02. Robocop (1987)

Between this and Predator, 87 was a damn fine year for sci-fi action movies. I was 11. My mom wouldn’t let me see either movie in the theater. I  couldn’t see Predator because she thought it would scare me as she had a misdirected idea about things that are clearly bad ass and their effect on 11 year olds and Robocop because it was violent and had a lot of bad words. Indeed it was so violent it had to have several seconds of the executive getting owned by ED-209 had to be removed to avoid the dreaded X rating. After a flat tire, mom and I had to walk home and stopped at a convenience store. As a reward for not being a little shit about the whole thing, my mom bought the Robocop comic adaptation for me. I eventually used this to leverage my way into seeing it on video. I think Mom was horrified by just how much gore, violence and language there was but once your kid has seen Murphy’s hand explode from shotgun fire you might as well let him watch the whole thing. And I thought it was awesome. Robocop is razor sharp social commentary wrapped in the trappings of the day, which in the 80’s was gratuitous violence. The dystopian future presented in Robocop, which apparently takes place in 1991, is one of lawless awesomeness and excess. The streets are overrun by miscreants of all kinds and corporations are running the show  right down to controlling the police force. Crime and pacification is all corporately controlled and all about making money. There are many shades of William Gibson’s cyber punk work here but the Detroit of Robocop manages to find its own unique footing. The performances are all great with  Ronny Cox again appearing as the corporate douche bag heavy, this time as the fittingly named Dick Jones. Cox is an excellent villain and can do smarm better than almost anyone. He is also a dead ringer for my former father-in-law which really amps up his villain roles for me. Kurtwood Smith is perfect as gang leader Clarence Boddicker and may turn in his best villain work here. Peter Weller as Robocop solidifies his cult sci-fi status as he rocks out here just like he did in Buckaroo Banzai. Paul Verhoeven has a real knack for violence, gore, special effects and social commentary and all of them are in top form here. I am a big Verhoeven fan and while it is hard for me to pick a favorite, Robocop definitely takes it. Robocop also created a bit of a media convergence many years later when Peter Weller, Ray Wise, Kurtwood Smith and Paul McCrane all ended up on TV’s 24.

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