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With Detroit putting up a statue of Robocop, I feel like I'm missing out on something. Is it awesome? It is really worth watching?
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nondeplumage: With Detroit putting up a statue of Robocop, I feel like I'm missing out on something. Is it awesome? It is really worth watching?
Well... I thought it was pretty awesome when I saw it in the theater many years ago. I'm older now. It's still okay. It's a satire. It is a cultural touchstone. It's worth seeing.
It's definitely a movie you need to have seen. You can safely skip the sequels though.
Hmm, I think it's pretty good satire, even if it's bit corny and cheesy.

Is it awesome? For me, it's just decent fun flick. Is it worth watching? Nah, not really.

It's just typical 80s fun action movie.
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nondeplumage: With Detroit putting up a statue of Robocop, I feel like I'm missing out on something. Is it awesome? It is really worth watching?
LoL thats funny.

For my part I'd say you haven't missed much. I watched them back in the day, but wasn't taken much by them. The first one is better than the others I think. They were entertaining enough, but they sure aren't worth todays theater prices.

It's funny. Is Detroit government saying that they aren't corrupted like the corp corrupted gov in the movie? That corporate corruption was antihero to Robocop. What are they trying to say by putting up this Robocop statue? Whats the prupose and motivation?

I still think it's cool though. If I ever pass that way I will take a look.
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MGShogun: Hmm, I think it's pretty good satire, even if it's bit corny and cheesy.

Is it awesome? For me, it's just decent fun flick. Is it worth watching? Nah, not really.

It's just typical 80s fun action movie.
Okay... I'm gonna respond to THAT. :-)

Yes. It is corny and cheesy. You are right. You are also right that it is a pretty good satire. But if you believe it is a pretty good satire, then how can you also say it is just a typical 80s fun action movie?

The vast majority of 80s big and medium budget action cinema is not particularly satiric in any way. Most of it is jingoistic, misogynistic, neo-conservative chest pounding... and I'm talking about the good examples :-)

Robocop takes all that and twists it around into a very cynical, rather biting criticism of American corporate culture, class warfare, mass consumerism, and manages to make a few subtle points about our culture's subconscious conflict between our public patriotic support of law enforcement and how we actually treat the institution of the police.

Is it awesome? Try to imagine seeing it in 1987 on the screen. This was Paul Verhoeven's first American film, which for me and my friends was actually a pretty exciting thing (because I was in film school, wearing a beret, and smoking clove cigarettes, and pretentiously listening to bands that I only assumed you'd never hear of) (man... I'm really glad I grew out of that art snob phase). He had made Soldier Of Orange (1977) and The Fourth Man (1983), so to my movie nerd friends and I, he was a big deal.

But even if you weren't a film geek, this movie (in terms of production value) is many, many steps above exploitative Troma Studio films (Surf Nazis Must Die, The Toxic Avenger) and only a couple steps under Die Hard (arguably the Cadillac of 80's action movies).

Robocop has been topped several times in its class over the years, but if you were between 15 and 30 in 1987, this movie rocked the house (actually, the art house, because it never got the big studio supported release it deserved). If you are into the genre and enjoy looking at films historically, this really is a must see film.

And finally, is it worth watching? Well, I realize I'm arguing with you over some pretty subjective points here, but I'm gonna say this:

If you consider yourself a lover of movies, then every film is worth watching. I'm not suggesting you need to watch every movie... I mean, who has that sort of time?.. But if you wanna kill two hours, you might wanna take a chance on something not currently new, not supported by a big marketing campaign, and not inside your normal comfort zone.

Now, if someone offers you a choice of Citizen Kane or Stewardess School... well, take Kane... But don't turn down a chance to see The Taking of Pelham 123 (the original 1973 version), Bonnie and Clyde, Vanishing Point, The Osterman Weekend, Marathon Man, A Room With A View, Double Indemnity, A Face In The Crowd, and a whole bunch of other movies I could list but shouldn't because of time and space. Like Straw Dogs, The Apostle, anything by Hitchcock, anything by Scorsese, anything by Billy Wilder, and... Okay, I'll stop.

Sorry to ramble... but I just think you get some value out of any movie (even movies you think suck after you see them). I mean, you might not want to devour the entire Pauly Shore filmography, but Encino Man won't really kill you.

Yea... Robocop is worth seeing.

And Wishbone is right... You can skip the sequels :-)
^^ What he said.

(Except substitute "art school" for "film school")
Post edited May 13, 2011 by cogadh
its by no means just the typical 80s action movie, you can watch it that way no problem and have lots of fun, but its slightly more, it has interesting themes going on

the second movie is alos good, not as good as the first in terms of underlying themes, but still god as the typical action movie of its time

as far as i have seen other stuff of it ... just dont waste your time
Robocop is the only reason I use the M93R in Bad Company 2 as my primary weapon.
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HoneyBakedHam: Yea... Robocop is worth seeing.

And Wishbone is right... You can skip the sequels :-)
I'll buy that for a dollar!
It's worth seeing just to school yourself if nothing else.
Dead or alive, you are watching that movie !
It's pretty good for its time, I watched it again a couple of weeks ago after, like, 10 years (I had forgotten even Robocop's existence as a character), and it's still worth it.

I consider Murphy's murder scene one of the most brutal things I've ever seen in a movie. It still fucks me up - and I've seen all kinds of shit on movies.
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HoneyBakedHam: If you consider yourself a lover of movies, then every film is worth watching.
Clearly, you've never been forced to sit through Harmony Korine's "Trash Humpers."
I love Robocop make sure you watch it before Hollywood ruin it with the remake.