RoboCop
United States
1987
103 Min
1.66:1
English
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
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
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João Pedro Tomás
4May13
You can almost smell it. I wonder what it is to watch this film in 35mm. A perfect mixture of 80s camp action with orwellian influences. A very important film, because it has it all: the cheesy commercials, greedy executives, over-the-top evil terrorists, the fight between good and evil and... lack of a romance plot, as strange as it seems for an action film. As cold as a capitalist society can be. A smart critique.
Classroom Battles
24Apr13
Another super cool action flick from Verhoeven, and a pretty neat score from Poledouris.
João Pedro Tomás and 3 others like this
Dimi. I.
25Dec12
it portrays the whole embodiment of capitalism, the corrupt and evil free market system, american imperialism, social depravity, and degeneraty in a unique, flamboyant movie., utterly futuristic for its time. the political satire on 1980s but also for the total last 20 years on consument society is humuorus at times. and its flawless mix van 80s cheesy action and hardcore violence is supreme.
João Pedro Tomás and 2 others like this
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Fans
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Articles
Our roundup of essays and articles on this film.
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.
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
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
Hugh Laurie Out, Michael Keaton In As ROBOCOP Villain
By Twitchfilm.com on August 30, 2012
When word came out last week that negotiations had broken off for Hugh Laurie to join Jose Padilha’s remake of RoboCop as the lead villain the question immediately became “If not Laurie, then who?” And
Meet The ED-209 In New ROBOCOP Promo
By Twitchfilm.com on July 8, 2012
Omnicorp has a little something they’d like to sell you. Actually, the weapons manufacturer at the center of the RoboCop universe has lots of things they’d like to sell you. But the marquee product, of
Meet The ED-209 In New ROBOCOP Promo
By Twitchfilm.com on July 8, 2012
Omnicorp has a little something they’d like to sell you. Actually, the weapons manufacturer at the center of the RoboCop universe has lots of things they’d like to sell you. But the marquee product, of
Meet The ED-209 In New ROBOCOP Promo
By Twitchfilm.com on July 8, 2012
Omnicorp has a little something they’d like to sell you. Actually, the weapons manufacturer at the center of the RoboCop universe has lots of things they’d like to sell you. But the marquee product, of
Meet The ED-209 In New ROBOCOP Promo
By Twitchfilm.com on July 8, 2012
Omnicorp has a little something they’d like to sell you. Actually, the weapons manufacturer at the center of the RoboCop universe has lots of things they’d like to sell you. But the marquee product, of
Hugh Laurie In Talks For ROBOCOP Villain
By Twitchfilm.com on June 13, 2012
It seems like a long time ago now that Hugh Laurie paid his bills by being funny. The UK comedian turned House star tapped into his darker side when he made the move to US television and apparently there’s……
Abbie Cornish In Talks For ROBOCOP
By Twitchfilm.com on June 8, 2012
Abbie Cornish looks to be the latest to join the cast of the Jose Padilha directed remake of RoboCop, the actress now in negotiations to play the female lead opposite Joel Kinnaman, Samuel L Jackson and
Samuel L Jackson Joins ROBOCOP Remake
By Twitchfilm.com on June 7, 2012
Sam Jackson is going to read Joel Kinnaman a bedtime story.The Pulp Fiction and Avengers star has signed on to star alongside Kinnaman and Gary Oldman in the Jose Padilha directed remake of Paul Verhoeven’s
Oldman Will Create Padilha's ROBOCOP
By Twitchfilm.com on May 24, 2012
Another major piece has just fallen into place for the Jose Padilha directed remake of Paul Verhoeven’s RoboCop. We already knew that The Killing star Joel Kinnaman would play the robotically enhanced
SNABBA CASH And THE KILLING Star Joel Kinnaman Is The New ROBOCOP
By Twitchfilm.com on March 5, 2012
With his roles in The Killing and Safe House perhaps convincing producers that Joel Kinnaman has what it takes to make it in Hollywood the star of Swedish crime series Snabba Cash (Easy Money) has officially
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
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
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
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
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
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
Lists
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Reviews
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Untitled
By Byron Brubaker on June 1, 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.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE CLASSIC ROBOCOP
59 posts by 23 people
6 months ago
Robo Cop Re Make
14 posts by 6 people
over 1 year ago
Why all the hate?
97 posts by 36 people
about 2 years ago
Robocop remake cancelled..
8 posts by 8 people
almost 3 years ago
About the "X Rated" cut
21 posts by 9 people
almost 3 years ago
x-rated robocop
11 posts by 9 people
over 3 years ago
ROBOCOP
3 posts by 2 people
about 4 years ago