Peter Weller on Robocop and Verhoeven

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Ha! I literally was just watching this talk yesterday. He did his PhD in Italian Renaissance art. The part I was watching was about the film industry in Italy.
 
One of the interesting things in the analysis of Robocop that is often brought up is whether Robocop actually is Murphy. There's nothing organic in him save the skin on his face (placed over a metallic skull), tongue and parts of his brain. So there's sort of an interpretation where Robocop is a new being coming to terms with the ghost of Murphy.

The later films don't really go with this, but it's interesting for the first film. If you like this stuff I'd recommend "The Palgrave Handbook of Posthumanism in Film and Television".

Like most academic books it's pricey as hell but the chapter titles are here and most of the authors have PDFs of the essays online:

The Palgrave Handbook of Posthumanism in Film and Television | SpringerLink

What does popular culture's relationship with cyborgs, robots, vampires and zombies tell us about being human? Insightful scholarly perspectives shine a light on how film and television evince and por
link.springer.com link.springer.com
 
I love Robocop, especially because of its Western sensibilities. Even the score sounds like it came from a cowboy movie (with some metallic embellishments to reflect the whole "robotic" theme).

I especially love the very last scene (fake dummy with weirdly long arms falling out of the window) as well as the almost too abrupt final cut to the title and credits.

...countdown to someone posting a .gif of the toxic waste melting man scene...
 
Séadna said:
One of the interesting things in the analysis of Robocop that is often brought up is whether Robocop actually is Murphy. There's nothing organic in him save the skin on his face (placed over a metallic skull), tongue and parts of his brain. So there's sort of an interpretation where Robocop is a new being coming to terms with the ghost of Murphy.

The later films don't really go with this, but it's interesting for the first film. If you like this stuff I'd recommend "The Palgrave Handbook of Posthumanism in Film and Television".

Like most academic books it's pricey as hell but the chapter titles are here and most of the authors have PDFs of the essays online:

The Palgrave Handbook of Posthumanism in Film and Television | SpringerLink

What does popular culture's relationship with cyborgs, robots, vampires and zombies tell us about being human? Insightful scholarly perspectives shine a light on how film and television evince and por
link.springer.com link.springer.com
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No love for José Padilha’s remake, I reckon?

Veey different take on these themes, but I enjoyed it for what it is. (Still prefer the original for several reasons.)
 
Wow, that is pretty cool.

Robocop was my introduction to the Cyberpunk genre and watching it was one of the fondest memories I have of my mother. We were very poor and out of the blue she took me to see it when I was 12 without my siblings; it blew both of us away, neither of us had ever seen anything like it before. On the late night drive home in her old VW she got pulled over for speeding because she was distracted by our excited post-movie discussion.
 
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The Butcher said:
No love for José Padilha’s remake, I reckon?

Veey different take on these themes, but I enjoyed it for what it is. (Still prefer the original for several reasons.)
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I've actually never gotten around to seeing it. Keep meaning to.
 
The Butcher said:
No love for José Padilha’s remake, I reckon?

Veey different take on these themes, but I enjoyed it for what it is. (Still prefer the original for several reasons.)
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I just noticed this; I didn't know there was a remake and I will have to check it out.
 
Necrozius said:
I love Robocop, especially because of its Western sensibilities. Even the score sounds like it came from a cowboy movie (with some metallic embellishments to reflect the whole "robotic" theme).

I especially love the very last scene (fake dummy with weirdly long arms falling out of the window) as well as the almost too abrupt final cut to the title and credits.

...countdown to someone posting a .gif of the toxic waste melting man scene...
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The score was written by Basil Poleidorous, who was best known for his work on westerns - and the Conan the Barbarian films. Verhoeven chose him specifically because he wanted that sort of feel.
 
Nobby-W said:
The score was written by Basil Poleidorous, who was best known for his work on westerns - and the Conan the Barbarian films. Verhoeven chose him specifically because he wanted that sort of feel.
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Conan the Barbarian does have one of the greatest soundtracks ever put to celluloid. It carries the whole film. That and Ahnuld's performance.

I know, mock as you may. But the fact that he could barely speak English at the time really helped, because he couldn't make his dumb one liners. And his physicality was at its peak for that movie.

Unfortunately, it meant he came to define Conan, who could have done with being maybe more eloquent and a bit leaner. But it's still a great movie with an epic soundtrack.
 
Anybody play these:



Theme music on the second one is serious nostalgia for me.

Crazy thing looking back on Amiga and Commodore games I played "for ages" years ago is that they're usually only 15-35 minutes long.
 
Stevethulhu said:
Conan the Barbarian does have one of the greatest soundtracks ever put to celluloid. It carries the whole film. That and Ahnuld's performance.

I know, mock as you may. But the fact that he could barely speak English at the time really helped, because he couldn't make his dumb one liners. And his physicality was at its peak for that movie.

Unfortunately, it meant he came to define Conan, who could have done with being maybe more eloquent and a bit leaner. But it's still a great movie with an epic soundtrack.
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The first one was really good. It was quite atmospheric (which the sound track contributed significantly to). I'm sure the original intention was to make a B movie, but it came out as something rather a lot better. The cast all pretty much nailed the major roles - James Earl Jones made a great villain, Mako made the wizard work, Arnie was Arnie and just worked in the role and so forth.

Fun fact: Sandahl Bergman also played the head baddie in Red Sonja.
 
Robocop is yet another of those RPG nerd favorites I've never seen, like the Terminator and Die Hard movies and Avatar. It doesn't look like it could possibly be good. Is it really better than it looks?
 
Dumarest said:
Robocop is yet another of those RPG nerd favorites I've never seen, like the Terminator and Die Hard movies and Avatar. It doesn't look like it could possibly be good. Is it really better than it looks?
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Yes but. It's a satire of the 80s way of life. And a Judge Dredd ripoff.
 
Dumarest said:
Robocop is yet another of those RPG nerd favorites I've never seen, like the Terminator and Die Hard movies and Avatar. It doesn't look like it could possibly be good. Is it really better than it looks?
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It has an interesting corporate style future and some good cheesy action scenes. Story doesn't really meander either, fairly focused. Depends on what you want in a SciFi movie.
 
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Dumarest said:
Robocop is yet another of those RPG nerd favorites I've never seen, like the Terminator and Die Hard movies and Avatar. It doesn't look like it could possibly be good. Is it really better than it looks?
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Yes, it is. It presents as a cheesy action flick but it's really quite satirical. Paul Verhoeven's lurid over-the-top style makes the film, which would have otherwise just been another cheesy action flick. The look-and-feel is very 1980s but it's aged pretty well for all that. If you're old enough to remember Leeza Gibbons, she plays a news presenter as an almost self-parody.

The first Die Hard movie is actually pretty good. The sequels are rubbish, as are the Robocop sequels.

Some folks love the Terminator. I think it's OK but wouldn't rave about it, although Linda Hamilton with big hair is a sight to behold. IMO the second Terminator film was the best in the series, but Commando is early-cheesy Arnie at his best and is made by not taking itself seriously at all. The best line in the film is Rae Dawn Chong saying "These guys eat too much red meat!"



Avatar was pretty mediocre. Beautiful cinematography and fabulous visual effects spoiled by a trite script. Cameron should have been able to do better in that regard. It's annoying and disappointing for much the same reason that Prometheus was disappointing.
 
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Dumarest said:
Robocop is yet another of those RPG nerd favorites I've never seen, like the Terminator and Die Hard movies and Avatar. It doesn't look like it could possibly be good. Is it really better than it looks?
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Of those three I'd say Terminator is the best by far but I like Robocop. I much prefer the minimalism of the first Terminator to its very sentimental sequel and its rubbish dialogue (although yes, the actions scenes are excellent). Die Hard's not my thing but I'm not usually a fan of most 80s US action films unless they slip into the ridiculous.
 
Voros said:
Of those three I'd say Terminator is the best by far but I like Robocop. I much prefer the minimalism of the first Terminator to its very sentimental sequel and its rubbish dialogue (although yes, the actions scenes are excellent). Die Hard's not my thing but I'm not usually a fan of most 80s US action films unless they slip into the ridiculous.
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The first Die Hard is more of a thriller than it is an action flick. And is the best christmas movie this side of Gremlins.
 
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Voros said:
Of those three I'd say Terminator is the best by far but I like Robocop. I much prefer the minimalism of the first Terminator to its very sentimental sequel and its rubbish dialogue (although yes, the actions scenes are excellent). Die Hard's not my thing but I'm not usually a fan of most 80s US action films unless they slip into the ridiculous.
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Yeah, the Terminator is much more like a slasher movie monster, and the rules he operates by are very simple. The later movies add complexity to their terminators, but it feels a bit more like a kid adding powers to make their monster cooler, without having nailed down the core of their monster.

T2 is still a good movie, but it's not the same genre as the first.
 
Ladybird said:
Yeah, the Terminator is much more like a slasher movie monster, and the rules he operates by are very simple. The later movies add complexity to their terminators, but it feels a bit more like a kid adding powers to make their monster cooler, without having nailed down the core of their monster.

T2 is still a good movie, but it's not the same genre as the first.
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T1 is basically a remake/update of Westworld.
 
The Butcher said:
No love for José Padilha’s remake, I reckon?

Veey different take on these themes, but I enjoyed it for what it is. (Still prefer the original for several reasons.)
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Just finished it today (watched it in two halves). Yeah I'd agree with what you said. It did have one excellent scene where he was dismantled. That was chilling, you could really feel being in the situation and the rising horror.
The cpu chip in the brain replacing a large chunk of the right lobe and the free floating lungs! He acts it well I thought
 
Séadna said:
Just finished it today (watched it in two halves). Yeah I'd agree with what you said. It did have one excellent scene where he was dismantled. That was chilling, you could really feel being in the situation and the rising horror.
The cpu chip in the brain replacing a large chunk of the right lobe and the free floating lungs! He acts it well I thought
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In some ways a decent or good remake is more frustrating than a poor one because I always think of the good new film we could have gotten from that director and crew instead of a film that is 'okay, but no shine on the original.'
 
Séadna said:
Just finished it today (watched it in two halves). Yeah I'd agree with what you said. It did have one excellent scene where he was dismantled. That was chilling, you could really feel being in the situation and the rising horror.
The cpu chip in the brain replacing a large chunk of the right lobe and the free floating lungs! He acts it well I thought
Click to expand...

Yes! I really like how they handled the medical part. They approach some issues I've been thinking of ever since I GMed Rifts.
 
Toadmaster said:
Best Christmas watching

Die Hard
Lethal Weapon
Gremlins
Scrooged
Charlie Brown Christmas

:grin:
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Love Gremlins (and Charlie Brown of course) but my favourite Xmas films include:

Little Shop Around the Corner
It Happened on Fifth Avenue
Christmas in Connecticut
Remember the Night
The Man Who Came to Dinner

And the Canuxploitation horror classic Black Christmas!



Doesn't hurt that Christmas in Connecticut and Remember the Night both star the ever foxy Barabra Stanwyck.

 
Also, for the thing of "is Robocop good" I think it's best to watch the uncensored version. Hilariously, the censored version made it seem even more serious. There are several scenes of intentionally over the top violence that is supposed to play up the satire of it all, but with it censored you don't see the almost slapstick levels of gore, which takes away from the intended feel I think.
 
EmperorNorton said:
Also, for the thing of "is Robocop good" I think it's best to watch the uncensored version. Hilariously, the censored version made it seem even more serious. There are several scenes of intentionally over the top violence that is supposed to play up the satire of it all, but with it censored you don't see the almost slapstick levels of gore, which takes away from the intended feel I think.
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"And I want a REAL American car! One that goes really fast, and gets really shitty gas mileage!"
 
Necrozius said:
I love Robocop, especially because of its Western sensibilities. Even the score sounds like it came from a cowboy movie (with some metallic embellishments to reflect the whole "robotic" theme).

I especially love the very last scene (fake dummy with weirdly long arms falling out of the window) as well as the almost too abrupt final cut to the title and credits.

...countdown to someone posting a .gif of the toxic waste melting man scene...
Click to expand...
It was written by Basil Poleidorus, who was best known for scoring westerns, and it was a deliberate choice to get a dramatic sound track. Fun fact: Poleidorus also did the score for Conan the Barbarian.
 
Necrozius said:
I especially love the very last scene (fake dummy with weirdly long arms falling out of the window) as well as the almost too abrupt final cut to the title and credits.
Click to expand...

I actually like how movies used to just end when they were finished. Long denouement isn't often necessary, nor lots of exposition.

Also, I'm glad Verhoeven is making stuff again.
 
Dyrnwyn said:
I actually like how movies used to just end when they were finished. Long denouement isn't often necessary, nor lots of exposition.
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Very true, but the abrupt cut while Robocop is walking away (not even out of frame) and SMASH to the title card of the movie. I don't know why, but I find it hilarious.
 
Necrozius said:
Very true, but the abrupt cut while Robocop is walking away (not even out of frame) and SMASH to the title card of the movie. I don't know why, but I find it hilarious.
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I think it is safe to say it is supposed to be hilarious. I missed most of the humour as a kid, somehow, mainly because I recall being disturbed by the murder of Weller's character at the beginning.
 
Voros said:
I think it is safe to say it is supposed to be hilarious. I missed most of the humour as a kid, somehow, mainly because I recall being disturbed by the murder of Weller's character at the beginning.
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OH yes. That was extremely disturbing. On the schoolyard, the movie had a reputation as a horror movie as much as it was action-oriented.
 
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