Is it possible to compare a film that aims to educate viewers, to make them think about something in a new way, or to somehow change they way they perceive the world with a film whose goal is to do nothing more than blow things up real good? Can these two very different types of films exist on the same continuum? The answer to both those questions is "almost certainly," but that doesn't really get at the main question which probably ought to ask not if they can be compared but if they should be compared. There the waters get slightly more murky, and the question becomes one that you can see written about in many a Ph.D. dissertation. In this review, I will proceed from the assumption that the two types of films exist in different worlds and be ignoring the socially uplifting films entirely.
The issue is not that the RoboCop trilogy doesn't attempt to impart moral lessons, they are in fact all very moralistic. The issue is much more that while they provide a funhouse mirror look at our society, the goal is less to have us question the world in which we live and the path down which we are heading than it is to hear a lot of four letter worlds, toss in the occasional scantily (or not) clad woman, and see people get shot. Unfortunately for the films, while the first succeeds very well at its goals, the second and third entries are found increasingly more wanting.
Imagine it – it is Detroit in the near future and the financial problems that have plagued the city have only gotten worse, leading to the point when an evil corporation, OCP, led by their CEO, The Old Man (Daniel O'Herlihy), has entered into a contract with the city to run the police force. As all evil corporations do, OCP is looking to increase efficiencies, cut costs, and maybe snag a military contract or two. To that end, a VP, Dick Jones (Ronny Cox), has created ED-209, a robot with substantial weaponry that has military- and police-based applications. It doesn't work, and an up-and-coming executive, Bob Morton (Miguel Ferrer), puts forth a different plan – to create a cyborg who can do the same thing. Morton calls his idea the RoboCop program and all they need to put it into play is a nearly dead police officer.
Enter fresh-faced Alex Murphy (Peter Weller), who, on his first day in a new precinct, manages to run afoul of Old Detroit crime lord Clarence Boddicker (Kurtwood Smith). Sure Boddicker and his band of goons blow off Murphy's hand, then arm, and shoot him in the head, but Murphy lives anyway and OCP turns him into their RoboCop.
Article comments
1 - The Other Chad
Nice review. Can't really imagine wanting to own the 2nd and 3rd movies... I wonder if this version of the first movie is a visual upgrade from the previous stand-alone blu-ray - that one looked pretty bad. From your review, sounds like they didn't improve it much if at all (sadly).