He’s built for justice. Let’s analyze RoboCop.
RoboCop (1987) is a dystopian science fiction action film (say that five times fast) directed by Paul Verhoeven. The story revolves around Alex Murphy, a police officer who is critically injured on the job and re-enters the police force as the cyber-enhanced RoboCop. This film served as a commentary on corporate corruption.
RoboCop (2014) is literally the same movie but with modern VFX. The modern version is more of a film about vengeance. This one is a tad less political but the characterization of Murphy somehow feels more robotic.
Video:
Here's the link to the clip we watched together if you want to follow along: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY_Xb4KV85k
Dialogue:
Liz Kline: “So you circumvented the law by creating a machine that thinks it’s a
man....but that’s illegal!”
Sellars: “No. it’s a machine that thinks its Alex Murphy and in my book that’s legal.”
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On each episode we’ll look at a movie and its remake, or sometimes a movie and its sequel, to determine if Hollywood rehashed it for a reason or for a cash grab.
Your Podcast hosts:
Bridget LaMonica @Bridget LaMonica
Erica Strout @stroutocaster
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Mailbag:
Have some strong opinions about a movie we covered? Have a fun suggestion for a future episode? Just wanna put in your two cents? Send your mailbag commentary to lightscameraremake@gmail.com.
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References:
Neumeier, Edward, and Michael Miner. “RoboCop.” IMDb, 5 Feb. 1988, www.imdb.com/title/tt0093870/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_robocop.
“RoboCop.” Imdb.com, 2025, www.imdb.com/title/tt1234721/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_2_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_robocop. Accessed 24 Jan. 2025.
“RoboCop | Rotten Tomatoes.” Www.rottentomatoes.com, www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1200731-robocop.
Song, Xu. “Hollywood Movies and China: Analysis of Hollywood Globalization and Relationship Management in China’s Cinema Market.” Global Media and China, vol. 3, no. 3, Sept. 2018, pp. 177–194, journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2059436418805538, https://doi.org/10.1177/2059436418805538.
O’Brien, Jon. “15 Hollywood Movies That Were Saved by China at the Box Office.” ScreenRant, 18 July 2016, screenrant.com/hollywood-movies-made-more-money-in-china-than-us/.
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Podcast Artwork: Our beautiful slate/hands artwork was created for the podcast by Taylor Rebyanski.
