RoboCop (1987)

Growing up in the 90s I remeber a lot of kids talking about 'RoboCop' in the schoolyard. Some had seen the tv-series, and a few had even seen the movies. For me 'RoboCop' became something surrounded with mystique, and I was always curious to learn what it was all about. Several years later I finally got to see the movie and it totally blew me away.

It starts of in a not so distant future Detroit where crime has overtaken the city. We meet Alex Murphy, a police officer who has just been transfered to the worst part of town. On his first day he and his new partner, Lewis, go after a gang of robbers, lead by the crime boss, Boddicker. They chase the robbers down to an abandoned factory building and split up to find them. Lewis is knocked out by one of the robbers, while Murphy is captured, tortured and shot to pieces. In the hospital he's declared dead, and his body is then given to an organization wich is trying to develop a cyborg that will be more efficient in dealing with crime than any human cop ever could be. Thus Murphy becomes RoboCop, the most badass machine since 'The Terminator'. Problems arise when his brain, which they tried to erase for memories, starts to remember things from the past.

'RoboCop' is one of those amazing action movies that could only be made during the 80s. It's violent, mind blowing and just totally awesome. The look of RoboCop is so iconic and the sound effects when he moves are a pure joy. I love that they used stop motion for the ED-209 robot. It's really a lost art within special effects. 'RoboCop' does however have a lot of other things to it as well. It's a great social satire, and comments on media and society in a funny and clever way. In adition to being action packed and funny, it also has its fair share of tragedy. It's really heartbreaking when RoboCop starts to remeber things from his previous life and don't know how to process the memories. The whole take on existential questions like 'what makes us human?' are both interesting and intelligent.

The movie has a very strong cast of actors. As a die hard Twin Peaks fan I'm delighted to see people like Dan O'Herlihy, Miguel Ferrer and Ray Wise in this, but other actors such as Ronny Cox and Kurtwood Smith must not be forgotten either. Peter Weller does a great job both as Alex Murphy and RoboCop. He manages to give us a clear image of who Murphy is in a very short amount of time. We get attached to his character and actually care when he dies even though we've just met him. This makes it even more awesome when he becomes RoboCop. It must have been hell to act in that big robot suit, but Weller does a great job bringing life to it. Kurtwood Smith is a magnificent bad guy. He's so over the top and evil. My favourite in this movie is Miguel Ferrer as the sleazy, ambitious businessman behind the RoboCop project. He's just an amazing actor and I was deeply sorry to hear about his  death earlier this year.

If you haven't seen 'RoboCop' I envy you, cause you're really in for a treat. It got so many layers and mixes different genres like sci-fi and cop movies in a playful and elegant way.