RoboCop
Whenever I look at a list of 100 best science fiction movies (such as this or this or this or this), I feel like they are a collection of the most famous movies out there and, more importantly, that there probably are no more than 100 science fiction films in the world worth seeing. After all, I thought “The day the earth stood still” was awfully lame and against all odds, I am also not a huge fan of “Blade Runner”. Nevertheless, I would like to see all of these films, and if it is only because sometimes the science fiction genre can be a pleasant surprise. (Watch “Moon”!) With that said, I know someone who has seen virtually all of those movies… how scary?
Despite my general interest for science fiction films, I typically avoid the more Hollywood-ish types like “RoboCop”. At first glance, “RoboCop” is mostly an action film by the guy who also did “Starship Trooper” and “Basic Instinct” after all. Oh how wrong I was. It took awhile for the story to really get going (until Murphy’s murder, in fact) but then it was a rollercaster ride. I like pretty much everything about the film. There is something gratifying about a simple story like this, where good and bad are very clear and a platonic friendship between male and female main characters is possible. At the same time, there is a reason why this film is in the Criterion collection. The film sports a great, post-apocalyptic style (despite feeling awkwardly dated) and makes subtle humorous comments on society. How many other Hollywood science-fiction movies really do that?
Even Pip said he was surprised how much he liked “RoboCop”. The film was entertaining and made you feel good, but also contains a dark, humorous side which allowed it to land very high in my esteem.
PS. Ever since we got Netflix, I have done some more research and found a website which lists all Criterion films on Netflix. (Unfortunately the list is not perfect, “The Gold Rush” is missing for example.) Hulu Plus may have all the Criterion films out there, but honestly I am not even interested in that – I don’t even use it because the commercial interruptions annoy me too much.