RoboCop: A Thriving 80s Sci-Fi that Deserves the Best from Prime Video

(Photo courtesy: Pixabay.com)

Back on September 25th 2024, entertainment media outlets were given the press release that Amazon’s Prime Video is pushing ahead with a TV series based on the beloved 1987 sci-fi action thrill-fest RoboCop. Naturally, retro fans got very excited, just as we do whenever we get to experience the franchise all over again. The press release detailed that seasoned and versatile showrunner, producer, and writer Peter Ocko will be taking the helm. Still, with expectations high due to the IP being in a very good place right now, Prime Video will need to step up to deliver.

A Legend of the 80s and Pop-Culture

Paul Verhoeven’s RoboCop has stood the test of time for a great many reasons. Of course, the design and depiction of RoboCop is iconic, and it’s filled with quite shockingly violent sequences, but all of this plays into the satire and critique and, similarly to Blade Runner, it explores what it means to be human through the sci-fi lens expertly. It’s loaded with well-timed wit and subversive turns. RoboCop fits best into the police movie genre, but makes full use of the scope permitted by a futuristic Detroit as predicted in the 1980s.

Like so many 80s classics that remain popular to this day, it was made on a relatively quaint budget of $13.7 million. It’s said that about $1 million of that went into the suit, but that didn’t make it comfortable for lead actor Peter Weller. He reportedly lost a good three pounds per day in the 80-pound RoboCop getup. They also had to pivot from six specially-crafted Chevrolet Camaros after they’d been built because Weller couldn’t fit in them, switching to mud-damaged Ford Tauruses instead. In the end, it all came together, powered by tight writing.

RoboCop Still Prowls the Streets of Entertainment

RoboCop hasn’t had a big-screen outing since 2014, in a movie that largely underperformed, and yet, everyone knows who RoboCop is and, quite possibly, what his Prime Directives are. Since its 1987 inception, the IP has spun off in every direction, from sequels to a remake, and all other kinds of merchandise.

Playing to its 1980s original audience, there is even an online casino site where RoboCop is a top-ranking game among the Branded selection of slots, picking up the hit slot mechanic of Ca$h Collect, just as the Gladiator slot has done. Everything about the game is built to immerse players in the original film’s setting, including animations incorporated straight from the 1982 classic.

RoboCop has remained an active IP, and it’s prompted some to turn back to the reboot with more affection. After all, the star-studded cast of the 2014 film has only become more impressive down the line, and considering its neutered PG-13 rating, it’s fine on its own terms. That said, future installments of the series would need to pivot back to an R rating to appease the main fanbase that revolves around the 1987 original. 

A Prime Directive for Prime Video

They say it’s going to be a new version of the RoboCop storyline, but we know how these nostalgia-baiting projects based on retro classics go after seeing the likes of Alien: Romulus, any Lucasfilm project since 2015, and what’s become of the Terminator series. The show will likely use similar leitmotifs from the original film, key-jangle some familiar imagery, redo some iconic scenes and set-pieces, and they won’t be able to resist reusing lines (which will be entirely out of context). So, will those running the show still be able to weave a coherent and captivating story amidst these mandates?

Showrunner Peter Ocko is experienced in TV, but perhaps not in the lines that would naturally point him toward a RoboCop show. He’s gone from 1990s comedies to comedy-dramas, like Boston Legal, and did some work on the later seasons of The Office. His main venture out leading a pure drama with 3 lbs in 2006 stopped airing after three episodes. James Wan will executive produce via his Atomic Monster studio, but that’ll more likely offer an angle of aesthetic and presentation rather than substantive storytelling.

The big issue is Prime Video’s track record of making TV shows from much-loved IPs. Invariably, poor writing brings down the projects. While Amazon’s money pays for the branding, the new “content” often doesn't stay close to the source material and tends to not tell a coherent story. You only have to look as far as The Rings of Power and The Wheel of Time for examples of this.

RoboCop is in Prime Video’s hands now, and fans of the 1980s hit, its sequels, its spin-offs, and even the somewhat underappreciated 2010s rendition will just be hoping that care and attention is put into the writing while respect’s given to what’s come before.