RoboCop: What's better, the original or the remake?

It’s been nearly 27 years since ‘RoboCop' first exploded onto our screens. With its biting satire, highly-stylised violence, and endlessly quotable script (“Cops don’t like me, so I don’t like cops”) Paul Verhoeven’s sci-fi action film became a huge cult hit, a brand arguably as recognisable as ‘The Terminator’.

[The future tech of 'RoboCop' is happening today]

But, thanks to a few dodgy sequels, a number of attempted TV ports, and countless video games appearances, the franchise was like Alex Murphy after his showdown with Boddicker – broken, defeated, clinging on to life.

But now, Murphy is back, with a shiny new suit, new plot, new characters, pretty much new everything, thanks to ‘Elite Squad’ director Jose Padilha. Here’s how the original stacks up with the 2014 reboot.

Dead or alive, you’re coming with us.

Alex Murphy

Peter Weller vs Joel Kinnaman
Alex Murphy is quite literally the beating heart at the centre of franchise. Peter Weller was an already-established movie presence when he played Murphy thanks to a starring role in cult sci-fi comedy ‘The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension’, but Swedish-American actor Joel Kinnaman, the new guy, is a much more unknown quantity. He’s well established in his homeland, but his biggest role to date is in AMC’s Scandi-drama 'The Killing’.

We’re going for Weller over Kinnaman.

The wife

Ellen Murphy (Angie Bolling) vs Clara Murphy (Abbie Cornish)
Officer Murphy’s backstory plays a much bigger part in the new ‘RoboCop’. We see a lot of Murphy with his wife and son before he gets maimed, and Aussie actress Abbie Cornish’s Clara Murphy plays a pivotal role in Alex Murphy’s transformation into ‘RoboCop’.

In the original, Murphy’s family are just minor characters written out of the story in a cruel twist of fate, giving RoboCop his thirst for justice and revenge against those responsible for his life-altering wounds.

We’re giving the point to the more rounded character.

The bad guy

Clarence J. Boddicker (Kurtwood Smith) vs Antoine Vallon (Patrick Garrow)
The epitome of 80s crime paranoia, Boddicker is cunning, conniving, and cruel. “Can you fly, Bobby?” he chillingly asks his injured comrade before tossing him into oncoming traffic. Smith’s Boddicker is one of the most memorable screen villains of the era, but the same can’t be said of the reboot’s Vallon.

[Car ad spoofs British movie villains]

The comparison is unfair however, as Garrow’s character is merely a pawn in a larger conspiracy in the new film, but still, the point goes to the original for being so damned quotable.

The partner

Anne Lewis (Nancy Allen) vs Jack Lewis (Michael K Williams)
Murphy’s partner gets a gender and race switch for the reboot, and while we have a major soft spot for Nancy Allen’s flinty Officer Lewis, we’ve got to admit, anything with Michael K Wlliams gets a vote from us. The star of TV's ‘The Wire’ and ‘Boardwalk Empire’ has been threatening to break through into Hollywood’s A-list for some time, and we hope ‘RoboCop’ is the role to do it for him.

Sorry Nancy, Omar Williams has our vote.

Goofy guy on TV

S.D. Nemeth (Bixby Snyder) vs Pat Novak (Samuel L Jackson)
The original had the “I’d buy that for dollar” guy popping up on TVs throughout the film spouting his catchphrase surrounded by ladies like a maniacal Benny Hill. The phrase is a reference to the 1951 dystopian sci-fi novella ‘The Marching Morons’, which features an inane game show with the signature phrase “Would you buy that for a quarter?”. The new film features Samuel L. Jackson as an outspoken TV anchor, who pops up actually acting as a Basil Exposition character for the story.

We’re calling this one a draw.

The pioneer

Bob Morton vs Dennett Norton
Putting a man inside the machine is a pretty bold move, so it takes a brave man to take that leap. The original had Bob Morton (Miguel Ferrer), an OCP director forced to bring his project to life after the launch of the ED-209 goes disastrously wrong at a board meeting.

["Money" attracted Gary Oldman to 'RoboCop' role]

The new film however, has Gary Oldman in a more Dr Frankenstein-esque role, who helps nurture Murphy back to mobility while questioning the moral reasons for doing so.

Oldman wins, hands down.

The corporation

OCP vs OmniCorp
Where OCP was a scheming mega-corporation with plans to demolish Detroit and take over the police force, OmniCorp is a much friendlier proposition. More concerned with public well-being and opinion polls than world domination, OmniCorp wants to bring its war-fighting drones onto the homeland, but has CEO Raymond Sellars (Michael Keaton) got what it takes to take the conglomerate to the next level?

OCP wins this round for sheer wanton evilness.

ED-209

Old vs New
The bipedal robot armed to the teeth with huge gattling guns was a terrifying prospect in the original. The boardroom scene with its unforgettable countdown (“you have 10 seconds to comply”) put the fear of machines into people even more effectively that two Matrix sequels ever could.

We’re going to vote old-school on this one, mainly because ED somehow manages to fluff his lines in the new one.

Vehicle of choice

Car vs Bike
For the original movie, RoboCop’s ride of choice was the futuristic looking Ford Taurus. The Taurus actually returns for the reboot, albeit a much newer model, but Murphy himself opts for an armour-clad motorbike.

The half-ton hero behind the wheel of a car always looked a bit odd (does he need to wear a seatbelt?), so his switch to the motorbike of the new film makes much more sense for mobility.

Our vote goes to the Robo-bike.

RoboCop

Old outfit vs new outfit
There was a bit of furore online when spy-shots spoiled the reveal of RoboCop’s new suit. It was too black, too Batman, too silly many argued, but actually the updated look grows on you in the movie. It makes much more sense to place Murphy in the sleekly designed suit which starts off silver (like the original) before opting for a “tactical” black number.

Yes, the old one was iconic, but we’ve got to admit, the new one is pretty slick, plus you get a much better sense of Murphy’s sacrifice thanks to one gut-wrenching body-horror scene.

Draw.

The action

1987 vs 2014
The original is brutal. Like, really brutal. People are melted with toxic waste, thrown from moving cars, mercilessly maimed, and pulverised to a pulp by wave after wave of bullets.

[12A rating for 'RoboCop' confirmed]

The new version is much more savoury, with the distributors opting for  a safer (and more family-friendly) 12A rating, but it still has enough visceral thrills to warrant its “action” label. This is in no small part thanks to Brazilian director Jose Padihla, who cut his teeth on documentaries and the badass crime dramas ‘Elite Squad’.

Our action vote however lies with the original.

The music

Basil Poledouris vs Pedro Bromfman
As was the fashion in the late 1980s, ‘RoboCop’ has a regular orchestral score underlined with some synth stylings. The main theme is memorable having endured the sequels, so it’s no surprise that Pedro Bromfman reprises for the new film albeit in a much more bombastic beefed up manner.

Heavy dub step beats underscore the theme this time around, so for that reason we’re voting for Poledouris’ original score.

The swearing

18 vs 12A
According to IMDB’s parental guide for the original, there are 22 uses of the F-word and repeated use of words like s**t, b***h, and damn, plus the lord’s name is taken in vain at least a dozen times. In accordance with keeping with the BBFC’s 12A rating, Padilha’s new take contains “infrequent strong language”.

[The funniest movie swear edits on TV]

We counted at least one use of the F-word and a bleeped out "motherf***er” from guess who? Samuel L Jackson obviously.

Of course swearing is neither big nor clever, so we’re calling this a draw.

The verdict

Reviews have been mixed so far, but the general consensus is that the new 'RoboCop' has plenty to offer to fans of the original and newcomers alike. You're bound to be disappointed if you go on expecting an OTT gore-fest, but this is a remake with brains, if not literal ones splattered across the screen.