Yo…

One of the glorious aspects of having a childhood in the ‘80s is that we were personally invited by these massive corporations and studios to significantly invest in contagious IP.

There’s a reason why Rocky and Friday The 13th and Beverly Hills Cop and so many other movie franchises and characters have numerous sequels. We did that.

You hear all those stories on the news where somebody got in on the ground floor and they invested in Apple or Facebook before it was Apple or Facebook. And now that stock they bought way back in those early days for this go nowhere company is now worth millions dollars. Or even more?

(On a recent All The Smoke podcast episode the boys asked their guest Magic Johnson about his sneaker mistake. In 1979, Johnson turned down a sneaker deal from Nike that included stock in the company, which is now valued at $5.2 billion.

Magic Johnson explained with a laugh: “So, here I am, just winning the National Championship against Larry Bird, and three (sneaker) companies came in; Converse, adidas, and Nike. Nike was just a year or two old. Converse offered me the most money.” Here we go.

He revealed: “So you know when you grow up broke, take the money. Phil Knight came in and said, “Hey, I can’t offer you the same type of money (as Converse). But I can offer you stock.” (Heh in the interview he face palms!) In 1979 did you believe Nike would be able to outlast Converse and adidas? Was there any way to predict Jordan was coming?)

We hear those stories all the time but that’s what it was like in the ‘80s.

We had these incredible characters from Star Wars (yes I know the first one came out in 1977 but it’s blockbuster dominance marked the ‘80s), we had Terminator (1984) and Alien (again…1979 (still counts!) while Aliens was 1986) and yes RoboCop (1987).

We went to the movies over and over and said these characters are fantastic. We rented these movies over and over and said these worlds are remarkable. Please sir…can I have some'mo?

Even when movies like Blade Runner (1982) bombed, it still has (present tense) an impact and a defined influence. Slow as we were to embrace it we eventually adopted it.

Even the smaller movies that (generally) people don’t talk attained distinction. I’m thinking of Escape from New York (1981). It’s actually currently on Amazon Prime for Canadians. I’m not sure on which America streamer it’s currently playing on.

(It’s been at least a decade since I’ve set my "eye" on this John Carpenter classic. I tend to rewatch Carpenter’s They Live (1988) more often. Really dig that one.)

Escape from New York is utterly iconic. (As imperfect as it is: Escape is flawed; it remains an indelible cornerstone of popular culture. Like Rod Serling’s Planet of the Apes.)

Ready for this? It’s 1997 and the entire island of Manhattan is such a hellscape it’s been converted into a giant maximum security prison. That’s amazing from the start. I’m already 100% IN.

And skipping ahead a bit…the President’s Air Force One crashed on this island prison.

Now it’s up to this dastardly rogue criminal former Special Forces soldier Snake Plissken (convicted of robbing the Federal Reserve!) to safely get the President out. Yo. son.

How can you not watch that in the ‘80s?

Your jaw hits the ground; it’s so far over the top there’s no proper way express this.

It sounds dumb. Because it is dumb. But it is also glorious.

I invited you to share your ‘80s memories:

* Which ‘80s are so terrible they become good and you can’t help but enjoy them?

* RoboCop was Rated R: Which Rated R movies did you watch when you were way to young to watch?

* Who would win a fight: RoboCop or Manic Cop (1988)?

No different is RoboCop.

The name alone is dumb. A RoboCop??

I don’t remember why or how I saw this movie. But I remember that as I started watching it, I quickly realized (even as a punk unrefined kid) there were themes. This was not a corny movie but rather a film.

This is a movie that criticizes the American military industrial complex. It is an American satire, hostile to Reaganomics and the treatment of poor people. It smoothly delivers grim and violent news with a smile.

Yes, the premise of RoboCop is completely silly and dumb, but the execution was at such a high level that it became a cinematic classic. It transcended the cheeze. (It was no longer Kraft singles. It was like a really fancy stinky cheese.)

As you know the metallic marvel was born when Officer Alex Murphy was savagely murdered on duty. His death prompted the creation of RoboCop…the latest Omni Consumer Product (OCP for fun…ya gotta have an evil corporation for classic sci-fi goodness) showcasing their freshest cold blooded innovation.

By the end of the movie RoboCop has waged a one-man war on crime that Batman would envy and unlike Batman he did it while slowly regaining his humanity. (Oh snap!)

Obviously I glossed over a lot in that TV Guide recap. Cue the RoboCop experts who have crafted RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop now streaming on Screambox.

Eastwood Allen, Chris Griffiths, and Gary Smart are our tour guides through Old Detroit’s gritty streets. Chris and Eastwood are the co-directors of RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop and Gary is the producer.

Together they’re as formidable as Boddicker’s gang. These 3 gents get intimate with RoboCop…their documentary RoboDoc is 4 freshtastic parts. RoboDoc delves deep into the minds behind the creation of this special cinematic character.

From actors ranging from Mr Kinney yes he’s in the doc to Peter Weller to the director Paul Verhoeven (shout out to Total Recall!) and so much more. Just as RoboCop eclipsed its original corny premise RoboDoc is more than just a behinds the scenes…DVD bonus feature kinda thing.

RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop is now streaming on Screambox and I highly recommend it. (Especially episode 2 which features all the heinous goons who cruelly murdered Officer Alex Murphy.)

Before you check out RoboDoc (or even RoboCop!) press play on this My Summer Lair conversation with Eastwood Allen, Chris Griffiths, and Gary Smart.

You’ll hear some wild behind the scenes RoboCop revelations including…the time Steven Segal audition for RoboCop?!!

That doesn’t even make sense…Murphy needs to die to birth RoboCop and everybody knows Segal is…Hard To Kill. #RimShotSteven Segal as RoboCop…I would not buy that for a dollar.

There’s a distinct possibility you may have never seen Escape From New York.

Or perhaps you’re currently caught up in a TV show and don’t want to dedicate your limited TV time for a corny 80s movie.

Not to worry! Big Business has you covered. He crafted a Sweded version of Escape for your viewing pleasure. (Pleasure is such a strong word in this context…)

5 minutes of utterly low budget shoddy filmmaking hilarity.

(Sweded is a call back to the 2008’s Be Kind, Rewind. In the movie, two video store owners (played by Jack Black and Mos Def) remake iconic films in single-shot takes and zero editing after their entire VHS stock is erased.

The term first comes up as a response to costumers complaining about steep rental fees and long wait times—Jack Black explains the movies are special Swedish imports. And so Sweded films are born. There’s even The Sweded Film Festival.)

How fun is that? Outstanding work! If you’re ever in Cleveland give the dude a high five. Or check out his stand up (he’s a 2020 Cleveland Comedy Finalist!)

Appreciates That Mr. Kinney’s Horrifying Sacrifice Gifted us RoboCop…Sammy Younan-28-

Sammy Younan is the affable host of My Summer Lair podcast: think NPR’s Fresh Air meets Kevin Smith: interviews & impressions on Pop Culture.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mypalsammy.substack.com