Favorite Science Fiction Film: RoboCop

So the next film I’ll explain why I like is RoboCop.

Here is the Full List, here is Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, which was the last one. And I love this film, it’s wonderfully satirical.

So I have seen the remake, or a good chunk of it, I am not so sure now. I think that says something about the remake. It’s not bad, but it’s sort just ‘meh’. It’s a film, I didn’t hate it, but even without the original to compare it to I don’t think I would rank it high. It’s just sort of forgettable.

Which is not something that can be said about the original. Like even the music is phenomenal. Which thinking about it, I think I missed in my Terminator review, so I might mention it here, that soundtrack was fantastic as well. Which I should also mention Undiscovered Country as well, I might have a thing for really good orchestral music. Maybe I should share my thoughts on them, though at a latter date. Though I believe movies, especially blockbuster, should have orchestra music. I just realized I wrote about Star Wars without talking about the music there are well…

I digress.

Robocop is so much fun to watch, I actually quote it as well, ‘I’d buy that for a dollar‘. Which is a commentary on our capitalistic nature, mainly of the United States during the 80’s and 90’s. Even the quote unquote villain of the piece is a greedy corporate employee of a big business. So cocaine and floozies, and privatizing the police. Everything in this film is a satirical look at our culture. Even the violence of Detroit. And it’s just fun.

The remake tried to do that, but it sort of falls flat. It tried to make a commentary on the post 9/11 culture, a little to late, but I don’t think it knows what it wants to say. I mean both films discuss the dehumanization of the main character.

The original just sort of did it better, and like a good science fiction commentary, it held nothing back. Following Murphy as he dies, is resurrected, regaining his memories, and striving to uphold the law. He is the most human of the movie, and yet, he is almost an emotionless robot. Even with his memories returning, he is still more robot than man. I probably should have warned about spoilers, but this will be the biggest. Murphy’s last or near last line in the film, that is the most human, after he’s been turned into Robocop is when responding to the CEO of the company. And that’s just saying his name is Murphy. It’s a very touching and hopeful line, because despite what has been done to him, and how much he has lost, he is still human. Basically no matter how much we are treated like a piece of property, inside, we are still human.

I would totally recommend this film. It’s fantastic, and it’s a fun ride. Laughing at our culture, or what our culture used to be, is pretty cathartic. And I do stress this, but this film doesn’t pull punches, and that is another reason I would recommend it. Life is not nice, and it’s not fair, and media should reflect that. Not all the time, but I think science fiction should. It’s the mirror we need to hold up to our society.