"Robocop" Is Released

RoboCop is a 1987 science fiction film directed by Paul Verhoeven.

Set in a crime-ridden Detroit, Michigan in the near future, RoboCop centers on a police officer who is murdered brutally and subsequently re-created as a super-human cyborg known as "RoboCop". RoboCop includes larger themes regarding the media, gentrification and human nature in addition to being an action film. It has spawned merchandise, two sequels, four television series, video games and two comic book adaptations.

The film features Peter Weller, Dan O'Herlihy, Kurtwood Smith, Nancy Allen, Miguel Ferrer and Ronny Cox.

Paul Verhoeven's American breakthrough film, Robocop, is an exceedingly violent blend of black comedy, science fiction, and crime thriller. Set in Detroit sometime in the near future, the film is about a policeman (Peter Weller) killed in the line of duty whom the department decides to resurrect as a half-human, half-robot supercop. The RoboCop is indestructible, and within a matter of weeks he has removed crime from the streets of Detroit. However, his human side is tortured by his past, and he wants revenge on the thugs who killed him. The film was later followed by two feature-length sequels and a live-action television series, neither of which were as successful as the original film. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide