Robocop (18): Paul Verhoeven: The Hollywood Years
Sat 09 Aug 2025 (note: this event has already taken place)
7pm
€10.50
103 mins | United States 1987 Director: Paul Verhoeven Starring: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen and Ronny Cox It is the near-future, which finds Detroit on the brink of collapse. In financial ruin, the city grants the mega-corporation Omni Consumer Products (OCP) control of operating local law enforcement. Patrolman Murphy becomes the 32nd officer to be killed in the line of duty since this takeover, but this tragedy is the opportunity that OCP have been waiting for. From a laboratory emerges a part-man, part-machine with a body of reinforced titanium, it has no memory and a programmed mind. This is ROBOCOP - the future of law enforcement. Paul Verhoeven’s filmmaking career began in Europe and lasted over 20 years there. During this time he made TURKISH DELIGHT, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and is still the most successful film in the history of Dutch cinema over fifty years later, and the acclaimed WWII epic SOLDIER OF ORANGE. But with the frustration of working within the confines of the Dutch film industry and wanting to work with bigger
budgets, he decided to move to the United States. Verhoeven chose ROBOCOP for his American debut and the result is a bold and audacious sci-fi action movie with a strong satirical edge.There have been sequels, remakes, a television series and even an animated show for children(!), but none of them have captured the power of the original. It ranks as one of the most notable science fiction pictures of the eighties. “ROBOCOP is timeless…it’s a brutal classic that is consistently provocative and timely.” Film Inquiry Paul Verhoeven: The Hollywood Years
This summer Triskel Arts Centre presents a season of films dedicated to one of the most divisive, controversial and successful directors who worked in American cinema during the late 20th century: Paul Verhoeven. The Dutch filmmaker made his stateside debut with the original ROBOCOP in 1987, a bold and audacious sci-fi action movie with a strong satirical edge. The same can be said of his next picture TOTAL RECALL, starring one of the era’s biggest stars Arnold Schwarzenegger. The steamy sex-charged neo noir thriller BASIC INSTINCT came next, one of the most financially successful films of 1992 worldwide. His followup picture SHOWGIRLS was a failure at the box office and was trashed by the critics when originally released but has come to be recognised as a biting satire of the entertainment industry. Verhoeven helmed STARSHIP TROOPERS next, a violent futuristic sci-fi tale which takes a cautious look at extremist militarism and propaganda. These movies will all be screened over five consecutive Saturdays in August.
