Robocop is back

[mikeszekely]

Boy you guys are a lot more forgiving with a little time and hindsight behind us. The initial reviews when the movie came out on these boards here were absolutely scathing. I didn't mind it as much because I worked on it so I thought I was just wrong because I was too close to the project. Having watched the original many times while working on this remake made me realize how silly and over the top the original was and how a lot of what I loved about the first one was clouded by nostalgia and childhood. I find that when something achieves the status of camp/absurd - a lot is automatically forgiven.

Nah, I'm saying pretty much the same thing now as I did then. My review is on page 16 of this thread if you want to check.

[JB0]

Personally, they lost me when the trailers and previews came out and we had more to judge by then photos of the new title character(which had already concerned me, but I figured things were still salvagable). To my eye, one of the main things of the original WAS the way they treated Murphy as a machine, just parts for their project. The big clunky cyborg body was, to my eye, intentionally dehumanizing of the meaty core. And this movie did none of that, aesthetically, or story-wise. They preserve both the appearance of humanity and the man behind the visor.

Were I to compare it to another nostalgia cashgrab, it strikes me as similar to Team Knight Rider, where they changed the basic premise from "one man can make a difference" to "one man can't be trusted with that much power."

As I said at the time, this may've been an enjoyable movie, but it was no Robocop. And I'm sick of Hollywood doing random projects with old names because it'll get more ticket sales if they slap a beloved title on it. I will watch a remake that appears to be respectful of the original content. Possibly even a bad film that's actually pandering to nostalgia. But I have no time for a simple cash-grab wearing the cloak of nostalgia only so it can turn around and crap on the original. And once you discard the entire main character concept, you've lost any claim to being a remake.

I would've watched it if it was Mechofficer or CyberPopo. But not as RoboCop.

[mikeszekely]

Personally, they lost me when the trailers and previews came out and we had more to judge by then photos of the new title character(which had already concerned me, but I figured things were still salvagable). To my eye, one of the main things of the original WAS the way they treated Murphy as a machine, just parts for their project. The big clunky cyborg body was, to my eye, intentionally dehumanizing of the meaty core. And this movie did none of that, aesthetically, or story-wise. They preserve both the appearance of humanity and the man behind the visor.

As I said before, though, the remake avoided being a poor imitation by tackling different issues than the original. Yeah, the first one was more about the excesses of our consumer and corporate culture. Murphy was treated as parts because even as a human he was never more than property to OCP. Robocop had to regain his humanity, which was taken from him before Boddicker's gang shot him to pieces.

The remake, I think, deals with more modern fears about technology. The earlier shot, with the guy playing guitar with a cybernetic hand, helps reinforce the initial notion that his mechanical parts are a prosthesis, that he's still Alex Murphy. The struggles he has, and the way he's manipulated to bring more desirable results to OmniCorp taps into the notion that technology is changing us, that we're becoming dependent on it, and that the companies who provide our technology can use it to manipulate our behavior. In that light, it's not about regaining humanity but maintaining it.

[Dobber]

I'd be in for a sequel. The 2014 was a descent movie IMO, just not mind blowing or anything. It was missing something that I just can't put my finger on. Something that would have really elevated it critically. Dredd had it, just not sure what it is.

I agree with William, chewie, and some others, it's a tough crowd around here, you can see that just by the scathing opinions that people give a movie just by its trailer. Sheesh.

Anyway, hope the sequel can happen....I really wish Dredd 2 would've happened or the remake of StarshipTrooprs. Talk about a property that was crapped on from the get go. Verhoven completely missed the point to that book, he admitted he didn't read it and just heard a few things about it and decided he understood it and made his political message crap fest movie.

Chris

Edited September 15, 2015 by Dobber

[Frogze]

I didn't really hate the Robocop remake, but I must say it's not a good movie either, passable at best which is sad because there was room to make this movie relevant to today's world's matters as the original was back in its day. Also the original had some really great action scenes because the writing/directing makes you actually care about the characters

[CoryHolmes]

One thing I really enjoyed about the remake was how it raised the question of "what can you believe? Who can you trust?". Between the corporate shills on TV (hello, Fox News), the pressure on the doctors for results (hello, science gag laws), and the blatant manipulation of an entire society for a mere market share (Hello... everyone, really).

On top of that, the direction personified it by making Murphy fully human at the start, and then slowly stripping that away so OmniCorp could get the results it wanted.

I agree that the best thing this remake did was not to try to copy the original (man vs machine debate) and modernized the themes, with corporate profiteering at the expense of the people.

Plus, Sam Jackson's cameo rocked

[Dynaman]

Plus, Sam Jackson's cameo rocked

I was going to dispute this point by point but we obviously have VERY different tastes...

[Black Valkyrie]

 

https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2300412/a-new-robocop-movie-is-coming-but-not-in-the-way-youd-expect

 

 

[TangledThorns]

Make it rated-R with compelling villains this time please. The reboot was well made with interesting themes though.

[Kanedas Bike]

2 hours ago, Black Valkyrie said:

 

https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2300412/a-new-robocop-movie-is-coming-but-not-in-the-way-youd-expect

 

 

Interesting, I wouldn't mind a sequel that mostly ignores the original sequels.

14 minutes ago, TangledThorns said:

Make it rated-R with compelling villains this time please. The reboot was well made with interesting themes though.

Agreed and agreed.

-b.

[M'Kyuun]

As a huge fan of the original, I honestly didn't mind the 2014 film, although one needs to go into it with the mindset that it's not Verhoeven's Robocop. Murphy's humanity is at the core of both films, just done in different ways. 

A film that picks up directly after the original would be interesting, although I highly doubt it'll be Weller in the suit; a cameo would be nice, though. But given the span of time, just about all the main characters will need to be recast with younger actors: Weller's 70, Nancy Allen is 67, Dan O'Herhily (The Old Man) passed away, etc, etc.  Given that this will in all likelihood be populated with fresh faces, trying to recapture the feel of the original will be the challenge, methinks. Not to mention all the satire, over-the-top blood and gore, the language, the sleazy "I'll buy that for a dollar" guy, and on and on. There are a lot of elements to the original that made it unique when it came out and have made it a classic. Moreover, in a world now used to seeing lithe action heroes, Robocop's slow stride may be a bit off-putting to today's audiences, but it's a part of the character which came about due to the difficulty of moving in the suit. The original was almost scrapped because of it, but fortunately, 

The one change I do want to see from the original's sequels is the characterization of The Old Man as a bad guy. The impression I've always had from the first movie was that he was a good guy, albeit shrewd. But he was no Dick Jones.

[Dangerous_D]

On 3/27/2012 at 7:13 PM, mikeszekely said:

This. Exactly.

I agree, personally I am sick of remakes and reboots

[Dynaman]

> the characterization of The Old Man as a bad guy

He was the quintessential business guy - money is all that mattered.  Which to me makes him a bad guy but not an evil guy.  That is what was missing from his character in the second movie (the third movie was so bad I can't remember much of it and what I do remember I wish I did not). 

[electric indigo]

7 hours ago, Black Valkyrie said:

 

https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2300412/a-new-robocop-movie-is-coming-but-not-in-the-way-youd-expect

 

 

Hmm,  another incident of retro-future that wants to stick with the 80's vision of the days to come, where cell phones and social media never happen (but we may get the flying cars)?

BR 2049 and the LA GitS had a similar concept.

[Thom]

Never did see the 2014 remake. He looked too human with not enough robo. Plus, the only true Robocop is the OG. So, if they are going to continue it while ignoring the poor sequels, then I'll be checking that out!

[Dangerous_D]

can't pay me to watch the 2014 version

[mikeszekely]

The original RoboCop is one of my all-time favorite movies, so I was prepared to hate the 2014 movie. But honestly, it's not half bad. I think they knew a straight up remake wouldn't live up to the original, so while the central theme is still Murphy's struggle to reclaim his humanity from a company that sees him as a product they took the story in some different directions, exploring some ideas about drones and our connected society that may not prove as timeless as the original but still provided a fresh and relevant take.

As much as I love the original, I think I'd be more curious to see a sequel to the 2014 RoboCop. Given how RoboCop 2 and 3 turned out I feel like the original was better as a one-and-done.

[JB0]

7 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

As much as I love the original, I think I'd be more curious to see a sequel to the 2014 RoboCop. Given how RoboCop 2 and 3 turned out I feel like the original was better as a one-and-done.

And the TV series, and the cartoon, and the WCW wrestling match, and the fried chicken ad... Robocop was EVERYWHERE for a few years.

[TangledThorns]

9 hours ago, Dangerous_D said:

can't pay me to watch the 2014 version

Yeah, I was expecting it to suck but it's actually a well made film with lots of good actors, from Michael Keaton to Samuel L. Jackson. Give it a watch, you may be as pleasantly surprised as I.

[mikeszekely]

2 hours ago, JB0 said:

And the TV series, and the cartoon, and the WCW wrestling match, and the fried chicken ad... Robocop was EVERYWHERE for a few years.

The cartoon was pretty good, though.

The first one, anyway. I seem to recall there were actually two.

Edited January 24, 2018 by mikeszekely

[TangledThorns]

Robocop is coming back again, again! I did enjoy the reboot but it lacked the soul of the rated-R original and compelling villains. I'm hoping Neill makes Robocop bloody violent again. 

Neill Blomkamp To Direct New ‘RoboCop’ For MGM

https://deadline.com/2018/07/robocop-neill-blomkamp-directing-robocop-returns-justin-rhodes-ed-neumeier-michael-miner-mgm-1202424639/

[Dynaman]

With a score of 1 great, 2 turds, and 1 misfire I'll wait to see what he comes up with.  (I was speaking of Robocop in particular, thinking of Neil's movies that comes out to one great, one turd, and one misfire).

[technoblue]

I’m curious to see a Blomkamp Robocop, actually. I wonder how he will bring the old scrpt to life and if he will add any of his stylistic cues.

With regard to his other films, yeah, District 9 is my favorite although I gotta admit that I found something to like in both Elysium and Chappie. I have yet to see that short film he did with Weaver.

[sketchley]

2 hours ago, Dynaman said:

With a score of 1 great, 2 turds, and 1 misfire I'll wait to see what he comes up with.  (I was speaking of Robocop in particular, thinking of Neil's movies that comes out to one great, one turd, and one misfire).

I agree to disagree (regarding Neil's movies, that is).  I've found all of his movies watchable and entertaining.  Some have left me more satisfied with more things to ponder then others (Chappie... had introduced a few too many ideas that could have been developed a bit more).

 

So... I'm actually excited about what he could do with Robocop.

[sh9000]

I hope it turns out good.  I would have been interested in seeing his planned Aliens movie.

Edited July 12, 2018 by sh9000

[Graham]

I love Neil Blomkamp's movies. Excited about this.

Shartlo Copley for Murphy!!

 

[renegadeleader1]

*cracks knuckles*

You know what I want? Robocop VS Terminator.

 

I don't normaly make these types of posts, but here's my pitch. 

 

I'd make it a stand alone film using the original classic Robocop design and setting, but the plot would be a corrupted retelling of the original terminator film.

The Movie would begin with Murphy and his partner responding to reports of a muscle bound streaker raising havok in the middle of the night. Confronting the streaker Murphy tries to apprehend him when he notices something isn't right. After a brief but brutal fight Murphy manages to disable the Terminator and takes it back to the station as evidence.

 

We then cut to an alley were the classic terminator time warp happen and an old man appears in immense pain with a surgical scar down his chest. A voice off screen says "Kyle Reese?" To which the human replies "Oh god no!" Before being disembowled by another terminator and a futuristic pulse rifle is ripped from his body.

We then cut to a news broadcast in typical Robocop fashion about a serial killer on the loose killing anyone named Conner. Watching the broadcast on a tv is a couple of gang bangers outside an electronic store. One tells the other she needs to watch out or she'll be next to which she responds she doesn't give a **** and shoots up some nuke before proceeding to trash the store with her accomplice.

 

Back at the station Murphy and Lewis try to figure out what it was they just took down. After finding maker marks for Cyberdyne industries Murphy decides to use his computer probe to jack into the terminator and is hit with a wave of fragmented information about Sara Conner, John Conner, and Judgement day. Before he can properly sort out the information OCP comes to claim the terminator as they had bought out Cyberdyne in the 90s so its their property. Robocop is powerless to do anything due to his prime Directives. He is also starting to glitch due to his jacking into the terminator. 

 

Lewis and Murphy leave then respond to reports of a mutilated body. Identifying the remains as Kyle Reese through his database Murphy notices the ages don't match so they decide to visit Kyle's home address. A young man who matches the database answers leaving Murph and Lewis at a loss. A child starts to cry in the background making Murphy nearly pull his sidearm. Shaken they leave Kyle and his kid behind to return to the station to get Murphy a check up. That's were Sara Conner is being booked for wrecking the electronic store. Skynet starts to take over Murphy and he nearly kills Sara before his human side forces a hard reboot and shut down. While he is down Lewis interrogates Sara, but she acts like a punk and knows nothing.

 

That is when the other terminator attacks the police station and kills Sara in a call back to the original terminator film. Lewis is wounded but aids the other police in fighting off the terminator before an OCP controlled new model of the ED series finishes it off. OCP again claims the terminator remains. A now rebooted and reawakened Murphy protected from skynet and without prime directives decides to track OCP back to an automated factory where OCP is manufacturing the ED and what appears to be endoskeletons. Once again using his probe to access a computer he now realizes what is happening with regards to Skynet, the terminators, and judgement day. 

 

The final battle of the film begins with Robocop being discovered and all the terminators and ED series activating. Using heavy firepower like a minigun from the trunk of his patrol car proceeds to destroy the factory and the remaining terminators.

 

The final scene is of young distraught Kyle Reese putting his child down to sleep telling him to "Grow up big and strong John." The post credits sequence will be the old man of OCP looking out his office window. His skin ripples and turns silver for a second and he utters the words "Judgement day will come." Cue Terminator fanfare mashed with Robocops.

[electric indigo]

Ok guys get your cordless screwdrivers ready!

 

[Black Valkyrie]

 

https://screenrant.com/robocop-returns-director-neill-blomkamp-paul-verhoeven/

 

[Dynaman]

As long as he channels "Robocop" Verhoeven and not "Starship Troopers" Verhoeven.

[TangledThorns]

I don't understand why Paul Verhoeven never directed a sequel. Is he anti-sequel?

[tekering]

9 hours ago, TangledThorns said:

I don't understand why Paul Verhoeven never directed a sequel.

When RoboCop 2 was still in the early stages of pre-production, Schwarzenegger approached Verhoeven with Total Recall, a project with a much bigger budget (and a much bigger star).  I'm sure it was an easy decision for him to do Total Recall instead.

Plus, despite being set 200 years in the future, Starship Troopers is as much a sequel to RoboCop as any film could possibly be.  

[Black Valkyrie]

3 hours ago, tekering said:

 Starship Troopers is as much a sequel to RoboCop as any film could possibly be.  

 

Agreed, the sound track is enough.  Lets hope they go with the original unused sequel script :  Corporate Wars. 

 

[Dobber]

Personally, I think what Verhoeven did to Starship Troopers was an atrocity. Such a shame people associate that movie to the book. 

Chris

[RavenHawk]

8 hours ago, Dobber said:

Personally, I think what Verhoeven did to Starship Troopers was an atrocity. Such a shame people associate that movie to the book. 

Chris

I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and I find the movie entertaining every time I watch it. The two are two completely separate and unrelated entities to me.