The Best Robocop Movies
Let's rank the Robocop movies from best to worst!
Movie franchises are great as they are basically a story that never really ends due to their great story lines and beloved characters that captivate audiences. People tend to get involved in the story and will always want to learn how each character grows and how the story will evolve, hence the long lines for movie sequels. Franchises like Terminator and Rocky started in the eighties and made it into the new century, and have since kept the crowds coming back for more. However, not all franchises are successful box office hits. Just like a lot of things, they also experience ups and downs, and RoboCop falls into that category.
A noteworthy fact about the RoboCop franchise is that it went beyond films and made its way into digital media, TV series, and then into video games. Many Robocop fans still remember playing the old 8-bit video game back in 1988, and now there is an online slot game at Ladbrokes which uses the original film’s branding and imagery. At one point, two franchises were combined in a single game – RoboCop Versus The Terminator. In 2023, RoboCop: Rogue City video game will be released and is based on the original trilogy for shooters to engage in an exciting law enforcement adventure.
Whilst games, television series and movie sequels help keep the character alive, it’s the films that are the core product, and they’ve varied in quality. If you’re not familiar with the films, here are the four ranked best to worst.
1. RoboCop (1987)
The first release of the franchise was by far the best – the original RoboCop. The movie took place in a violent Detroit with the sinister corporation Omni Consumer Products winning a contract from the government to privatize the police force. Street cop Alex Murphy was killed in the line of duty and was later resurrected into the cyborg law enforcement prototype, RoboCop. When he learns about his master’s evil plans, RoboCop turns on them and engages into violent action scenes and crosses paths with psychopathic bad guys. The classic action film was an epic masterpiece.
2. RoboCop 2 (1990)
For the most sequels don’t match up against the originals, and RoboCop 2 is one of them. In this film, the cyborg policeman Alex Murphy is the only officer on duty after the police force goes on strike against Omni Consumer Products. Murphy attempts to fight the crime boss Cain and his evil forces. While the film was made with creative ideas and does have funny moments, there are many flaws which make this film far from great compared to its predecessor.
3. RoboCop (2014)
The 2014 RoboCop was a confusing remake – was it going to continue with the original theme of dark comedy and wit? Or was it going to be an entirely new artificial intelligence sci-fi thriller? The movie ended with no answer to these questions. Our previous review of the “new” Robocop with black armor and a red eye slit concluded that it wasn’t a terrible flick, but it is a forgettable one, which is still a crime to the enduring memory of the original film. As the story line goes, Detroit cop Alex Murphy is critically injured in the line of duty, just like the original, only the action and fight scenes were bloodless, boring, and to say the least, genuinely awful.
4. RoboCop 3 (1993)
While the 2014 remake was boring, RoboCop 3 lacked movie magic all together and was an insult to the original film. The story is about the Omni Consumer Products corporation trying to replace Detroit with its dream project, Delta City. RoboCop joins the civilian resistance and fights against O.C.P.’s forces and robots. What makes this sequel so bad is – everything! It was a low budget film with poor action sequences, and to top it off, RoboCop was played by someone else who was a complete embarrassment to the character Alex Murphy.
Movie franchises are a wonderful way to keep audiences involved over the years. However, movie sequels should be carefully done so as to give justice to the original film.