The Robo-cop

[Timo]

Then again, the cop here isn't really distancing himself from Data: our favorite tin man also uses clothes, moves smoothly like a human, and engages in useless human things like randomized blinking, squinting and even sneezing just for the sake of an artistic impression.

A police robot would be a public servant first and foremost, and thus might be programmed with both human and inhuman mannerisms intended to put the people at ease, or intimidate the hell out of them, depending on the situation.

All that said, I'm sure it's a guy in a suit in "reality". Quite regardless of what the producers intended.

Not necessarily a human guy, tho. Why waste a perfectly good character on dull humanity when you can do a scifi gimmick instead?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Cary L. Brown]

I'll have to find someone in real life who is convinced that the Police officer in question is a robot/android or cyborg. I'd be willing to bet a significant amount of my Christmas shopping money against that

Absolutely.

The character is PORTRAYED as being "real." He doesn't ask the question "What is your name?" in a polite, "politically-correct" tone. He asks it like a schoolmaster would ask a bratty child... "WHAT... is YOUR.. NAME??" There is clear annoyance (and a clear establishment of POWER) in how he asks the question.

Could a robot be programmed to behave that way? Sure... but not in the Trek universe we know, where everyone is supposed to be nice and friendly and get along. Roddenberry would be throwing a FIT over having a "stormtrooper-ish" character like that in Trek... but he's have had his head pop off of his shoulders by the suggestion that his Trek world would build "stormtrooper robots."

Now... look at the way that the character walks and holds his body. Again... very clear, very recognizable. It's a SWAGGER, not just a walk.

Granted, this character is being played by a man in a suit, so the actor is saying the words and performing the swagger. But still, these things make no sense coming from anything but a person.

Data worked because he didn't do any of the above. Lore had the attitude and the swagger, of course... but honestly, wasn't Lore a bit of a bad character???

Ignoring the canonical impact of having Soong-type androids in Pre-TOS days... it still makes no sense for the verbal and body-language expression of a "public servant" to be programmed for patronizing, arrogance and condescension, does it?

No, the "future motorcycle cop" is behaving not like a robot but like we'd expect a REAL traffic cop to respond to a real kid who'd made off with a real vehicle and nearly gotten himself killed.

This character is waaaay too recognizable as being human. So it's either bad filmmaking, or it's supposed to be a human.

 

[BolianAuthor]

The robocop is really elder Spock, seeking young Kirk out, not a real cop... if it WERE a real cop, the following would be done...

- The cop would stay on his bike long enough to run the plates, and make the call that he's conducting a traffic stop.

- The cop would ask Kirk for his license and registration, and proof of insurance.

- The cop would walk back to his bike, and write a ticket, telling Kirk that by signing it, it is not an admission of guilt, and to have a nice day.

- The cop would fly off, leaving Kirk holding the ticket, as he then looks down at the bottom of the ditch where he just wasted an ancient Corvette.

A REAL cop would not just dismount the bike, and ask "What is your name?".

 

[SalvorHardin]

A REAL cop would not just dismount the bike, and ask "What is your name?".

That's the brief cut of the scene we see on the trailer, to deliver the "shock" of who the kid is and what movie this is to the unsuspecting audience.

For all we know there is a whole lot more footage and dialog going on in that scene, before and after the 'What is your name"

 

[Psion]

A REAL cop would not just dismount the bike, and ask "What is your name?".

That's the brief cut of the scene we see on the trailer, to deliver the "shock" of who the kid is and what movie this is to the unsuspecting audience.

For all we know there is a whole lot more footage and dialog going on in that scene, before and after the 'What is your name"

Exactly! They cut the whole "That does not compute" line!

Roe. Butt!
Roe. Butt!
Roe. Butt!

 

[SalvorHardin]

A REAL cop would not just dismount the bike, and ask "What is your name?".

That's the brief cut of the scene we see on the trailer, to deliver the "shock" of who the kid is and what movie this is to the unsuspecting audience.

For all we know there is a whole lot more footage and dialog going on in that scene, before and after the 'What is your name"

Exactly! They cut the whole "That does not compute" line!

Roe. Butt!
Roe. Butt!
Roe. Butt!

Yeap.
There is also a scene of the bot giving the finger to young Kirk.
It symbolizes Abrams giving the finger to the fans.

 

[Jackson_Roykirk]

A REAL cop would not just dismount the bike, and ask "What is your name?".

That's the brief cut of the scene we see on the trailer, to deliver the "shock" of who the kid is and what movie this is to the unsuspecting audience.

For all we know there is a whole lot more footage and dialog going on in that scene, before and after the 'What is your name"

In fact, I don't even think young Kirk yells "I'm JamesTiberious Kirk!!" immediateley after the cop FIRST asks "What is your name". I have a feeling the cop asked the question more than once.

I think there is more that happens in between those two lines. Perhaps there is a reason why the cop says his line the way he did, and young Kirk answers with such an attitude.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

That's the brief cut of the scene we see on the trailer, to deliver the "shock" of who the kid is and what movie this is to the unsuspecting audience.

For all we know there is a whole lot more footage and dialog going on in that scene, before and after the 'What is your name"

Exactly! They cut the whole "That does not compute" line!

Roe. Butt!
Roe. Butt!
Roe. Butt!

Yeap.
There is also a scene of the bot giving the finger to young Kirk.
It symbolizes Abrams giving the finger to the fans.

As well as the shot where Kid Kirk kicks the cop in the balls and steals his skycycle to make his escape.

 

[Red Ranger]

You know, usually the least complicated theory is the most elegant. He's a human cop. The voice modulator is used to distort the voice and unnerve suspects, even young joyriders. . That's my story and I'm sticking to it! -- RR

 

[John Picard]

I'll have to find someone in real life who is convinced that the Police officer in question is a robot/android or cyborg. I'd be willing to bet a significant amount of my Christmas shopping money against that

Absolutely.

The character is PORTRAYED as being "real." He doesn't ask the question "What is your name?" in a polite, "politically-correct" tone. He asks it like a schoolmaster would ask a bratty child... "WHAT... is YOUR.. NAME??" There is clear annoyance (and a clear establishment of POWER) in how he asks the question.

"WHAT... is YOUR.. Quest??"

"WHAT... is the capital of Assyria??"

 

[The Wormhole]

A REAL cop would not just dismount the bike, and ask "What is your name?".

A real cop would, but this is a movie cop. They're never accurate to real life.

 

[Butters]

A REAL cop would not just dismount the bike, and ask "What is your name?".

A real cop would, but this is a movie cop. They're never accurate to real life.

Its a Terminator trying to track down John Connor, just got a bit lost thats all.

 

[Pindar]

As well as the shot where Kid Kirk kicks the cop in the balls and steals his skycycle to make his escape.

Surely this is where Kirk first uses his "I am a Liar, I am lying" android defense.

 

[Saturn0660]

it's spock...

 

[Patrickivan]

It's Tom Cruise

 

[Jackson_Roykirk]

It's Tom Cruise

...on stilts

 

[Captain X]

 

[SalvorHardin]

Some official word on the subject

TrekMovie: Is the cop in the trailer a robot or a guy in the mask?

Roberto Orci: In my mind, there is a person under there. But there is nothing in the movie that says one way or another.

But in reading some of Roddenberry’s thoughts and dissertations about Star Trek, there was always a hesitance to deny the human spirit and deny the human side of it. There is a small part of me that thinks an android cop would be against Roddenberry’s instincts.

However, Mr. Data is clearly a central canon figure, so you can argue it either way. I don’t think there is anything in the movie that commits it one way or the other. It is in the eye of the beholder.

 

[Psion]

Some official word on the subject

TrekMovie: Is the cop in the trailer a robot or a guy in the mask?

Roberto Orci: In my mind, there is a person under there. But there is nothing in the movie that says one way or another.

But in reading some of Roddenberry’s thoughts and dissertations about Star Trek, there was always a hesitance to deny the human spirit and deny the human side of it. There is a small part of me that thinks an android cop would be against Roddenberry’s instincts.

However, Mr. Data is clearly a central canon figure, so you can argue it either way. I don’t think there is anything in the movie that commits it one way or the other. It is in the eye of the beholder.

Arrrrrrggggghhhhh!

I'm SO boycotting this movie now!

 

[BolianAuthor]

It's old Spock, and I'm sticking to that.