "Robocop" and a generic story, you would expect that this film would be a mindless action film destined to fail but thanks to Dutch director Paul Verhoeven, the first installment of the franchise is exactly the opposite of what you would expect. While most people remember about "Robocop" is Verhoeven´s trademark "ultra violence", this film has plenty more to offer; "Robocop" has memorable characters (specifically it´s villains), fun/solid acting, awesome and quotable dialog, striking imagery (which still has the same power after 25 years), impressive action sequences, a fast pace, a careful and spot on directing, a well written script, a memorable score, a solid dystopic atmosphere, incredible entertainment value, hilarious black humor scenes, an impeccably executed human element in between of the carnage, special effects that look lame nowadays but somehow work perfectly with the gritty world established and count with a ton of personality, and a satire of Cold War USA, consumerism, media, privatization and politics, which is the soul of this film, not the "cool" ultra violence which is only there to accentuate the perfectly executed satire that sadly reflects today´s world.

"Robocop" is one of the best action/sci-fi films I ever seen, due its smart writing and perfect direction that makes the humor and satire work perfectly. Arguably Verhoeven´s best film, a must see for sci-fi and action lovers, it not only guarantees a fun time but it also makes you think.