Robocop [DVD] [2014]

It's a good try at a classic!! but you gotta stick with the classics Robocop the original was the best.

Joel Kinnaman has become one of my favorite actors. He brings it every time. Nice to see this movie with the updated tech and special effects. Can't beat the price at Best Buy. I love owning my favorite movies and not just streaming them.

I came into this movie expecting to completely hate it because of my love for the original 1987 Robocop movie. Fortunately it's not a shot for shot remake and tries to make its own mark with an original story and take on the character. Granted I still dont think this remake holds a candle to the original but its a really good social commentary and an entertaining film. The main sticking point for me was the bump down from a hard R rating the original had to the safe PG-13 rating this new one contains. I'm not saying extreme violence is needed for a good story but for a story of a crime fighting robot in a place as dangerous as Detroit you're going to depict it in a way that's not safe for children in my opinion. The cast was also phenomenal with heavyweights like Michael Keaton, Samuel Jackson, and Gary Oldman bringing gravitas to the proceedings and really giving the movie legitimacy. I wasn't a big fan of Joel Kinnaman's portrayal of Alex Murphy. When he becomes Robocop he does just fine but pre-Robocop Alex Murphy is depicted as a very hard edge street talking cop, a far cry from the All American hero cop version of Alex Murphy from the original. I feel the original iteration of Alex Murphy worked better because it allowed for more sympathy for the character after he is brutally murdered and turned into Robocop. One thing I really liked was Abbie Cornish playing Alex's wife Clara in a much more important and fleshed out role than the original. It helped especially since I found the Alex character so lacking. The original Robocop had very dated special effects for things like the ED-209 and such but the visceral violence was very grotesque and gritty. It's a surprise with the advancements in computer generated special effects since then that I didn't find this remake's effects more convincing than the original. There's this quality to them that makes them obviously CGI and its very distracting and pulls me out. It reminds me how the effects in 'I Am Legend' made me feel. It's worth a definite check out but whether or not its worthy of a purchase or rent is dependent on how much of a sci-fi fan you are and whether you can get past the fact this is a very different Robocop from the original.

I came into this with the gloves laced up, ready to annihilate this remake of a movie that I have loved dearly since I was a child. I came out respecting the effort put into this and actually hoping for a second installment in the future. This is by no means a great film. It lacks the biting, satire and audacity the original brought to the table. It does bring some new ideas to the table that were never really fleshed out in the original films. The first one being how did all of this effect his wife and son? We are given much more material devoted on the impact that this transformation has on his family and the implications of that. Second, the filmmakers weigh in on the ethics of bringing a human back to life as a machine. While these two topics are barely dabbled upon in Paul Verhoven's classic, this gives them quite a bit of time to be fleshed out. The PG-13 rating is a factor here and it draws attention to the fact that many things are toned down to make this a more lucrative, "vanilla" action film. I was heavily disappointed when I found out that Murphy's iconic gun is basically a stun gun in this film. Also, the city doesn't feel run down or overrun with crime. There are a few mentions about crime rates, but we are never allowed to see how the city has devolved into a distopian, gritty, violent place like it was in the original. I really enjoyed the performances, especially from Gary Oldman and Michael Keaton. Their presence adds a lot to the film and I'm glad they are given meaty, important roles. While Joel Kinnaman does fine as Robocop, I feel like any capable actor could have been placed in his shoes and the difference would be minimal. My hat goes off to Jose Padilha and crew for paying respect to the past, while trying to bring a new slant to the classic story. They injected very relevant themes about the media and corporations, much like in the 1987 film, and they brought them into the new millennium. While this leans a bit more on the "been there, done that" side of things, this is a solid action film that dives a bit deeper into ideas that made this character and this universe so memorable and ingrained them into pop culture history.

When this movie was announced, I knew it stood as much of a chance of recapturing the feel of the original as every PREDATOR or TERMINATOR movie stood to recapture the magic of those franchises. Watching the film confirmed my beliefs, but I must admit that I found myself thinking this was still entertaining and worthwhile. Detroit and its problems have been replaced by the dual problems of rampant crime and the inability of government to agree on the obvious and get things done. Gone too is an almost comically sanitary Alex Murphy. He's still a good guy, but his toughness and Detroit street sensibilities come through here; each makes the cop he becomes more believable later in the film. I enjoyed the absolute certainty of conservative bloviater, Pat Novak (played by Samuel L. Jackson) about "robo" cops stopping crime in Detroit, even though the theme of uncertainty about combining a human mind with a cybernetic body played out in numerous ways throughout the film. This added a 21st century problem that speaks to some of our concerns about our reliance on technology. I'd be lying if I said this film was as good as the original, but I'd also be less than truthful if I didn't say it's worth a watch.

I loved the Peter Weller version so much that this redo didn't appeal to me for a while. Then I decided to give it a look and was I ever so shocked to love it, too. The director and writers found a way to take the original concept and work it into a very credible movie that stands on its own. The new look - the more detailed reveal of what a RoboCop's biological and mechanical fusion might be - was thoughtful and touching. I wasn't familiar with the lead actor but he certainly worked his role emotionally. I liked that RoboCop didn't have to weather this alone, or become a total mech without human contact. Made me think of how humans could live intimately with a construct such as he. It was an exciting movie that didn't make me hark too much on the first one. It looked suitably techno-urban and kept the villains within credible meanness and not easily vulnerable. Great job, worth the effort of doing a good movie over again and doing it justice.

Good remake. Not as good as the original but serves it's purpose. Quality movie though!

When you try to remake a movie you in for a bumpy road. When it comes to a cult classic like RoboCop it makes it even harder. So many people like the original and don't want to see it ruined by a remake mess like some movies have. I however, don't think this one was a mess. It was an enjoyable movie and has some cool features to it. The action was pretty cool and has some great scenes in it. The plot was a little thicker than I remember the original being (it has been a while since I saw the original). I thought they modernized the story very well and made it more relatable to this generation. I like the design change that they did in the first part of the movie, but brought it home with the climax of the story. I thought they had some great actors in this movie and they all did a good job. It was a fun action movie with some heartfelt moments for the characters. I really enjoyed this RoboCop reboot and would like to see them continue it one into other movies.