Grimlock ♥ Ultra Magnus

LOL.   That picture of Morton on that script page.   Somehow, with very little detail, he manages to look just as smug as he is on screen...

Meanwhile, wow.   This is pretty in depth.  It's mostly pictures so far, with very little writing.   But what  has been actually text has gone into what makes Robocop's world so compelling, from an in-depth look at the economics of the Bush era that influenced the corporate feel of Robocop's Detroit, to the way that Miner was such a hippie that he brought in a lot about the counterculture that protested the Vietnam war.   (And I'm not being insulting, or not trying to: Miner calls himself an old hippy.)   

Of course, I knew a little bit about this.   See McNamara in the original Robocop movie, McNamara's involvement in Vietnam via Wikipedia, and knowing that Miner was into that counterculture?   Yeah, that makes sense.  I can't remember where, but I'd heart that McNamara was named after Robert McNamara - possibly in the director's commentary on Robocop?   ScreenPrism's article confirms it: " For example, the scientist who introduces the monstrous ED-209 to the OCP board of directors is intentionally named McNamara, after Robert McNamara who served as the Secretary of Defense under President Lyndon B. Johnson.  In fact, ED-209’s design was based on the Bell “Huey” helicopter, an American gunship used in the Vietnam conflict."   It's about Robocop working as satire, but I added the quote for those who don't want to read the whole thing and want the confirmation.

If you've watched the commentary track on Robocop's DVD, you'll hear the director, Veerhoven, talk about a lot of things: how graphic Murphy's death is cartoonishly gory, for example, because he lived in Europe during WWII.   While he wasn't seeing this, he was aware of it, of the austerity, of how things like chocolate weren't readily available.   He lived through a traumatic time and that's the reason that death scene is so bloody and violent.   (Also, he believed that making it so over the top made it unrealistic; he didn't want a super realistic scene, probably because of what he knew was happening in Europe as a child. I believe he said it was also sort of a way of shielding himself/others, in that they could look at it, accept it as unreal because it was just too much.   Although I haven't seen that for a while and may be projecting; do not quote me on Veerhoven saying that, please.)   The scene where the police - men and women - change together was a subtle nod to a society that, overall, was more equal as far as the genders went according to Veerhoven.   (Again, it's been a while but I think the implication was that no one got sexually harassed or raped because it was like, hey, naked people changing because it's a thing we have to do and we're not objectifying each other.)

So the thing is that Robocop plays like a super violent revenge fantasy.   It's fun enough that you don't have to have all these things to unpack to enjoy it.   A lot of the satire and the things you can unpack are really, really subtle.   I did not pick up on what that changing scene was supposed to mean until I had the director explain it to me via commentary.   Some, like McNamara, needs knowledge of historical events.   (I knew about the Robert McNamara connection; I did not know ED-209 looked like the Huey, though, so you need even more to get that.)   I knew Veerhoven was a smart, and thoughtful man, because I'd heard him speak on the commentary and realized he had a lot to say about humanity, the way we interact with each other, and how history - particularly your own - influences what you do.  I realized Miner and Neumeier (the co-authors of the first movie script) were clever because I knew about McNamara, and some of the subtle satire they were playing with other that.   I knew they were concerned with the environment, commercialism, and war and violence because of what I'd seen in the movie. 

Still, reading about it all, I realize just how clever and smart and compassionate they were.   Yes, they wrote this super gory movie, but they filled it to the brim with commentary about our world, humanity, and what we do to each other in the pursuit of personal wealth.  There's something special about hearing Miner talk to this, where you go, 'yes, I knew you had to be like this.'

The truth is that the author of this book has a lot to work with.   Even so, he goes out of his way to really try to unpack not only the movie itself, but what shaped it: our world, the personal interests and history of the people who wrote the first movie script, and so on and so on.  

Meanwhile, the images continue to be just as lushly printed, and of course the paper is the same thick, glossy beautiful stuff that's been used before.   The choices of images continue to be fascinating, from behind the scene shots of Murphy's death letting you know how much work went into this scene, to more script pages and some gorgeous stills.   I wouldn't even be mad if 2/3 of this book was just luscious images of one of my crushes.   

And as much as I adore the original Robocop and hate the ridiculous reboot, damn, he looked slick and I am going to black out in pleasure when I get to that hotness.