Review & Talk of a Sci-Fi Classic

[techmaster-glitch]

And a classic definitely suited for me

   So, the other day, I noticed a trilogy movie triple pack on store shelves for thirteen bucks. It was a series of movies I have been wanting to see for a long time, but have never had the chance. I bought the movie pack, and watched all three yesterday. The movies series?
   Robocop.

   My initial reaction? Gaw-damn these movies were alot bloodier and foulmouthed than I realized they would be!

   Other reactions to the series in general; I freaking loved ED-209, but from what little I'd already seen of him, I rather expected that Also, that was one freaking badass pistol that the blue man used; As big/bigger than a Desert Eagle, bottomless magazine, and burst-firing to boot? Hell yes. Robo's own skills lent to the awesome, always getting one-burst-kills with that monster.
   One thing I noticed in particular about each movie (well, mostly the second, some in the first, not so much in the third) was how they did not have a single central conflict or overarching theme from beginning to end, rather, they had several, and sometimes included noticiably long segments where Robocop was absent entirely. And I didn't really find this a bad thing. Instead, it added a great deal of complexity and depth to an otherwise unexpected gore-fest (and that wasn't necessarily a bad thing either  ) The political and cultural satire seen throught the movies was also an interesting touch. Another random thought: OCP definitely doesn't seem to have any actual beta-testing procedures for their products at all I also rather liked how, from the get-go, Anne Lewis was established as a no-pushover woman, able to hold her own even without Metal Shield around to soak up the bullets.
   As for all the actual sci-fi elements? Well, what can I say? I loved it all. And the special effects seemed good for their time.

   I'd like to hear what anyone else has to say about their memories of these movies, fond or otherwise.

[superluser]

I wonder what your opinion was of Starship Troopers.

That's probably the other well-known Verhoeven film, and one that people criticize for being too much Verhoeven and too little Heinlein. (For one thing, Heinlein was serious about the whole ``service guarantees citizenship'' thing)

[techmaster-glitch]

I have not seen starship troopers yet either, though that is also on my list of things to eventually see. I'm pretty sure I'll like that too, though.

[Janus Whitefurr]

There's only one movie, damnit! Okay, Two is kind of decent on provisional grounds but when you traumatise me by ripping apart my childhood hero?  Three is just toned down for the younger crowd. Less ranty, more thoughtful things I always loved about the movie(s)?

a) The first is the best. The second and third lose points for being a mashup that went together much better in Frank Miller's original RoboCop comic - it had Rehabs, it had Robocop 2, it had directive deletion (and handled the multiple directive things even better than the movie), and it even had the Japanese conglomerate mentioned at the end.

b) Nothing will ever be more awesome for me in the series than the first movie's climax in the old iron foundry at the end. "I'm not arresting you anymore."

c) The pistol, from memory and lots of research as a young'un, is a modified Beretta of some sort. Someone who's a gun nut could probably provided more info there.

d) "Cops don't like me. So I don't like cops." *BANG*

e) Stairs are ED-209's greatest nemesis.

Generally, I'm very fond of the first movie. RoboCop is one of my childhood heroes, as I said. I never really liked Two but for some minor elements, it always seemed more violence than the coherent plot of the first one. And while I used to like Three, when I got the movie pack and watched them together, Three just... seemed to be the odd duck compared to the first two. Sidenote: Three didn't have Peter Weller reprising his role as Murphy in that one.

[rabid_fox]

Robocop is such a badass film. Robocop 2 was ok. Robocop 3 was arse.

Starship Troopers is great.

I am a man of simple opinions.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Starship Troopers the book was far better than Starship Troopers the movie. Leagues away.

[Tapewolf]

Dammit, I thought you were going to be talking about books 

[Turnsky]

There's only one movie, damnit! Okay, Two is kind of decent on provisional grounds but when you traumatise me by ripping apart my childhood hero?  Three is just toned down for the younger crowd. Less ranty, more thoughtful things I always loved about the movie(s)?

a) The first is the best. The second and third lose points for being a mashup that went together much better in Frank Miller's original RoboCop comic - it had Rehabs, it had Robocop 2, it had directive deletion (and handled the multiple directive things even better than the movie), and it even had the Japanese conglomerate mentioned at the end.

b) Nothing will ever be more awesome for me in the series than the first movie's climax in the old iron foundry at the end. "I'm not arresting you anymore."

c) The pistol, from memory and lots of research as a young'un, is a modified Beretta of some sort. Someone who's a gun nut could probably provided more info there.

d) "Cops don't like me. So I don't like cops." *BANG*

e) Stairs are ED-209's greatest nemesis.

Generally, I'm very fond of the first movie. RoboCop is one of my childhood heroes, as I said. I never really liked Two but for some minor elements, it always seemed more violence than the coherent plot of the first one. And while I used to like Three, when I got the movie pack and watched them together, Three just... seemed to be the odd duck compared to the first two. Sidenote: Three didn't have Peter Weller reprising his role as Murphy in that one.

One was great, two was pretty good for the dark humor...


three was cheeeese.... served up with ham.

[JackLee1978]

I'm I the only one disappointed Peter Weller never showed up as a cop on That 70's Show?

[Dannysaysnoo]

c) The pistol, from memory and lots of research as a young'un, is a modified Beretta of some sort. Someone who's a gun nut could probably provided more info there.

It's a modified Beretta M39R, made to look like the Auto 9 model.

[thegayhare]

It's a modified Beretta M39R, made to look like the Auto 9 model.

NERRRD!  GUN NERRRD!... wait maybe I shouldn't insult the man with the guns

*runs away

[bill]

I wonder what your opinion was of Starship Troopers.

That's probably the other well-known Verhoeven film, and one that people criticize for being too much Verhoeven and too little Heinlein. (For one thing, Heinlein was serious about the whole ``service guarantees citizenship'' thing)

This was a pretty great movie, and the more fans of the original who got pissed off, the better.

[techmaster-glitch]

There's only one movie, damnit! Okay, Two is kind of decent on provisional grounds but when you traumatise me by ripping apart my childhood hero?  Three is just toned down for the younger crowd. Less ranty, more thoughtful things I always loved about the movie(s)?

a) The first is the best. The second and third lose points for being a mashup that went together much better in Frank Miller's original RoboCop comic - it had Rehabs, it had Robocop 2, it had directive deletion (and handled the multiple directive things even better than the movie), and it even had the Japanese conglomerate mentioned at the end.

b) Nothing will ever be more awesome for me in the series than the first movie's climax in the old iron foundry at the end. "I'm not arresting you anymore."


c) The pistol, from memory and lots of research as a young'un, is a modified Beretta of some sort. Someone who's a gun nut could probably provided more info there.

d) "Cops don't like me. So I don't like cops." *BANG*

e) Stairs are ED-209's greatest nemesis.

Generally, I'm very fond of the first movie. RoboCop is one of my childhood heroes, as I said. I never really liked Two but for some minor elements, it always seemed more violence than the coherent plot of the first one. And while I used to like Three, when I got the movie pack and watched them together, Three just... seemed to be the odd duck compared to the first two. Sidenote: Three didn't have Peter Weller reprising his role as Murphy in that one.

Yeah, I liked the first and the second ones (though the scene of them tearing Robo apart -was- pretty brutal), and while I didn't really hate the third one, it definitely didn't feel as good as the other two.

c) yeah, I read some stuff about that thing being some sort of Beretta when I looked up the series on TVtropes. Had some interesting stuff.

e) Yeah, not the mention the robotic temper tantrum right after that

Dammit, I thought you were going to be talking about books  

I sowwy

[Dannysaysnoo]

NERRRD!  GUN NERRRD!... wait maybe I shouldn't insult the man with the guns

I'm not denying it, I'm a gun nerd. Bang bang!

[Janus Whitefurr]

Yeah, I liked the first and the second ones (though the scene of them tearing Robo apart -was- pretty brutal), and while I didn't really hate the third one, it definitely didn't feel as good as the other two.

c) yeah, I read some stuff about that thing being some sort of Beretta when I looked up the series on TVtropes. Had some interesting stuff.

e) Yeah, not the mention the robotic temper tantrum right after that

Now imagine having the (mis)fortune of seeing Two when you're about thirteen or so. Childhood hero trauma galore! D:

If I recall the growl during the unfortunate start up "glitch" for dear ED-209 is a panther. The squealing during the tantrum is, I think, pig squealing, though he really sounds like he's just bawling his 'eyes' out for tripping over. It's one of those moments of hilarity - much like Murphy shooting that crook in the crotch! (the subsequent deadpan remark about emotional shock and the rape crisis center unintentionally had me lolling, mostly for the "oh god thank you" look on the woman's face turning into a disturbed one.)

NERRRD!  GUN NERRRD!... wait maybe I shouldn't insult the man with the guns

I'm not denying it, I'm a gun nerd. Bang bang!

Hey! Hey! No shooting at the bunny! Where else will we get our delicious cookies and fine food from?

[Dannysaysnoo]

NERRRD!  GUN NERRRD!... wait maybe I shouldn't insult the man with the guns

I'm not denying it, I'm a gun nerd. Bang bang!

Hey! Hey! No shooting at the bunny! Where else will we get our delicious cookies and fine food from?

I don't need cookies! I have gunpowder brownies!

*om nom boom*

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

I don't need cookies! I have gunpowder brownies!

*om nom boom*

Who said anything about YOU? WE need the cookies...

[Dannysaysnoo]

I don't need cookies! I have gunpowder brownies!

*om nom boom*

Who said anything about YOU? WE need the cookies...

It was just a flesh wound! D:

And I love me some lead cookies.

[Corgatha Taldorthar]

Starship Troopers the book was far better than Starship Troopers the movie. Leagues away.

QFT. In fact, the Starship troopers movie should get some sort of award given to movies that are ostensibly based on books but bear little, if any resemblance to them.

[LionHeart]

It would have to compete with I, Robot for it...

[techmaster-glitch]

Now imagine having the (mis)fortune of seeing Two when you're about thirteen or so. Childhood hero trauma galore! D:

If I recall the growl during the unfortunate start up "glitch" for dear ED-209 is a panther. The squealing during the tantrum is, I think, pig squealing, though he really sounds like he's just bawling his 'eyes' out for tripping over. It's one of those moments of hilarity - much like Murphy shooting that crook in the crotch! (the subsequent deadpan remark about emotional shock and the rape crisis center unintentionally had me lolling, mostly for the "oh god thank you" look on the woman's face turning into a disturbed one.)

Yeeg...yeah, I can imagine seeing that scene so young would be rather traumatic...but of course that brings the question of how the hell did your parents let you watch that in the first place? (though, on the subject of raw gruesome, that one guy getting melted by toxic waste in the first move was definitely an "UGH!" inducer...and you must have seen that even younger than thirteen )

I read on TVtropes (take that how you will) that it was a panther growl, but played backwards. Not sure about the pig squealing, though... and yes, that whole crotch shot takedown scene was quite memorable I liked the deadpan remarks because that's exactly how a robot would handle that...

[Janus Whitefurr]

Yeeg...yeah, I can imagine seeing that scene so young would be rather traumatic...but of course that brings the question of how the hell did your parents let you watch that in the first place? (though, on the subject of raw gruesome, that one guy getting melted by toxic waste in the first move was definitely an "UGH!" inducer...and you must have seen that even younger than thirteen )

I read on TVtropes (take that how you will) that it was a panther growl, but played backwards. Not sure about the pig squealing, though... and yes, that whole crotch shot takedown scene was quite memorable I liked the deadpan remarks because that's exactly how a robot would handle that...

Easy. When I first saw the first one it was on television and... uh... appropriately sanitised. The most memorable thing I remember is the line near the end "Dick Jones is wanted for murder" somehow become "Dick Jones is an imposter". And yet toxic waste man was kept in almost completely unchanged, I think the only thing missing was the Clarence PoV of him 'bursting' over the car. Don't ask me how they decided that. 

I can't remember whether Two was television-sanitised as well, everything I remember tells me it was still R18+. It certainly had a lot more horrifying things by virtue of keeping it offscreen - the sounds of them taking Cain's skull off to extract his brain, the way they kill the corrupt officer Duffy. And of course the "they say he's got a brain. I want to see it!" dismantlement scene which STILL traumatises me to this day.

More fun Robocop facts: There was a novelisation (my brother owns it, I read it) that was pretty close to the movie but for certain small things. Like Clarence's death.

[JackTheCubiWolf]

I saw all three a little after I turned 16. I thought the were pretty good. I thought I used to have a game of it but I was thinking of my Judge Dredd genesis game.

[Azlan]

Dammit, I thought you were going to be talking about books 

Perhaps you should start a thread somewhere about books...

[thegayhare]

*Stomps back in metal shod feet clanking on the ground,  He was shot but they managed to save his brain and they rebuit him as RoboBaker... now the oven's on the inside... just don't ask how he frosts the cake...*

I'll have to say this... it's a good thing robo had a gun and was allowed to just shoot people cause he was so damn slow he could never actualy catch a crook to arrest them.  pluss it's not like he could co undercover or sneak up on some one.

*STOMP! STOMP! STOMP!*
I'm trailing the suspect now
*STOMP! STOMP! STOMP!*

[LionHeart]

I have to admit, if I were creating a cyborg police officer, I'd want him to be able to move quickly. Mind you, he needed that armour - this is a city where the police duty uniform is riot gear...

As for going undercover - I think OCP wanted him to be highly visible, as an advertisement. "Look how smart we are - we can create a super-cop!"

[thegayhare]

I have to admit, if I were creating a cyborg police officer, I'd want him to be able to move quickly. Mind you, he needed that armour - this is a city where the police duty uniform is riot gear...

As for going undercover - I think OCP wanted him to be highly visible, as an advertisement. "Look how smart we are - we can create a super-cop!"

All true in that he needed the armour in the movies, but thats highly specialized in other instances in the world of robocop, granted the instances are probably as disliked by some of the others as the third movie, such as the live action series where most of the time he used gimick bullets to try not to kill to many folks.  But other then being a big guy in wearing a shoot me sign the uses of such a forciblely overt officer are limited.  Pluss being the only success story (not counting Cable from the miniseries) he should be to valuable to be placed in the kinds of situation he is.  It would be more cost efective to use ED-209 units with human operators to prevent malfuntions (case taken from the third movie ED-209 and a 9 year old hacker)  If they wanted to use him him to showcase there product line and the limitless potential the company could provide they should have had there company logo plastered all over his ass... I mean that litteraly... something like "Another fine OCP product.  Remember we're OCP and we own you" right across both cheeks."  Hell Robo doesn't even have any police insignia on him. 

Don't take me wrong I like Robocop I liked the movies  hell I'm even looking forward to the new one thats in production.  But he wouldn't be all that usefull in most police forces.  He's to slow to be on any swat team plus his lack of flexibility would hinder any of the manuvers they need to preform.  He'd be fairly useless in a patrol situation, unless he was allowed to soot suspects before they out ran him.  about all he'd be realy good for is a threat.  "Tell us what you did or we'll give you to the large metal thing in the corner wearing a dead man's face."  that would certainly scare the crap out of me

[Janus Whitefurr]

Oddly, the first attempt at a series - the one set up with the human-brained supercomputer (Diana) - is something of a guilty pleasure. It's not as good as the movies but it gave Murphy a bunch of other options. Like grenades stored in his other leg, and one of my personal favourites, rambolts in his legs to hold himself down so he could pretty much stand there and take a car head on without budging. I'm pretty sure that's where they debuted the voice stress analyser so he was a walking lie detector too.

Also. Bunny. Don't make me spank you. How dare you bring realism into my science fiction! ;p It's the whole point of the fiction part, the fact it's entirely unrealistic but it's still awesome. (In Murphy's defence, the general thing seems to be the more he recovers his humanity, the less he becomes of a clunker. He tends to be pretty agile for a tanker in the latter part of the film. Running out of the way of the van for the toxic waste scene, anyone?)

[techmaster-glitch]

plus it's not like he could co undercover or sneak up on some one.

*STOMP! STOMP! STOMP!*
I'm trailing the suspect now
*STOMP! STOMP! STOMP!*

As for going undercover - I think OCP wanted him to be highly visible, as an advertisement. "Look how smart we are - we can create a super-cop!"

Heh. I'm reminded of a Bytesize clip from Newgrounds (skip until you find the one clip by "MindChamber").

[thegayhare]

Oh I know don't bring reality into sci fi or fantasy but sometimes you just have too

okay look at 2...  Robo was still a clunker... then they break out Cain in that new robot body... bigger then ED-209 ever was he's massive and should have handled like 2 tons of tracktor and he could dance rings around robo

All that just proved the limits to Robo's usfullness and then they made anouther one... in the miniseries it's 10 years later and they build a second robocop using a freind of murpheys named cable and they use the exact same slow as mollasses design, cept he has two guns and black armor

ten years of advancements and all they can do is give him a second gun, arthritic grandma's move faster then him but now he can gun them down two at a time

But that short was good tech *giggles*