Paul McCrane – Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers

Robocop, 1987

Welcome back to another edition of Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers! The boys are taking on another fan-favorite, a movie that has become an absolute cult classic for a generation of filmgoers. This week J. Blake and Dion Baia discuss the future of law enforcement and OCP’s Crime Prevention Unit 001, aka Robocop, from 1987.

RoboCop

The fellas rebound quickly after some technical difficulties but quickly get down to business, attempting to unpack this legendary film that just turned 30 this very week. Dion and Blake reflect on their connections with this classic and their first exposure to this iconic film. They go through the history behind the project and lay out how all the stars aligned to make a movie that almost didn’t get made. The lads cover the amazing SFX within the movie, be it Practical, Visual and Stop-Motion. They compare the two cuts of the film, and discuss the subtle differences that had the censors going crazy. They contrast the difference between visual and visceral filmmakers and how that translates to a young child watching something like Robocop who might not understand the social satire, as opposed to an adult who may see this story in a completely different light. So, since modern audiences are of course familiar with the iconic title ‘Robocop’ because it has transcended into the Urban lexicon, but out of context, did it actually sound like a B-movie script to some in the mid-1980s? What were the legendary problems with the robo-suit that actually shut down production so all the flaws could be ironed out? How many times was Robocop screened before it was able to receive an R rating and remove the scarlet letter X? And did the forced cuts that were made to appease the MPAA to get that R rating actually take the gratuitous violence (which was meant to satirize) out, and instead turn it into something completely different and all that more disturbing and graphic for audiences? Well grab your Cobra Assault Cannons, your tickets to see Bixby Snyder and the keys to your new 6000 SUX’ (all of course installed with Blaupunkts), because we’re headed to Old Detroit in this all new episode of Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers!

EXTRAS:

Check out the original Robocop trailer, complete with the original 1984 Terminator score used in the background, since the former’s score wasn’t yet completed!

Watch Peter Weller get suited up in the Robo suit on Entertainment Tonight circa 1986!

Take a look at this great 1987 featurette on all the Special Effects for Robocop!

Have a look at Peter Weller in 2013 talking about how portrayed the character of “Robocop“.

Watch this great 2013 Robocop Q & A panel, set up by Nancy Allen, for a charity to benefit the weSpark Cancer Support Center.

Here is the first, brand new 2017 trailer for the epic documentary, RoboDoc: The Creation of Robocop, coming later this year.

Last and far from least, check out all the specs on the various modified weapons in Robocop on the Internet Movie Firearm Database or IMFDB.com!

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Category: Action, Classic, Comic Books, Fantasy, Police, Sci Fi | 2 Comments

October 2

The Blob, 1988

Here we go! Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers is working double time in October, delivering one horror film a week in celebration of Halloween! To start this insane marathon off the boys have picked a fan request, a remake of a classic property that scared SNMS‘s own Dion Baia so bad when he first saw it in the cinema that it scarred him for life. So along with his partner-in-crime J. Blake, they’re gonna have a massive therapy session to exorcise all those 35mm demons forever. The boys are all in this week as they examine Chuck Russell‘s film The Blob, from 1988.

They compare and contrast this from the 1958 original, analysing the updated themes (and SFX for that matter), seeing if this scary mass of crimson ooze is scarier and even craftier than it’s predecessor. Does this 1980’s film hold up to the more cynical and critical standards of today? How does this stack up against the other 1980’s creature-features that dealt with the same kind of ideas, i.e. foreign invaders wreaking havoc on helpless, isolated victims? Will doing 1 podcast a week for the month of October to celebrate Halloween burn Blake and Dion out? What other surprises lay ahead within a month of terrifying, unbridled horror? Hell, will they instead over stay their welcome? Well come check out another exciting, hilarious and informative episode of Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers to find out!

EXTRAS:

Check out the surprising graphic trailer for the 1988 film!

Here’s the 1988 Cinefantastique article on The Blob, a retrospective of it and the original cult classic film.

Take a listen to the complete Soundtrack!

Have a look at the little known, an even lesser seen trailer for the 1972 sequel to the original 1958 film, entired The Blob 2: Son of the Blob aka Beware! The Blob!, directed by none other than Dallas‘ own Larry Hagman!!