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Synopsis

Called by Ken Russell “the greatest science-fiction film since Metropolis,” controversial director Paul Verhoeven’s RoboCop is a special effects-laden cult phenomenon. The film features a resurrected and roboticized hero (Peter Weller) in a new, supercharged cyborg body, struggling to reclaim his memory and avenge his own death. Writtern by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner, this film is a grown-up superhero fantasy come to vivid, bloody life. —The Criterion Collection

Director

Original

Paul Verhoeven

Paul Verhoeven graduated from the University of Leiden with a degree in math and physics. He entered the Royal Netherlands Navy, where he began his film career by making documentaries for the Navy and later for TV. In 1969 he directed the popular Dutch TV series Floris (1969), about a medieval knight. This featured actor Rutger Hauer who has appeared in many of Verhoeven’s later films. Verhoeven’s first feature, Wat zien ik (1971) (trans. What do I See?), was released in 1971. However it was his second, Turks fruit (1973), with its combination of raw sexuality and a poignant story line, that gained him great popularity in the Netherlands, especially with male audiences. When his films, especially Soldaat van Oranje (1977) and De vierde man (1983), received international recognition, Verhoeven moved to the US. His first US film was Flesh & Blood (1985), 1985, but it was RoboCop (1987) and especially Total Recall… read more

Wall

Displaying 4 of 41 wall posts.
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Nate B.

28Nov11

Ridiculous, but it works thanks to snappy dialogue, brutal violence and neat special effects. Plus the theme will stick in my head forever.

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Romero Shaw

17Oct11

ultraviolent allegory doesn't get better than this.

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johnsonisjohnson

10Oct11

Greatest cinematic satire on North America?

Sivert Almvik and 2 others like this

Greg S., Ryan A. Pearce

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i_1_2_believe

14Sep11

Robocop is actually a near-perfect film. The violence is not to some people's taste but I'd argue it is relevant to convey the dystopic, impending future, which - even after nearly 25 years - is truer to life than other fantastical visions of the future. It is not only a sci-fi action film, but also a critique of our own society albeit via a caricatured lens. In a sense it is satire of the highest form. Under-rated.

Related Films

Fans

Displaying 5 of 1968 fans.

Articles

Our roundup of essays and articles on this film.
W184

Daily Briefing. Karina Longworth on Elvis Mitchell @LACMA

By David Hudson on November 17, 2011

Also: Miriam Bale’s new film journal, Wavelength in LA and more.

read article
W184

Cinematic Icons in American Law Enforcement

By Ben Simington on November 8, 2010

"You've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya, punk?" —Dirty Harry (Don Siegel, 1971) *** "Dead or alive, you

read article
W184

Movie Poster of the Week: "Robocop"

By Adrian Curry on January 22, 2010

To accompany the IFC Center’s inspired midnight movie series “Base Instincts: Verhoeven in the U.S.A.” I wanted to find something pretty special

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Hey London! Get Your Late Night Flick Fix With ROBOCOP!

By Twitchfilm.com on January 6, 2012
Our pals at Cigarette Burns Cinema had un grande 2011 with their late night cult cacophony at the Rio cinema in Dalston. And they’ll be starting off 2012 with quite the literal bang. Their media related
read on Twitchfilm.com

MGM Wants To Skew ROBOCOP Younger? Chris Pine Eyed For Lead Role.

By Twitchfilm.com on October 25, 2011
Does the world want a younger, prettier Robocop? Apparently MGM does as Twitch has learned that the Star Trek actor is the studio’s top choice to take the lead in the upcoming reboot of the scifi franchise
read on Twitchfilm.com

Blu-Ray Review: Robocop Trilogy

By Twitchfilm.com on May 17, 2011
The three films making up the Robocop canon finally make their bow on blu-ray (with the Verhoeven’s 1987 original arriving on the format a couple of years back, but who’s keeping track), and it’s interesting
read on Twitchfilm.com

ELITE SQUAD Director Taking Over ROBOCOP Remake

By Twitchfilm.com on April 29, 2011
The idea of Darren Aronofsky rebooting the Robocop franchise was an intriguing one, one ultimately scuttled by the massive financial difficulties at MGM. When the studio shut down all development projects
read on Twitchfilm.com

Part Man. Part Machine. On Blu-ray. The ROBOCOP Special Edition Contest [UPDATE]

By Twitchfilm.com on April 29, 2011
On October 5, the complete Robocop trilogy will be hitting blu-ray for the first time in a special edition from Fox. And you guessed it – we’re giving it away. And not just one set of high-def cyborg cop
read on Twitchfilm.com

Part Man. Part Machine. On Blu-ray. The ROBOCOP Special Edition Contest

By Twitchfilm.net on September 26, 2010
On October 5, the complete Robocop trilogy will be hitting blu-ray for the first time in a special edition from Fox. And you guessed it – we’re giving it away. And not just one set of high-def cyborg cop
read on Twitchfilm.net

Lists

Displaying 5 of 196 lists.

Reviews

Displaying 3 of 3

Untitled

By Byron Brubake​r on June 2, 2009

Interesting look at 80’s style TV news coverage and advertisements trying to be near future news and ads. Good effects when it comes to Robocop, bad effects with the other evil security robot. Spurting…  read review

Untitled

By Samurai Panda Poetry on December 23, 2008

from samuraipandapoetry.blogspot.com:

The violence, by today’s standard, is damn near cartoony. Listening to the filmmakers commentary, we hear that the violence was intentionally excessive…  read review

Untitled

By Alonso Díaz de la Vega on December 2, 2008

I actually loved this film, it’s a sci-fi like no other, since it portrays a very vivid depiction of a dystopic Detroit form the near future. The city itself is what caught my eye the most, since you…  read review

Forum

Displaying 7 discussion topics.

Robo Cop Re Make

14 posts by 6 people 5 months ago

Why all the hate?

97 posts by 36 people 11 months ago

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE CLASSIC ROBOCOP

17 posts by 10 people over 1 year ago

Robocop remake cancelled..

8 posts by 8 people over 1 year ago

About the "X Rated" cut

21 posts by 9 people over 1 year ago

x-rated robocop

11 posts by 9 people about 2 years ago

ROBOCOP

3 posts by 2 people almost 3 years ago