History YMMV / RoboCop

* SpecialEffectsFailure: People are [[BaseBreaker split]] on the 'Go-Motion' animation of non-RoboCop robots (ED-209, [=RoboCain=] and the prototype robots at the beginning of film two). To some, they only look real whenever they remain still, but look clunky when they start to movie. But to [[NightmareFuel others]], this is justified because of their robotic nature.

* SpecialEffectsFailure: People are [[BaseBreaker split]] on the 'Go-Motion' animation of non-RoboCop robots (ED-209, [=RoboCain=] and the prototype robots at the beginning of film two). To some, they only look real whenever they remain still, but look clunky when they start to movie. But to [[NightmareFuel others]], this is justified because of their robots nature.

* SpecialEffectsFailure: People are [[BaseBreaker split]] on the Go-Motion animation of ED-209 and [=RoboCain=]. They look real whenever they remain still, but when they start to move, that's a different story. To [[NightmareFuel many however]], this furthers justifies their creepiness (They are robots after all).
** The shot of Dick Jones being [[DestinationDefenestration blown out the window and falling to his death]] is probably the worst scene of the original movie. The sheer {{Narm}} almost ruins the (otherwise awesome) climax of the movie.

* MisaimedFandom: [[http://supergaydetroit.blogspot.com/2011/02/10-reasons-robocop-statue-is-bad-idea.html Blogger Supergay Detroit argued]] that a Robocop Statue built in Detroit by the residents would be "insulting to UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}} and to Detroiters who have lived here through the worst. The reason Detroit is the setting for Robocop is because the city is considered a hellhole. Robocop may be a man/machine who overcomes injustice, but the Detroit in that movie is [[TakeThat no compliment]]. The statue would serve as a perpetual reminder that Detroit holds the distinction of being [[PlaceWorseThanDeath the most believable dystopia in America]]."

* {{Anvilicious}}: Creator/FrankMiller, Irvin Kershner and especially Paul Verhoeven are not aiming for subtlety here (in fact, Verhoeven has never even heard of such a concept). The movies gleefully raise Anviliciousness to an art form, bombarding the viewer with DrugsAreBad and [[ThereAreNoGoodExecutives Capitalism Is Evil.]]

* ''YMMV/RoboCopVsTerminator''

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: Children everywhere loved ''RoboCop'' as much as their parents did, even though the black comedy and political satire went over their heads; they just saw him as a cool superhero who fights bad guys. Apparently their parents didn't notice that all the hyper-violence, gore, sexual themes and depictions of hard drug use ''might'' not be appropriate for children, judging by the number of people today who saw it at that age when it first came out.

** Perhaps the most confusing thing about all the anviliciousness is just how... politically ''balanced'' it all is overall. Especially in the second film, where conservative strawmen and liberal strawmen alike are taken to ridiculous levels. It seems that when working with Frank Miller's original concepts and script offerings, rather than tone down his own strawmen, they just decided to fire back with equally over-the-top strawmen of their own.

* FanDumb: Some fans have already disliked and complained about the reboot before it's even released.
** To be fair, the reboot seems to be ignoring the themes that ''made'' Robocop such a great movie. Is one man of any importance to a multi-billion dollar corporation? Does the human soul really exist, or is all that we are contained solely in a sack of fragile meat? What is the nature of man, when he is turned completely inhuman? The reboot '''seems''' (bolded emphasis) to cast that aside for a more generic shoot-em-up tone.
*** Compare the scenes of Murphy's death: In the original, he is ''killed brutally'' in the line of duty. In the reboot, he is merely ''severely wounded'' and paralyzed in a car bombing, while off-duty. That's quite a shift in tone.
* FunnyAneurysmMoment: When you realize that Detroit ''really is'' hopelessly bankrupt, rundown and full of rampant crime. Hammered home in 2013, when the city is scheduled to be taken over by the state due to its inability to pay off its debt.
** And on July 18, 2013, Detroit officially filed for bankruptcy, becoming the biggest municipal bankruptcy in US history.

*** Compare the scenes of Murphy's death: In the original, he is ''killed brutally'' in the line of duty. In the reboot, he is merely ''severely wounded'' and paralyzed in carbombing, while off-duty. That's quite a shift in tone.

* {{Anvilicious}}: FrankMiller, Irvin Kershner and especially Paul Verhoeven are not aiming for subtlety here (in fact, Verhoeven has never even heard of such a concept). The movies gleefully raise Anviliciousness to an art form, bombarding the viewer with DrugsAreBad and [[ThereAreNoGoodExecutives Capitalism Is Evil.]]

* NarmCharm: (''[=RoboCop=] clotheslines a burglar into a freezer, complete with cheesy sound effect'') "Thank you for your cooperation. Good night."

!!The film series provides examples of:

* VisualEffectsOfAwesome: The very impressive stop-motion work done for [=RoboCain=] in ''[=RoboCop=] 2''. Especially when rising out of the ground towards the end.
* WhatAnIdiot: Whose bright idea was it to hand the Old Man a canister of ''real'' Nuke to show off in front of the press?


!!The Alpha Commando cartoon series provides examples of:

* CompleteMonster
** Clarence Boddicker in ''[=RoboCop=] 1'' is an insane, short-tempered, raging psychopath that kills a lot of hard-working police officers (and innocent civilians) simply ForTheEvulz. During the chase scene, when Bobby (one of his goons) gets shot in the leg by Murphy, Clarence just orders his others goons to throw Bobby on the hood of Murphy's car. His true KickTheDog moment is the horrible murder of Murphy at his hands and those of his goons.
** Dick Jones in the same movie is arguably worse than Boddicker, not only is he a CorruptCorporateExecutive (one of the most well known examples), but it's revealed that Clarence Boddicker is working for him from the very beginning, ordering him to kill plenty of good-working/innocent cops so that Jones could make money with his failed ED-209. Speaking of ED-209, Jones doesn't care one bit when it malfunctions and blows holes in an InnocentBystander ("Who cares it worked or not?). And when, due to the failing of ED-209, Bob Morton gets the upperhand with his RoboCop project, he has him murdered. While Boddicker has some PetTheDog moments, this guy lacks empathy.
*** That said, he would probably have Boddicker (and his gang as well) [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness killed when he wouldn't need them anymore.]]
%%Do NOT add any other entries without going to the cleanup thread first.
* CrossesTheLineTwice: The scene near the beginning with the demonstration of the ED-209 in the Director's Cut. In the theatrical version, it merely just shoots the executive for a second or two to kill him in a perfunctory manner. In the uncut version, it unloads [[Main/MoreDakka hundreds of bullets]] into him with gallons of HighPressureBlood spraying everywhere as the engineers try to disable the robot. This goes on for about 15 seconds, long after any human being could survive with ED-209 just chewing up the corpse. To top it off, some random guy says "Should we call a medic?" after ED's done turning the guy into paste. The original intent of the film was to make it so [[RefugeInAudacity outrageously violent]] you couldn't take it seriously. The [[ExecutiveMeddling studio cut forced out]] much of the violence so that some scenes ended up a bit more depressing than others.
* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: The [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7rjLQuW2nQ main theme]] is a suitable precursor to [[Film/StarshipTroopers Klendathu Drop]].

* FridgeBrilliance: From a corporate stand-point, Dick Jones' "guaranteed military sales, 25 years of spare parts, renovation programs" plan for the ED-209 turns out to be much more solid than Bob Morton's: Robocop is ''not'' cost effective, he's irreplaceable, and needs millions of dollars of maintenance every year. Meanwhile ED-209, while not very good at police duty, did turn out to be a capable (and easily manufactured) sentry bot and widely employed as security/military drones. Even its toys are very popular and sought-after in the real world!

* HilariousInHindsight: "[[WesternAnimation/SouthPark Oh my God, ED-209 killed Kinny!]]"
** The line "Bitches, leave!" is more amusing after hearing the line "Bitches, come!" in ''Film/XXx''.

* MemeticMutation: "I'd buy that for a dollar!"
** "You're dead, we killed you!"
** "Dead or alive, you're coming with me."
** "Please put down your weapon, you have 20 seconds to comply."
** "BITCHES LEAVE!"
** "YOUR MOVE, CREEP."
* MisaimedFandom: A sizable portion of the film's fans love the film for its gratuitous ultraviolence. When the film is brutal satire attacking the commercialisation and glorification of the violence in (particularly American) media when actual people living in actual cities are struggling with actual violence, and implies that the only people who can really handle such violence are the insane criminal perpetrators who enjoy it, and someone crippled both physically and emotionally ''by'' violence.
** [[http://supergaydetroit.blogspot.com/2011/02/10-reasons-robocop-statue-is-bad-idea.html Blogger Supergay Detroit argued]] that a Robocop Statue built in Detroit by the residents would be "insulting to UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}} and to Detroiters who have lived here through the worst. The reason Detroit is the setting for Robocop is because the city is considered a hellhole. Robocop may be a man/machine who overcomes injustice, but the Detroit in that movie is [[TakeThat no compliment]]. The statue would serve as a perpetual reminder that Detroit holds the distinction of being [[PlaceWorseThanDeath the most believable dystopia in America]]."
* {{Narm}}: "It's turning into a war zone!"

* SpecialEffectsFailure: In the first film some shots of [=RoboCop=]'s handheld locating device show painfully clearly how the prop just has a painted-on small map with an embedded red LED. The scenes where it's actually put to use shows a close-up with proper animations, though.
** People are [[BaseBreaker split]] on the Go-Motion animation of ED-209 and [=RoboCain=]. They look real whenever they remain still, but when they start to move, that's a different story. To [[NightmareFuel many however]], this furthers justifies their creepiness (They are robots after all).
** When Dick Jones falls to his death in the first film, he's an obvious claymation puppet.
* {{Squick}}
** ''[=RoboCop=]'': Boddicker's henchman Emil [[spoiler:gets dunked in toxic waste, causing him to melt. And then he gets hit by a car, and explodes into LudicrousGibs. His head slides gracefully along the top of the car, and a substance like dirty water emerges from his exploded body to coat the windshield.]]
** Murphy's death. Made more so by the fact that the gang members taunt him viciously as they're turning him into hamburger. "Give the man a hand!" "Does it hurt? Does it hurt?" Watching the trauma team at Henry Ford try to resuscitate the poor guy is every bit as painful. It's one of the more realistic trauma code scenes committed to Hollywood film. The trauma team were played by real paramedics. Yes, they [[ShownTheirWork did the research.]]
*** Of course that just makes it all the more satisfying when Robocop catches up tot he bad guys and kills them with extreme prejudice.

* WhatAnIdiot: A bizarre example can be found in the first film. What was Dick Jones thinking to demonstrate a robot (ED-209) that clearly if fully armed in a public office?
*** He cares more about fame, power and money rather than having additional checks on it.
*** For that matter, whose bright idea was it to hand the Old Man a canister of ''real'' Nuke to show off in front of the press?
** And in the end, once Murphy reveals Jones' corruption, [[VillainousBreakdown Jones immediately pulls out a pistol and holds it to his boss' head]]. Directive Four explicitly prevents him from harming [[ExactWords OCP executives]], and it doesn't occur to him that he could get fired for holding his boss hostage, which makes the old man telling him he's fired all the more sweeter.
** Boddicker sees no problem with [=RoboCop=] knowing about his alliance with Jones, feeling the confession can't be proven since they were alone at the time and he was being beaten. Jones doesn't quite see it that way: "He's a cyborg, you idiot! He recorded every word you said, his memories are admissible as evidence!" Which becomes ironic when Jones just simply shouts he had to kill Bob Morton for making a mistake and how he wants to kill that mistake, [[TooDumbToLive even when he knows Robo is capable of recording.]]
*** He simply [[EvilGloating got overconfident]], since he hardly expected [=RoboCop=] to survive a fight with ED-209 plus a parking garage full of SWAT members.

** In the second movie, when Murphy is walking around one of Cane's nuke plants, he takes a moment to examine a strange collective of artifacts on display there, like Elvis' supposed skeleton.

** Cain in ''[=RoboCop=] 2'' isn't just wrecking the city by selling Nuke, he's a total sicko who kills anyone he perceives as a threat. His two worst deeds are the horrible murder of Duffy and cutting [=RoboCop=] into pieces. Getting turned into [=RoboCain=] just makes him worse, and he ends up killing a whole lot of police officers and innocent bystanders.

** Likewise, the proud debuts of the failed [=RoboCop=] 2 candidates.

* FetishRetardant: [[AustinPowers Fabiana Udenio]] in a bikini is awesome, but not when covered in green and blue goo (Sunblock 5000).

* NarmCharm: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMJUWqbJ3Jg "Behave yourselves!"]]
** (''[=RoboCop=] clotheslines a burglar into a freezer, complete with cheesy sound effect'') "Thank you for your cooperation. Good night."

** In the second movie, the demonstrations of initial attempts post-Murphy [=RoboCop=]s are NightmareFuel. In particular, one of the attempts removes its helmet to reveal a screaming skull.
** Cain [[spoiler:gets a spiffy new robot body and kills most of his old gang. Upon seeing his former wife/prostitute however, he opens up his head to reveal his screen-face and makes suggestive expressions and weird electric moans as she giggles for about a minute of film. It was almost a relief when she offended him by mistake and he killed her.]]

* WhatAnIdiot: Faxx, you honestly thought it was a good idea to put the mind of the city's greatest drug dealer and a serial killer into the body of a nearly unstoppable robot, all under the pretense that that you think he's under you control as long as he doesn't reach his controls? And her arrogance got countless lives lost in the process.
** A more bizarre example can be found in the first film. What was Dick Jones thinking to demonstrate a robot (ED-209) that clearly if fully armed in a public office?

* ClicheStorm: ''Robocop 3'' is a torrent of early 90's cliches, including but not limited to a precocious genius hacker girl, Japanese androids, ultra-violent street punks, a bulldozing MegaCorp, a plucky LaResistance group, and so on.

** [=McDagget=]. [[spoiler:He's the one who killed Lewis without any reason.]] He convinces the public that the Rehabs give the people of Old Detroit new houses (actually putting them in death camps) and that [=RoboCop=] is a criminal. The last straw was, when the Detroit Police refused to work with the Rehabs to clear out Cadillac Heights, he simply hired some Splatterpunk gangmembers to do the job. Don't worry, Robo put them all, especially [=McDagget=], out of their misery for good.

** The third film has several, including the destruction of the OCP building and flying [=RoboCop=].

** Bob Morton never gets to be quite the horrible ManipulativeBastard Dick Jones is, but he does proudly claim responsibility for the idea to move inexperienced cops from other precincts into dangerous Old Detroit for the express purpose of having cadavers for the Robocop project. He has no regard for the human side of Robo, even insisting Murphy's memory be wiped and salvageable body parts be thrown out in favor of total prosthesis.

* NightmareFuel: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJDztqCG91g The Prototypes of RoboCop 2]] from, well, ''[=RoboCop=] 2''. It builds up with triumphant music, showing a clunky looking brown cyborg which reveals the human face inside the body -- which then flinches its face in anger, complete with ''sparks'', realizing that he's lost his humanity, and then proceeds to ''gun down the scientists near him'', all while only able to say what's been programmed into him -- "Stop or I'll shoot." -- with the words getting weaker with each sentence, until the prototype ''shoots himself in the head.'' And after that, we get the other prototype, which looks much sleeker and more friendly -- but then removes its helmet, revealing ''a skull with wires coming out of it'', which pathetically screams in pain before it ''[[TooDumbToLive dies from inadvertently severing it's life support]]''. Unlike Murphy, these would-be [=RoboCops=] failed because they weren't prepared to give up their lives and humanity for the line of duty. That, and the insane amount of psychological stress of [[AndIMustScream being slaves to a corporation for the rest of their operational lives.]] The jerky stop-motion animation of the prototypes doubles the UncannyValley factor, and combined with the [[SoundtrackDissonance completely ironic, triumphant music]] only makes the scene even more creepy than it already is.
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIAW2ZAfrWo RoboCain]], the [=RoboCop=] 2 prototype that did work -- ''[[GoneHorriblyRight too well]]'', in fact. A hulking, nearly unstoppable arsenal of lethal weapons combined with the mind of a serial killer that breaks free of its corporate controller to wreak havoc makes for a genuine threat. The amazing stop motion effects done to create this metal monstrosity only enhance the fear factor. Also, there's Cain's "Screen Face", complete with an UncannyValley CGI head -- sadly not featured in that video.
** The results of one of Boddicker's henchmen taking a toxic waste bath during the climax of the first movie.
** Duffy, a dirty cop, squeals on Cain. He wakes up tied to a hospital bed. In the room are Cain, his girlfriend, and Hob who is all of fourteen years old and a sad-faced man who's getting his scalpels ready to vivisect him.
-->'''Doctor:''' Maybe you oughta have the kid leave?
-->'''Cain:''' Why?
** The stop-motion animation of the ED-209. The jerkiness accentuates its creepy robotic motion. The way it moves puts it right in the UncannyValley.
** Robocop's limbless torso in 2, after the bad guys tore him apart. It still moved and tried to speak, but could only manage a low moan. Watch the scene when OCP is assessing the damages.
** Speaking of UncannyValley, Murphy's face when he removes his helmet. He's bald, the back of his skull has been replaced with metal and his skin protrudes over it like his face has been ''grafted onto it'' (which it probably has). The entry wound from where Boddicker shot him in the forehead is still visible. [[BodyHorror And did those screws really need to go so deep into his skull?]]

** The line "Bitches, leave!" is more amusing after hearing the line "Bitches, come!" in ''{{xXx}}''.

** Clarence Boddicker in ''[=RoboCop=] 1'' is an insane, short-tempered, raging psychopath that kills a lot of hard-working police officers (and innocent civilians) simply ForTheEvulz. During the chase scene, when Bobby (one of his goons) gets shot in the leg by Murphy, Clarence just orders his others goons to throw Bobby on the hood of Murphy's car. Of course, his true KickTheDog moment is the horrible murder of Murphy at his hands and those of his goons.
** Dick Jones in the same movie is arguably worse than Boddicker, not only is he a CorruptCorporateExecutive (one of the most well known examples), but it's revealed that Clarence Boddicker is working for him from the very beginning, ordering him to kill plenty of good-working/innocent cops so that Jones could make money with his failed ED-209. Speaking of ED-209, Jones doesn't care one bit when it malfunctions and blows holes in an InnocentBystander ("Who cares it worked or not?). And when, due to the failing of ED-209, Bob Morton gets the upperhand with his RoboCop project, he has him murdered. While Boddicker has some PetTheDog moments, this guy totally lacks empathy.

** Cain in ''[=RoboCop=] 2'' isn't just wrecking the city by selling Nuke, he's a total sicko who kills anyone he perceives as a threat. His two worst deeds are the horrible murder of Duffy and literally cutting [=RoboCop=] into pieces. Getting turned into [=RoboCain=] just makes him worse, and he ends up killing a whole lot of police officers and innocent bystanders.

** Most criminals in the series are so vile, their glee at killing cops and innocents and causing misery so obvious, that they ''start'' at CompleteMonster and get worse from there.

* FridgeBrilliance: From a corporate stand-point, Dick Jones' "guaranteed military sales, 25 years of spare parts, renovation programs" plan for the ED-209 turns out to be much more solid than Bob Morton's: Robocop is ''not'' cost effective, he's irreplaceable, and needs millions of dollars of maintenance every year. Meanwhile ED-209, while not very good at police duty, did turn out to be a capable (not to mention easily manufactured) sentry bot and widely employed as security/military drones. Even its toys are very popular and sought-after in the real world!

** ''[=RoboCop=]'': Boddicker's henchman Emil [[spoiler:gets dunked in toxic waste, causing him to literally melt. And then he gets hit by a car, and explodes into LudicrousGibs. His head slides gracefully along the top of the car, and a substance like dirty water emerges from his exploded body to coat the windshield.]]

*** He simply [[EvilGloating got overconfident]], since he hardly expected [=RoboCop=] to survive a fight with ED-209 plus an entire parking garage full of SWAT members.

* CrossesTheLineTwice: The scene near the beginning with the demonstration of the ED-209 in the Director's Cut. In the theatrical version, it merely just shoots the executive for a second or two to kill him in a perfunctory manner. In the uncut version, it unloads [[Main/MoreDakka hundreds of bullets]] into him with gallons of HighPressureBlood spraying everywhere as the engineers try to disable the robot. The original intent of the film was to make it so [[RefugeInAudacity outrageously violent]] you couldn't take it seriously. The [[ExecutiveMeddling studio cut forced out]] much of the violence so that some scenes ended up a bit more depressing than others.