RoboCop
Dir: Paul Verhoeven
1987
*****
I first saw Paul Verhoeven's RoboCop a couple of years after its cinema release. I was only 11 years old and it was the first 18 certificate (or X as I think it was known then) that I ever saw. On reflection, this moment was pretty important in my life as it was a pivotal moment in my movie loving life. I watched it with friends during a sleepover and we were all scared of being caught by my friend's mother. I was also scared of looking like a big baby in front of my friends if I indeed got caught out acting scared (due to being scared of the content). I was also scared of the content. Watching a man's hand being shot off or seeing a man melt in toxic goo is not really the sort of thing a 11 year old should be watching but then again if rules weren't broken the likes of RoboCop wouldn't exist anyway. At 11 all I saw was action, gore, guns, things I didn't understand and my curiosity in alternative film was born. Later in life I rediscovered so much more, indeed the actual point of the film. Children and narrow-minded adults often disregard RoboCop as nothing more then a violent action film. It is in fact one of the greatest works of satire of the 20th Century. An action packed violent satire but a satire all the same. The idea of corporations owning the rights to Police departments and social protection was a dystopian future nightmare in 1987 but one that has become a reality. Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner's Orwellian style vision of the future was miles ahead of its time (although it should be noted that RoboCop is in fact Judge Dredd:The Movie that didn't happen - so credit to 2000AD too). Police, Government and the Media governed by greedy corporations has pretty much all come true and the exaggeration that is RoboCop doesn't at all seem as far fetched and fun as it once did. To do all this and still insert humour into it is a mark of genius. Add the great characters, the great lines, the memorable scenes and the awesome soundtrack and you've got a modern masterpiece. I would indeed, buy that for a Dollar.