History YMMV / RoboCop1987

* RetroactiveRecognition: This film is the first major credit for future WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}} voice Creator/BillFarmer as reporter Justin Ballard-Watkins. This also serves as a CreatorsOddball for Farmer both in terms of content (with an R rating) and being a rare live-action project for Farmer.

** "I'd buy '''that''' for a dollar!" Notably later used in the game ''VideoGame/SmashTV''.
%%** "Can you fly, Bobby?"
%%** "I know you. You're dead. We killed you. We killed you!"
%%** "Dead or alive, you're coming with me."
%%** "Please put down your weapon. You have 20 seconds to comply."
%%*** "You now have fifteen seconds to comply. You are in direct violation of Penal Code 113, Section 9."
%%*** "You now have five seconds to comply. Four, three, two, one. I am now authorized to use physical force. ''*[[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill BANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANG]]*''
%%*** "[[BlackComedy Somebody want to call a goddamn paramedic?!]]"
%%** "Bitches, leave."
%%** "Your move, creep!"
%%** "I like it!"
%%** A less-used quote is "Come quietly or there will be... trouble."
** "Robo wants an Oreo" [[note]]Taken from the documentary ''[=RoboDoc=]: The Creation of [=RoboCop=]. During filming, Weller (who had already infamously demanded he be called "Murphy" or "Robo" while on set) wanted some Oreos from a prop master, which he did by constantly yelling "Robo wants an Oreo".[[/note]]

** A sizable portion of the film's fans love the film for its gratuitous ultraviolence. Said film is a brutal satire, attacking (particularly American) media for glorifying and commercializing violence while ''real people'' living in ''real cities'' are struggling with ''real violence'', and implies that the only people who can stomach such violence are insane and sadistic criminals, and those so scarred by violence that they've lost their humanity.

** As noted in EnsembleDarkhorse, the fandom as a whole loves ED-209, and it's become one of the iconic MiniMecha designs. This is despite every scene involving ED-209 -- from its gory introduction (incompetent to the extreme) to its falling down the stairs (a police robot that can't climb ''stairs?'') to its obvious weak point (a giant hole in its forward armor for its ''sports car-style radiator grille'') -- being meant to convey the fact that ED-209 is an overpriced piece of junk. Granted, its design is meant to invoke the RuleOfCool in-universe, so it was bound to happen.

** The film is a crystal clear satire, and a warning against unbound capitalism taking over basic services like law enforcement, portraying the corrupt executives of OCP as no different than monstrous gangsters like Boddicker (who are in fact on their payroll), with the ultimate intent of uprooting possibly ''millions'' of impoverished families and forcing them into homelessness to build a utopia exclusively for the wealthy and privileged. This did not stop neoliberals from embracing OCP's takeover and rebuilding of Detroit as an ideal to be emulated, and Robocop as a stalwart of their ideals rather than a victim.

** The film is a crystal clear satire, and a warning against unbound capitalism taking over basic services like law enforcement, portraying the corrupt executives of OCP as no different than monstrous gangsters like Boddicker (who are in fact on their payroll). Did not stop neoliberals from embracing OCP's takeover and rebuilding of Detroit as an ideal to be emulated, and Robocop as a stalwart of their ideals rather than a victim.

** "Robo wants an Oreo" [[note]]Taken from the documentary ''[=RoboDoc=]: The Creation of [=RoboCop=]. During filming, Weller wanted some Oreos from a prop master, which he did by constantly yelling "Robo wants an Oreo".[[/note]]

** As noted in EnsembleDarkhorse, the fandom as a whole loves ED-209, and it's become one of the iconic MiniMecha designs. This is despite every scene involving ED-209 -- from its gory introduction (incompetent to the extreme) to its falling down the stairs(a police robot that can't climb ''stairs?'') to its obvious weak point(a giant hole in its forward armor for its ''sports car-style radiator grille'') -- being meant to convey the fact that ED-209 is an overpriced piece of junk. Granted, its design is meant to invoke the RuleOfCool in-universe, so it was bound to happen.

* MisaimedMerchandising: Despite its ultraviolence and very adult themes, and a brief spoof of the commercialization of violence to children with the ''Nukem!'' board game, the movie was nonetheless used to produce toys, a sunday morning cartoon, and a [[Film/Robocop3 third installment]] that was openly aimed at children. The [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EYyzXMOX0AI0KV1?format=jpg&name=medium meeting]] of UsefulNotes/RichardNixon and Robo at an act of the Boy Scouts of America where the latter was promoting the release of the film in home video may be the epitome of this phenomenon.

* SignatureScene: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z5HIWjOKVc The title character shooting a rapist in the junk]].

* MisaimedMarketing: Despite its ultraviolence and very adult themes, and a brief spoof of the commercialization of violence to children with the ''Nukem!'' board game, the movie was nonetheless used to produce toys, a sunday morning cartoon, and a [[Film/Robocop3 third installment]] that was openly aimed at children. The [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EYyzXMOX0AI0KV1?format=jpg&name=medium meeting]] of UsefulNotes/RichardNixon and Robo at an act of the Boy Scouts of America where the latter was promoting the release of the film in home video may be the epitome of this phenomenon.

* MoralEventHorizon: Dick Jones was already a greedy, power-hungry asshole. He crosses the line into sociopathic murderer when he hires Clarence to assassinate Bob Morton as punishment for creating [=RoboCop=] and jeopardizing his military contracts.

* ValuesDissonance: When Murphy tries to recall his memories, he heads to his old home, which is located well outside of Detroit's city limits. In later years, it's been found that a major factor to the general distrust of the police, and a big part of PoliceBrutality, is that a large number of officers don't actually live in the areas that they serve in, which would make Murphy's journey outside of Detroit somewhat problematic to modern audiences.

* RetroactiveRecognition: This film is the first major credit for future WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}} voice Creator/BillFarmer as reporter Justin Ballard-Watkins.

** The Auto 9 pistol used by Robocop is stated to have a massive magazine size of 50 rounds. In 2020, it was leaked that Kel-Tec [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kel-Tec_P50 designed a pistol with the exact same magazine size.]]

** One of the earliest fans to misunderstand this part may be Creator/FrankMiller, who wrote ''Film/Robocop2'' as a fight between Robo and PoliticalOvercorrectness.

* NeverLiveItDown: Dick Jones' death scene, which was considered by far the worst looking special effect in the film even at the time of its release.

** As noted in EnsembleDarkhorse, the fandom as a whole loves ED-209, and it's become one of the iconic MiniMecha designs. This is despite the fact that pretty much every scene involving ED-209 -- from its gory introduction (incompetent to the extreme) to its falling down the stairs(a police robot that can't climb ''stairs?'') to its obvious weak point(a giant hole in its forward armor for its ''sports car-style radiator grille'') -- is meant to convey the fact that ED-209 is an overpriced piece of junk. Granted, its design is meant to invoke the RuleOfCool in-universe, so it was bound to happen.

** [[SubvertedTrope That said]], these "points" can be easily be rebutted by people with Verhoeven's worldviews. When corporate powers want to "develop" run down cities, it usually involves gentrification, which ultimately "[[SarcasmMode improves]]" cities by pricing out poor residents and forces them to leave, making them SomeoneElsesProblem. Corporate and political corruption is also the unspoken reason the cops feel the need to go on strike, as greed and other corruption has helped undermine the cops so they would have a pretext to take over the department in the first place. This in turn forced the cops to choose between going on strike or living in poverty. And [=RoboCop=] was only built to be a soulless, mindless, obedient enforcer of the law, and only became a full-fledged good guy when he [[GrewBeyondTheirProgramming regained his memories and found a way to defy his programming]] in order to bring an otherwise untouchable CorruptCorporateExecutive to justice.
*** [[DoubleSubversion However,]] as for as the original goes, OCP's goal was to temporarily move civilians into trailers while the city gets rebuilt. Once Delta City was finished they would be returned to a new safer city. On top of that, the [=RoboCop=] program gave fallen police officers a chance to continue serving the city. Despite the fact that Murphy's [=RoboCop=] was originally built as a soulless machine, he still reduced violent crime and took out most of the city's major criminals [[RefugeInAudacity on his own.]] There's a reason the old man isn't considered an antagonist until [[Film/Robocop2 the sequel.]] [[note]] And even then, he's only a minor antagonist in the sense that he's corrupt and profit-driven. Compared to both Cain, a drug dealer and mass murderer, and Dr. Faxx, a psychiatrist who only cares about advancing her career regardless of the costs, the Old Man is still the lesser of all evils. [[/note]]

* MisaimedFandom:

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The film is very '80s in both its look (especially some of the fashions, the use of StopMotion on the ED-209, and the [[OurGraphicsWillSuckInTheFuture crappy computer graphics]]) and themes (consumerism, the War on Drugs, [[ThereAreNoGoodExecutives free-market capitalism run amok]]) which make it a biting satire of the Reagan era. Of course, those themes are [[HistoryRepeats just as applicable today when viewed in the context of the late 2000s economic crisis and the failing auto industry, rising unemployment, and high crime rate in Detroit.]]

** A sizable portion of the film's fans love the film for its gratuitous ultraviolence. Said film is brutal satire attacking (particularly American) media for glorifying and commercializing violence while ''real people'' living in ''real cities'' are struggling with ''real violence'', and implies that the only people who can stomach such violence are insane and sadistic criminals, and those so scarred by violence that they've lost their humanity.

** One of the earliest fans to misunderstand this part may be Creator/FrankMiller, who wrote ''Film/Robocop2'' as a fight between Robo and PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad.

* MisaimedMarketing: Despite its ultraviolence and very adult themes, and a brief spoof of the commercialization of violence to children with the ''Nukem!'' board game, the movie was nonetheless used to produce toys, a sunday morning cartoon, and a [[Film/Robocop3 third installment]] that was openly aimed at children. The [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EYyzXMOX0AI0KV1?format=jpg&name=medium meeting]] of UsefulNotes/RichardNixon and Robo at an act of the Boy Scouts of America where the latter was promoting the release of the film in home video may be the epitome of this trope.

* TooBleakStoppedCaring: While it's not as bad as [[Film/RoboCop2 the sequel]] in this regard, the original film can still fall into this for some viewers due to its violent nature, venomous tone, and extremely [[CrapsackWorld crapsack]] setting. Essentially, no matter what the titular cybernetic lawman does, his world will still be an impossibly depraved hellhole dominated by {{corrupt corporate executive}}s, [[DirtyCop corrupt law enforcement]], and [[AxCrazy crazed psychopaths]].

* MisaimedMarketing: Despite its ultraviolence and very adult themes, and a brief spoof of the commercialization of violence to children with the ''Nukem!'' board game, the movie was nonetheless used to produce toys, a sunday morning cartoon, and a [[Film/Robocop3 third installment]] that was openly alimed to children. The [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EYyzXMOX0AI0KV1?format=jpg&name=medium meeting]] of UsefulNotes/RichardNixon and Robo at an act of the Boy Scouts of America where the latter was promoting the release of the film in home video may be the epitome of this trope.