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Robocop Reboot

swordpath

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Darren Aronofsky :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

Darren Aronofsky's RoboCop Reboot To Be Rated R
July 30, 2008
Source: MTV
by Alex Billington

Last Thursday just as Comic-Con was beginning, MGM decided to announce that Darren Aronofsky was officially directing the RoboCop reboot. However, since that announcement was made, so many new questions have come up: what would it be rated, would it be a direct sequel, would they keep the same themes, and so on. MTV caught up with producers Brad Fischer and Mike Medavoy and tried to get most of those questions answered. The good news is that they expect the film to be rated R, but ideally it's up to Aronofsky in the end. Additionally, they say that this reboot will be much more like Batman Begins than a direct sequel in line with any of the three previous RoboCop movies.

Fischer explains that "none of [the earlier films are] going to be canonical, as a matter of fact… I wouldn't say it's a direct sequel." Fischer's co-producer Medavoy says that they prefer the term "reimagining" instead, as has already been used to describe numerous other projects, including the upcoming Day the Earth Stood Still. While neither of them would even hint at the story, it sounds like this will be a new idea on its own featuring the "concept" of RoboCop but in a different time and place and with a different story. Throwing around Batman Begins is just a way of generating buzz - because all producers like to say that they're own reboot will be as heralded as Batman Begins. Most don't even have that kind of potential to begin with, but this one does. Why? Because the incredibly talented Darren Aronofsky is directing.

Medavoy also confirms that they're open on the rating. "Well I was involved with the original RoboCop, and it was an R, and the likelihood is that this will be an R. It's likely to be an R unless the director cuts back on some of it." I doubt Aronofsky would cut back if the script is great, but who really knows? Everyone seems to be so rating crucial these days, so it's at least a relief to hear that they're not trying to cut it down to a PG-13 level. But getting back to the actual film and the idea, why is RoboCop being rebooted at all? Medavoy explains that primarily the themes within the original have become even more relevant today.

"The themes of machines and technology, for instance, that's certainly become even more prevalent today in terms of man giving up certain things to his creations and his technology and his reliance to that. It's pretty provocative stuff," he said. "You've got people today with all kinds of different implants and mechanical implants. Where does that person become no longer human? After the first one? After 50 percent of the brain gets replaced? A lot of the themes that we dealt with in the original are still very interesting to us."
Although Medavoy's explanation doesn't really make me any more confident, I'm still very excited for this based on Aronofsky alone. Relevant themes are never an entirely legitimate reason for a reboot, because as long as they've got a great story, technology is where it needs to be, and there is a good creative team, then it's always the "right time." And 21 years since the original hit theaters seems like a great time to see Alex J. Murphy rise from the dead again. I'm a huge Aronofsky fan and will remain consistently excited for this reboot until I see or hear something that changes my opinion. As far as I'm concerned, Aronofsky's probably going to actually bring us an awesome reboot on the level of Batman Begins - so be prepared!
 

rhinosaur

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This sounds pretty awesome. At least that review makes it seem so. I believe I would pay for a ticket to see a good R-rated RoboCop action flick, as long as it had all the crucial parts that make action flicks awesome, including:

- Impossible physics
- Implausible MacGuffins (thanks to MacGuffin for that term haha)
- Plenty of blood and gore (just don't overdo it)
- Hot females in a male-centric plot
- The inevitable death of the foreshadowing "herald" - type character

Looks like there's a blog about it.
 

Totenkindly

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Sadly, Five Years Later literally, Aranofsky is not directing the Robocop reboot, and the movie has sufferred accordingly.

It opens Friday, currently holds 55% on RT, and has the following summary:

While it's far better than it could have been, José Padilha's RoboCop remake fails to offer a significant improvement over the original.

"While it's far better than it could have been..." sounds like faint praise indeed.

It's a shame. I don't know why people don't figure this stuff out during development. Why do bad movies exist?

I'm hoping it's at least interesting. I bought some Blurays last month and part of the package was two $7.50 discounts on Robocop tickets, so it looks like I'll be going.

One of the movies was the original Robocop, which was decent enough while leaving me wishing they have delved a bit more into the psychology and human drama of Murphy. Also it's kind of deeeeelish to see Kurtwood Smith chewing up the screen before he got famous doing "Dead Poet's Societ" (Neil Perry's dad) and the father in "That 70's Show." He's kind of scary as Boddicker (which could be a pun -- he's a "bod dicker"... he dicked up Murphy's bod pretty badly), since his cronies are all just kind of full pack o' nuts while he's far more cunning.

That movie also has some of the most evocative violence I've ever see in a movie, due to the context and the lack of empathy aspects (the gang blows Murphy apart literally; then off-camera they cut off the salvaged arm because he's product now; and then the guy who gets dosed in toxic waste, then splattered like a bug on a windshield). But you get to see Ronny Cox doing his "Mean MF" routine and handing Maguel Ferrer his hat, plus one of the best lines of dialogue at the movie's "twist" end.

I'll be interested in seeing how the two compare. I'll be honest about another another "remake" (albeit an adaptation of an adaptation): I actually didn't like the original Total Recall that much, and I enjoyed the Director's Cut of the second adaptation (with Colin Farrell) better... ALTHOUGH it could STILL have been far better, and since it was an adaptation of a story it could have changed a lot more rather than cribbing the first movie at all. That's what really annoys me; if you're the second adaptation of a story, why crib the first movie at all unless there really are a few worthwhile elements to grab?
 

The Ü™

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It lost me when it got a PG-13. I will check it out Thursday or Friday.

Where are the R-rated action flicks anymore?

At least it doesn't sound like it's as bad as Robocop 3.
 

93JC

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The bar for getting an R rating is higher than it used to be. If the original was resubmitted for review I bet it would get a PG-13 rating too.

(The new one is rated PG here. :laugh: The old one was originally rated R, but in the years since it has been resubmitted for reclassification in other provinces, and most gave it the equivalent of the MPAA's PG-13.)
 

The Ü™

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And then there's the issue of CG blood instead of squibs.
 

93JC

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Squibs, shmibs. It doesn't matter how it's done as long as it's done well.
 

Tellenbach

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I don't see the point in re-making already perfect films. The original Robocop's probably one of my top 5 favorite movies. A villain like Boddicker just doesn't work in a PG-13 film (think what LOTR would've been like if it had been Disney's The Lord of the Rings).

Also, I hear they're remaking The Crow, another perfect film that should be left alone.
 

Totenkindly

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It lost me when it got a PG-13. I will check it out Thursday or Friday.

Aw nuts. I didn't even notice that.

Where are the R-rated action flicks anymore?

They want to market movies to teenagers.

I think R ratings are great if the movie and story itself takes advantage of it. Some stories can be told without an R rating.

At least it doesn't sound like it's as bad as Robocop 3.

yeah at least it's not as bad as Gigli.
 

Totenkindly

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The bar for getting an R rating is higher than it used to be. If the original was resubmitted for review I bet it would get a PG-13 rating too.

You have got to be shitting me. Watching Murphy get his hand blown off at point-blank range was pretty horrific even nowadays.

Then again, I did see the remake of Evil Dead. "Electric Meat Slicer." (My other word for that movie would be "chainsaw".)

I guess Pan's Labyrinth was rated R? That had some pretty sadistic stuff in it.

I don't see the point in re-making already perfect films. The original Robocop's probably one of my top 5 favorite movies. A villain like Boddicker just doesn't work in a PG-13 film (think what LOTR would've been like if it had been Disney's The Lord of the Rings).

At least I could have had a Balrog plushie for my bed.

Also, I hear they're remaking The Crow, another perfect film that should be left alone.

nooooOOOoooooooo.....

Is there a thread somewhere about what movies we'd LIKE to see remade?
 

93JC

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You have got to be shitting me. Watching Murphy get his hand blown off at point-blank range was pretty horrific even nowadays.

Then again, I did see the remake of Evil Dead. "Electric Meat Slicer." (My other word for that movie would be "chainsaw".)

I guess Pan's Labyrinth was rated R? That had some pretty sadistic stuff in it.

Pan's Labyrinth was given the equivalent of PG-13 here. :shrug:

Do you think a movie like Die Hard would get an R rating nowadays? It's a movie from the same time period that originally got an R, but was reclassified here last year to the equivalent of PG-13. It really wouldn't surprise me if RoboCop (1987) was given a similar treatment.
 

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I'm not sure the bar has been raised for ratings. It's been a while since I've seen the original Robocop, but I remember a lot of graphic violence and A LOT of profanity. Compared to something like, Sleepy Hollow, which had virtually no profanity and not much gore aside from the occasional bloodless decapitation. Not saying that Sleepy Hollow should've been PG-13, but Robocop definitely earned an R rating. If I remember correctly, it was almost dubbed NC-17.

Haven't seen the new movie yet. I don't hate the new Robocop's appearance, but I think they should've stuck with chrome instead of black.
 

Solar Plexus

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X. NC-17 didn't come about until 1990. ;)

According to wikipedia, it received 11 X ratings. lol

The movie was originally given an X rating by the MPAA in 1987 due to its graphic violence, in sharp contrast to most other X-rated movies that received the rating due to strong sexual content. To appease the requirements of the ratings board, Verhoeven reduced blood and gore in the most violent scenes in the movie, including ED-209's shooting of Kinney in the boardroom, Boddicker's gang executing Murphy with shotguns, and the final battle with Boddicker (in which RoboCop stabs him in the neck with his neural spike and Boddicker's blood splatters onto RoboCop's chest). Verhoeven also added humorous commercials throughout the news broadcasts to lighten the mood and distract from the violent aspects of the movie (most of the commercials are satirical on various aspects of the American consumer culture, such as the commercial for the 6000 SUX sedan). After 11 original X ratings, the film was eventually given an R rating.[19] The original uncut version was included on the Criterion Collection laserdisc and DVD of the film (both out of print), the 2005 trilogy box set and the 2007 anniversary edition—the latter two were released by MGM and were unrated. The 2014 Blu Ray 4K master edition also features this unrated cut.

Regarding the omitted scenes, Verhoeven stated in the 2007 anniversary edition DVD that he had wanted the violence to be "over the top", in an almost comical fashion (the executive that is killed by ED-209, for example, and Bob Morton immediately asking "Somebody wanna call a goddamn paramedic?!", was meant as black comedy). Verhoeven also states that the tone of the violence was changed to a more upsetting tone due to the deletions requested by the MPAA, and that the deletions also remove footage of the extensive animatronic puppet of Murphy just before he is executed by Boddicker.
 

Totenkindly

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Pan's Labyrinth was given the equivalent of PG-13 here. :shrug:

Do you think a movie like Die Hard would get an R rating nowadays? It's a movie from the same time period that originally got an R, but was reclassified here last year to the equivalent of PG-13. It really wouldn't surprise me if RoboCop (1987) was given a similar treatment.

Where are you at again, in terms of general world location?

Yeah, I think Diehard would be bumped to PG-13, to be honest. I mean, he uses the full "mofo" word and there's lots of shooting, but I wouldn't say it's more than typical action movie violence... he does strangle the blonde guy to death, but all the other deaths are videogame deaths so to speak. I just felt like the Robocop violence was sadistic in nature, although not on par probably with Hostel and similar movies.

...The 2014 Blu Ray 4K master edition also features this unrated cut.

Yeah, that's the one I have and just watched a few weeks ago, but I hadn't see the original release for so long that I was unable to recognize where things might have been added back in or made more blatant; I did remember thinking that Murphy looked a bit more mangled than I remember, though, in the execution scene.

TBH, while I really love dark humor and like mixing humor with my drama, the TV commercials were a little too extreme in the "zany" direction for me and it broke the mood. Which I suppose is what Verhoeven was trying to do, but unfortunately I think it dilutes the intensity of the movie. (Breaking Bad was a good example of a TV show where the drama and humor were very much intermingled and tonally consistent.)

I appreciate more the humor in the boardroom that you described (with ED-209 blasting that guy all over the place and Morton yelling with annoyance about finding the paramedics, or when Boddicker gets dragged into the police station, Robocop says, "he's a cop killer," and as all the cops stare in shock and anger, Boddicker spits blood on the log book and says something about "Now can I have my damn phone call?" I read somewhere that Smith adlibbed that), that kind of humor actually meshes with the plot and is part of the situational ironies.

It's also pretty painful to see this machine that barely looks human spinning this gun around unexpectedly -- it's like this bit of a flicker of humanity left in this mechanized tool of the establishment, a brief glimmer of the Murphy that was but now is almost extinguished. he's like a frankenstein monster, dead but animated and dominated. Those moments in the movie, little things that could be considered throwaway, to me were some of the best bits. Or the drunk nearsighted scientist chick who can barely find Robocop's faceplate because she's drunk, and kisses him squinting, leaving this blur where her lipstick smeared on his visuals. Just cool stuff like that.

I don't remember if we ever hear anything about murphy's family in a later movie. That was another heartbreaking scene, watching him clunk around his old house, and all these memories started flashing up.
 

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"While it's far better than it could have been..." sounds like faint praise indeed.

There are probably so many factors to this, but one that comes to mind reading about this movie would be a sunk cost fallacy. If people have already done a certain amount with a project, they may feel like they should push ahead even after events suggest it should not carry on.
 
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It's a shame. I don't know why people don't figure this stuff out during development. Why do bad movies exist?

Because decisions at movie studios aren't usually made by consensus. Generally there are people involved who have figured this stuff out, but they aren't always the ones with the juice. Then again, one man's bad movie is another man's badass movie.
 

Totenkindly

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After posting in this thread, I got my Bluray out again and watched about half the movie. :doh:

The execution scene shows the hand being blown apart; him holding up the shredded stump coursing blood; then getting blasted with multiple shotgun shells (with the remaining part of his arm getting blown off at the shoulder in the beginning of the barrage); and then the body shots + busted cap and a few close-ups of his face w/ bullet hole.

The ED-209 scene seems to run pretty long as well; the guy is just laying there and ED keeps spraying him. ... he's been dead for a few seconds and ED just doesn't stop. It feels like the guy eats 60-70 large caliber bullets. It's too bad he wasn't smarter, I would have run past the robot and out the door and towards a staircase, until they could slow down the thing; instead he tried to hide behind people, and they're all kind of slimey to start with.
 
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