RoboCop
This is an enduring piece of ’80s pulp from the reliably entertaining and subversive director Paul Verhoeven, whose recent masterpiece “Black Book” rehabilitated his foundering reputation. “RoboCop” is bloody, funny, cynical and disturbing, and it holds up well despite the dated special effects and the unmistakably ’80s look and feel to its “near-future” setting. (”Blade Runner” was more visually imaginative by far, but it’s not as much fun.) Verhoeven gets expressive performances out of a cast of talented journeymen: Nancy Allen, Miguel Ferrer, Kurtwood Smith, Robert DoQui, Paul McCrane, Ronny Cox and, of course, Peter Weller as the stolid title character, a naive cop turned indestructible cyborg. And, as in “Starship Troopers,” he brings to the screen a dark, satirical vision of humankind at its worst. “RoboCop” is punctuated by vapid newscasters reporting on truly horrific events — a malfunction of the “Star Wars” defense system fries more than 100 people in California, including two former presidents — in detached, humdrum fashion. And it imagines a government that outsources itself entirely to a corrupt corporation. In a scene typical of Verhoeven’s sadistic sense of humor, the company’s prototype crime-fighting machine guns down an executive during a boardroom demonstration. An ambitious, unscrupulous executive (Ferrer) takes the opportunity to pitch his better-designed cyborg, known as RoboCop. After Officer Alex Murphy (Weller) is riddled with bullets by members of a crime syndicate led by Smith (later to garner many laughs as the salty dad Red Forman on “That ’70s Show”), the company has its man. In a typically shrewd move, Verhoeven shoots Murphy’s death and robo-resurrection from the officer’s horrified and confused point of view. Of course, as anyone familiar with the Frankenstein story could tell you, reanimating a corpse can lead to unforeseen complications. RoboCop yearns to know his true identity and take revenge against those who massacred him. The setup allows for some inspired mayhem. In a signature Verhoeven moment, RoboCop foils a rape by shooting through the skirt of the would-be victim and hitting her attacker in the groin. And, as in “Starship Troopers,” he lets women inflict and endure just as much pain as men: The sweet, angel-faced Allen is one steely cop. The violence and bleak worldview are relentless, and yet “RoboCop” is thoroughly enjoyable, the sort of well-made and slyly intelligent trash that keeps movie lovers enthralled.