RoboCop (2013)

[Venkman]

For reference, the original Robocop nearly received an "X" rating for the violence it did have.  What we all saw was the toned-down version.  I remember this vividly because I owned an Fx Magazine that talked about it, showing the animatronic of Weller that was deleted in the final cut. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RoboCop#Rating

What I did NOT remember, was they had to go back and forth 12 times before receiving an "R." Also , the commercials we all love as amusing send-ups and some of the most memorable catch phrases were added to de-grim the movie.

One of the things I love about the internet is specifically how it retcons what I thought had actually happened at the time. This is awesome, I had no idea.

As to this new movie, eh, I skipped Total Recall because even the previews looked like the pandering shit it sounds like it became. However, the only thing that bothered me about this new Robocop trailer is Samuel Jackson. Michael Keaton seemed to work, it looks like the crammed both Robocop 1 and 2 concepts into the one movie, the concept of giving him the impression of free will without him having any is both interesting as a sci fi trope and echos some of the scores of directives that were added by the activist lady in 2, and the whole thing had slightly dirty futuristic vibe to it. Not as far as the recent Dredd (which I quite enjoyed), and certainly not as far as the first Robocop, but not as clean as Trek either.

I doubt they'll bother with the campiness, and that's ok by me. The first Robocop was perfectly timed for a generation of neophytes becoming cynical about the world thye were inheriting from the Watergate/Berlin-Wall era of adults. Doing that again would thud hard though, almost two generations of cynics later, and through a bunch of evolutionary steps on the path of fusion between man and machine.

I'm ok with the idea of the story being recast as more of an ideological issue than a straight campy action send up. Especially since the last campy action send up I can immediately recall was Starship Troopers, which I hated (and yea which has already been discussed at length here... ).

[Ratman_tf]

Every movie is Transformers now. Thanks Michael Bay!

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgZFcP7N6ZM

*squeak* *squeak*

[Ceryse]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgZFcP7N6ZM

*squeak* *squeak*

Everytime I see and hear another video from her it drives me crazy. Her face and voice strongly remind of someone from somewhere and I haven't got a damn clue why. Drives me bloody insane.

[Venkman]

Someone who has 17min more minutes than I do*: did she say anything that hasn't already been said?

* By which I mean someone who wasn't doing something as important as me looking at the Funny Pictures Thread for 17 minutes or whatever

[Samwise]

Clearly if it was linked, at least one person thought it was worth watching.   

I mean, at its core it's "goddamn it why remake this" which has obviously been said, but I thought she did a great job of laying out a lot of what made the original movie awesome in the course of explaining why the remake is unnecessary.

[Ratman_tf]

You can just watch the first 10 seconds. 

[lamaros]

We've done this before, but Starship Troopers is pretty much a perfect movie. You might not like it, but it great for what it is.

[Margalis]

I don't know if this looks bad as much as it looks like nothing at all so why bother?

I always wonder with these types of movies if the people making them love the original but think that modern audiences won't so they feel forced to "update" it or if they hate the original and making an awful remake that misses the point is their way of showing it.

So many of these remakes or movies based on existing properties show so little reverence for those properties, they don't feel like they could come from people who appreciate the original. I mean, they have a scene in this movie where they purposely shit on the original (where they introduce his old costume then decide to change it) - something pretty common in movies like this.

[Malakili]

Watched the 17 minute video.  It was actually pretty good.  I'm not as passionate as she is about the original Robocop, but she makes her point well.

[Samwise]

I always wonder with these types of movies if the people making them love the original but think that modern audiences won't so they feel forced to "update" it or if they hate the original and making an awful remake that misses the point is their way of showing it.

For a second I thought I'd wandered into the Star Trek thread by accident.   

[Riggswolfe]

Someone who has 17min more minutes than I do*: did she say anything that hasn't already been said?

* By which I mean someone who wasn't doing something as important as me looking at the Funny Pictures Thread for 17 minutes or whatever

ComicBookGirl19 is ALWAYS worth watching. Period. Her breakdown of the Games of Thrones houses is pure awesome for example.

[Merusk]

I don't know if this looks bad as much as it looks like nothing at all so why bother?

I always wonder with these types of movies if the people making them love the original but think that modern audiences won't so they feel forced to "update" it or if they hate the original and making an awful remake that misses the point is their way of showing it.

So many of these remakes or movies based on existing properties show so little reverence for those properties, they don't feel like they could come from people who appreciate the original. I mean, they have a scene in this movie where they purposely shit on the original (where they introduce his old costume then decide to change it) - something pretty common in movies like this.

Sam's snark aside, no, the people pushing the project have no reverence or passion for these. Budgets are too big for new ideas, we need "Proven" ideas that made money before. They'll make money again, just give it to some director/ writer who has a passing knowledge of the genre and shove it out the door.

Which is why you get directors who know nothing of the property handling big-budget remakes (Abrams) while new ideas languish.  This is why Rob Zombie remade Halloween instead of doing another new horror property.  Welcome to Hollywood of the 21st century.

[Margalis]

For a second I thought I'd wandered into the Star Trek thread by accident.   

From what I remember JJ Abrams doesn't really like Star Trek and the director of this movie doesn't really like Robocop.

[Samwise]

[Margalis]

My comment was more aimed at the second half, that like Abrams IIRC this guy has no love for the source material.

[rk47]

watched it, im fine with it.
they did badly in a few parts.

About Robocop being agile and not robot?
Yeah....

All in all...it's ok for action movie but the plot and direction has bad parts...
Was it even necessary for ALex Murphy to try and have sex b4 getting blown up by a trapped car?
Yeah, his wife is hot, she took off her top - black bra and all, whereby all the kids went OWAOOOOOOOOOOO in the cinema.
then....car alarm sounded, alex said i'll check it...tries to turn off fail..
door of car opens..he walks there boom.
Dead alex. After 30 mins in.  Wow. :sochibear: