With its premise of a robotic police officer cleaning up the streets of a futuristic Detroit, Paul Verhoeven’s RoboCop sounds like the kind of mindless '80s action movie that would vanish into obscurity in DVD bargain bins. But it’s actually a lot smarter than people think, thanks to its sharp satirical themes.

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Verhoeven’s blood-soaked lampoon of corporate greed and privatized police has managed to stand the test of time whereas many of its peers failed. Not every RoboCop movie is great, but the original 1987 film still holds up to this day.

Peter Weller’s Endearing Lead Performance

Peter Weller without his helmet on in RoboCop

RoboCop might play like a shallow, ultraviolent B-movie if it wasn’t anchored by Peter Weller’s impeccable performance in the title role as a good-natured cop who’s killed in the line of duty and resurrected as a police-state cyborg.

Weller nails the duality of this complicated antihero. He initially plays Murphy as a likable everyman, then plays RoboCop as an emotionless killing machine, before bringing the two sides together in the spectacular finale.

Using A B-Movie Premise To Convey Social Commentary

Peter Weller as RoboCop holding a gun

The concept of a robotic cop becoming judge, jury, and executioner is a quintessential B-movie premise. If it was just an action movie, audiences would’ve been satisfied. But Paul Verhoeven went the extra mile and used that B-movie premise to convey sharp social commentary.

From Dawn of the Dead to Godzilla to Verhoeven’s own Starship Troopers, genre movies are often used to convey social satire. RoboCop is one of the greatest examples of a B-movie that’s smarter than people think.

The Explosive Action

RoboCop walks away from an explosion

When RoboCop catches a bad guy, he doesn’t just tackle them and handcuff them. Instead, he kills them in the most extravagant, theatrical ways possible, creating some of the most breathtaking action scenes ever put on film.

For example, after thwarting a gas station robbery, RoboCop takes out the perp by blowing up the entire gas station in a burst of flames that fills the entire wide-angle frame.

Paul Verhoeven’s Vision Of A Dystopian Detroit

RoboCop in an alley way in RoboCop

Along with Beverly Hills Cop, True Romance (and, of course, Kathryn Bigelow’s Detroit), RoboCop is one of the definitive Detroit movies. Paul Verhoeven depicts a near-future Detroit as a crime-ridden cesspool where nobody feels safe and the divide between the haves and the have-nots keeps getting wider.

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The portrayal of a dystopian Detroit in RoboCop is like a more cartoonish, comic book-y version of Ridley Scott’s portrait of futuristic Los Angeles in Blade Runner.

The Tongue-In-Cheek Humor

A sleazy Benny Hill-style comedian on TV in RoboCop

Like most of Paul Verhoeven’s movies, RoboCop has a great sense of humor. The delightfully offbeat, tongue-in-cheek humor brilliantly contrasts against the graphic violence.

Some of the movie’s action scenes play like blood-soaked slapstick, and Kurtwood Smith really hams it up in the role of sadistic crime lord Clarence Boddicker.

Nancy Allen’s Likable Turn As Anne Lewis

Alex Murphy and Anne Lewis in a car in RoboCop.

Nancy Allen gives an extremely likable supporting turn in RoboCop as Anne Lewis, a tough-as-nails cop and fiercely loyal friend to Murphy. Lewis gives the movie a heart and a moral compass after Murphy’s humanity is programmed out of him.

It’s also notable that, unlike most of the female characters in Hollywood blockbusters, Lewis isn’t sexualized. Instead, she’s defined by her good heart, professionalism, and friendship with Murphy.

The Fast Pacing

Robocop sitting in high tech chair in lab

The best action movies move at a rapid pace, jumping from action sequence to action sequence and racing through the plot points. In that spirit, RoboCop moves along at a breakneck pace.

Within the first couple of scenes, Murphy has been murdered by gangsters and turned into a cyborg, allowing Verhoeven to dive straight into the RoboCop action.

Rob Bottin’s Gruesome Makeup Effects

The toxic waste death in RoboCop

The exaggerated violence of RoboCop wouldn’t work as well without Rob Bottin’s gruesome makeup effects. Bottin’s special effects walk the fine line between visually stunning and stomach-churning.

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In particular, the makeup effects in Murphy’s murder stand out. The gang’s relentless gunfire blasts huge chunks out of Murphy’s body as he writhes around on the warehouse floor, making for a truly unforgettable death scene.

The Over-The-Top Violence

ED-209 with its weapons drawn in RoboCop 1987

The premise of RoboCop is a cautionary tale about giving the police too much power. The titular cyborg is an unstoppable killing machine who’s given free rein by the police department to brutally kill anybody he catches committing a crime.

If a criminal is committing a relatively bloodless crime like robbing an ATM, RoboCop has the authority to blow up a nearby gas tanker to kill them in a gigantic explosion. The fact that the violence is so over-the-top and not grounded in reality at all complements this theme nicely.

The Satirical Bite

Robocop firing a gun

All of the mind-blowing action in RoboCop is just gravy. The true substance of the movie is its satirical bite. Verhoeven uses the concept of a cybernetic police officer with absolute power to touch on a bunch of different topics: police corruption, corporate greed, the privatization of government — the list goes on.

More broadly, RoboCop feels like a response to the conservative policies of then-U.S. President Ronald Reagan. This satire of the Reagan administration still holds up on the heels of a presidency that recycled Reagan’s campaign slogan.

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