20 Reasons Why You Rock: RoboCop (1987)
“The Future of Law Enforcement” arrived on July 17, 1987 when RoboCop premiered in theaters across the United States. The film proved to have mass appeal with the movie going public as it sat atop the box office for two straight weeks and ended up as the 14th highest grossing film of 1987. And it was an action film that even got some love from the critics upon its release.
Why all the success and love for RoboCop? Quite simply because the movie rocks…
#1. One of the things that separates RoboCop from so many of the part man/part machine sci-fi actioners of the time is the satirical elements of the movie. Director Paul Verhoeven put the satire front and center with the memorable Media Break segments and the fake product commercials.
#2. The introduction of Nancy Allen’s character Ann Lewis is perfectly done… we instantly establish that Lewis is a bad ass who can handle herself when the going got tough and she is the type of cop you’d want to be partnered with if you were a cop like Alex Murphy.
#3. People can debate who was the better Batman or who was the better Spider-Man until the cows come home, but I don’t think there is a person on the planet that can dispute that Peter Weller was, is and likely always will be THE BEST RoboCop ever. Weller and that RoboCop suit were made for one another.
#4. But before Alex Murphy becomes RoboCop, we do have a chance to see Alex Murphy show off his T.J. Lazer gun twirling skills… something that will come into play later in the movie and allow Lewis to put two and two together. On a side note, if T.J. Lazer were an actual show, it feels like a show that I would have watched.
#5. RoboCop has the greatest collection of villains in motion picture history and Kurtwood Smith’s Clarence Boddicker may be the most vile of the bunch. We quickly learn that even associates of Boddicker’s are not safe from his wrath after a robbery does not go exactly as Boddicker had planned. Then there’s the absolutely sadistic side of Clarence Boddicker during the massacre of Officer Murphy…
#6. And speaking of the Murphy Massacre… it has to go down as one of the most violent and impactful scenes in movie history.
#7. The cold blooded murder of Murphy also establishes that Boddicker’s crew is just as sadistic as their leader… Leon (Ray Wise), Emil (Paul McCrane), Joe (Jesse D. Goins) and Minh (Calvin Jung) all take almost orgasmic delight in being Officer Murphy’s firing squad… again, greatest collection of villains in motion picture history!
#8. The meeting at the Omni Consumer Products board room where Dick Jones unveils ED-209 is another violently memorable scene and something anyone who has ever been stuck in a corporate meeting can think about… sure the meeting might be boring, pointless and more than likely won’t accomplish a damn thing… but at least the odds of you being blown away by a giant robot are slim and none.
#9. As a fan of Dan O’Herlihy’s work in Halloween III: Season of the With and The Last Starfighter, I still have to say the role I most associate with him is that of The Old Man in RoboCop. O’Herlihy truly feels like a captain of industry as the head of OCP.
#10. The heir apparent to The Old Man at OCP is the aforementioned Dick Jones (played by Ronny Cox)… Dick Jones is a ruthless businessman and we eventually find out he is the main protagonist in the film. We start to see a glimmer of Dick Jones’ villainous side when OCP executive on the rise Bob Morton (Miguel Ferrer) steps in and pitches his RoboCop concept after the miserable failure of Jones’ ED-209. Jones does not take kindly to Bob Morton’s power grab and that’s about the time we find out that Dick Jones and Clarence Boddicker are in cahoots and Jones has Boddicker go over to Bob Morton’s house to deliver a message to Morton and then kill him in spectacular fashion. And that moment cemented Dick Jones as RoboCop‘s #1 baddie.
#11. In any other movie Miguel Ferrer’s Bob Morton character would likely be hated by the audience… but Ferrer’s charismatic portrayal of Morton and Morton being an underdog at OCP makes him likable. It is sad to see his character go to the great beyond, but at least he got to celebrate his RoboCop success by having a party with some models and some blow before he went.
#12. I have always likened the scenes of RoboCop’s first night patrolling the streets of Detroit to the scenes in 1978’s Superman that followed Superman rescuing Lois Lane for the first time. Both sets of scenes help establish the types of things the heroes can do to fight crime in their respective cities… but obviously one big exception is that Superman never shot a guy in the dick.
#13. RoboCop’s first night is also where Basil Poledouris’ epic score really comes into play as the music and the visuals of RoboCop doing his thing combine with perfect synergy. If administering justice had a sound, it would be Basil Poledouris’ music.
#14. After RoboCop confronts Emil at the gas station, he got the moment every action hero should get… the slow walk with the massive explosion behind him.
#15. But before the gas station explosion, RoboCop got to utter one of the two most famous lines from the film, “Dead or alive, you’re coming with me!”
#16. Of course the other most famous line from RoboCop is without question, “I’d buy that for a dollar!”
#17. Three Words: Cobra Assault Cannon
#18. The Dick Jones/Bob Morton rivalry continued after Morton’s death when we got the RoboCop vs. ED-209 dream match!
#19. It is fitting that RoboCop’s final showdown with Clarence Boddicker and his gang takes place at the steel mill where they gunned down Alex Murphy. This scene has everything, massive firepower, a car chase and a whole lotta comeuppance… but to me the moment that steals the spotlight is after Emil (who was driving a truck) careens into the toxic waste tank and becomes an instant mutant. But his mutant days don’t last long as Boddicker inadvertently runs Emil over and his mutated body liquifies on impact. In my opinion, it is the best death in the movie.
#20. There was one more villain that needed to have justice served to him… Dick Jones. RoboCop makes his way to OCP headquarters to arrest Dick Jones for his crimes… but Tricky Dick had secretly installed a fail safe in Robo’s programming, not allowing RoboCop to arrest any officer of OCP… but with a little help from The Old Man, that obstacle is removed and Dick Jones is shot through the window and plunges to his death from the skyscraper… possibly revealing that OCP was in the Go Go Gadget Arms business and Dick Jones volunteered to be a test subject.
