When any movie is released, it first and foremost has a goal to be successful in the moment. This often means making money at the box office, but after that another goal is to stand the test of time and become something that people remember. Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 action/satire RoboCop is a movie that certainly achieved both goals.
The movie was successful enough in its day to generate two sequels, but since then it has become a true classic, one of the best science fiction movies ever made. Whether you’re there for over-the-top action or the takedown of ‘80s consumerism, RoboCop has it all. Peter Weller, who starred in the original film and recently reprised his role for the RoboCop: Rogue City video game, told CBM that he loves the way the film still resonates with audiences and that the recent game may drive more people to the movie. Weller said…
That theme that permeates RoboCop…people bring it up again and again. The thing I’m grateful for seeing with Rogue City. Okay, that’s a game. Good guys, bad guys. But it gets people to see the movie, and when people go back to see it after 30 years, they get out of it those themes of resurrection, of family, of loss, of economics, not just the shoot ’em up or the laughs. Those are great and make it entertaining, but it’s not just the games, but the themes of it.
Starship Troopers, a satire of war, and even its own source material.
RoboCop has clearly become a classic, and it’s a movie that will be remembered for decades to come. Weller loves that fact, though he also admits that wasn’t always the case. After returning for the first sequel, Weller declined to make Robocop 3, in favor of an adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ Naked Lunch. That’s a movie about as far from RoboCop as one could get.
Weller says that leaving RoboCop was one of the best career choices he ever made, but he also now believes doing RoboCop in the first place was also one of the best career choices he ever made. While he says he was “moving on” from RoboCop for a long time, he now appreciates it in a way he hasn’t in decades. Weller continued…
I’m pleased as punch. I couldn’t say that about 25 years ago. I couldn’t care less. I was just moving on, but now, when it comes back to me at a Comic-Con or in an interview or some wonderful director or actor walks up to me that I admire and says, ‘You know, that movie stays with me,’ I’m grateful for it. I’m really grateful for it. I’m so thrilled I got to be part of a movie that is that resilient to this day.
RoboCop has remained popular to the point that we got an unnecessary remake, and there was once talk of a RoboCop legacy sequel, though that didn’t pan out. Although Weller has said he’s potentially interested in returning to RoboCop if the story is worth it.
If you haven’t seen RoboCop, then you absolutely should take Peter Weller’s advice and do so. If you want an incredible, and incredibly violent action movie, it is absolutely that, but it’s also a great deal more, and that’s what has made it a classic.