Robocop

It is the near-future, which finds Detroit on the brink of collapse. In financial ruin, the city grants the mega-corporation Omni Consumer Products (OCP) control of operating local law enforcement. Patrolman Murphy becomes the 32nd officer to be killed in the line of duty since this takeover, but this tragedy is the opportunity that OCP have been waiting for. From a laboratory emerges a part-man, part-machine with a body of reinforced titanium, it has no memory and a programmed mind. This is ROBOCOP – the future of law enforcement.

Paul Verhoeven’s filmmaking career began in Europe and lasted over 20 years there. During this time he made TURKISH DELIGHT, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and is still the most successful film in the history of Dutch cinema over fifty years later, and the acclaimed WWII epic SOLDIER OF ORANGE. But with the frustration of working within the confines of the Dutch film industry and wanting to work with bigger budgets, he decided to move to the United States. Verhoeven chose ROBOCOP for his American debut and the result is a bold and audacious sci-fi action movie with a strong satirical edge.

There have been sequels, remakes, a television series and even an animated show for children(!), but none of them have captured the power of the original. It ranks as one of the most notable science fiction pictures of the eighties.