RoboCop 2 (1990)

Director:

Irvin Kershner

Writers (WGA):

Edward Neumeier (characters) &
Michael Miner (characters) ...

Release Date:

22 June 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

He's back to protect the innocents.

Plot:

A corrupt businesswoman seeks to disable Robocop in favor of her own model of cyborg.

Plot Keywords:

Robocop | Police | Cyborg | Law Enforcement | Android

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Belinda Bauer	...	Dr. Juliette Faxx
John Glover	...	Magnavolt Salesman
Mario Machado	...	Casey Wong
Leeza Gibbons	...	Jess Perkins
John Ingle	...	Surgeon General
Tom Noonan	...	Cain
Roger Aaron Brown	...	Whittaker
Gabriel Damon	...	Hob
Mark Rolston	...	Stef
Lila Finn	...	Homeless Woman
John Hateley	...	Purse Snatcher
Gage Tarrant	...	Hooker
Thomas Rosales Jr.	...	Chet (as Tommy Rosales)
Brandon Smith	...	Flint
Wallace Merck	...	Gun Shop Owner

Runtime:

Germany:82 min (FSK 16 version) | USA:117 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Australia:R (video rating) | Singapore:NC-16 | Canada:R (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Italy:T | West Germany:18 (video premiere) (cut) | Germany:18 (JK/SPIO) (re-release) | Finland:K-18 (cut) (1990) | Iceland:16 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | South Korea:15 | Brazil:16 | Malaysia:18PL | Austria:18 (cut) | Japan:R-18 (laserdisc rating) | France:U (DVD rating) | Argentina:18 | Australia:M | Chile:18 | Finland:K-15 (2002) (uncut version) | Finland:K-16 (1991) (cut version) | Finland:K-16 (1996) | France:-12 | Hong Kong:III | Ireland:18 | Japan:R-15 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | Norway:18 (video premiere) | Norway:(Banned) (1990-2003) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Fourth Ward, Houston, Texas, USA

Company:

Orion Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Cameo: [Frank Miller](One of the screenwriters) Frank the chemist who makes the Nuke drug for Cain.

Goofs:

Continuity: The damage to Robocop's helmet after being burned by the welder isn't consistent with the motion of Cain's mechanical arm.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Magnavolt Salesman: MagnaVolt - The final word in auto security. No embarrassing alarm noise, no need to trouble the police... And it won't even run down your battery!
Commercial Voiceover: MagnaVolt! Lethal Response!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Showbiz Today: (1991-05-18)" (1991)

Soundtrack:

BORN TO BE WILD

And now...a word on nutrition

Robocop 2 is probably the most under-rated and most harshly criticized sequel in history (tying with Predator 2, which came out the same year). Because of a few missing elements from the first and a slightly more cartoonish approach to the violence, the critics and public alike were not pleased and opinions and feelings toward the franchise nosedived with the just plain awful Robocop 3.

Don't con yourself out of a good movie though. Robocop 2 still has the same savage sense of humor, cynical social commentary and character pathos of the first film. It's a hyper-realistic vision of an America populated by gun-loving psychos, a democracy owned by big business and the poverty-stricken addicted to drugs dealt to them by peddlers believing themselves to be the second coming of Christ.

Far-fetched could be the typical way of describing it. Completely-over-the-top would be more appropriate. Empire Strikes Back director Irvin Kershner chucks in as much sadistic violence, deafening gunfire, endless destruction and loss of human life that the film just begs you not to take it seriously.

Some of the blame was placed on writer Frank Miller for the film being more cartoonish than the original. I don't think this is very fair. I read Miller's original script when I was in high school and it is rather different and, dare I say, unfilmable. Robocop 2 himself was not Nuke Lord Caine, the psychotic hippie with delusions of Godhood. He was called Kong, a psychotic cop who pretty much killed everybody he came across. Sgt. Reed and the Old Man died and there wasn't much humor. Screenwriter Walon Green was hired to doctor the script and much of what appears on screen is actually his work. Frank Miller's original ideas are pretty much just left as the framework for the whole movie and some of his story was recycled into Robocop 3 (don't blame him for that one either). Miller was obviously upset with this but was still a good enough sport to appear in the film (keep a lookout for him playing Doctor Frank), though he vowed not to work in Hollywood again for fear of being taken advantage of. Until Robert Rodriguez promised to make good on his Sin City graphic novels.

Verhoven may be gone but Irvin Kershner tries hard to deliver the same mix of mirth and magic and actually does get it right. Basil Poledouris' brooding score is also gone (it returns in Robocop 3) but new composer Leonard Rosenman creates a wonderfully heroic and upbeat theme that suits the film more than Poledouris' moody, tormented score to the first.

Filmed once again in Texas, Houston this time, you really have to feel for Peter Weller walking around in that Robosuit. It must have weighed a ton and he'd be sweating bucketloads inside. There is a particular scene in the film where Murphy is tortured into near-death/destruction that is very hard to watch. But it does lead to him getting a brand-new makeover and those crazy new directives put into his head. The bit where he lectures the Little League kids and scolds the youngsters playing by the leaky fire hydrant (after quoting some very suspicious philosophy) is hilarious.

Robocop 2 is a great movie. Despite problems with the script and story and some slightly dated stop-motion effects it's a brilliant sequel that lives up to expectations. Do listen to the nay-sayers. I don't know what kind of film they were expecting.

And thank you for not smoking!