When RoboCop first came out twenty years ago, most mainstream
critics slammed it as being just another dopey B-movie action film. But the film
has not only stood the test of time as being an escapist entertainment, it also
makes some very sly observations on corporate greed that’s just as relevant to
the Ipod generation today as when it first came out. Taking place in Detroit in
the near-future (which, after twenty years, would make the timeline to be right
about now) the police force has been essentially bought out by a vast
corporation known as Omni Consumer Products, or OCP, for short. OCP has a master
plan in the works for the greater Detroit metropolitan area: to construct a
high-priced, yuppie paradise known as Delta-City, right over where old Detroit
now stands.
However, crime has risen to an all-time high, and the police force are
hard-pressed to deal with it. Seeking a solution to the crime problem, OCP
vice-president Dick Jones (the always good Ronnie Cox) proposes pet project of
his: the ED-209, a monstrous, armored robot with large caliber machine gun
cannons mounted on its arms. Yet when a demonstration in the OCP conference room
goes awry--the ED-209 blows away a junior executive thanks to a little glitch in
its programming--the ED-209 program is cast into doubt. Enter Bob Morton (a
terrifically intense Miguel Ferrer), a hungry young executive with his own pet
project, which he pitches to the boss: the RoboCop program, in which a hapless
police officer is turned into an invincible cyborg.
Morton is given the go-ahead by OCP’s leader, the Old Man (the late Dan
O'Herlihy, in a great, oily performance), and when a suitable candidate is
found--police officer Alex Murphy (Peter Weller), who’s been badly shot up and
left for dead by the vicious Clarence Boddicker gang--Morton’s little project is
given the green light, and Detroit has a new hero, the invulnerable RoboCop. It
does sound like a comic book movie, and it is--to a point. Director Paul
Verhoeven wisely keeps the action moving at a fun pace, but not without making
some wry comments on the corporate culture at the time--which, in the late 1980s,
was not exactly known for its humanitarian feelings (and the same could be said
for certain companies these days, as well). 
RoboCop probably has the coolest, most intense collection of villains ever in a
film. Verhoeven populates OCP with the sort of board-room sharks who are not
above back-stabbing (literally!) their co-workers just to get ahead. Cox and
Ferrer are both gripping to watch as their battle for power escalates to ever
more violent heights. Kurtwood Smith does a great job with the cerebral,
ruthless Clarence Boddicker, the leader of a psychotic gang which includes such
good actors as Ray Wise and Paul McCrane in its deadly roster. On the other side
of the coin, Peter Weller manages to give a great performance both in and out of
the RoboCop suit (which was magnificently designed by effects guru Rob Bottin).
And Nancy Allen is extremely sympathetic as Murphy/RoboCop’s tough-as-nails
partner, Anne Lewis. 
The 20th anniversary DVD has both the original theatrical version, as well as
the extended version of the film. The extended version is just more gory, that’s
all. Verhoeven always had a lust for blood (as Kurtwood Smith even points out in
an interview in the set) and the extended version has longer versions of scenes
that show more red stuff. If this ain’t your thing, then just stick with the
original theatrical version. The two-disc set comes in a handsome package that’s
also complete with several new retrospective documentaries that are all very
well done (and often-times, such as the "Villains Of Old Detroit" feature,
they’re very funny, too). With loads of over the top action, and a smattering of
social commentary about the evils of corporate greed, the original RoboCop has
become a classic science fiction film in its own right.
--SF
