I'd Buy That for a Dollar: The Robocop (1987) Villains Were a Thug Above

Although there are countless reasons to celebrate the genius of Verhoeven's Robocop, one of the things that made this film so enjoyable for me as a teenager in the 1980s and as a father of two now was the relentlessly maniacal and entertainingly evil henchmen led by Clarence Boddicker (Kurtwood Smith). We are used to seeing outrageous and near-unstoppable villains - every hero needs a worthy opponent. What made the Robocop crew outstanding, and especially Clarence, were the myriad bits of personality that came through and elevated them from mere future body count and into real (evil) characters. Could Peter Weller's faceless, supra-human alter-ego seriously be realistically challenged by anyone? Yes, indeed. While they are the apex predators of a lawless Detroit, they still show fear and experience pain well before they end, humanizing them. Those filmmaking choices raised them to the level of realistic antagonists.Clarence Boddicker is a great movie villain. He looks more like a pencil-necked shut-in than a cold-blooded psychopath. Glasses-wearing, almost scrawny, a little long in the tooth with a marked receding hairline, Smith is both unnervingly intense and borderline out-of-control. His performance was so complete for me that I could not disassociate his Boddicker from his (not too dissimilar in some ways) roles in Dead Poets Society or even That 70's show. His Joker-like grins, his icy ferocity, and his ability to effortlessly slip between the two made him special. That Smith could do all of that so effectively while working from his particular non-villain physiognomy is a testament to his skill. From pulling the pin to Bob Morton's (Miguel Ferrer's) party-ending grenade with his tongue, to maliciously (how was that even possible) tasting Sal's (Lee De Broux) wine with two fingers, to the perfect cadence of "The Tigers are playing TO-night . . . (I) never miss a game," to handing out Cobra assualt canon state-of-the-art bang-bangs to his gang like a proud and tolerant father, he is always believable. Even after he cracks while being Mirandized (again seamlessly shuttling between aggressive and scared, he recovers enough to spit blood on the police ledger while being booked, "Just give me my fuckin' phone call" Fantasic. Boddicker was a terrific terror, and he got a perfect, spurting end. Here's the factory scene with some of Smith's best moments: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcPElnvb6bIEmil Antonowsky (Paul McCrane) supplies an even more focused sadistic counterpoint for Clarence. The "You a college boy?" scene sets the tone for his character, and his tremendous "I LIKE IT," after getting his giant new gun cements it. Emil has an unfortunate encounter with Robocop before the final act, yet recovers well enough to enjoy a few child-like moments in front of the TV watching, "I'd buy that for a dollar." Emil also suffers one of the best bad guy deaths in film - first getting tenderized in a vat of toxic waste before being mulched by Clarence's SUX 6000 and, in a fitting tribute, has his bodily goo wipered away. His raspy moan and wheezing "help me" moments before his death seems like a logical line, but it carries real weight. How often as a bad guy completely humbled and helpless before being killed? (I'm sure it happens elsewhere, just not often).Leon Nash's (Ray Wise) coked-up party guy - people really did wear shoulders like that in the 80s - takes a Robo-foot to the crotch mid-film and is then pulled wailing out of a club by his hair. Leon's low scream and look of absolute horror at Emil's squishy, Edgar suit-like state in the final act, "Ahhhhhh Don't touch me, man!" flesh out what would have otherwise been a less relevant character. Here's the final showdown between Robocop and the Boddicker gang: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsUCU56UW-wJoe Cox (Jesse D. Goins) added a cackling laugh and delivered his lines halfway between squeaky and sassy, "Does it hurt, does it hurt?""A new toy, can I play?" Typing those lines can't do them justice. Poor Joe suffers the disappointment of watching Clarence (goaded by Leon) blast his new 6000 SUX to pieces, and is later thrice used as a human shield by Leon. In the factory scene, he even falls funny.The 6000 SUX scene is a great example of what made these performances so effective: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaQI8g4NJoI Is there any doubt they were glad to see one another? If you make a scant few changes to the script, they're doing their final act loadout as the good guys. One can also make the case for ED-209's humanity, as he tentatively looks to find his footing in the stairwell and then, failing, cries like a baby on his back.Dick Jones (Ronny Cox) is a much more one-dimensional character as written, even though Ronny Cox was equally adept at good-guy roles (Deliverance, 1972) (Beverly Hills Cop, 1984). If anything, he is more controlled here than he was as Cohaagen in Total Recall (1990) (His dressing down of Michael Ironside in that film, "Who told you to think?!? I don't give you enough information to THINK! You do what you're told. THAT'S what you do." is still one of my favorite small movie moments. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8bwfwJy4qE)I don't want to leave out Calvin Jung, who played Steve Minh, who had the misfortune to be the one henchman killed mid-film.This is all necessarily opinion, submitted for fun and discussion.TLDR: Lots of great casting and script choices in Robocop elevate the bad guys into real characters, making their impact on the hero and the resolution of the film more complete, believable, and enjoyable. via /r/movies https://ift.tt/2WlN7VC