ROBOCOP

[Ryanjvs.godzilla]

Robocop is a classic in every sense of the word.  Everything about that film is never perfection, including Kurtwood Smith as Boddicker.  The film is one that I quote the most.

"b***hes Leave!"
"I'd Buy That For A Dollar!"

I also refer to any monsterous gas guzzling SUV I see on the highway as a 6000 SUX.  Hell, it's an American tradition!

Robocop 2 never worked as well as the original for me.  I hated the kid as the villian.  I did like the "new" ED-209 in it though.

The third is a guilty pleasure of mine.  It's extremely stupid, watered down in the violence/language department and has that annoying kid....but I just love something about it.  Maybe it is the Robocop VS. Ninja scenes.  I do wish that film hadn't killed Fred Dekker's career.

I can't stop laughing when robo cop starts flying. I mean it just looks so fake, which wouldnt suprise me in most movies, but this movie had a decent budget.

[Yaddo 42]

There was a short-lived Robocop animated series in the 80s that aired on Fox according to Wikipedia. I think it was recycled as part of a syndicated package of Marvel Comics hero cartoons including the Fantastic Four and maybe Iron Man or Ghost Rider. I don't remember it from Fox, but remember it on our notoriously idiotic local independent station I b***h about sometimes on here.

There was another animated Robocop spinoff in the late 90s. I know little about it and barely remember it.

[Mr_Vindictive]

Weren't there also DTV sequels to Robocop?  I know I've seen them around Walmart.

http://imdb.com/title/tt0220008/

There's one!

I think there was more than just one, actually like two or three.  I'm much too lazy to look them up at the moment though.

[Mr. DS]

Robocop is probably the first ultra-violent movie I've ever seen.  Murphy's death scene is still in my opinion one of the most gory and brutal ever filmed. 

Theres been a lot of talk on this topic about "I'd buy that for a dollar".  Pure classic of a line.  Its one of those things where I'm not sure why its funny but it just is.  That guy reminds me of Benny Hill.  Also the quote from him where he says to the two girls "Can I have you both".   

The commercials are great also in that movie.  Nukem and the "you choose the heart" commercial make me cry with laughter. 

[Neville]

When I first watched the first "RoboCop" I was too traumatised to think properly. Repeated viewings have showed that together with the first "Terminator" this may easily one of the best American sci-fi movies of the entire 80s. It has everything! The satiric aspects are nothing but visionary, the overblown violence still packs a punch (I always close my eyes when one of the bad guys meets the acid tank), and I just love the filmmaking and the dialogues. Just notice how absolutely nothing is gratuitous, from the camera movements or every single word. Amazing.

"RoboCop II" is a worthy sequel, but I'm afraid Irvin Kershner lacked the anarchic mindset of Paul Verhoeven. In his hands, some of the violence strucks me as too cartoonish or unnecesary, as if he was trying too hard to be nasty without exactly understanding why the film needs to be violent in the first place. But at least the story is good, Robo is given some nice extra character development, and the action is sattisfying.

"RoboCop III"... What can I say? Why did these people kill the franchise? Watching the film still makes me cringe. The story is not bad, the B-movie touches are charming, some satire actually works, like the OCP going bankrupt... but almost every scene cries for a more adult approach. Where has the violence gone? Why is RoboCop delivering Ahnuld-like one-liners? And what is that supposedly cute kid doing there?

I tried hard to watch and like the TV series (the real action one, not the animated), but it didn't work for me, as it seems to follow the way of "RoboCop III" in dumbing down and becoming children-friendly.

I'm told there's another short TV series, called "Prime directives", that tried too late to return to the roots of the franchise, but I still have to see it, and that's not happening anytime soon.

[BeyondTheGrave]

I think what happened to Robocop 3 is same thing happened to Ghostbusters 2, It became easliy marketable to kids therefore it had to be the movies had to be stripped down in sense. I remember having the toys for Robocop and Ghostbusters around when their sequels came out as well as their TV/cartoon series.

[Mr_Vindictive]

I think what happened to Robocop 3 is same thing happened to Ghostbusters 2, It became easliy marketable to kids therefore it had to be the movies had to be stripped down in sense. I remember having the toys for Robocop and Ghostbusters around when their sequels came out as well as their TV/cartoon series.

Same here.  I also had the Robocop 3 video game for the Super Nintendo.  Quite possibly the worst game I've ever played.

Talking about toys related to b-movies....I also had some Toxic Avenger toys from when that became a Saturday morning TV show.  Wish I still had those.

[Neville]

Same here.  I also had the Robocop 3 video game for the Super Nintendo.  Quite possibly the worst game I've ever played.

It wasn't that bad. Just too darn difficult. And it even fell short in that department, if you compare it to those Super star Wars titles.

[Andrew]

I think what happened to Robocop 3 is same thing happened to Ghostbusters 2, It became easliy marketable to kids therefore it had to be the movies had to be stripped down in sense. I remember having the toys for Robocop and Ghostbusters around when their sequels came out as well as their TV/cartoon series.

That is a really good point.  There have been a number of movies that I have watched and realized that, rather than PG-13, they should have aimed for a movie that would receive an R rating.  Sadly, part of the "common sense" of marketing movies is that you can maximize profits by getting a PG-13 and widening your audience.

[Mr_Vindictive]

Same here.  I also had the Robocop 3 video game for the Super Nintendo.  Quite possibly the worst game I've ever played.

It wasn't that bad. Just too darn difficult. And it even fell short in that department, if you compare it to those Super star Wars titles.

Ha!  Hadn't thought about those Star Wars games in ages.  I had all three, with Return being my favorite.  They weren't too hard once you played through them a few dozen times.  :)

[Neville]

I didn't have a Super Famicon at the time, but I still play those games through emulators. I can't agree on the Star Wars games difficulty level, though. They have too many "sudden death" spots, specially "Super Empire Strikes Back". Darn yetis! I can't imagine playing them without savestates.

Back on topic, I heard of direct to video RoboCop films (4-6 I think), but I've always though they were just chapters from the TV series. Am I right?

And anyone here has seen the "Prime Directives" mini? I may give it a try after all.

[trekgeezer]

Weren't there also DTV sequels to Robocop?  I know I've seen them around Walmart.

http://imdb.com/title/tt0220008/

There's one!

I think there was more than just one, actually like two or three.  I'm much too lazy to look them up at the moment though.

Back in 2000 there was a mini series (3 two hour movies) called Robocop: Prime Directives which starred Page Fletcher(HBO's The Hitchhiker) as Murphy/Robocop. In the second part Murphy's old partner John Cable (Maurice Dean Winti) s turned into RoboCable. They used the same suits that Peter Weller wore, they had scale one down for Fletcher and the other up for Wint. The RoboCable model was painted a dark charcoal color and had a gun inside each hip.

It is very clear they were made on the cheap (especially when they took off the helmets). Neither actor could navigate in the suits very well and in fact looked to stumbling around most of the time.

[dean]

Talking about toys related to b-movies....I also had some Toxic Avenger toys from when that became a Saturday morning TV show.  Wish I still had those.

I remember those, and always wanted a set, but had to settle for my friends one.

Recently I saw a Toxic Avenger figurine in stores, but it didn't have the same charm.  It was a new release figure in a series of Classic film monsters which included Darkman among them.  This one didn't have the oozing features that the older ones had [I think at least!]

[Ryanjvs.godzilla]

Same here.  I also had the Robocop 3 video game for the Super Nintendo.  Quite possibly the worst game I've ever played.

It wasn't that bad. Just too darn difficult. And it even fell short in that department, if you compare it to those Super star Wars titles.

Ha!  Hadn't thought about those Star Wars games in ages.  I had all three, with Return being my favorite.  They weren't too hard once you played through them a few dozen times.  :)

They were always pretty hard for me. Return of the jedi is the best out of the bunch. The stars games today are so easy compared to those.

[Dennis]

I would rate them in the order they were made, each one is fun to watch, love the commercials and the news anchors. My favorite line is "Drop your weapons or there will be.....trouble" Never knew there was a TV series, is it worth purchasing on DVD and is it even available?