The Super Network

“Robocop (1987)”

So, how about that “Robocop” remake trailer?

Before I continue with my blathering, I just want to share my own two cents regarding the latest offering in the remake craze. It is so easy to bag this movie based solely on the trailer alone, I know because the first time I watched it, I just rolled my eyes. But then I started to think- given this movie will not be released until next year, that means it is still in the process of being made for all intents and purposes- cuts, editing, sound design and whatnot, it is still a work in progress. Granted, the trailer seemed more intent on drawing the eye with action, but that is a strategy used by every trailer of any film. As it stands right now, I will not place all of my googy-eggs in one basket, as tempting as it would be to decry it based purely in what I saw in two minutes, because who knows? Perhaps the remake/rehash will be admirable in its own way and we can all look back on our kneejerk reaction with a sheepish smile. And if it does suck, well, the original film ain’t going anywhere, is it?

Paul Verhoeven’s SF extravaganza is what I consider to be a sucker punch of a film. At first it hits the viewer by initially appearing to be a typical 80’s bombastic, hyper-violent, hyperactive comic book for adults movie, but should one venture deeper, they find a highly intelligent, erudite and satirically vicious observation about crime, privatization, corruption, capitalism, the stupidity of the media and how strong the human spirit can truly be.

Detroit (or Delta City) in the near future is a hell-forsaken pit. Unimaginable crime runs rampant, unspeakable acts of violence occur and OCP, an enormous conglomerate that runs it all with a deaf ear and greedy hands. The only ones who profit from this are the wealthy and ignorant while the rest of the population suffer, including the justice system half who are honourable, others who are corrupt. The media makes no big deal with a good cop violently dies in the line of duty but make a huge one for a particular consumer product. Alex Murphy (Peter Weller) is a good, honest cop who gets transferred to Delta City’s overrun, understaffed police department and is partnered up with Anne Lewis (Nancy Allen), another cop. They go on a patrol before they get caught up in a robbery, its ringmaster being Clarence Boddicker (Kurtwood Smith).

They pursue the felons into a factory where Alex is cornered by Boddicker and his gang and is ruthlessly tortured. Before we go any further, let me just say this sequence is one of the most vile and disturbing in history for the right reasons. Up until this point, the movie has taken you on a wild crazy ride, and you find yourself smiling and cheering, leading you into a sense of security and detachment. But the moment Murphy is forcibly held at bay by Boddicker and his crew, that smile fades because this entire sequence is not unlike a small, helpless animal who is slowly being mutilated and crucified by a bunch of sadistic children. Even to this day, it makes me flinch no matter how many times I have seen it. Believe me, when that scene ends, you will not be making a sound. Murphy is rushed to hospital and the med staff frantically attempt to save him, but he dies on the table. It is around this time OCP is trying to sate the public’s cry for better and more effective law enforcement using cybernetics rather than humans. Dick Jones (Ronny Cox) is the alpha cock in this corporation and he puts for the ED-209, an imposing POS that fatally malfunctions during a business meeting. If you haven’t seen this sequence, you are in for a treat. Bob Morton (Miguel Ferrer) is an upstarting hotshot who has decided to create the Robocop Project, and when news of Alex Murphy reaches his ears, serendipity meets tragedy.

The remains of Murphy’s body and mind are salvaged and form the core of Robocop, a cyborg designed to clean up the mean streets of Delta City. Robo quickly becomes a celebrity and the media start to pay more attention to the wonder that is his half man and half machine, leaving Jones in the dust and Morton on the path to promotional prosperity. For the first half of his beat, Robocop is the best you could ever ask for as an officer of the law- while he does require to be recharged and be fed baby food of all things, he has the skill, professionalism and calmness that normal humans are not capable of which makes him an ideal law officer. His fellow police offers are unsure of him, but Anne Lewis recognises her old partner and is curious about him. However, Robo starts to remember things, flashbacks of his life as Alex Murphy- having a family, affections he shared with his loving wife and son, intimate memories of both. Robocop begins to feel something, something that he is not meant to feel- emotions, and in particular, vengeance when he remembers his killers. He is Robocop and he remembers everything.

Don’t fear, I won’t give anything else away in the interest of review in terms of what happens next.

“Robocop” is a masterpiece of the science-fiction/social satire genre not just because of how creative it is, but how relevant it was during the Regan years and how it remains so more than 25 years on. Verehoven had a good look at how warped American priorities were back in the 80’s and decided to twist this phenomenon even further into such a way that audiences probably thought they were just watching another silly action film before realising it was looking into the mirror darkly. In terms of American politics, this is basically a Liberal story told in the most violent way possible and it is Verehoven’s idea of biting his thumb at the absurdity of the American Dream as well as general social topics and concerns. He shows us that the idea of privatization of all institutions is a terrible idea by asking the audience “Cui bono?” Who benefits? Clearly not the public at large but the select few. This is still an issue today, and here in Australia, after the latest Federal Election, new Prime Minster Tony Abbott’s policies don’t so much apply to Australia at large, but to those who ‘keep it going’ in other words, those of higher economic status. There’s a whole lot of other fine print here that may contest that notion, but such a term is nebulous at best because the hard working folk keep society going, not necessarily the wealthy. Bah. Anyway.

Another main concept of the story is the perception of identity, with Murphy as our avatar. His life is robbed from him and when he becomes Robocop, the concept of emotion is foreign to him until his mind starts to defy his programming. Who is he really? He’s not a man in the biological sense any longer but he is not completely a robot. It somewhat relates to the idea of the Uncanny Valley- where perfection (usually in the form of a robot or artificial intelligence) is untrustworthy because it does not possess organic emotional intelligence or experience of what it is truly like to be human. Robocop, for all of his great work and efficiency at keeping the people of Delta City safe is still looked upon with a feeling of mistrust and perhaps even a little jealousy. Of course, Robocop does not really care about what they think of him, what he becomes more concerned about is what became of him before he was reborn. The more he starts to recall about his past life, the more emotionally functional he becomes that when he pursues them, he does so more out of vengeance rather than just in the interest of the law that he serves. The Uncanny Valley is not so Uncanny by that point because how Robocop later feels is precisely how we would feel because we know what it is like to feel the need for retribution after we have been wronged. Robocop discovers what it means to be a human again after being the Infallible Perfect for so long and his satisfaction is our satisfaction when he comes full circle.

What I also really like is how “Robocop” doesn’t have some lame love story. Alex Murphy was a one woman man and as Robocop there was no woman, just partner, which was and still remains his relationship with Anne Lewis. Allen’s Lewis is spunky and pretty, but those are just traits, not definitions of who she is an individual. Her relationship to Murphy and to Robocop is based on trust, not sexuality. There could have been some tension based on the virtue one is a man the other is a woman, but Verhoeven wisely steered away from that trope and established both characters who are equals and helped one out when the other was in need, regardless of their sex. Amid all of this chaos, human altruism and connection survives with Weller and Lewis having a warm and natural chemistry with each other at all times.

Naturally, this brings me to the acting and aside from Weller and Allen, the cast is iron-clad. Of particular standout is Smith as Boddicker who injects a surprising sense of eerie and cold intellectualism into his malevolent alter-ego that goes well beyond the fact he is wearing wire-rim glasses. He is an alternative example of the corporate man first and foremost whose business card just happens to be blood and it’s no accident that Smith resembles Heinrich Himmler, one of the leading members of the Nazi Party. Ronny Cox, who would go on to star in Verhoeven’s other dystopian future piss-take “Total Recall” is wonderfully slimy as Dick Jones, who is as ruthless as he is paranoid. Miguel Ferrer, who has made a career of playing douchebags in subsequent years is highly likeable as Bob Morton because despite his smarmy nature as a businessman, he still has the interests of the common people in mind when he brainchilds the creation of Robocop. By the way, I feel I should note, Smith and Cox until that point had made a comfortable career of playing fatherly, warm types of roles- must have been wonderful for them to shed their inhibitions here!

Verhoeven composer regular Basil Poledouris has created one of the most recognisable and triumphant film themes ever in the form of the film’s main music- when you listen to it, you can’t help but feel that unmistakable sensation of “FUCK YEAH, I’M ROBOCOP!” the moment it reaches your ears. It always puts me in a swell mood. It really adds to the spectacle and sensational aspect of the movie when it’s called for, but it also knows when to mellow out and become part of Robocop’s emotional journey which delivers more of a punch to your feels.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about “Robocop” is that it is a tale of the modern day Jesus Christ- Murphy (Jesus) who works to help the common people, is crucified by Boddicker and co. (the Romans) only to be resurrected and bestow his glory upon the world… in his own special way of course. Verehoven has been known to incorporate religiously symbolic imagery into all of his films before and after “Robocop”- it’s not used to shove the value system down our throats, or to preach a moral and a message, it is merely a reflection of Verhoeven’s own visual style and perhaps even a bit of a jab at the fundamental aspects of all faiths. So, we have satire, comic book values and Sunday School all in one movie!

I won’t continue to prattle on (not that I haven’t already) but I will ultimately say that “Robocop” still works because in a way, it is timeless. We are looking at the future, but which one? The one we already have or one we could be heading towards. Would I buy this for a dollar? You can’t put a price on the invaluable and that is what “Robocop” is. Invaluable and in absolutely no danger of disappearing from our memories or shelves any time soon. The sequels meanwhile… well, they are another story for another time.

Review written by Bea Harper

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