“Part man. Part machine. All cop. The future of law enforcement.” RoboCop was a 1987 film starring Peter Weller in the titular role and infamously featured Kurtwood Smith (That ’70s Show) as the villain Clarence J. Boddicker. The plot of the film revolves around a fatally wounded cop who is turned into a powerful cyborg to fight crime in a futuristic and dystopian Detroit. RoboCop was a critical and box office success that spawned two (less impressive) sequels and eventually became an iconic 1980s action flick.
For a while now, MGM has had RoboCop on its list of films to be rebooted/remade for the next generation. Because of their legal problems, RoboCop and other pictures like The Hobbit and Bond 23 were put on hold. The Hobbit and Bond 23 are once again greenlit and under production, while the future of RoboCop was still unclear. However, Total Film reported over the weekend that MGM is now ready to move the film back into production.
While I am more open to the reboot/remake craze than others, I still share the opinion that Hollywood has taken it a bit far. However, if there was ever a time to remake an 80s classic like RoboCop, now is the time. More than just an action flick, RoboCop was a prophetic satire on our own society. Ripe with violence (especially by the film’s protagonist), RoboCop portrays a futuristic Detroit where the law enforcement is privatized while soulless and conscious-less machines are preferred over human interaction and judgment. This kind of message seems more relevant today than ever; and with a backdrop of Detroit, the poster city for current U.S. hardship, RoboCop seems destined for resurrection.
Rise like the Phoenix
A reboot will surely provide an update to the stop-motion animation that was featured in the 1987 film; and while fanboys will surely groan at a CGI update, it will be exciting to see what 25 years of updated technology can provide to this film. The biggest concern I see with the film is not the effects however, but the direction it decides to go. As previously stated, RoboCop is much more than an action film. In order to be successful, MGM has to be firm on maintaining the message and tone associated with the original (and keep the hard R rating). Although Darren Aronofsky will likely not be involved because of his commitment to the Wolverine film, his rumored association to the project provides hope that the studio does want to remain faithful to the source material. Here’s to hoping everything we loved about the first movie lives on in the remake because…
...Dead or alive, you're coming with me.
Chris and Pac Take on Hollywood 
I really enjoyed this movie. I just hope they don’t mess it up as they have been known to lately. I’m not that open to remakes (hello, can we get some new (quality) content, please?), but I’ll take a good remake over a bad original any day.
Well at least it is MGM and not Platinum Dunes doing the remake so Michael Bay should be far away from this remake. In response to your comment about new quality content, here’s an article you might enjoy…
http://www.cracked.com/article_19012_5-hollywood-secrets-that-explain-why-so-many-movies-suck.html
as if!