The Clip That Keeps On Giving + A Brief Treatise on 1980s Future-Vision: Robocop (1987)

The amazing clip above is from Robocop. What other movie will give you so many grotesque effects in such a short period of time...plus a car flip?

Discussion and more clips after the jump.



Robocop is a fine film. Robocop is a violent film. It stars Peter Weller as a dead cop who is brought back to life to clean up the shit that has become Detroit, to make way for New Detroit (Delta City). This movie is directed by Paul Verhoeven, who has an interesting filmography


Actually it's not really interesting, but he directed Total Recall, another great movie that, like Robocop, is incredibly violent and shows a vision of the future that only existed in the 1980s. He also directed 1997's Starship Troopers, a movie that sort of exists in this same sort of future-vision of the 1980s. I think Hollywoould could make a lot of money by allowing Verhoeven to direct more movies that take place in the future. Verhoeven's future vision usually includes things like low definition televisions all over the place and people dying in violent ways in public.

About the violence: Robocop is a very violent, nasty film. Hopefully the clip posted at the entrance to this post illustrated that. If that didn't do it for you, see the movie and watch Peter Weller (Pre-Robocop) get his arm blown off at point blank range with a shotgun while his assailants laugh and crack jokes. Or, just watch the tremendously entertaining and violent clip at the entrance to the post.

Another good reason to watch this movie is if you like 1980s special effects, including stop motion animation. There's an excellent scene where the ED-209 falls down a set of stairs. It was probably created using stop motion animation. I present it to you below, without sound (I am doing this partially to infuriate you).



The following video does not really explain anything, but I think it is very much in the Spirit Of Robocop. Also, the audio is muted. Just put on some of your own music or something. Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 works, for some reason.




The movie had two sequels. I haven't researched Robocop 2, but the trailer for Robocop 3 is terrible. Really, it is the worst thing I've seen this month. According to the IMDB, Robocop grossed over $53 million during the 4 months it aired in US theaters.