10 Awful Movie Remakes With Silver Linings You Can't Ignore

5. Robocop

The Movie: Paul Verhoeven's Robocop has become synonymous with ultra-violent dystopian visions of a future in which corporations and criminals operate side by side while society at large crumbles into pieces. Riddled with profanity and gore pretty much from beginning to end, it's 1980s action science fiction at its finest, both a commentary on politics and on the voyeuristic nature of cinema itself. A Hollywood remake was never going to be a match for a film so highly regarded, but when it was announced that the 2014 version would be granted a PG-13 certificate, it seemed as if the final nail in the coffin had already been knocked into place. Sure enough, everything which made the original so great was notable by its absence - director José Padilha (who reportedly had numerous ideas which may have improved the film shot down by the studio execs) turned out a safe, clean, teen-friendly action movie completely lacking in the transgressive qualities of Verhoeven's original. The Silver Lining: Padhila deserves some credit: the remake managed to retain a sense of political commentary, however diluted it may have been. The opening sequence on the streets of Tehran might lack the visceral impact of the streets of Detroit in a state of collapse, but at least there's an attempt to critique American foreign policy and the rise of automated military machinery.