It is an indisputable fact, and I’ll tell you why.
The Killing Scene
When someone mentions RoboCop this is probably the scene most people think about. It’s surprisingly brutal, first Murphy’s hand is blown off, then his arm, and finally he gets a bullet in the head. The gore is typically Verhoeven, it’s exceptionally well done, and a great way to introduce the antagonist. You rarely see gore that explicit these days, and real men love explicit gore. Fact one.
The Transformation
This is one of the coolest introductions of a character I have ever seen in a movie. Murphy’s mutilated corpse is transferred to a hospital, we follow the events from his point-of-view, starting with him being declared dead, then the mounting of the LED on his vision, a list of commands, short bits of conversations between the scientists, and then eventually, probably many months later, his official awakening, he gets up and for a moment we see a glimpse of him in a monitor, then we follow the other officers frantically trying to get a view of him and finally we see a big shot of him, relieving the suspense that’s been build up since his arrival at the hospital. And he looks awesome, the suit is incredible, probably the best-looking cyborg after the The Terminator. As Morton says in the movie, he’s just a bad motherfucker, and to emphasize that point the transformation is followed by 15 minutes of RoboCop kicking ass. Real men love bad motherfuckers. Fact two.
The News and Commercials
Another trademark of Verhoeven, the news segments that gives us more knowledge about the world we’re watching, thus making it a lot more interesting. And the commercials, the only humorous part of the movie, work perfectly. Then there’s the ‘I’d buy that for a dollar’ line which is repeated through out the movie, by the low-life criminals as well as the big shot executives, a small thing that adds another layer to the dystopian world and makes it seem even more realistic.
The Stop-Motion
RoboCop and RoboCop 2 have some of the most incredible stop motion I have ever seen. The guy in charge of it was academy award nominated Randy Dutra, and that really shows. The ED-209 isn’t just an inanimate object, it’s got character with its small tics and curious movements. Some of that is also contributed to its dinosaur-like sounds (remember its whining when it falls down the stairs?), but in my opinion its mainly the incredible animation that gives it character. Kane, in the sequel, is even more fantastic. Effects like these are just awe-inspiring, especially now a days when everything is just made with CGI. Real men love stop motion. If you disagree go watch Army of Darkness, if you still disagree you’re not a real man.
The Soundtrack
DUDUDUDUDUUUUUUU, DUDUDUDUUUUU!
That’s all for now, I’ll write some more facts later if you’re not convinced, for now I rest my case. RoboCop – 9/10.
