Directive 5 - Watch and Enjoy
 Aug 9th, 2001
Advantages:
A good balance of action and plot . Great effects . Good performances .
Disadvantages:
Very violent
Recommendable:
Yes
Detailed rating:
Did you enjoy it?
Story
Characters / Performances
Special Effects
Soundtrack
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  oneshallstand
About me:
OK, True Brit, Scot raised in England, Educated in Wales and in a bizarre twist of fate now living a...
Member since:26.07.2001
Reviews:56
Members who trust:7
Review rated by 12 Ciao members on average: very helpful 
Paul Verhoeven's Robocop had a certain distinction whilst I was at college, namely that it was probably the film most mentioned as reference by my film-studies class. This was mainly due in no small part to my own devotion to the film at the time. From the outside it seems to be pretty much a standard Science-Fiction actioneer, Cop gunned down in the line of duty, rebuilt to take bloody and gruesome revenge. The thing is though that the film quietly surpasses that level of film-making and goes on to become something greater, all the while holding onto that core theme.
Alex Murphy is a cop, a good one, working in Detroit, the most crime-ridden City in Future America. After being transferred to the most dangerous precinct in the city He and his partner Anne Lewis come face to face with a gang of Cop-killers, and whilst Murphy acquits himself well, he's trapped and killed by the gang, whilst his partner is forced to watch helplessly. Pronounced dead at the Hospital, his body and mind are used to form the core of a new crime-fighting project by OCP, the private company who now manage Detroit's police force. His Upper torso and head are fitted into a new body, his personalities and emotions purged, and he becomes OCP's prototype in their war against crime, ROBOCOP.
Bit by bit though, Murphy starts to reassert his will, spurred on by an encounter with Lewis and a run-in with one of the Cop-Killers. Soon it has all come back to him, and he sets out to bring his killers to justice, fighting not only Clarence Boddiker and his gang, but also their corrupt connections on the Board of OCP. Despite the flash and blood of the suface story, at it's heart Robocop is a story of humanity (Lost and found you might say). Murphy's realisation about who he is (was) and what he has become is deftly handled, and Peter Weller's portrayal of man and machine is at once both eerily cold and endearingly human.
The special effects are good, and still hold up well today, especially the bipedal Enforcement Droid which OCP are also trying to foist on an unsuspecting world. One of the things that set Robocop apart from it's peers at the cinema was it's wry, sardonic sense of humour. Much has been said about the fake adverts and news reports scattered throughout the film, and these indeed allow a level of humour that such a film needs. But the humour is also blackly reinforced by the ironic way in which Robo goes about his job, dealing out swift, and appropriate justice to the criminals of Old Detroit.
It can sometimes be hard to look beyond the surface of a film, especially one so caught up in the trappings of Science Fiction and Designer Violence, but making that effort with Robocop is touching. Sure, you can sit and watch it as an action film, and it's a good one, but the more you watch, the more you appreciate. Which reminds me, time to get a new copy, mine's beginning to get worn out.
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![Robocop [1988] [DVD]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78519459.jpg)
![Robocop - Resurrection [DVD] [2002]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78520888.jpg)
![Robocop - Meltdown [DVD] [2002]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78541997.jpg)
by (8%):
28.11.2005 20:33
Great review of a great film. Gayna x
09.08.2001 19:39
Superb op on a great film. Well written!
09.08.2001 19:24
Well-written and comprehensive op. I didn't enjoy the film but your review has given me a new perspective on it, so may give it another try!