One i've logged multiple times, but apparently never written about. Im going to keep it simple. Robocop is my favourite Paul Verhoeven film, and very likely in my personal top 10 science fiction movies ever made.
Tonight, I watched the 'Directors cut' which is slightly longer than the 'Theatrical Cut', I personally marginally prefer the 'Directors Cut' because the only thing better than 'Robocop' is 'Longer Robocop'.
Seriously. I dont really have much more to add than that. The script is wonderfully acidic and scathing of corporate America and on late stage capitalism (a theme that only becomes more and more fruitful with every passing year). The characters are superb, the pacing is superb, the tone is a perfect blend of graphic violence, pitch black humour, bleak narratives whimsy. The dialogue is expertly crafted and more or less quotable from tail to snout.
The directions glorious with some fantastic visions being painted by Verhoeven, excellent casting direction and a clear and striking vision that makes all other attempts at similar stories pail in comparison.
The cine has a sense of grandness to it, theres some fantastic stop motion work along side some incredible practical effects (and some less than incredible effects that are now particularly entertaining to watch!) sequences are lovingly crafted and combined with the script create a wonderful potential for subtext or multiple interpretations of the plotting and narrative (something to keep film scholars talking over their pints for many a bawdy evening)
The performances are near perfect. Peter Weller is limited on how his performance can be played and ABSOLUTELY nails the brief. Kurtwood Smith as lead henchman Clarence is probably one of my favourite acted performances of all time. And a supporting cast consisting of Ray Wise, Miguel Ferrer (Who's turn here is another one of my all time favourite acted performances on film), Ronnie Cox and more…they're all incredible, dont miss a beat, give THE best line reads i've ever seen and are just…SO perfectly suited for this movie…I mean, they even have Dan O'Herlihy for crying out loud!
Add to this an astonishing orchestral meets electronic score that is almost as iconic as the film itself is, and you have just…a master piece of work on your hands. I love Robocop very dearly, I can absolutely wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone with even a passing interest, frankly, the question I have for *YOU* is, when did *YOU* last watch 'Robocop'? if the answer is anything other than 'At least once in the past month', you should probably go and fix that.
TYTD Reviews 