Robocop Is A Drama - (Analyzing My Favorite Movie) 100,000 Sub Special!

warning this video will spoil the entirety of the 1987 film robocop i'll be analyzing many aspects but this is more of an appreciation gushing over everything i love about this movie we'll go through pretty much every scene looking at as many things as we can that make this movie the classic that it is so let's get to it robocop is my favorite movie of all time it was my favorite movie when i was a little kid and it's my favorite movie now i've seen it countless times shown it to many friends who are now fans themselves and seen the influence the movie has had over the years when talking about movies that you loved as a kid you always have to figure nostalgia into the equation you're always going to have an emotional connection to things from your childhood it's why an old ninja turtle action figure will make me smile why certain sounds and smells transport us back to the past and evoke such strong emotions why a song you loved in high school although probably terrible can cause you to jump out of your seat and dance around the room the test of many great movies in certain genres is that you can fall in love with it as a child and then revisit it decades later and enjoy it on much higher levels through adult eyes there's a reason so many movies from the 1980s have persisted through decades of popular culture sure the 60s and 70s have a plethora of fantastic and revolutionary films as do the 90s but there's something about 1980s cinema that captured what i can only call magic back to the future is shown to kids through generations ghostbusters remains one of the smartest comedies ever made freddy krueger and jason voorhees are recognizable to kids 40 years later that haven't even seen the movies et is still one of the most emotionally powerful movies ever made everyone knows who the terminator is the indiana jones trilogy continues to be a treasure alien and predator are immortal icons of sci-fi cinema we even get sequels to movies like blade runner 35 years later a few years ago i made the decision to find and re-watch a lot of movies that i remembered loving as a kid or at least that i remembered as being good some of them still hold up today and some of them don't you have to keep things in perspective something like the goonies may not hold up in some aspects like acting and certain characters like the high school bully that feel dumb and unnecessary but the sense of wonder and adventure is still very enjoyable and moving and it'll make you smile a lot the movie doesn't make much sense but that's not the point in re-watching all of these movies i remembered so fondly from the days of hbo and cinemax reruns i found a few that simply don't work anymore the primary example is dark man i was crazy about dark man as a kid i watched it over and over i played the terrible darkman nintendo game and when it was time to re-watch darkman as an adult i was excited and then almost immediately disappointed as the production value of the movie is underwhelming and something just feels off and horribly dated it's a great premise cool characters it has some good scenes i like the makeup effects liam neeson is good i wouldn't call it a bad movie just a movie that you have to watch while keeping in mind that this is an early 90s movie with some major flaws flaws that don't register in the mind of a child or even in a lot of contemporary adult viewers seeing it in the cinema something like total recall from the same era holds up much better due to the strength of his premise performances set pieces and hilariously over-the-top action socio-political messages and symbolism and most importantly the script the editing and the direction a talented director can make even the weakest material work if they know what they're doing and while you may watch something as old as total recall and think the effects aren't believable i submit that a truly top tier movie in certain genres is only brought down by the aging of its effects john carpenter's the thing comes to mind the horrific monster that morphs into other creatures on this hidden away science base is obviously created with practical effects you can see clearly that it's not real especially in high definition as it was never meant to be seen if you have an appreciation for cinema and the art of practical effects over computer generated imagery you can look at these scenes in awe for the artistry and labor behind them they can gross you out way more than something made digitally the thing may be dated by its effects but everything else about it holds strong and a lot of that is the pacing pacing is so important in a movie you want every scene to feel like it has a place informing the characters serving the plot not meandering in disposable information or overindulgent pretentious artistry if you nail the pacing of your movie two hours can feel like an hour and a half if you screw it up an hour and a half can feel like an eternity all of these things script direction cinematography symbolism acting editing pacing music special effects action drama they all play their part in the greatness of one of the best films ever made 1987's robocop directed by paul verhoeven who also directed the movie total recall that i just mentioned you can feel that everyone involved in this movie took it seriously and believed in what they were making it doesn't feel like a movie mandated by a studio forced into creation because they needed to make a robot movie to capitalize on the success of terminator the writers actors and director are 100 percent dedicated to the vision of the film and it results in a fantastic end product it's a movie so immaculately put together and so consistent in the presentation of its world that it'll hold up for generations a hero so iconic and sympathetic that his story will stay with you and you'll see his influence in a lot of media that followed and villains so sadistic and memorable you can watch this movie once and then a year later someone shows you just a picture of one of the villains and you'll remember everything about their personality [Laughter] you a college boy or something huh i bet you think you're pretty smart huh think you could outsmart a bullet if you ask most movie critics and fans what kind of movie robocop is they're gonna tell you it's a sci-fi action film and a satire and it's true robocop has excellent violent sci-fi action and brilliant satire of american pop culture politics and corporatism but i don't think it does the movie justice to classify it that way robocop at its core is a drama or at the very least the dramatic aspects of it are much more important to its success than the action in satire robocop tells the story of a young police officer recently transferred to a new precinct in the very troubled and very real city of detroit we see a city where cops are dying regularly in their fight against street criminals and organized crime while the mega corporation omni consumer products ocp has purchased the police department from the local government with the intention of using law enforcement to benefit their construction plans for a complete overhaul to the city's infrastructure they want to build a corporate paradise free of crime except the corporate kind of course they'll be bulldozing houses pushing out the poor gentrifying neighborhoods and taking control of whatever aspect of public life they deemed necessary to suit their goals sounds kind of like today doesn't it the movie opens perfectly with a believable easy to understand newscast prologue that quickly establishes the movie's world no opening title crawl no long text to read just a newscaster telling us what's up got it these media break moments deliver important exposition throughout the movie and feature commercials that show the movie's satirical dark and exaggerated sense of humor we see an ad for the family heart center where they're advertising artificial hearts sports edition hearts made by yamaha and mitsubishi it's really weird and shows the audience that we're in a world where corporations have pretty much taken over everything the commercial ends with the doctor looking at the camera and telling us he cares about us and remember we care yeah i'm sure you do these tv spots serve as fun little breaks in the violence and drama they're loaded with satire and running gags there's a laser cannon aboard the strategic defense peace platform that alone is hilarious but they say that it misfired misfired look at all the directions it shot at oh it misfired and they also say that among the dead are two former us presidents so there's plenty of room for conspiracy theorists to jump in on this one too absolutely brilliant there's a great running gag with a new car called the 6000 sux it has sucks right in the name it gets 8.2 miles per gallon which is just awful but of course the wastefulness of the car is labeled as an american tradition this car shows up at a couple different points our main villain drives one and then when he sees his partner driving a brand new one he blows it up and near the end of the movie during a chase scene a hubcap just flies off towards the camera it's little details like this that add to the depth and the re-watchability of robocop so after this bizarre and funny commercial break we immediately cut back to the news where they say three police officers are dead it's tonal whiplash as they just casually mention the brutal murder of three cops right after we have a commercial for sports hearts by yamaha ocp in its plans to reform the city has been hard at work producing a robotic patrol officer one that can help them clean up the streets but also be sold at a high price to the military vice president of ocp dick jones a man whose name basically translates to penis penis is leading the enforcement droid program and presents ed-209 to the board 100 robotic and armed with heavy artillery the demonstration goes horribly awry as one of their board members gets ripped to shreds by the beast when it stops responding to commands this scene not only sets up the story of the corporation that goes on to create robocop and the drama between opposing factions within but it also establishes the dry matter of fact presentation of violence in this film the way the executives have no concern for the death that just happened they go straight to being upset about the financial impact of their company caused by any delay to their robotic patrol unit program you'll notice that a lot of the violent imagery of robocop is presented very coldly and matter-of-factly no dramatic zoom-ins or slow-motion or anything it's just there plain real the president of the company is visibly distressed by the massive failure of ed 209 and bob morton is the guy that sweeps in to take advantage of the situation presenting his robocop program as a contingency plan bob gets the green light and waits for an unlucky cop to bite the dust so he can go to work on creating his cyborg police officer and dick jones is not happy about it enter alex murphy a married man with a young son transferring in from another department meeting his partner lewis suiting up for his first day on the job and heading out to make the city a safer place the detroit police department is in turmoil as many officers have been killed and they're threatening to strike in protest as murphy suits up the chief of police announces the funeral of another fallen officer funerals tomorrow department requests all officers not on duty to attend any donations for the family may be given to cecil as usual murphy and lewis get in the car murphy insists on driving and they take off they spend some casual time picking up coffee he talks about how his son is a big fan of a crime fighting superhero called tj laser and he's trying to perfect the pistol spinning trick from that show to impress his son lewis is immediately likable played perfectly by nancy allen she doesn't end up being a cliche love interest or some stoic badass she's just his partner and she cares about him they get a call for a crime in progress and unfortunately for them today is the day of a big heist where clarence bottiger and his gang of psychopaths are speeding down the highway in a getaway van full of cash some of you may know this actor kurtwood smith as the dad from that 70s show but before that he was known for several villainous roles where he played a real son of a [ __ ] like the leader of the ku klux klan and a time to kill and here in robocop as the most badass charismatic doesn't give a [ __ ] street villain to ever grace the silver screen if we're having a conversation about the greatest villains of all time clarence bottiger is up there with the joker and darth vader kurtwood smith relishes this role and rarely has an actor capture the true essence of evil the way that he does he shows blatant disregard for the well-being of anyone other than himself and that in itself doesn't make him a great villain it's the way he expresses it with such subtlety and class while all his goons are laughing like kids clarence stays back and only smiles he delights in the suffering of his enemies but he doesn't laugh in an over-the-top fashion or show a crazy obsession with violence but he's not a dead in the eyes emotionless killer either he's cool he's measured he likes to have fun but he knows when it's time to get serious and get down to business he can put on a smile and crack a joke but then instantly switch when the topic gets real the perfect scene that shows clarence bottiger's personality is the secretary scene where after a huge fight between robocop and the security droid of ocp clarence is making his way through the rubble to talk to his partner in crime and he takes a moment to flirt with the secretary he invites her to go out with him after she gets off work as he takes his chewing gum and sticks it on her name plate he doesn't give a [ __ ] he's expecting you mr vodka he values his friends and connections but only to the point that they serve his personal interests when facing arrest or death he'll turn his back on everyone he knows just to survive he's a weasel when it's all stripped away but when he has power he's sadistic and extremely deadly he surrounds himself with a crew of some of the most memorable villainous sidekicks in movie history they have so much personality and it's so believable that they'd be working together and have the bond that they do it helps that they're perfectly cast by actors who take the roles seriously and give them the personal touch needed to make them come alive hands down this is the best team of bad guys ever filmed they're just as memorable as the individual heroes and aliens which came out just a year before this as clarence and his boys are escaping with the money from their latest job alex murphy and officer lewis catch up to them clarence is freaking out inside the van because one of his goons bobby accidentally burnt the money they stole when they blew open the door i don't believe it man shut the [ __ ] up and do it just do it god he's great a gunfight ensues resulting in bobby getting shot in the leg never a man to let an opportunity pass him by clarence uses bobby as a human obstacle to stop the pursuing cops can you fly bobby once the officers locate the hideout of the gang they check on backup there's no backup and it makes sense the force is stretched thin already multiple cop shootings rampant crime there's no help coming so they go in alone and things don't go well lewis gets knocked out by the gang's trickster character and murphy takes out one bad guy and tries to control the situation go ahead and do it better alive you're coming with me but he gets ambushed by everyone else clarence bodiger joins in on the fun and torments our hero having his sick fun with him as murphy does his best to hold strong you probably don't think i'm a very nice guy do you buddy i think you're slime what follows is one of the most upsetting scenes i've ever witnessed in a movie it's not that it's the most gory or the most torturous but it's just awful clarence toys with him a while before blasting his hand off with a shotgun you can feel murphy's pain just by the look on his face the manic laughter of the criminals creates an incredibly uncomfortable mood as we know what's coming a horrible violent extended execution sequence clarence steps aside to let his boys take care of it he's above such childish behavior the gang opens fire on murphy he's wearing heavy duty police armor so he doesn't die from the ridiculous amount of gunshots he takes their shotguns ripped through his armor tearing his skin apart blasting one of his arms clean off murphy screams and rides in pain utterly mutilated by this group of psychopaths laughing at him it's just terrible you can't be human and not feel sympathy for this man no one deserves this it's this man's first day at work clarence comes in to finish the job a bullet to the head and they leave good night sweet prince [Laughter] hey wait up wait up wait up lewis finds murphy's bloody corpse with no idea what to do or how to help him it's really sad a helicopter flies murphy to the nearest hospital to see if anything can be done but what can really be done in a case like this there is some brain activity still and we watch a powerful scene of what is essentially murphy dying it's a visceral depiction of the emergency care process treating wounded patients injections breathing tubes suction stripping off clothing defibrillator and murphy seeing flashes of his family in his dying moments and the camera keeps us right up close to him like we're there with him but there's no saving this man the doctors know it you can hear the resignation in their voices as they give up it's just another day in the hospital and another dead cop all right i think that's all we can do let's call it what's the time these scenes the horrific murder of alex murphy and more importantly his death in the hospital are crucial to the setup of robocop this movie may be remembered as an action classic with a character that went on to inspire various sequels comic books children's cartoons and he even appears as a playable character in mortal kombat 11 but i'm here to tell you that this is not just an action movie the strength of the character of robocop rests on the tragedy of alex murphy a man whose life family and future were stolen from him by the sickest people imaginable and everything that follows from that point means nothing if we don't care about him robocop is not just a cyborg that fights crime he is a real person who the audience feels for and connects with that's what sets this movie apart from just any old action film on the hospital gurney we die with murphy we feel the chaos of the attempts to save his life we see through his eyes our vision goes black as his does we die with him and then we are reborn with him the resurrection of murphy now robocop is an iconic scene filmed entirely from his perspective it's a seamless transition from death to being reborn being pulled out of the darkness into pure visual static strangers prodding you and drilling things into your skull we don't leave murphy's perspective for about 3 minutes the movie rebuilds the audience just as the scientists rebuild our hero we see his visual system installed his memory has been wiped clean all he is is a program now we watch as corporate ocp men inspect the progress the scientists found a way to salvage one of his arms but ocp wants none of that a stronger robotic arm will make him a better tool for them they just need him to survive and obey so all that's left is his torso and his head we wake up through different points of the process over a period of a few months when it's time to finally reveal their creation there's an event in the laboratory what an achievement they've brought a man back to life i love this next sequence we are slowly introduced to the design of robocop through masterful direction we continue to see through robocop's eyes feeling as though we are one with him and we get our first glimpse at our new body on a distant monitor robocop is marched out of the lab and through the halls of the police department obscured from the camera's view by textured glass next is a shot of him inside the testing cage still obscured but not nearly as much now just by metal gates and a circling camera with people all around then we pull in tight on his face as the specialists circle around him to make sure he's functioning properly all the regular cops are there in shock amazement and some of them are fearing for their jobs the introduction of the physical appearance of robocop is a stroke of genius a lesser film would simply show him right away but director paul verhoeven eases us into it giving us quick looks at pieces of him before the full reveal and robocop's suit design is nothing short of brilliant it's smooth and sleek almost minimal in its presentation he doesn't have a bunch of extra parts on him or beeping flashing lights and he doesn't look over designed like he was made by people who have experience building cyborgs he looks like the product of a laboratory during their first experiments doing this streamlining it into something that looks almost like an appliance not complex enough to be a superhero not simple enough to be dismissed by a criminal that might face him the open mouth gives actor peter weller opportunity to emote but within obvious limits can you imagine how hard it is for an actor to express emotions without the use of their eyes most of their face or even their body that's why peter weller is irreplaceable as robocop he's able to communicate a wide range of feelings simply through his posture and mouth the clenched lips of his anger state the open mouth expression of his desperation the stoic jaw showing his determination there is no better robot performance except for maybe in the sarah connor chronicles cameron and chromarti were damn good the suit was designed by rob boutin who is famous for his work on the creature from john carpenter's the thing two of the most iconic designs of all time from the same guy it's amazing he and director paul verhoeven apparently had a lot of disagreements during the production of robocop there were a lot of complications and tensions were high between the director and the design department they didn't even want to be in communication with each other as they worked but in the end it all came together and whatever bad blood was between them must have been resolved once the movie turned out so good because rob boutin went on to work again with verhoeven on total recall you'll notice that in many scenes robocop is shot from underneath low to the ground cameras large casting shadows shots that frame his torso and look up at his face it's a technique that makes the audience feel like he's a large intimidating force and they use a lot of practical lighting illuminating robocop with the cold fluorescent lights of the police station causing a beautiful glow in his armor they really knew how to film this guy and that's a small part of why the sequels don't quite have that visual impact of the original as the series goes on the films start to look more i guess the word is normal it just doesn't have that artistic flair it doesn't have that dirty real look to it not only was paul verhoeven not involved in the sequels so you lose his edge and his perspective as a subversive and visionary dutch filmmaker but you're also missing jost vicano verhoeven's german cinematographer who worked with him on 1980s spatters total recall starship troopers and hollow man a talented director needs a talented cinematographer to be his eyes when a director that doesn't specialize in cinematography tries to run the cameras all by himself you can end up with some really poorly shot films and it's common for a director to develop trust in certain people and bring them into multiple projects that's why total recall has a similar feel and look to robocop you have the same director cinematographer and effects people robocop was a production mired in problems delays budget issues costume problems safety concerns uncomfortable shooting conditions and hot summer weather it was a miserable experience for almost everyone involved and their misery resulted in a masterpiece and now why does robocop exist what is his purpose robocop has three directives that govern his behavior vague but principled serve the public trust protect the innocent uphold the law and then there's a mysterious directive four which will come into play later at this point it feels like murphy is gone no one knows what to make of this new robot walking around the precinct during target practice he completely destroys it ripping the target to pieces with the coolest handgun ever made a burst fire 50 round flesh ripping behemoth of a pistol that he keeps in his leg how cool is this guy officer lewis notices robocop spinning his pistol before holstering it and this is our first clue that there is still some trace of humanity left in this metal shell so far things are pretty serious a grisly murder of a cop on his first day in a city overrun by crime and corporate corruption and then that cop is turned into a soulless robot slave it could be easy to see this whole movie getting depressing which is why i love the next scene so much reid yeah he needs a car [Music] thank you sure any time oh yeah go get em boy this scene immediately reveals to the audience that no just because this guy is a cyborg it doesn't mean he has no personality this moment shows us that even something as simple and robotic as catching the keys without flinching still contains a sense of humanity he says thank you but he doesn't say it like he's programmed to say it he doesn't say thank you he says thank you in a human tone it's a great signal to the audience that we're about to go on an adventure and that this guy isn't just a machine reed yeah he needs a car thank you robocop gets in his police car pulls out of the garage and scratches the pavement causing sparks exactly how murphy did when he went to work on his first day ladies and gentlemen the man is still in there somewhere there is hope there's a chance things are gonna be okay cue the theme song god that's awesome we are only 34 minutes in by the way and robocop is already hitting the streets ready to kick some ass they don't waste our time with long training montages stuffed into a movie to compensate for a lack of a good story this movie is so tight edited and paced with such precision not a single moment feels out of place or too long or unnecessary we've established a character in half the time of other movies and we are ready to go the music kicks in leading a soundtrack full of metallic tones orchestral arrangements and old western themes three realms of music that perfectly combine the robotic the dramatic and the heroic all without falling into the trap of thinking well if it's a movie about robots and technology we have to make a digital score they kept a lot of natural tones in the music which serves the humanity of the script in the next scenes we get a one two three hit of robocop [ __ ] up bad guys this guys robbing a convenience store get tossed into the glass these guys are assaulting a woman in the street gets shot in the dick this guy doesn't want to accept the election results and lose his job as mayor of detroit so now he takes everyone in the office hostage get punched out a window this part with the assault on the street has beautiful symbolism by the way as degenerate criminals are doing horrible things to an innocent woman and the delta city billboard is above them promising a future with a silver lining not subtle but so good and easy to overlook on your first viewing because they aren't zooming in or drawing attention to it it's just there in the background the squib work is also really impressive squibs are the packets of blood that explode when you're filming gunshots if you can time the effect right they look a lot better than cg the gunshots in robocop are so gruesome that you feel them more than any other movie except maybe total recall [Laughter] total recall is so great the last great 80s style action movie but yeah robocop just look at these scenes and tell me you can't feel these shots this is the action movie of robocop that everyone remembers and it's awesome but it wouldn't mean anything without the establishment of the guy under the suit robocop spends his first night cleaning up the streets and bob morton head of the robocop program at ocp is celebrating his promotion robocop is a resounding success and now that he's patrolling the streets successfully dick jones is really not happy this could spell the ruination of his plans and something needs to be done about bob and his robot freak show some time later robocop starts experiencing some odd brain activity he's having visions of the men who killed him but he's not supposed to remember any of this he wakes from his slumber and leaves on his own lewis catches him in the hallway and strikes up a conversation with him murphy may be in there but he's buried too deep under his programming to come out lewis tells him who he is and robocop doesn't know how to react murphy it's you it definitely has an effect on him again peter weller perfectly captures this moment showing emotion through an emotionless expression expressing the resonance of this information not in his face but in his methodical stepping backwards while out on the streets one of clarence's main men emile is robbing a gas station because he can you get the feeling these guys aren't really smart but they're just so used to getting their way that they just commit random crimes out of boredom in a bit of movie plot convenience robocop stumbles upon this crime and intervenes and this is our pivotal moment [Music] drop it that are alive you are coming with me [Music] i know you [Music] you're dead we killed you we killed you emil freaks out seeing the walking corpse of the man they killed and robocop locks up his programming isn't made to deal with all these memories and he's stuck in a memory state emil torches the gas station creating a massive explosion a couple well-placed gunshots send a meal flying and after trying to interrogate him briefly robocop is now on a rogue mission he bee-lined straight for the police database and uses his now iconic metal data spike to get access to every file on record a face match on a meal shows his known accomplices leading him to clarence bodager who he clearly recognizes then seeing himself murphy just like lewis said robocop now knows who he was what happened to him and what he's become this scene has always come across as haunting to me with the close-ups and the way the music combines with the beeping sounds of the interface into a flatline tone that oddly fits into the score [Music] [Music] what follows is the most important scene of the film elevated even further by the music robocop goes back to his old home abandoned and put up for sale he paces through his memories of his family life the emotions of these moments resonating deeply within him but still cognitively unable to process them he's incapable of fondly thinking about who he was but as he passes through the rooms of the home he used to share with his wife and son he experiences them and his most vivid memories buried deep within his mind come to life it's not a moment of joy or sadness or revelation even it feels more traumatic than anything else peter weller expertly shows the rage and frustration felt by the character as he marches out furiously and breaks the automated salesman why not make me an offer from here you could imagine the movie going on a typical revenge plot of robocop hunting down every gang member for the next 45 minutes but it doesn't really do that he goes after one of them nash in a nightclub in a scene that adds a bit of humor and levity to the film after some really heavy stuff but he only goes after this gang member so he can interrogate him about where to find clarence he's going straight for the leader we cut away to another pivotal scene that starts with bob morton celebrating his success with a bunch of blow and high class hookers some of the movies funniest lines are found here god you girls are so great i mean i just i love to be with intelligent women smart is so sexy i know sometimes i could just think of something and he could just get me so horny that is brilliant but not as brilliant as the next and arguably the funniest line of the movie [ __ ] leave oh man clarence bottiger this guy but why is he at bob's house he's just a criminal right well after popping bob a few times in the legs something that still makes me cringe in pain because of how brutal the explosive gunshots are clarence pops in a dvd and presents the big twist of the movie showing a conceited farewell message from none other than dick jones that's right the sadistic criminal boss is in cahoots with the vice president of ocp but why what interest could they possibly share clarence pops open a grenade in the sickest way imaginable with his tongue puts it on the table just out of reach and walks out and in hilarious understated fashion he closes the door of the house that's about to explode [Music] hard cut to a factory cocaine operation run by the crime bosses of detroit and clarence and his gang are trying to establish a business relationship these guys don't want anything to do with the bottom gang because they're cop killers and generally unpredictable clarence assures them that not only do they have all the right connections to move their product to new territories but he also has a bunch of muscle behind him and could kill everyone here if he wanted to tensions are high no side trusts the other but surely they can come to some kind of agreement in the interest of their finances knock knock robocop is here nash must have given up the location of clarence's next big deal and robocop's here to bust him and he clearly only cares about taking clarence alive because robocop goes on to kill pretty much everyone in the room it's one of the greatest shootouts in movie history robocop just murdering everyone squibs and blood flying everywhere cocaine bottles shattering into the air beautifully framed shots showing off robocop's posture as he takes aim this is where you start to feel murphy's personality start to seep through his robotic movements something purely run through programming wouldn't stylistically pose and shoot like this he's feeling more human he understands who he used to be and you can sense there's something in him that enjoys taking out these bad guys on a human level this is where we get the iconic pose of one arm out aiming the pistol and the other hand back behind his head it's very cowboy you can see this pose recreated in the best robocop collectible figures he walks like this in the robocop vs terminator game on sega genesis and you'll see him strike this pose after his grab attack in mortal kombat 11. it's little things like that that make a character come alive for an audience it's not just because it's cool it works for the story he wasn't moving and posing like this in the first scenes it's only after he's remembered and visited his home that more expression and style starts coming through he's changing robocop is slowly slipping away and murphy is returning after tossing clarence through a few windows and tearing up his face clarence spills his guts like the weasel he is in a vain attempt to save his own life he confesses everything robocop having the man that murdered him in his hands backs off from killing him because plainly murdering someone like this is illegal and wrong instead he brings him to the police station for processing book him what's the charge he's a cop killer clarence again gives one of the best lines of the movie just give me my [ __ ] phone call so we don't get scene after scene of robocop chasing down every villain he just goes straight for the main bad guy who then puts him on the trail of dick jones time to take down the guy at the top now this is a big lapse in judgment on the part of robocop clarence just confessed to working with jones and now clarence is gonna call someone because he's legally entitled to of course he's gonna call jones and warn him why didn't robocop tell the chief about this why didn't he think about clarence warning jones about his vendetta i don't know i guess it's a plot hole but i suppose you could say that as murphy's consciousness is starting to return his rage has blinded him to reason and all he cares about is revenge he's now kind of half robot half human and he's not thinking correctly that makes sense i'll allow it especially since what follows is so awesome robocop makes his way to the ocp building marches towards jones's office in dramatic fashion replaying his recordings of clarence confessing i work for dick jones dan jones i work for dick jones he runs ocp ocp runs the cops yeah he's definitely blinded by vengeance jones is just sitting there cool as can be and offers to be taken into custody except directive four robocop is a product of ocp and therefore cannot arrest anyone who works for ocp it's a smart way to protect themselves against their own work robocop is malfunctioning fighting to maintain control of his functions jones relishes the moment seeing bob morton's creation reduced to such a pathetic state he summons his monstrous creation ed209 to tear robocop apart and he spouts off too much about his plans and crimes in what is commonly seen in other movies as a cliche villain moment i had to kill bob morton because he made a mistake now it's time to erase that mistake dick jones's confession to robocop during his shutdown feels believable because of what we know about jones arrogance and hateful short-sighted attitude it's usually such an eye-rolling scene to have the villain confess their plans to the hero in the hero's moment of apparent defeat it's parodied so much from the old james bond movies but i buy it here it doesn't feel like your typical i'm just dying to tell someone my master plan so now i'm gonna explain everything to the audience it doesn't feel like that it feels like jones's most sincere way of saying [ __ ] you to robocop and bob morton and it's not like he leaves him dangling over a pool of sharks with a chance to escape he unleashes his giant death machine on him while he's suffering perpetual nerve trauma from directive 4 there was no reason to think this wasn't going to work except except for the hubris of this man who was blind to the flaws of his own creation that's what gives this scene even more depth it's not just the villains sicking his giant robot on the main character to kill him it's symbolic of the character flaws this man has that after seeing his precious billion dollar creation utterly fail in a public presentation just months ago he actually thinks sending it after robocop is a plan that can't fail he's blind he's arrogant he's a fool so of course he confesses his plan to robocop and of course he actually believes he'll get away with it and if his work on ed209 had actually produced a good product he would have gotten away with it but the man produces [ __ ] and either can't see it or can't accept it either way he doesn't care making dick jones the perfect representation for modern day corporate thinking leaving us in a world where car manufacturers will release new cars with problems that cause drivers to crash and die because they know the lawsuits will cost them less than actually fixing the problem ed 209 himself is a strong symbol as well he's a corporate product with a whole lot of treasure invested into him with brilliant minds designing him to be deadly and impressive just the ultimate killing machine blasting automatic cannons and launching rockets but their team is so clouded in their judgment and priorities that they didn't even think to program him to be able to go down the [ __ ] stairs [Music] that's why seeing a bunch of ed209s patrolling the street in the robocop remake is so off-putting it's not supposed to work you fools did you even see the original movie ed 209 is not just a killer robot in an action movie he's a monstrous and deadly creation but he's also a joke he is representative of the entire corporate world mentality of cutting corners hiding development issues dishonestly marketing your product and pushing something out that looks great on the surface and will probably make you a lot of money but is fundamentally dysfunctional confused and substandard getting back to robocop the return of his humanity is shown in several ways throughout the movie there's the obvious plot scenes that show him remembering the villains that killed him and going home again but the movie also tracks these moments through sound design and visual cues if you listen closely you can hear that in the first scenes where he speaks there's a heavy mechanical droning tone behind his voice that are alive you are coming with me this tone lowers in the mix as the movie goes on eventually disappearing by the end of the film when we see him as fully human again we see his humanity returning in the way he poses his body in the warehouse shootout most importantly after spending 50 minutes of the movie without seeing his face his fight with ed209 fractures his faceplate revealing his human eye it's a startling moment that for the first time makes you realize wow this isn't just a robotic product this is a man trapped in a metal shell the eyes are the most important part of facial expression and finally seeing one of his in a moment of defeat is powerful imagery robocop makes it out alive and jones calls in the special forces reporting him as a rogue menace our hero exits the building to be confronted by the entire police force and swat team under direct orders to destroy him some officers try to stop it but there's nothing to be done they open fire on him and robocop can't do anything because he can't act against law enforcement he may be impervious to bullets but this is too much he's been beaten up and broken by ed209 and now a hundred machine guns are picking him apart it's the saddest moment of the film to me seeing him desperately try to crawl away losing control of his body functions leaking fluids and looking for any way out it's crazy that a scene of a hundred machine guns firing can feel so heavy and so sad the music here hits especially hard too [Music] his old partner lewis finds him just in time and helps him into her car for a narrow escape man what a sequence the next day cleaning up the disaster that took place in the ocp building clarence bottiger is on his way to a meeting with dick jones jones is pissed off that clarence confessed everything to robocop because he has recorded memory that can be used in court he needs to be killed clarence wants out this is not what he signed up for but jones reminds him of their agreement as long as clarence continues to ensure the interests of the company he'll be able to control all the criminal markets that emerged during the years of construction of delta city these two guys were made for each other jones gives clarence and his gang some souped-up rifles that essentially act as precision grenade launchers and after a night on the town blowing up some stores they head out on the hunt the police are now officially on strike after all the violence and lack of support from ocp who is probably sabotaging the department to further their interests of replacing them with robots anyway so the streets run rampant with crime the gang gathers downtown to plan the attack on robocop criminals are tearing the city apart and emile breaks a store window just to be able to turn up the television happy birthday dave she's from me [Applause] well hey can i have you oh had our shots i'd buy that for a dollar i'd buy that for a dollar just a nonsense one-liner catch phrase said throughout the movie perfectly making fun of tv shows that make people laugh by just saying the funny line they always say can i do that how you doing bazinga what'd you tell them robocop and lewis are hidden away in the steel mill on the outskirts of the town the same place where murphy was killed in the beginning and he's trying to fix himself up he had a bad night lewis brought him a drill on his request and finally he takes off his faceplate i can't put this scene into words this is my favorite scene in any movie it gets me every time i could have done a whole video just on this one scene first of all the makeup effects just wow how did they do this it's like i'm really looking at a human face grafted onto a robot head the way the skin seeps over the edges the bullet wound scar on his forehead gives a chilling memory of his murder the music is understated somber and personal the way lewis looks at him shows that she's happy to see his face again but there's a sadness in her eyes as well robocop inquires about murphy's family still referring to murphy as someone other than him reflecting on his inability to remember them in a human memory sense but being haunted by the feelings of love that he had for them ultimately rejecting lewis's offer of companionship to ask her to leave him alone it's sad and powerful it's parts like this that had me re-evaluate this film as an adult and stop classifying it as a sci-fi action satire it's a drama clarence and his buddies show up ready for business and robocop readies himself for war with a look of determination on his face wait a minute did i just say this wasn't an action film never mind clarence crawls out of the wreckage and sees lewis coming over the hill he shoots her several times and it always makes me wince it looks so painful it's the combination of the dryness of the shot and the actors performances but a lot of the impact comes from the exploding bullet squibs that director paul verahoevan loves so much so lewis is out of the picture and now robocop is making his way across the water towards clarence the music swells he aims his gun at clarence clearly indicating that he's willing and able to simply murder him he's unarmed but robocop doesn't seem to care anymore clarence sees that nash is still alive and working his way up to the machine that's right over robocop he knows that he just needs to bide his time saying he surrenders trying to delay robocop's actions with his words until nash can save the day clarence runs in to finish the job pulling a sharp piece of steel out of the water and swinging it violently at a helpless robocop his armor is broken and clarence drives the steel spike straight into his heart it's a horrifying moment the scream he lets out shakes you to the bones it feels like it's all over but out pops the data spike from robocop's hand and he stabs clarence in the neck blood spews out in an over-the-top fashion and clarence falls to the ground robocop calls to lewis she's messed up but she's alive and we get another great exchange of memorable lines [Music] i'm a mess [Music] fix you they fix everything there's only one thing left to do take down dick jones robocop drives to ocp headquarters sees ed209 patrolling the area and blows him up with the cobra cannon he even cracks a little smile alex murphy really is back he barges into the meeting room and announces his intention to arrest dick jones but he can't because of his programming directive 4 will shut him down he uploads his memory file to the tv screens and shows jones confessing to murdering bob morton right before he sent ed 209 to kill him in the office fight jones takes the president hostage and demands to be lifted out of the building by helicopter robocop stands ready to act but he's still incapable of intervening then the company president in a brilliant move fires him dick you're fired thank you the villains have been slain and our hero has completed his journey all that's left is the send-off nice shooting son what's your name murphy [Music] and so ends the story of robocop a movie so awesome even the credits are fun to watch never before has bold white text on a black background felt so epic this movie in my opinion is about as close as you can get to perfect i think the only things that are objective flaws are how some of the effects have aged and maybe the whole cocaine thing is a bit dated but not many of the effects have issues just a few here and there there is no director's cut of this movie because it's already exactly as it should be there's an extended version which is the recommended way to see it but it only adds a little more violence to a couple scenes there's no additional scenes that need to be restored and i'm glad because they would interrupt the flow one of robocop's greatest strengths is how tight it feels it flies by and leaves you with a smile on your face the studio actually wanted to cut the scene where he visits his home and remembers his family they thought it would slow the movie down and that goes to my point that this movie is misunderstood falsely classified as just an action movie it's an action drama the most powerful moments are the ones where murphy is dealing with his emotional trauma the director insisted on keeping the house seen because he knew it was the single most important part of the movie removing it would have torn the heart out of the story despite all the awesome action and explosions and blood and humor and sci-fi stuff i don't like calling it simply an 80s action movie because that makes you think about predator and other movies that really are just focused on that and i love predator but it certainly doesn't have the emotional center that robocop has if you've never seen robocop and now you want to make sure you find it uncut don't stream it on youtube or something where a bunch of scenes are missing and dialogue is changed for tv i know it's on amazon prime or you can find a physical copy on ebay this movie deserves to be seen in proper form thank you to everyone who has watched this video all the way to the end i know it's a big one i wanted to do something special to celebrate a hundred thousand subs thank you to the viewers who have been supporting me all this time and all the new people joining the channel it's been a real pleasure to share my love and adoration for this film and i hope i've helped some of you see it in a few new ways [Music] robocop's just a [ __ ] badass dude

Channel: Under The Mayo

Views: 139,707

Keywords: robocop, analysis, review, breakdown, retrospective, drama, action, sci-fi, scifi, sci fi, science fiction, terminator, aliens, predator, 80s, 80's, movie, movies, flim, critique, story, script, director, paul verhoeven, alex murphy, peter weller, ed 209, ed209, dick jones, ocp, omni consumer products, not an action movie, total recall, watch, 1987, remake, comparison, differences, symbolism, metaphors, villains, clarence boddicker

Id: EZly34GPsv8

Length: 56min 52sec (3412 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 25 2022