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‘RoboCop’ (1987) With Bill Simmons and Kyle Brandt

August 5, 2025 · RoboCop (1987) · Action · Crime · Sci-Fi · 1:54:15 · ▶ Listen on Spotify

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Categories

Apex Mountain

Bill Simmons▶ 15:44Paul Verhoeven — Paul Verhoeven - his six year run of RoboCop, Total Recall, and Basic Instinct, calling it a nice 15 year run overall
Bill Simmons▶ 1:28:45Rapid-fire calls: Ford Taurus — yes; RoboCop as massive 1988 VHS rental; Lisa Gibbons — not yet, her own daytime talk show was her apex; Peter Weller — yes ('this is all I got'); Verhoeven — no, Basic Instinct is his; Christ-arms movie deaths — Platoon; Nancy Allen — no; Ronnie Cox — yes (this and Beverly Hills Cop II the same year); Kurtwood Smith — That '70s Show
Kyle Brandt▶ 14:11Jerome Bettis — Detroit in 1987 - cites Jerome Bettis as best high school football player, young Eminem, Barry Sanders coming in 1989 draft, says it's tough to beat until Jared Goff Lions win a Super Bowl
Kyle Brandt▶ 1:29:54Agreed Weller ('Absolutely') and called it Ronnie Cox's Apex Mountain; Detroit's apex the early-90s Bad Boy Pistons/Barry Sanders era; Miguel Ferrer probably this; futuristic cop movies — still Blade Runner

Most Rewatchable Scene

Bill Simmons▶ 32:03The ED-209 demonstration scene where it malfunctions and kills Mr. Kinney
Bill Simmons▶ 45:28The ED-209 boardroom malfunction scene — 'when the movie really grabs you by the balls and takes in... we're coming for a ride' — picked even though RoboCop isn't in it
Craig Horlbeck▶ 45:45The OCP boardroom/office scenes with the loser office guys — the guy saying 'that's life in the big city'
Kyle Brandt▶ 45:12Bob Morton's apartment scene — 'a perfect scene of sex, drugs, rock and roll. And Verhoeven was just cooking'

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Kyle Brandt▶ 38:38Do you think anywhere there is ever a police officer who's tried that move because they were inspired by RoboCop? I fucking hope not.

Big Kahuna Burger Award

Bill Simmons▶ 56:09The organic food paste that Robocop eats - tastes like baby food, made out of parsnip, tomato puree and crushed Butterfingers bars

Butch's Girlfriend Award

Bill Simmons▶ 1:07:38The 2014 RoboCop remake - says don't remake movies when the original is still really good and it creates confusion
Craig Horlbeck▶ 1:05:27Agrees the movie could use more scenes but thinks it's tight as is - specifically mentions wanting a scene of Murphy with his family at the beginning and a scene where Murphy's wife finds out he's RoboCop
Kyle Brandt▶ 1:04:39The movie is too short at 102 minutes - wants 5-10 more minutes and two more scenes (a chase scene with the big guns and a scene where RoboCop visits his own grave as Murphy)

Overacting Award

Bill Simmons▶ 1:11:44Miguel Ferrer — Miguel Ferrer as Bob Morton
Kyle Brandt▶ 1:11:52ED-209 robot

Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

Bill Simmons▶ 1:15:10Kyle Brandt would have been a great RoboCop and could have had this role in his acting career
Kyle Brandt▶ 1:13:17The movie chokes at the end with the terrible Dick Jones monster puppet fall shot out of the window, which ruins the entire film's craftsmanship

Casting What-Ifs

Bill Simmons▶ 1:16:32James Remar — Discussed alternate casting for Alex Murphy (Schwarzenegger, Ironside, Rutger Hauer, Tom Berenger, Armand Assante, Keith Carradine, James Remar) with James Remar as favorite choice, and Steven Seagal as RoboCop for recasting couch
Kyle Brandt▶ 1:18:01Steven Seagal — Steven Seagal as RoboCop (enthusiastically embraced Bill's suggestion with detailed improvisation about metal ponytail and Seagal dialogue)

Dion Waiters Award

Craig Horlbeck▶ 1:21:24Buy that for a dollar guy
Kyle Brandt▶ 1:21:12ED-209 (3 scenes)

Hanks or Cruise

Bill Simmons▶ 1:30:58Tom Cruise — Cruise - says Cruise is way funnier and would be better in the role
Kyle Brandt▶ 1:31:24Tom Cruise — Cruise - agrees with Bill that it's probably Cruise despite Hanks having more cop experience

Is This Movie Better With

Bill Simmons▶ 1:41:19Mike Breen — Mike Breen calling the ED-209 killing Kenny scene with his signature 'Bang!' calls
Kyle Brandt▶ 1:40:50Gus Johnson — Gus Johnson calling the RoboCop shooting through the woman's legs scene

Coach Finstock Life Lesson

Bill Simmons▶ 1:45:40You can kill somebody, but you can't take their humanity
Kyle Brandt▶ 1:45:46Put blanks in ED-209 the next time - don't do live weapons demos in boardrooms

Best Double Feature

Bill Simmons▶ 1:46:11The Terminator — Suggests multiple pairings: Terminator with RoboCop ('double robot it'), or RoboCop with other Verhoeven films like Starship Troopers or Total Recall
Kyle Brandt▶ 1:46:24Discusses the Terminator/RoboCop pairing extensively, focusing on alleged copying between Cameron and Verhoeven films, but doesn't give a clear final pick

Who Won the Movie

Bill Simmons▶ 1:47:42Paul Verhoeven — Paul Verhoeven - agreed with Kyle's pick
Craig Horlbeck▶ 1:47:51Praised the movie's layered messaging and villains but didn't give a specific 'who won' pick - focused on Verhoeven's direction and villain performances
Kyle Brandt▶ 1:47:34Paul Verhoeven — Paul Verhoeven - 'the horny, blood-soaked Dutchman' who 'absolutely cooked in every single sense'

Movies Referenced (65)

Starship Troopers (1997)

7 mentions · Kyle Brandt, Bill Simmons▶ 16:54IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Total Recall (1990)

6 mentions · Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt▶ 15:44IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Basic Instinct (1992)

5 mentions · Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt▶ 15:44IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Blade Runner (1982)

5 mentions · Kyle Brandt, Bill Simmons▶ 15:09IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Predator (1987)

5 mentions · Kyle Brandt, Bill Simmons▶ 6:28IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt▶ 13:34IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Rocky (1976)

3 mentions · Kyle Brandt, Bill Simmons▶ 8:53IMDb ↗Lb ↗

True Romance (1993)

3 mentions · Kyle Brandt▶ 1:10:35IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Batman (1989)

2 mentions · Kyle Brandt▶ 1:39:23IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Boogie Nights (1997)

2 mentions · Kyle Brandt▶ 1:20:57IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Dead Poets Society (1989)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 20:29IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Full Metal Jacket (1987)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt▶ 18:46IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Directors Referenced (5)

Paul Verhoeven

30 mentions · Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt, Craig Horlbeck · Known for RoboCop, Black Book▶ 2:58IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Wes Anderson

3 mentions · Kyle Brandt, Bill Simmons · Known for Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Royal Tenenbaums, Isle of Dogs▶ 1:22:04IMDb ↗Lb ↗

John Carpenter

1 mentions · Craig Horlbeck · Known for Dark Star, Halloween▶ 1:48:27IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Jonathan Kaplan

1 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 1:16:10IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Phil Tippett

1 mentions · Kyle Brandt · Known for Starship Troopers, Jurassic Park, RoboCop▶ 46:35IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Actors Referenced (72)

Peter Weller

26 mentions · Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt, Craig Horlbeck · Known for RoboCop, Naked Lunch, RoboCop 2▶ 24:43IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Edie Lehmann Boddicker

20 mentions · Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt · Known for Avatar: Fire and Ash, Dune: Part Two, Wicked▶ 20:38IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Steven Seagal

11 mentions · Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt · Known for Under Siege 2: Dark Territory▶ 1:17:21IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Mary Hart

10 mentions · Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt · Known for Swing Vote▶ 43:28IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Kurtwood Smith

7 mentions · Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt · Known for Broken Arrow, RoboCop▶ 19:57IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Arnold Schwarzenegger

6 mentions · Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt · Known for Terminator 2: Judgment Day, The Terminator▶ 6:34IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Miguel Ferrer

6 mentions · Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt · Known for Traffic▶ 19:57IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Nancy Allen

6 mentions · Bill Simmons, Craig Horlbeck · Known for Dressed to Kill, RoboCop▶ 22:16IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Neil Patrick Harris

6 mentions · Kyle Brandt, Bill Simmons · Known for Gone Girl▶ 17:12IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Kyle Pitts

5 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Killers of the Flower Moon▶ 1:53:17IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Harrison Ford

4 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, The Fugitive▶ 1:13:09IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Joel Kinnaman

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt, Craig Horlbeck · Known for Suicide Squad▶ 25:23IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Writers Referenced (7)

Richard Nixon

6 mentions · Kyle Brandt, Bill Simmons▶ 54:55IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Edward Neumeier

4 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for RoboCop, Starship Troopers▶ 10:06IMDb ↗Lb ↗

James Cameron

3 mentions · Kyle Brandt · Known for Avatar, Aliens, Terminator 2: Judgment Day▶ 1:46:30IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Roger Ebert

2 mentions · Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt▶ 26:01IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Michael Miner

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for RoboCop, RoboCop 2▶ 1:25:18IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Ricky Gervais

1 mentions · Kyle Brandt · Known for The Invention of Lying▶ 37:16IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Taylor Worst

1 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 1:11:39IMDb ↗Lb ↗