The Robocop remake made me appreciate the original's tiny details

I watched the 2014 Robocop remake last week and it got me thinking. Back in the 80s I used to watch the original on VHS and I never noticed how much work went into the little world building stuff. Like the ED-209 malfunctioning during the board meeting, that was a throwaway gag but it set up the whole idea that this tech is untested and dangerous. The remake just has the robot working fine until the plot needs it to fail. The remake also polished out all the grit. Detroit in the original looked like a bombed out wasteland, the remake made it look like a normal city with some bad neighborhoods. I mean the original had that toxic sludge sprayed on that guy's face, the remake was way too clean and safe. It felt like they were scared to be gross or messy. What really got me though was how the remake explained everything. The original never told you how RoboCop's brain worked or why he had those glitches, you just accepted it. The remake spent 20 minutes on his wife and his memories and his humanity, which sounds good on paper but it kills the mystery. Sometimes less is more. Anyone else feel like remakes add too much explanation to things that were better left vague?"

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paigep2014d agoMost Upvoted

Used to think the remake was smarter for explaining things, but watching them back to back really flipped my switch. The original trusts you to figure stuff out on your own, which makes the world feel bigger and weirder. Every time the remake spells something out, it shrinks the story down to just what you see on screen. The ED-209 bit is a perfect example, it does way more work than any of the remake's exposition scenes. Now I get why people say less is more with this kind of movie. The mystery in the original is what makes it stick with you for decades.