RoboCop (1987) is nothing like I thought it would be.

That was my experience, too, and I was similarly surprised when I finally watched it. Also, when I visited my cousins I'd play with some some of their old Rambo action figures and watch old Rambo cartoons. Imagine my surprise when I discovered the second and third Rambo movies weren't children-friendly at all and the first one was a dramatic anti-war movie.

Definitely not. It's a very smart and satirical movie. Especially by 80s standards. Like for example, the evil corporation that has to be stopped before they take over? Here, it's already happened. It's just about stopping their worst excesses, but at the end of the film, they're still in charge and they're not going anywhere.

The same writer and director would re-team ten years later to make the also highly satirical *Starship Troopers.* I wish we had more of the likes of Verhoeven and Neumeier working today.

Every time I go in underestimating Verhoeven, every time I’ve been completely wrong

Yeah I had the exact same experience when I finally watched it a few years back. All those pop culture references made it seem like just another Schwarzenegger-type shoot-em-up, but Verhoeven was actually making this wild corporate dystopia commentary that feels more relevant now than ever The whole OCP buying Detroit thing hits way different in 2024 when you see how tech companies basically run entire cities. Plus the media satire with those insane TV commercials - dude was predicting our current hellscape decades early

My dad doesn't understand that this movie is a satire and that's deeply concerning

There's a reason *RoboCop* became "part of the culture" and that reason is the movie f****** rules.

My Dad showed me all this stuff at a very young age so Robocop, Terminator, Predator, Aliens, ect were just kinda always there for me. I see posts like this and realize I took it for granted. Robocop really stands tall though as being more than what anyone would think. Conceptually it's a completely ridiculous idea, some may argue even a dumb one, and yet here's a movie with sharp wit, biting satire, and an emotional core it almost doesn't deserve to have with a title like Robocop. With that said it's funny watching these movies and looking back on the weird stuff they spawned. All of the above franchises were marketed at kids in the 90s. I had toys for lots of R rated properties. Robocop had an animated series and a live action one, both more aimed at kids. I mean Rambo, Starship Troopers, Toxic Avenger also had kids shows. Which if you think about it is something you'd see in Robocop. A hyper violent movie being marketed at children.

The 2014 Robocop remake is how you thought the original was going to be. It looked pretty but it had no heart. Or brains for that matter.

the scenes in the movie are also symmetrical  https://dejareviewer.com/2014/04/29/cinematic-chiasmus-robocop-is-almost-perfectly-symmetrical-film/

Classic Paul Verhoeven satirical cultural commentary. People also missed the point with Starship Troopers a decade later. I had a similar experience recently watching Rambo First Blood for the first time. I had never seen any Rambo movies, but they permeated culture as this macho shoot ‘em up style of movie. First Blood was not that. It’s much more introspective, almost philosophical movie and commentary on the vets coming home from Vietnam and their place in society. I couldn’t believe how different it was from my expectations.

I'll buy that for a dollar!

> It is so deeply satirical. And deep in general, playing on themes that would become crazy popular in the coming decades like what it means to be human and role of corporations in public society. Verhoeven has an anti fascist trilogy (RoboCop, Total Recall, and Starship Troopers). They are all awesome.

Verhoeven was great at mixing popcorn movie appeal with broad satirical strokes of American culture. As an outsider, he had a unique perspective that not many film makers had. Most film makers get too heavy-handed with the satire when they do it. In most of his movies, he's able to just do it around the edges, where it's the backdrop and not the main character.

And they made him go to work even after he died!

Bitches leave

This was me with Predator, I was under the impression it was just a lot of standard 80’s action men against an unbeatable monster but it turned out a lot more clever than that. The crew is highly capable and the Predator actually has to play clever/stealthy. I owe Arnie an apology in general I think, as my image of him was always that of the sort of stereotypical brute but very few of his roles actually put him as brawn before brain.

Dutch man understood American culture deeply. Robocop is a five star masterpiece.

The \[fan remake\](https://vimeo.com/86014703) is wild. This is VERY nsfw.

I think the detraction came from people who had never seen it. It's a really good movie. I love Verhoeven.

Your move, creep. A Robocop game came out not too long ago. I grabbed it on sale and played it for a couple days. A feature of the game is being about to shoot bad guys in the privates. 😂

If anyone in this thread has not seen it, check out the RoboCop episode of "The Movies That Made Us" on Netflix. Honestly, I love that whole series. It's basically a dive into the behind-the-scenes of how movies got made, with interviews with the cast and crew about making the movie. I remember the RoboCop one being super entertaining.

RoboCop 1 is an absolute masterpiece. RoboCop 2 is -almost- as good. Don’t bother with 3.

It's crazy how well it holds up. I rewatched it a few years ago just to relive my memories as kid when I used to love it and I was shocked at how good it was.

Check out Robodoc if you get a chance. It’s a docuseries about the making of Robocop. It’s fun and interesting!

Humanity has a long history of taking satire at face value, ironically making themselves subject to very same satire they're ignoring or misinterpreting. Recent examples... Helldivers 2 Fight Club Robocop Starship Troopers (film)

Verhoeven has admitted there are elements of Jesus allegory. He's crucified in the death scene, returned to life, has spikes in his hands, and walks on water at one point.

Watch Starship Troopers next…relevant now more than ever.