Movie · 1987 · Action, Thriller, Science Fiction · 1h 42m · R · English
Curator score: 7.6/10 (696.7K ratings)
Part man, part machine, all cop.
Overview
In a violent, near-apocalyptic Detroit, evil corporation Omni Consumer Products wins a contract from the city government to privatize the police force. To test their crime-eradicating cyborgs, the company leads street cop Alex Murphy into an armed confrontation with crime lord Boddicker so they can use his body to support their untested RoboCop prototype. But when RoboCop learns of the company's nefarious plans, he turns on his masters.
Ratings
Curator score: 7.6/10
IMDb: 7.6/10
Letterboxd: 3.91/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 85%
Metacritic: 70
TMDB: 7.4/10
Director
Paul Verhoeven
Production
Orion Pictures, Jon Davison Productions
Cast
Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O'Herlihy, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith, Miguel Ferrer, Robert DoQui, Ray Wise, Felton Perry, Paul McCrane, Jesse D. Goins, Del Zamora, Calvin Jung, Rick Lieberman, Lee de Broux, Mark Carlton, Edward Edwards, Michael Gregory, Freddie Hice, Neil Summers
Curator Review
Verdict
A savage, brilliantly satirical sci-fi action film that still feels sharp, funny, and disturbingly current. Its mix of ultraviolence, corporate cynicism, and deadpan humor makes it both a genre blast and a political gut punch.
Best for
fans of satirical action and sci-fi
viewers who like darkly funny violence
people interested in corporate dystopia and police-state themes
audiences who appreciate practical effects and 1980s genre filmmaking
Skip if
you want a straightforward heroic action movie
graphic violence and body horror bother you
you dislike cynical, abrasive satire
you prefer subtle or realistic sci-fi
Overview
RoboCop is one of the great American genre films: a brutal action movie that also functions as a razor-edged joke about privatization, policing, and corporate power. It takes a high-concept premise and keeps finding new ways to make it nastier, funnier, and more relevant. The satire is not decoration; it is the engine of the movie.
Worth noting
What makes it endure is the balance. The violence is outrageous, but the film is never just empty shock. It has a strong sense of character, a mournful core, and a visual style that makes Detroit feel like a collapsing civic nightmare. The commercials and corporate chatter are as memorable as the gunfights.
Bottom line
It also benefits from being made with real tactile effects and a straight-faced commitment to the absurd. That combination gives the movie a nasty charm modern imitators often miss. It is funny, bleak, and weirdly moving all at once.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Matt Singer (4.5★) · 5066 likes
The bad guy’s name is Dick Jones. The super killer robot is defeated by a flight of stairs. A man falls in a vat of toxic waste and is instantly turned into a mutant fish creature thing and THEN he’s hit by a car and is instantly liquefied like he’s a human water balloon.
God, I love Paul Verhoeven.
Karsten (4★) · 4390 likes
leland palmer jumpscare
Will Menaker (5★) · 3872 likes
Out of all the amazing, perfect things in this, by far the coolest is that the leader of the hardest gang in Detroit is a balding, middle-aged white guy with glasses who looks like a high school principal, and it totally works. Clarence Boddicker 4 Life. The GOAT movie villain.
Make sure if you can to get the extended "Director's Cut" which only features an extra gloriously gratuitous 10-15 seconds of that OCP executive getting absolutely shredded by gunfire. Trust me, it's worth it.
James (Schaffrillas) (4★) · 3100 likes
I like when the robot fell down the stairs
demi adejuyigbe (4.5★) · 2760 likes
"When people jerk me off, I kill them!"
Masterpiece. Looks great, score rules, satire is absolutely on point all the way down. That employee's excitement as their boss is about to be shot through the window. "Lee Iacocca Elementary School" as a throwaway detail. I'd buy that for $3.99 with a 30-day window to start watching with a 48-hour period before expiring upon pressing play!