The RoboCop Thread

[Gotham Knight]

oh god..how can I hate this movie now....

[BatmAngelus]

It's been pointed out on other sites, but I thought I'd share the irony that Michael Keaton is in Robocop and Peter Weller is in The Dark Knight Returns.....

[Bobthegoon89]

Robocop was never given the treatment after the original movie he deserved in my opinion. Couldv'e been a great ongoing series. I liked Robocop 2 personally but I always thought it was a bad move bringing in Frank Miller. He added too much comic booky things from villains to situations. Remember the 12 year old drug boss Hog? lol Just too over the top in my opinion. You can get away with that in comics Frank...

The original Robocop was more sci-fi than comic book. I think the villains in that are the best I've seen in ANY movie. Funny and frightening guys. Trouble is gangs like that are all too real in the world today. I doubt the remake will have as great characters. I didn't know Michael Keaton had been cast in the remake! Is he playing a new version of Clarence Bodiker?

I've always wanted Robocop to return to the screen but I think it's a huge HUGE risk remaking a "sci-fi tour de force" classic. That 1987 movie is scarily more relavant today than it ever was in the 80's. I can see the appeal therefore of wanting to make this generations version but why bother if it's already been so well told and holds up? And I worry would they get away with the violence and stuff these days? Everything seems toned down these days. Just look at Total Recall's remake (also a Paul Verhoeven movie). I remember people's eyeballs bulging from their sockets on the surface of Mars. Why can't we have that gross stuff today? lol

[The Dark Knight]

It's been pointed out on other sites, but I thought I'd share the irony that Michael Keaton is in Robocop and Peter Weller is in The Dark Knight Returns.....

Bizarro world.

[Silver Nemesis]

Is he playing a new version of Clarence Bodiker?

It's hard to tell at this point. But it sounds like he'll be playing a new variation of the Dick Jones (Ronny Cox) character.

That 1987 movie is scarily more relavant today than it ever was in the 80's. I can see the appeal therefore of wanting to make this generations version but why bother if it's already been so well told and holds up? And I worry would they get away with the violence and stuff these days? Everything seems toned down these days. Just look at Total Recall's remake (also a Paul Verhoeven movie). I remember people's eyeballs bulging from their sockets on the surface of Mars. Why can't we have that gross stuff today? Lol

My thoughts exactly. The original was lightning in a bottle. I don't see how it can be topped. And while I despise remakes in general, I especially hate ones where they tone down the material to sell it to kids. So I'm praying this won't turn out to be another PG-13 CGI fest like the recent Total Recall remake (which was also completely unnecessary). I'd much rather they made Robocop Returns, a proper R-rated sequel to the first two films featuring Peter Weller in the title role. But we're never going to get that now, anymore than we're going to get Burton's third Batman flick.

As you say, the one promising aspect of this remake is its potential to spawn worthy sequels that the original series lacked. And now Keaton's onboard I'm feeling very conflicted about not seeing it. I've deliberately avoided watching any remakes in recent years. But it would be cool to see Keaton in another big budget superhero film after all these years.

Maybe if it's rated R, with a decent writer/director team at the helm, and a genuinely fresh take on the concept, and it gets good reviews... maybe then I'll go and see it. But a big budget more or less guarantees a PG-13 rating these days. Not to mention a boatload of unconvincing CGI set pieces that look like cut-scenes from a PS3 game.

For now, here's the movie's OmniCorp viral site.
http://www.omnicorp.com/

[ElCuervoMuerto]

On the one hand the cast is stellar (the idea of Keaton as the villain makes me giddy), and while I haven't seen his past films José Padilha is supposed to be a good director. On the other hand Drew McWeeny's script review wasn't exactly positive. So for now I'm in wait and see mode and hoping for the best. I hope we see an image of Robocop himself soon...

http://collider.com/robocop-remake-script-review/188614/

[Silver Nemesis]

First look at the new Robocop suit. I wouldn't buy that for a dollar.  I'd sooner invest in a 6000 SUX.

The original suit was a classic. Take the Maschinenmensch from Metropolis...

...mix it up with the Marvel character Rom...

...then add a sprinkling of Judge Dredd from the 2000 AD comics...

...and you get one of the most iconic costumes in cinema history.

The new suit looks dreadful by comparison. I've just re-watched the first two Robocop films, and I'm more convinced than ever that they don't need a remake/reboot/reimagining/rehash. I hope they at least keep Basil Poledouris' theme from the original film.

[Batman88]

It sucks, plain and simple. RoboCop is supposed to be and look like a tank, not Iron Man mixed with Nolan's Batman.

[The Joker]

Bleh.

Swing and a miss.

Near impossible to top the look of the original. 

Looks like it was made from an leftover Exo-Suit from G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA... 

[Paul (ral)]

I don't see why they didn't build on the original suit...part practical, part CGI but retaining the essence of the original design.

This looks poor. I'm sure it will be better on screen, but it just seems like a missed opportunity.