Reviews

Interesting fact: there are several posts on the original film's message board, but as of this writing there none (other than my own which is just a copy of this review) on this film's board. You have to wonder why that is. I mean the first one is enjoyable trash but, and let's be honest, it is a real piece of crap and most likely only Hammer fans and lovers of bad films will sit through to the end. Besides the opening hostage negotiation and a couple of amazing moments of sexism, it is the kind of film you put on and then go and do something else, perhaps opening a book and occasionally looking over the edge of the page to remind yourself that, yes this is still happening. But dammit it's enjoyable enough, and I have certainly seen worse in all qualities.

Black Cobra 2, though (and forgive me if I am misremembering, but I think the 'the' preface is a new addition), is just a fantastic little film. Yes, it's still trash but it easily stacks up against similar fare Hollywood were putting out around the same time and for a while afterwards. The Hammer is back and his entrance, while not quite as hilarious as before, is arguably better. Certainly it establishes the recurring motif of the cigar which, correct me if I am wrong, was not in the original (and if it was, certainly not to this degree). I don't know, maybe I missed it in-between the book I was reading. It's fine though, because as well as the probable increase in the cigar factor, the cast is great, the action is great, the script is brilliant and the score is amazing.

Now when I say the cast is great, what I really mean is this. Naturally the Hammer is great, and he seems a lot more into the proceedings this time around. Then we have Nicholas Hammond who was a great surprise, and made me want to dig out the Spidey episodes I have recorded somewhere. I really can't seem to remember who the villains were besides generic thieves, I'm sure Scorpion or Doc Ock may have been in one episode; I will have to do some research into this important matter. As for the rest, Emma Hoagland was alright when her hair wasn't a repulsive distraction (which to be fair only happened once), and I am shocked to see that Edward Santana has, according to this website, only appeared in three films. And one of them is probably archive footage. Now I haven't yet seen Black Cobra 3 (I am saving that for the weekend), but he delivered everything one could hope for from a angry police chief. I would have enjoyed it even more if he had asked for Malone's badge and gun and shouted "now cut that s**t out!" when Malone slammed his fist on his captain's desk demanding to be put back on the case, but I understand why this classic scene didn't make it as the plot had other ideas. I also very much doubt he has only appeared in three films. Lastly, Oscar Daniels - who portrayed the pick-pocket at the airport who later winds up dead - looking at his resume makes me want to watch Among Thieves, a short film he appears to have written, edited and directed.

When I say the action was great, I mean it was better than the first film but was pretty generic I suppose (apart from the Hammer doing his own bad ass stunts, and also it was pretty cool when he snapped that dude's neck). Oh well, I still liked it, and the AWESOME guitar and synthesiser score complimented it superbly. Oh and on that score, yes it was great but holy crap the repetition. Oh well, I didn't get sick of it when it looped for the fifth time, so I guess that's something.

But probably the biggest improvement (other than the transfer on the copies of Black Cobra 1 and The Black Cobra 2 I have) was the script. As in, it was actually good. Well, I say good, but it definitely was loads better and obviously a vast improvement over the stale or often non-existent dialogue of the first film. There were a lot of fun lines, and also nice little touches like the old maid grumbling to herself in the hotel before Hammer and Nick find the pickpocket's corpse.

And how can you not enjoy the two man assault on the school at the end. Sure, there was absolutely no kids, teachers, classrooms or signs of learning whatsoever, but just watching them climb up the elevator shaft was more exiting than a dozen Die Hards. Okay that is the praise on the cover of the region 2 Tartan release of Hard Boiled, but when the Hammer smashed through the window and blew like six guys away with a shotgun you got to admit that was pretty bad ass.

About my only complaint was that the tom hits in the score never really amounted to any real sense of musical progression, that the crappy love ballad the girl sings in the club was used as the end credits son instead of a cheesy rock ballad (even the same song from the first film would have been better), and lastly that at no point that I can recall did the Hammer end a statement with, "ya dig." Also it would have been nice to see his cat again. Maybe Malone has leaned to clear away those red tins so Pervis doesn't get mad again.

Al in all top class entertainment.

John Woo's most... interesting venture into Hollywood was also his first. Now whatever the stories about the making of this film, even if Woo had complete control I seriously doubt the film would have been any better, seeing as though Van Damme didn't develop acing skills until very recently. I actually think that the film would have been worse had Woo had complete creative control - pretty much all the action is excellent and if he had attempted to do anything focusing on performance with JC it would have gone tits up. Therefore - and despite John Woo being my favourite director - I think the Van Damme cut we got instead is the best this film is going to get. Sure there is the work print version which is like twenty or so minutes longer, but (from what I have heard - I haven't actually seen it) only a few minutes of that was action and violence, the rest being character or story driven stuff which, quite frankly, I don't give a smeg about, and which would have been impossible to do with his lead.

What we're left with then is a film where Van Damme gets to say really silly things like "Now take your pig-stick and your boyfriend, and find a bus to catch" whilst posing like a bad dude. Plus he gets to kick the absolute crap out of a lot of people, and shoot even more. Also, about those posing shots, I'm guessing Van Damme had control over the music as well, as it is always guitar masturbation whilst Jean Claude and his mullet look out over the horizon.

Some of Woo's trademarks remain however, although some have been modified a bit. The hero dealing vast amounts of death with a pistol in each hand is still there and, shock!, we even see him reload; the explosion propelling someone along the floor ready to murder is there; even the opposite window gunfight from Hard Boiled is there; and even the doves are there, although there is only one and it's a... well, pigeon.

Regardless, Hard Target is a truly amazing film about a man and his hair cut fighting a war against cheese. Plus, not only does Lance Henriksen feature prominently, and not only does he have what is probably the best death scene ever, not only that, but his coat catches fire and he keeps on acting, refusing to let petty things such as third degree burns get in his way.

Hard Target is without a doubt my favourite of John Woo's American films (even though Face/Off is clearly so much better) and is indeed a personal favourite of mine when it comes to cheese cinema.

I think about the only complaint I can muster is that we don't get to see Van Dammes's tight arse.

Big words, perhaps, but in this case they are undoubtedly true.

To compare RoboCop to films such as Casablanca, The Godfather or Rain Man would be foolish, but it easily ranks with these classics, even though it of course a very different film.

RoboCop is probably looked upon as simply another sci-fi action film. A very good one, perhaps, but no more than that. To those who don't know a lot about films it is indeed probably a rather silly film about a man in a tin can shooting people. Indeed, on the surface, it pretty much is. Looking deeper the film it is clearly something of a revenge film, about a cop who is brutally murdered and comes back to avenge his death. But at the heart of the film, RoboCop is a story about the human spirit and how, despite however many mechanical additions are made to a person, they are still the same man underneath.

Murphy is a regular cop, with a wife who he loves dearly and a son who he loves and tries to make happy, even if it is just through the simplest of things like imitating his son's favourite television character. He is of course though brutally murdered by a gang of thieves, and when he returns months later, is a cyborg law enforcer(a product of corporate America, in essence) who, despite the best efforts of the company who 'built' him (OCP), underneath all of the fancy new equipment he is still the same cop that began the film. Indeed, on his very first day on active duty (before he sets foot out of the police station, even) Murphy displays that, as he holsters his gun the same way as he had been practicing for his son.

Slowly RoboCop, still only suspecting his true origins, pieces together his life as Murphy, and in the final act of the film, eventually comes to the inevitable conclusion that he was Murphy, and indeed still is Murphy.

Thus, RoboCop is not simply a ghost in a machine, he is in fact a human being; the very same human being who started the film, albeit in a different body.

As for RoboCop ranking up with some of the greatest films ever made, the answer is relatively simple. Now that we have discovered the true meaning of the film, we then realise how well put together the whole film actually is, from opening to closing. Not a scene is wasted, as every line spoken and every bullet fired (of which there are a lot) contribute to the film in a way that most action scenes do not.

Whilst the same can be said for a lot of films (from Shawshank to Road House) it cannot usually be said for an 80s Action film, especially one that is predominantly played so seriously. Indeed, there are only a few times when the film invokes moment of excess and comic book-style violence. But this is always to get the point across. The ED-209 boardroom sequence, where the robot malfunctions and utterly obliterates a member of the board (and the following line "somebody call a paramedic!" when the man had been shot hundreds of times), is simply showing how warped corporate America has become. The same can be said for many of the films most violent scenes, such as Emil not only melting alive from the toxic waste, but then being run over and exploding like a water balloon, and even Murphy's own death at the hands of Clearance's gang, where Verhoeven just pushes the scene into ludicrous proportions when Murphy's entire right arm is blown off; although it is a scene of horror, when the arm goes one is almost forced to laugh as it is simply so silly. The violence isn't there to be 'cool,' it is a metaphor for the ridiculousness of many aspects of American society.

And unlike most robot/cyborg films, the central character is not an unstoppable, cool and morally correct individual. RoboCop is a flawed human being, encased in a metal shell, trying to come to terms with his new existence (never has an actor invoked such a tearful performance using just his jawline), and whose actions are often morally ambiguous; for example, every time he stops a crime he does a lot more damage than the criminal was doing (destroying the convenience store, blowing up the petrol station etc.).

The political and social satire, the brutal graphic violence, the tragedy of the main character, the special effects (which at the time were groundbreaking, and really haven't dated too badly at all), the brilliant main theme and the message of the film all place it among the very best that cinema has produced.

Paul Verhoeven is a master director, and RoboCop is undoubtedly his (American?) masterpiece.

To conclude, then, RoboCop is an action film with a heart, so much so that it is in no way shameful to cry at the last exchange of the film:

"Nice shooting, son. What's your name?"

"Murphy."