After huge local success in Dutch cinema, Paul Verhoeven crossed over to the United States for his first foray into commercial American cinema with the sci-fi thriller ROBOCOP.
In a futuristic Detroit, the conglomerates have taken over, with the Police Force combined into one main force of law and order. Dick Jones (Ronny Cox, BEVERLY HILLS COP, DELIVERANCE, TOTAL RECALL) heads up the initiative and unleashes a new soldier robot, ED-209, which malfunctions at a demo and kills an executive.
His rival Bob Morton (Miguel Ferrer) has an alternate idea – the ‘Robocop Programme), which is rapidly put into effect when cop Alex Murphy (Peter Weller) is gunned down and almost left for dead by crime lord Clarence Boddicker (Kurtwood Smith, DEAD POETS SOCIETY, BROKEN ARROW).
What remains of Murphy is rebuilt as the new Robocop and soon proves to be an amazing success. However, Murphy still possesses some of his human memories, including those of Boddicker and his gang , as well as his wife and child who are still grieving over the death of their beloved husband and father.
However, there is more beneath the steel exterior than meets the eye…
A dark, but clever satire on society (the mock adverts seen throughout during the news reports are brilliant!) which is over the top in it’s violence, the lead character does come across like a clunky version of JUDGE DREDD, which was still a very popular comic book alone from its’ inception in 2000AD magazine back in the late 1970s.
Great action and drama and a great supporting performance from Nancy Allen as Murphy’s partner Lewis. Basil Poledouris composed the music as he had done for the 1982 Arnold Schwarzenegger version of CONAN THE BARBARIAN. Phil Tippett, veteran stop-motion animator on the early STAR WARS releases and JURASSIC PARK, provided the work on ED-209, which is pretty scary as a stop-motion puppet.