RoboCop

In a near-future dystopia , Detroit is on the brink of social and financial collapse. Overwhelmed by crime and dwindling resources, the city grants the mega-corporation Omni Consumer Products (OCP) control of the Detroit Police Department . OCP senior president Dick Jones demonstrates ED-209 , a law-enforcement droid designed to supplant the police. ED-209 malfunctions and brutally kills a volunteer, allowing ambitious junior executive Bob Morton to introduce OCP's chairman ("the Old Man") to his own project: RoboCop .

Meanwhile, police officer Alex Murphy is transferred to the Metro West precinct. Murphy and his new partner, Anne Lewis, pursue notorious criminal Clarence Boddicker and his gang: Emil Antonowsky, Leon Nash, Joe Cox, and Steve Minh. Lewis is incapacitated while the gang ambushes and tortures Murphy until Boddicker fatally shoots him. Morton has Murphy's corpse converted into RoboCop, a heavily armored cyborg with no memory of his former life.

RoboCop is programmed with three prime directives: serve the public trust, protect the innocent, and uphold the law. A fourth prime directive, Directive 4, is classified. Assigned to Metro West, RoboCop is hailed by the media for his brutally efficient campaign against crime. Lewis suspects that he is Murphy, recognizing the unique way he holsters his gun (a trick Murphy learned to impress his son).

After experiencing a nightmare of Murphy's death during maintenance, RoboCop encounters Lewis, who addresses him as Murphy. While on patrol, RoboCop arrests Antonowsky, who recognizes Murphy's mannerisms, furthering RoboCop's recall. RoboCop then uses the police database to identify Antonowsky's associates and review Murphy's police record. He recalls further memories while exploring Murphy's former home, his wife and son having moved away after his death.

Elsewhere, Jones gets Boddicker to murder Morton as revenge for Morton's attempt to usurp his position at OCP. RoboCop tracks Boddicker's gang to a cocaine factory. After a shootout which kills Minh, RoboCop arrests and brutally interrogates Boddicker until he admits to working for Jones. RoboCop attempts to kill Boddicker until his programming directs him to uphold the law.

RoboCop attempts to arrest Jones at the OCP Tower, but Directive 4 is activated: a fail-safe measure to neutralize RoboCop when he acts against an OCP executive. Jones admits his culpability in Morton's death and releases an ED-209 to destroy RoboCop. Although he escapes, RoboCop is attacked by the police force on OCP's order and is badly damaged. He is rescued by Lewis, who brings him to an abandoned steel mill to repair himself.

Angered by OCP's underfunding and short-staffing, the police force goes on strike, causing Detroit to descend into violent anarchy. Jones frees Boddicker and his remaining gang, arming them with high-powered weaponry to destroy RoboCop. The gang are quickly eliminated at the steel mill, but Lewis is badly injured in the shootout. RoboCop confronts Jones at the OCP Tower during a board meeting, revealing the truth behind Morton's murder.

Jones takes the Old Man hostage, who responds by firing him, nullifying Directive 4. RoboCop shoots Jones, causing him to crash through a window to his death. The Old Man compliments RoboCop's shooting and asks his name.