ROBOCOP (1987) - Episode 88

The Rewind Movie Podcast

YOUR MOVE, CREEP. We plant our heavy, metallic feet on the blood-soaked tarmac of Old Detroit for a look back at the seminal, gruesome sci-fi action classic ROBOCOP.

A fresh transfer to the Metro West Precinct of the crime-riddled one-time manufacturing mecca, Officer Alex Murphy (Peter Weller) falls prey to a vicious gang of criminals led by the sarcastic, ruthless Clarence Boddicker (Kurtwood Smith), who riddles Murphy with bullets and leaves him functionally dead. His body becomes the property of Omni Consumer Products, a monopolistic megacorporation that owns and operates the Police, and is revived on the orders of a sleazy executive (Miguel Ferrer) as a gleaming, fully-programmed cyborg super cop, whose task is to clean up the streets ahead of the imminent construction of OCP’s gleaming new Delta City development. Murphy’s former partner Lewis (Nancy Allen) has to come to the rescue when corporate machinations and organised crime align, and the resurrected Murphy becomes a target of violence from all sides.

With hearty thanks to our listener Jamie Russell for suggesting this episode, we discuss the story’s origins, starting with first-time writer and ascendant young executive Ed Neumeier’s collaboration with radical collaborator Michael Miner; the crucial contribution of Euro cinema madman Paul Verhoeven; and the legacy of the film’s mixture acidic social satire and squib-laden, visceral bloodletting. Join Gali, Devlin and Matt on patrol – you have ten seconds to comply.

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