‘Robocop’: THR’s 1987 Review

On July 17, 1987, Robocop, directed by Paul Verhoeven, was released in theaters. Orion Pictures’ sci-fi action movie grossed $53 million that summer and launched a franchise. The Hollywood Reporter’s original review is below:

It’s 1991 and Detroit needs a new sheriff. Even a muscle that shoots magnums can’t do it. Motown has taken its reputation as the murder capital seriously, and now things are out of control. Ordinary cops can’t handle it. The new weapon brought to town is big, metallic, computerized and indestructible… it’s half man, half machine, and the Robocop can take down anything in its path.

Likewise, this well-crafted sci-fi action movie is set to destroy a massive body count at the Orion box office. Though those whose tastes don’t include the spectacle of large vehicles exploding against each other are unlikely to be impressed. robocopThis shocked look at the urban future should attract and excite action fans.

Inside robocop, 31 police officers are killed after a high-tech conglomerate takes over the beleaguered city’s police department. But Big Brother’s latest security creation prototype – a crouching metal droid with a cannon grip – destroys one of the corporation’s top marketing executives. Even within the executive board, such aggression is considered undesirable, even on the brutal streets of Detroit.

The company decides to get rid of the metal monster. However, as any forward-thinking megaconglomerate would imagine, there are counterplans afoot. Unsurprisingly, it was developed by the company’s most energetic idea person and the most ruthless Yap (Miguel Ferrer). Corporate climber Ferrer has his own criminal named RoboCop. And it only took the last component to make it work: the fresh corpse of a shot-gun policeman (Peter Weller).

With the computer memory of a lifetime as a police officer and lightning-fast reflexes to boost his golden muscles, Robocop takes to the streets and destroys the living. While writers Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner conjured up many pleasant scenes of brats biting the curb, Robocop’s shootings are over-the-top, repetitive, and, when you get to the point, pretty routine. Usually the bad guys are the designers (the fidgety, bald ones with pinned ears), except for the movie’s arch-villain (Kurtwood Smith), who is quiet and incredibly creepy.

Ronnie Cox as the corporate steel trio is particularly intimidating. However, Neumeier and Miner break the rampant flow of futuristic satire. Bubble news anchors (Mario Machado, Lisa Gibbons) happily talk about rebel forces’ plans in Acapulco, South Africa, for a nuclear bomb.

Still, of all the movie’s villains, corporate America is the hardest to tackle. All the street sludge from the movie, the corporation definitely robocopThe most vile and vile monster. The film’s brilliantly sinister aspect undermines this anti-corporate thesis. Credit director Paul Verhoeven for a masterful and terrifying vision of an otherworldly near future.

most impressive robocopTechnical aspects, including the brutal creation of Robocop by Rob Bottin. Sterile by William Sandel metropolisProduction design has a powerful visual impact. Jost Wakano’s sophisticated wide-angle lens on corporate villains, as well as his slanted compositions on ultra-modern structures. robocop A fascinating and expressionist bent.

All other technical contributions are modern and impressive. Unfortunately, Basil Poledur’s haunting score is designed at such a high decibel level that it’s nearly impossible to understand. – Duane Byrge, originally published July 8, 1987.