Classics of American Cinema

This entry is the first in an on going series celebrating the great films of American cinema. With each entry I will highlight a film I consider to be of both exceptional quality and a testament to the art of film making. This first film honored, Robocop.

Released in 1987 and directed by Paul Verhoven (Starship Troopers, Total Recall), Robocop is a modern rebirth of 1940s film noir. With its dark scenery, urban setting, no frills production values, and robots with multi-barreled cannons, it is a fitting homage to the genre. But Robocop doesn't stop there. It deftly interweaves several archetypal themes from both literature and film. Among these are the moral dilemmas associated with the control poverty and crime, the heartless Machiavellian villian who manipulates the lives of the innocent to facilitate his own power grab, and the noble, selfless hero who, when horribly maimed by criminals, is turned into a semi-conscious cyborg in order to fight crime.

With a really awesome gun that fits inside his leg, Robocop proceeds to lay waste to the criminals of Detroit with total disregard to constitutional rights or due process. He eventually kills all of the antagonists of the film. Problem solved. One can only assume that Detroit went on to become a veritable utopia.

Of course, Robocop didn't stop there. It went on to spawn two sequels, toys (despite the film's R rating), and an awesome video game (make sure you use the Cobra gun on ED-209 at the end of the first level).

On a more personal note, I saw this movie when I was a little kid and it scared the crap out of me.