December 13, 2010: Robocop
I accidentally watched Robocop (1987). As a half-assed reviewer, I’ve had to constantly re-evaluate the line between my having “seen” and “not seen” a movie, so that I know whether or not I need to write about it, and generally my rule has been that if pretty much the entire movie runs and I’m paying at least partial attention, I need to review it. I was visiting friends as my wife rehearsed for a singing gig, and I was flipping channels on the TV for a couple of hours, during which I saw most of Robocop along with a bunch of snippets of Mythbusters. I didn’t see the ending, but that’s one part I actually remember from this film, so I think this counts as a viewing.
Robocop comes from the old-school era of ultraviolent movies where the formality of cutting out just a few frames of the most grotesque material would be requested in order to get an R-rating. So of course the infamous “scene with the hand” went unseen until unrated video releases brought that bit of nastiness to the masses, though unsurprisingly it was cut out of this 8:00pm television showing. Directed by Paul Verhoeven after he had become well-established in his native Netherlands but before he had degenerated into an overblown parody of himself by partnering with unhinged writer Joe Eszterhas for the likes of Basic Instinct (1992) and Showgirls (1995), Robocop is a lean and mean little sci-fi action thriller which managed to efficiently prove that the Schwarzenegger action-crap of the day could be easily topped by intriguing storylines with a bit more depth to them. Protagonist Peter Weller as the police-officer-turned-robot has always struck me as a bit bland, but this movie is much more about the villains, with corporate slimeball Ronny Cox associating himself with tough-as-nails thug Kurtwood Smith in order to gain power in post-apocalyptic Detroit.
Sure, some of the material is dated, in particular the technology as one would expect, but Robocop remains a riveting action film which actually hints at a few moral questions as well. I probably won’t go out of my way to watch it again any time soon other than to see the ending, but I’m glad I had it refreshed in my mind.
Verhoeven not quite over the top.
Post a Comment