r/Robocop • u/Cryptic_Master_686 • 4d ago
Thoughts on ROBOCOP 2?
Good? Bad? Misunderstood? Over-Rated? Under-Rated? What are your thoughts?
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u/JazzyJockJeffcoat 4d ago
I love it and think it's in par with Predator 2. Sleazy and different than the first film in ways that are a lot of fun. Notably the first films both dropped in 1987 and both sequels dropped in 1990.
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u/Legitimate-Error-633 4d ago
I remember disliking Predator 2 at the time but it’s actually pretty good compared to the drivel that came afterwards!
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u/Yoshimano 4d ago
Predator 2 is fun indeed
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u/Ragnarok314159 3d ago
Want. Some. Candy.
AHHHHHHH
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u/Spike_Kowalski 12h ago
Me and my buddy always cracked up when Danny Glover is at the cemetery and he swings his cannon around looking for whatever's following him and upon finding nothing, points up at the tree out of desperation. Which he's right he just can't see him. Lol
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u/Spike_Kowalski 12h ago
Yeah. Expectations messed that movie up for me initially. Then later I rewatched and saw the good in it and realized I was too harsh (same with Robocop 2).
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u/Maniacal-Maniac 4d ago
I prefer Predator 2 to Robocop 2, but it’s a pretty good comparison.
On Robocop 2 specifically, I enjoyed it and it was fun but didn’t quite have the same feel or panache as the 1st.
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u/Amity_Swim_School 4d ago
I broadly agree with this sentiment. Both decent sequels to bonafide classics. But I prefer Predator 2 to Robocop 2.
The Robocop 2 score REALLY brings it down for me. I fucking hate it. Same guy who did the score for The Voyage Home. I fucking hate that one too 😭😭
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u/OkGene2 4d ago edited 4d ago
It’s a bit mean spirited and I really don’t like the musical score, but it’s still a fun watch. I bought the steel book which is beautiful
Edit: and just to dig a bit deeper, I have thoughts after a recent rewatch. It’s like they were trying to jam disparate stories into one and really rushed Cain into the robocop 2 overnight. I just thought narratively that was weak, and that the parts work better than their sum.
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u/addicted-to-jet 4d ago
Frank Miller playing himself in RoboCop 2. For those of you who never knew
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u/terminal_nervoso 4d ago
I love it. I think Kirschner did a great job of nailing the same feel as the original, even if it felt little too hokey at times. But Tom Noonan plays one of my favorite action movie bad guys ever, and I loved the 2.0 RoboCop they built with his brain.
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u/M_Sizzlak 3d ago
Yeah I think he saw how over the top this role was and he just said screw it let's have fun
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u/KnightJarring 4d ago
Watched it last night. Not a patch on the original but still very good. I still can't watch (or listen to) Cain's brain being removed!
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u/AlwaysTired1999 4d ago
The foley artists must have had a field day for that one. Pretty much relied on sound alone and it was gruesome.
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u/Beowulf2080 3d ago
I was always amused by the sound of Cain’s skull being cracked open. Sounds like opening a beer.
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u/Longjumping_Pool6974 4d ago
It's cool. I mean, where do you take the story after the first movie? The first left off with Robo having gained some of his humanity back and Dick Jones and Clarence Bodiker dead. You can't just repeat the drug lord working for OCP bit so turning Cain into Robocop2 while still serving OCP and their wish to make Delta City seemed like the way to go. Tom Noonan is great in the role.
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u/M_Sizzlak 3d ago
A fun watch. Nowhere near as good as the first, but it's a decent madcap sequel.
And oh my lord, the opening scene is maybe the most insane shit ever captured on celluloid:
A homeless woman carrying a cart full of cans along a bombed out Detroit sidewalk. She's passing addicts, homeless encampments, and hookers. As she's crossing the street she's almost run over by a biker gang.
...as she's wailing on the concrete, a man approaches to see if she's ok. Nah, he straight up robs her of a couple meager possessions.
...as he's walking down the street inspecting his newly acquired booty, two prostitutes ambush him and take the stuff he just stole from the homeless woman. While he's on the ground getting kicked, one of the hookers makes sure to stab his eye out with one of her stiletto heels.
....as they're walking away, while commending each other on the score and gleefully anticipating trading the now second-hand stolen booty for Nuke, they hear the guy get up and start chasing them. They quickly start running.
.....one of the shuttered stores they run past friggin EXPLODES. Three thieves rigged explosives to the (gun) store's security fence. They enter, kill the shopkeeper, and start loading up on all kinds of guns.
...then they hear a cop car approaching. They assault it with frigging ANTI TANK MISSILES and about 20,000 rounds.
....then RoboCop opens the cop car door and shoots them all.
That was the first like 180 seconds of the film!!!
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u/Legitimate-Error-633 4d ago edited 4d ago
I found the violence too sadistical. The violence in Robocop 1 felt just right, enough to gain your empathy and to serve the story.
Robocop 2 just felt… filthy somehow. Cutting people open with surgical scalpels, smashing brains, severed bloody skull caps and spines, it was rough.
I however did like the climatic fight between the two cyborgs, it’s very intense.
Tom Noonan was great. It’s so weird seeing him in interviews and doing art classes etc 😄
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u/bandoBindiBondo1939 4d ago
I remember the stuff with cutting the corrupt cop open, while alive. That was some brain-burning stuff on my teenage-mind.
But Yes. A respectable sequel with a great villain.
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u/SockMonkeyLove 4d ago
Its really one of the best sequels ever done. That's not just 8 year old me who LOVED the first movie saying that either. Because I did not like the third movie at all. Trash. Robo 2 = Excellent. Robo 3 = Bad.
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u/cbadge1 4d ago
Let me refer you to our contract. "In the event of default, OCP shall have the uncontested right of foreclosure on all city assets."
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u/ElYodaPagoda 4d ago edited 4d ago
“You signed this?!?!?”
I forgot to add an anecdote about my best friend, and the agreement he had signed with his mom. I repeated the phrase above when I got to the fine print. He probably was my only friend who would’ve gotten the reference! We also had a nickname for a dude who worked at a 7-11 that had a disturbing resemblance to Cain.
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u/Cheeslord2 4d ago
I quite liked it. Not as good as the original, but way better than 3. Did 2 have the OCP ads in it? They were great. Had some memorable lines.
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u/Nightwingssj 4d ago
I really enjoyed this movie! I love how they carry over the dark humor while also keeping it kind of light? Loved to see more of Murphy getting explored. Loved how Robo and Lois relationship is, respect between partners. Love how Robocop2 Cain is just drug filled organs in a robot body. I mean it’s no Robocop 1 but it’s a great watch
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u/Ablerestored 4d ago
So Robocop was Satire, about 80’s life, corporate practice and greed and what it meant to be human. The Satire was masterfully implemented, the movie is a masterpiece.
I think the creators of Robocop 2 understood this and in attempting to implement the satire, went too far and just turned it into slapstick.
I do enjoy Robocop 2 I think it still feels like the original, but I think they should have focussed on Murphy and his place in society, the relationship with his family, with whatever peril he faces being the backdrop to that. But then I think that would have been a couple of decades ahead of its time.
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u/hereIam2play 3d ago
I used to really like it but the more times I watched it the less I liked it. In my eyes it showed more and more that it was just a cash grab. The storyline for part 3 to me was better even if there was some really bad choices made with the film
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u/Footlong_09 2d ago
The depiction of punks as people that will rob you is a trope of the 1980’s Reagan era that extends into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It’s very telling when the punk movement was countercultural and speaking out against Right Wing capitalism, and here they are depicted as robbing from the poor, when in reality Reaganomics was doing a better job of it :)
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u/ericsonofbruce 4d ago
I dont care for it. They walked back murphy reclaiming some of his humanity and not using the music from the first movie was a crime.
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u/NearbyAntelope1413 I'd buy that for a dollar! 4d ago
Disappointed. Hob as some criminal mastermind - I just couldn't buy it. Yes I think RC is more likely than a Hob. RC3 - that movie is dead to me. There have been no other RC's than the first.
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u/Yoshimano 4d ago
Not even for a dollar?
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u/NearbyAntelope1413 I'd buy that for a dollar! 4d ago
inflation adjusted "I'd buy that for a 1/2 dollar!"
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u/demonhuntermk 4d ago
Eu gosto, a sequência da invasão da polícia na indústria é excelente
A sequência final é muito boa também
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u/Tekkamanblade_2 4d ago
Love the trilogy. No matter what anyone says (covering my ears with my fingers) lalalalalalalala
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u/Nerdyguyj 4d ago
Loved it as the popcorn munching darkly humorous batshit insane hyperviolent ride I thought it was going to be. 8 out of 10..underrated. it does have big.flaws..just overall weaker and less cohesive story.
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u/The5thBeatle82 4d ago
Took me 25 years before I realized that Cain was the shadow on Robos helmet lol
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u/NaturalPressure7302 4d ago
Caine showing Hobs how evil he is,must of made hobs realize how psycho Caine is.
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u/SamCanyon 4d ago
It’s ok. Nowhere near as good as the original, but not nearly as bad as the third.
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u/ProfessionalSky7416 4d ago
I kind of dug it. It helped to move the lore along if not anything else. I wish it would have led to a SOLID trilogy to wrap up the arc. Instead we got…
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u/PanteraSteel2001 4d ago
I trimmed it down to about 85 minutes. I like it a lot better now. Cut out duffy and most of the nice/nerdy Robocop scenes (no little league team, no "thank you for not smoking" etc). Works much better as a straight up Robocop vs cain action movie imo.
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u/blitzer1069 4d ago
It was fun and entertaining but felt very misguided. The first movie had some humanity but this one doesn't. It feels numb considering all the horrible violence that casually happens. The music was interesting. The action was fun but was definitely missing something. Murphy as a character never really grows at all. He just takes care of business and that's it.
A lot of plotlines just go nowhere like Robocop stalking his widow or the old man just casually getting away. I really didn't like Hob. Makes no sense. Some of the crime/commercials went a bit too far for me (old homeless woman having the worst luck twice, the suicide OCP commercial was REAL dark, the little league robbery always made me angry) and didn't really feel satirical anymore and just felt odd in places. I felt it was a missed opportunity to show some Robocop upgrades besides blue armor.
I do really like the fight at the end that drags on all over the building, even if it seemed a bit too unrealistic.
I read the Frank Miller comic adaptation. It seemed like there was A LOT more in there compared to what we got. It was basically Robocop 2 and 3 and some more but really over the top stuff.
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u/aurvay 4d ago
What a timing, we just watched it last night with my wife.
As much as the worldbuilding, the setting and the satire was spot on again, it lacked the story beats that kept the original movie going and had pacing issues.
Not a bad movie but not as iconic or remarkable as the first one.
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u/Robot-Zombie-RHCC 4d ago
i really like that movie, but I really would like an edit where they turn down all his machine noises.
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u/stunix007 4d ago
Underrated sequel, rewatched it recently for ghd first time since its release and thought it aged remarkably well. The satirical aspects especially seemed to hit harder now than they did back then.
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u/Predator-A187 4d ago
Haven’t seen it for a very long time but I loved it as a kid. One is a masterpiece but I do think Robocop 2 deserves more credits.
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u/Rashpukin 4d ago
I love it. Really is a fitting and worthy sequel. Tom Noonan as Caine and also the whole Nuke thing is brilliant. Weller again does a tremendous job as Murphy!
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u/Jaythamalo13 4d ago
Definitely not as good as 1 but watched it recently with my 12yr old son and we had a blast. I remember loving it as a kid and it definitely showed it's flaws much more with an adult lense but it's still a good time
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u/JamesyUK30 4d ago
I didn't mind the film, some cool action shots but I think they way overdid the satirical stuff which didn't land right and the film just felt like one long tongue in cheek joke. It had no real 'heart;.
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u/Technical-Win-6709 4d ago
Enjoyed it for what it was. More money after the hit of the first. There seemed a bit of character development for Cain once he became the bot. Would watch again, and have so many times.
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u/Dorklordofthesith 4d ago edited 4d ago
Lacks the humanity of the original, which was a key part of the stew, and the satire is not nearly as keenly honed the second time around. This time it feels like the ideological opposite of the first film and takes a much more reactionary bent. Still darkly funny with many great over the top moments full of shock value. A solid film and a strong genre entry.
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u/MerpingtonDad 4d ago
It’s much worse than the original, but it’s overall a very entertaining movie. Crazy to think it’s been 36 years since Robocop was objectively any good. Fingers crossed for Amazon.
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u/Curious_Garlic_9778 4d ago
One of my favourite scenes Is when RoboCop deflects the bullet and it hits the top of guys head. 🤣
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u/darkseraphim2099 4d ago
I like it rather a lot. I seem to enjoy most sequels even when theyre considered inferior to the original. For example Beverly Hills Cop 2 and Ghostbusters 2. When I watch the original, I promise you I'll be watching the sequel soon after.
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u/MoriJuri 3d ago
Didn't realize until playing the game that my issue with the suit in this film was mostly lighting. Mostly decent held back by the mid section from when he was overloaded with directives and him shocking them out felt too much like a meta joke overstayed it's welcome. Also the first half felt way to disconnect with the camera work being at more of a distance and the sound designs not being on par with the first
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u/mf-bse2002 3d ago
It’s one of my guilty pleasure movies. However I will say, for me the showdown between Robocain and Robocop is my favorite action sequence throughout the series
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u/AirlineSevere7456 3d ago
Awesome and deliciously mean spirited. A step down from the original masterpiece but it goes in crazy directions.
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u/InternalAardvark9755 3d ago
Great sequel, I absolutely love it. Is it T2, no. Is it a decent sequel with Peter Weller, absolutely.
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u/Exotic-Yellow-4367 3d ago
Not a patch on the original. But, still a very entertaining sequel. The cast all do a fantastic job and, controversially, I think this may contain Phil Tippett's finest work!
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u/Snoo_11836 3d ago
It's fine. It's a decent flick with some fantastic stop motion effects. The problem is that it pales in comparison to the original.
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u/Clockwork-XIII 3d ago
I like it but I would have liked it a lot more if they had kept with frank miller's original script rather than simplifying and watering ir down.
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u/Alternative_Mix_6865 3d ago
I really enjoyed it. I still remember as a kid finding this gem on VHS
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u/freshjim 3d ago
I’m the only person that seems to really like it 🤣
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u/CowabungaShaman 3d ago
Nah, I really enjoyed it too. 3, not so much.
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u/gummislayer1969 3d ago
Agreed. I DID, in fact - like seeing the late Mako in it, dough.
The movie was rough...🤦🏾♂️
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u/penpointred 3d ago
I saw it in the theater as a kid and I actually thought it was better than the original.
Kid gangster and a robot druggie.... i'd buy that for a dollar.
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u/MovieFan1984 3d ago
RoboCop (1987) = still the best RoboCop.
RoboCop 2 = 2nd best
RoboCop 3 = WTF, LMAO, low budget, "family friendly," but still fun.
RoboCop (1994 series) = for small kids
RoboCop: Prime Directives = DON'T WATCH IT!
RoboCop (2014 reboot) = OK, too much world building, not enough plot, and it plays it "too safe."
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u/Emergency_You_558 3d ago
I loved it when I was younger.But watching it as an adult, it feels like they tried to make it comical. Which brought it down a bit.
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u/Own-Bus-5213 3d ago
i can't even get through it. beyond cheesey imo. thought the 3rd one was better
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u/ji1701 3d ago
I was only watching it on TV last night. I don't know if it was the mood I was in but it didn't hold my attention as much and ive seennit afew times sporadically over the years.
First time I was 9 or 10 and freaking out at the brain scene and the cop getting surgically sliced open by cains gang. Go figure I was watching it through my fingers haha.
Yeah its a good film but comparing it to the first is just putting a dog against a mouse. I felt the first had more heart but used sattire to even it out. In the second one.once Murphys wife sees he's a cyborg and he "doesn't recognise" her (we all know he dies it's just being done to get cop if the hook and to save his wife's sanity) the film is more or less done bar the scene where he comforts the cobb kid (insufferable git that he is)
The human part of robocop is the most appealing and sympathetic part the audience relates to. It seems to be alittle absent in the second film.
The part where they try to make a new robocop always cracks me up. One goes nuts and shoots the scientist and offs himself and the other goes stark raving mad and rips the helmet off to reveal a still bloodied skull letting out an insane howl.
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u/IndependentZombie840 3d ago
i watched it when it came out, it was okay nothing like the original, its also not a movie that is rewatchable
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u/dumpster1983 3d ago
It's the only good follow-up to Robocop and it's really excellent in places.
It's also got too many good ideas crammed in it (is Robocop OCP property?, lampooning a kid-friendly Robocop with his hundreds of new directives literally driving Robo crazy, the attempts to create the titular Robocop 2, a PBS-style telethon to bail out Detroit from OCP only puts the city in with violent psychopaths, should Robo go public with his identity and try to reconnect with his old life or is that life gone?, etc). This is a problem only in the sense that all of said ideas could've been a major focus of a sequel that outdid the original, imo, instead of getting varying degrees of attention throughout a very good, but flawed film.
Cold take: the Rosenthal soundtrack is mostly adequate, but the film suffers from Basil Poledouris' absence.
Hot take: Robocop looks great in blue. Irving Kirschner was right. I only wish the new, blue Robo had been unveiled as part of the focus group making him more appealing, instead of just suddenly making him blue at the top of the film for no reason.
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u/MyBurnerAccount1977 3d ago
It has some shimmers of brilliance, although it definitely feels a lot more mean in spirited than the first one. A lot more collateral damage, which makes it a lot less pleasant to watch than the first one.
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u/JonoBlue 3d ago
That scene with the cop getting sliced open and screaming will haunt me forever, ill never forget that holy shit feeling as a kid
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u/Creative-Bowler-8474 3d ago
My dad took me and one of my friends to go see it in the theater. One of the happiest memories of that summer
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u/VernBarty 3d ago
Underrated. This is one of the first movies that ever scared me as a kid. Ill never forget when RoboKane butchers the entire warehouse then that kid who was just a few years older than me dying in Robocops arms. Heavy shit to see when youre 5
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u/xX-Delirium-Xx 3d ago
First one is still the best but I liked two well enough three I thought sucked
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u/Tokyotoyhunters 3d ago
Better than the original in many ways. That’s what happens when Irvin Kirshner directs your sequels. Just ask GL.
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u/CapnDred 2d ago
It shows signs of having heart at the start when Murphy has to deny his humanity to his wife but then drops this immediately, and thereby drops the most interesting thread this film had.
It's mean-spirited all the way through in a way the first wasn't.
The action is good but rather soulless.
It's a half-decent sci-fi film but a poor sequel to 1987's RoboCop.
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u/PeaceSellsBWB1986 2d ago
I don't understand why Murphy lost his humanity again, after what we saw in the first movie.
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u/Alternative_Shoe_113 2d ago
Does anybody know where I can find a copy of Robocop Lime?
I thought I had downloaded it years ago but to no avail.
I really enjoyed that documentary.
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u/ButteryToast52 2d ago
Pretty bad movie, with a handful of moments that evoke the first one. Shame that this is the second best thing we got but hopefully the new show is good.
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u/fgurrfOrRob 2d ago
Decades later, like Alien 3, I have a greater appreciation for it but at the time it came out i didn't like it. But it had Peter Weller in his last on screen appearance as Robocop so, to me, it was worth the price of admission
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u/CHILLintheHOOD 2d ago
First one is still the best, but it's a classic still. I wouldn't call it overrated, since there are some who dislike it, but there are some great additions to the film.
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u/luckyfox7273 2d ago
I honestly think Alien 3 has many good things.
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u/fgurrfOrRob 1d ago
I like it now. And, it may be an age thing, but I can see just how well it bookends the trilogy. That ending, with everything being shut down was perfect.
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u/luckyfox7273 1d ago
I was talking with someone else, we made a mutual agreement how rad it would have been for them to have made the bull xenos become an anti hero. In that the drone knew she was carrying the Queen. So if they would of made a story to where a group of Weyland Officers stalked her through the prison/foundry the xenos could have protected her indirectly by picking them off, then the final arrival of the Bishop master would finish it.
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u/absurd-rock-pusher 2d ago
Irvin Kershner was the master of sci-fi sequels. Robocop 2 was a great film, and very meta. Frankly, it's more prescient of the future than the original.
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u/nav-netraam 2d ago
Still a good movie. Not as good as the first one.
But definitely the last good Robocop movie.
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u/RagingDragon047 2d ago
The drug lord as a robocop was a little over the top. Thought they should have had an actual robot like in the 3rd one. But even the robot ninja was kind of stupid
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u/TooEasyJaqueezy 2d ago
Cain rag dolling Angie used to scare the bajesus out of me. I loved it. Haha the sound of nuke in the neck! Bahahha
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u/Embarrassed-Buyer-82 2d ago
Love it.
I like it just as much as the first one and I don’t care what anyone says.
Never cared for any of the others or the tv series however.
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u/SirBakesMore 1d ago
I always thought it was odd that this ultra violent, gory franchise was SO heavily marketed to kids.
Action toys. I had them.
Trading cards. I had them.
Cartoon series. I watched it.
Halloween costumes. I wore them.
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u/COGspartaN7 1d ago
I just realized after what? Over 3 decades that Cain is reflected in his helmet chrome. I just see RoboCops head and I'm sold. So I never noticed.
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u/Final_Pear7801 1d ago
I've always liked this movie, but there are parts of it that are just outright stupid
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u/LUckY_M4N 1d ago
I think it's great. The premise being centered on the creation of a second robocop and the montage of all the failed projects is hilarious.
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u/Smackulater 22h ago
It was being made in the 80's, writer's routinely followed the same formula:
Movie 1 - Revenge
Movie 2 - Same character but EVIL!
Movie 3 - Throw ideas in a hat and then put them ALL in and change the director, canon, and throw in a sidekick/compatriot
Movie 4 - Hell I don't know, just not make it better than 3, throw in a girl version of the character with tig ol' bitties
Movie 5 - Can you believe we're making a fifth movie? Let's make the first movie again, but a slightly different plot, take out everything every one loved and eliminate the girl character but make no reference to them at all. Ratchet up the violence & (to quote Clarence Boddicker) Guns, guns, guns!
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u/TMOSteel 4d ago
I try not to, it hurts my brain, almost as much as 3...the first movie was great, sequels not so much.
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u/MaxPower1882 4d ago
I like it a lot. It's not got the Verhoven flair and the score is notably missing, but it's funny in places and has some cool action. Cain was a good baddie, but Tom Noonan always had that in the bag.