RoboCop (2013)

[MuffinMan]

Not much to really go on except for a teaser poster and suit shot so I'll just post the synopsis.

In a crime-ridden city, a fatally wounded cop returns to the force as a powerful cyborg with submerged memories haunting him.

It's got some big(ish) names in it although I've never heard of Joel Kinnaman who is playing Murphy.

Spoilered peektures...

[Ironwood]

"Lose the arm".

Fucking Lame.

[HaemishM]

Yeah, not sure I like the new "I swear I'm not Batman" suit.

[luckton]

Is this another relaunch or are they going to be different and continue with the franchise as is?

[TheWalrus]

I'm tired of getting old enough that the movies I thought were badass when I was a kid, keep getting remade into shows that don't even measure up to the poorly aged originals. Someone tell them to fuck off in terms they can understand.

[Ironwood]

Well, sure, but the flip side of that coin is that some remakes are better.  I like the Thundercats do-over.

[Bunk]

Its odd, but from that screencap, the original did a better job of making the suit not look like a suit. That really does just look like a guy in a Batman costume.

[shiznitz]

I have only one thing to say to a Robocop remake:

"Bitches, leave!"

[01101010]

Only way I see this is if they bring Kurtwood Smith back. 

[Abagadro]

It's freaking PG-13.  Remaking a movie that had a first cut that got an X rating. 

[Chimpy]

It's freaking PG-13.  Remaking a movie that had a first cut that got an X rating. 

I was going to say "I bet they go for a PG-13 this time around".

[Lakov_Sanite]

pg-13 is an immediate pass.  The franchise is already way too dumb and cheesy, the violence sex and lewdness was really the only draw in the 80's.  Without an R rating we are left with an uncharismatic iron man.

[Riggswolfe]

Its odd, but from that screencap, the original did a better job of making the suit not look like a suit. That really does just look like a guy in a Batman costume.

Yeah. That's my biggest problem with that suit. It doesn't look like a robot. If anything they should have the actor in a green jumpsuit and cgi a really robotic torso on him. Amazon has the original trilogy on blu ray for $15.99. I think I'll just grab that and call it a day.  (though I hear the transfer isn't all that great.)

[murdoc]

Goddammit, quit remaking Verhoeven movies and taking out the reason they are awesome.

[Merusk]

I bet they're remaking Starship Troopers next with no boobs, brain suckers or NPH next.

[angry.bob]

I bet they're remaking Starship Troopers next with no boobs, brain suckers or NPH next.

Was that extremely sublime snarkiness? Because the actual book didn't have any of those either if I remember right.

[Merusk]

I bet they're remaking Starship Troopers next with no boobs, brain suckers or NPH next.

Was that extremely sublime snarkiness? Because the actual book didn't have any of those either if I remember right.

No, it's an understanding that what made the Veerhoven flick fun was almost entirely divorced from the book itself.

[Kitsune]

The book also didn't have anything the least bit interesting.  The two are likely not related.  

John Steakley's Armor is a considerably better book about people in robot suits fighting bugs.

[Phildo]

See, that just looks like Mass Effect armor to me.

[angry.bob]

The book also didn't have anything the least bit interesting.  The two are likely not related.  

John Steakley's Armor is a considerably better book about people in robot suits fighting bugs.

I'd imagine it was, since Starship Troopers was a book about a boy growing into a man while in military service during a war. The robot suits and bugs were nothing but props. It's considered a classic for a reason while Armor is considered about equal to an Honor Harrington novel. It does suprise me you didn't like it, you being a man who was in the military during a war and all.

[Ingmar]

See, that just looks like Mass Effect armor to me.

Yeah that's what I see as well.

[Evildrider]

Yeah. That's my biggest problem with that suit. It doesn't look like a robot. If anything they should have the actor in a green jumpsuit and cgi a really robotic torso on him. Amazon has the original trilogy on blu ray for $15.99. I think I'll just grab that and call it a day.  (though I hear the transfer isn't all that great.)

 I have the Criterion version of Robocop, which has the uncut X-rated version.  I didn't really like the sequels enough to even think of buying them.


Also that suit is ass.  I wish they would have at least taken the original and used it as a base.

[SurfD]

Not really sure I get the complaints about the suit.  I mean, sure, it does not bow down and worship the design from the first movie, but other then catering to the nostalgia of people who actually remember the original, why exactly should it?

Technology and our understanding of it has come a long way.  Just because the Suit does not scream "ZOMG 80's image of futuristic Cyborg", and rather says "ZOMG More modern take on Future Cyborg (Hey kids, it has 400 points of articulation!)", is not really a valid reason for bashing on it for not being "robotish" enough.

I mean, next you will be complaining that people put robots in their modern robot movies that look like modern robots, instead of The Robot from Lost in Space.

[Minvaren]

It's a reboot, the outfit doesn't have to look anything like the original.  That said,

Yeah, not sure I like the new "I swear I'm not Batman" suit.

...that's my problem with the suit.

[Ironwood]

In fairness, if they made it tech/metal heavy, we'd just complain he looked like Iron Man.

But this is still a fucking stupid idea.

[Draegan]

I read somewhere that there is a ton of cgi that goes on it with colors and shit that changes.

[Merusk]

Not really sure I get the complaints about the suit.  I mean, sure, it does not bow down and worship the design from the first movie, but other then catering to the nostalgia of people who actually remember the original, why exactly should it?

Technology and our understanding of it has come a long way.  Just because the Suit does not scream "ZOMG 80's image of futuristic Cyborg", and rather says "ZOMG More modern take on Future Cyborg (Hey kids, it has 400 points of articulation!)", is not really a valid reason for bashing on it for not being "robotish" enough.

I mean, next you will be complaining that people put robots in their modern robot movies that look like modern robots, instead of The Robot from Lost in Space.

Each point of articulation is a possible point of failure, therefore bad design.  Particularly for Robocop who is a product of a hostile environment and will be taking considerable abuse.  Large armored panels that are removed in shop for maintenance make more sense and would be 'sleeker' looking.

 Robots *should* be simpler or different-looking than humans because their mechanics don't work like biotics.  The shoulder/ bicep articulation alone is silly in that picture, particularly when compared to actual robotic arms.
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2008/05/dean-kamens-rob/

Now, if Robocop is going to be doing Parkour and agilely leaping about the articulation makes sense.  After all, the body would need to flex at the chest, upper abdomen, waist and torso to do tuck & rolls.  Or, if more of Murphy survives than the original, ok. They have to make concessions that would be driven by a more mechanical solution for the biology that's there. 

If not it's designer wankery that isn't following the rule of 'cool' or 'reality trumps' but rather the rule of ripoff.

[Ironwood]

But Cain was a 'mech in Robocop 2.

 

[MuffinMan]

Ha, Robocop 2, good one. I bet next you're going to say there was a third one or something.

[Khaldun]

BEHAVE yourselves!

[UnSub]

But Cain was a 'mech in Robocop 2.

 

And there were ninja cyborgs as well. From Japan.

[Trippy]

Not really sure I get the complaints about the suit.  I mean, sure, it does not bow down and worship the design from the first movie, but other then catering to the nostalgia of people who actually remember the original, why exactly should it?

Technology and our understanding of it has come a long way.  Just because the Suit does not scream "ZOMG 80's image of futuristic Cyborg", and rather says "ZOMG More modern take on Future Cyborg (Hey kids, it has 400 points of articulation!)", is not really a valid reason for bashing on it for not being "robotish" enough.

I mean, next you will be complaining that people put robots in their modern robot movies that look like modern robots, instead of The Robot from Lost in Space.

The suit in the original was more than just about the looks. The mechanical sounds he made while moving limbs, the way he turned his head, the weighty sound of his footsteps, those all reinforced the idea he was more machine than man. Obviously we don't know what the new suit* sounds like or how he moves in it from a still frame shot but this new suit, at least visually, does not convey the "robot" nature of the original suit.

* There's also the rumor the movie has multiple suits so this may not be the primary one

[Teleku]

Bleh, everything about this looks terrible.  Just rewatched the original recently, and it holds up very well.  Love that damn movie.

At the very least, they had better get the newscasters back in and done correctly.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DCt9Vszkq38

[DraconianOne]

[Venkman]

I bet they're remaking Starship Troopers next with no boobs, brain suckers or NPH next.

Was that extremely sublime snarkiness? Because the actual book didn't have any of those either if I remember right.

No, it's an understanding that what made the Veerhoven flick fun was almost entirely divorced from the book itself.

I hated the Starship Troopers movie because of the Veerhoven stuff. First, except for the names, there was no corrolation with the book, which was one of the few Heinlein books I actually liked. I can handle departure if you give me Hunt for Red October. But this felt more like I, Robot in departure, a label slapped on a CGI fest that itself looked low budget. Nothing there at all. And then layering in his schtick, it felt very forced.

The first Robocop worked really well because it was all dirt and grit and "real" and believable. Starship Trooper was way too clean and sanitized and the only "edgy humor" was what I was imagining in my head that could have made the movie better. Veerhoven's fun with all the commercials and the 6000 SUX and all that was just flavoring to an interesting near-future world, akin to a dark comedy version of Blade Runner. In Troopers, it was just forced, probably because he was told he was picked for it because they needed to add filler to a one-dimensional nothing.

So I'd take a Starship Troopers reboot that was actually a good movie over any of that bullshit faux edgy crap any day.