Last week I spent a couple of evenings, watching the Robocop trilogy. Quite why I decided to put myself through that is beyond me now, but that comes with hindsight. The first film was a masterclass in short, cheap sci-fi films that allowed not only Robocop to breath but also the world he inhabited. OCP, the nasty mega-corporation that owns Detroit is the stereotypical gargantuan finance terror that could one day become a reality.
Heaven help us if cops are replaced with Judge Dredd-type police robots. But the film-makers hit on a winning gambit: show the audience a violent crusader cop who holds no compunction for the chaos and destruction he leaves in his wake because he gets results. In effect it turns us into the corporation we all loved to hate in the film. We don't care about the lives destroyed, the legal wrongs he done, because frankly, he gets the bad guys and gives us some great lines to repeat when the credits roll.
"Dead or alive, you're coming with me."
"Book him."
"You're going to be one helluva mother-crusher." (This would be from the edited version, but the question still begs to be asked: what the hell is a "mother-crusher"?)
The major pity was that the sequels failed to draw the attention with what promised to be such a good opener. But then nothing can ever be as good as the first. What made Robocop so good was the character of Alex Murphy came through the cyborg in what was a brief film. But it's brevity was it's saving grace. At over 2 hours, Robocop 2 lost it's attention from the audience at many points, at the points when the action was leading to a zenith. This is not what is wanted in an ultra-violent film.
Heaven help us if cops are replaced with Judge Dredd-type police robots. But the film-makers hit on a winning gambit: show the audience a violent crusader cop who holds no compunction for the chaos and destruction he leaves in his wake because he gets results. In effect it turns us into the corporation we all loved to hate in the film. We don't care about the lives destroyed, the legal wrongs he done, because frankly, he gets the bad guys and gives us some great lines to repeat when the credits roll.
"Dead or alive, you're coming with me."
"Book him."
"You're going to be one helluva mother-crusher." (This would be from the edited version, but the question still begs to be asked: what the hell is a "mother-crusher"?)
The major pity was that the sequels failed to draw the attention with what promised to be such a good opener. But then nothing can ever be as good as the first. What made Robocop so good was the character of Alex Murphy came through the cyborg in what was a brief film. But it's brevity was it's saving grace. At over 2 hours, Robocop 2 lost it's attention from the audience at many points, at the points when the action was leading to a zenith. This is not what is wanted in an ultra-violent film.
