RoboCop
Part man, part machine, all cop.
Country
Production
Genre
Budget
$13 000 000
Revenue
$53 424 681
Director
Actors
Scenario
Edward Neumeier, Michael Miner
Producer
Arne Schmidt, Jon Davison
Operator
Composer
Artist
William Sandell
Audition
Sally Dennison, Julie Selzer
Editing
Frank J. Urioste
All team (94)
All team (94)
Short description
In a crime-ridden Detroit of the near future, a large corporation takes over the city's police force and pushes a program to replace human officers with armored machines. When a dedicated street cop, Alex Murphy, is gunned down in the line of duty, the company uses his body to build a cyborg prototype. The resulting law enforcement unit is programmed to fight crime, but fragments of Murphy's memory and personality survive, drawing him toward the people responsible for his death and toward a conflict with the executives who control him.
Paul Verhoeven directed the film, the seventh of sixteen features in his directing career and the one that followed Flesh + Blood, with Total Recall arriving three years later. Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner wrote the screenplay, Arne Schmidt produced, and Peter Weller plays Murphy alongside Nancy Allen as his partner, Anne Lewis, with Dan O'Herlihy, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith and Miguel Ferrer in supporting roles.
Produced by Orion Pictures and Jon Davison Productions on a budget of about 13 million dollars, the film took roughly 53 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds 7.4/10 from nearly 6,000 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 7.4/10 from around 6,000 votes. The film critics' rating is higher, 8.2/10 from 88 reviews, placing it well above the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- The main character's suit was so heavy and warm that the actor Peter Weller lost three pounds a day. Eventually, they even had to install air conditioning in the suit.
- The film's director, Paul Verhoeven, filmed a cameo role in the scene where Leon is arrested.
- The film's promotional trailer used music from the movie 'The Terminator' (1984).
- The idea for "Robot Cop" came to screenwriter Edward Neumeier while walking past the set of "Blade Runner" (1982).
- Rutger Hauer, who had previously worked extensively with Paul Verhoeven, was initially considered for the lead role.
- At one point, Michael Ironside was considered for the main role, but he didn’t fit the physique required.
- It took costume designer Rob Bottin and his team 11 hours to fit the suit to Peter Weller. However, once dressed, Weller discovered that all the movements pre-designed for his role were impossible to perform in the suit. Filming had to be stopped so that Weller and his movement coach could devise new movements.
- Arnold Schwarzenegger was even considered for the role of RoboCop, but it was decided that he would look too bulky and stout in the suit.
- The entrance to the OCP corporation building is actually the entrance to the Dallas City Hall.
- The 'computer' in which RoboCop searches for criminal data is actually a telephone switch from Northern Telecom.
- The ED-209 robot was voiced by producer John Davison.
- Exactly 30 people are killed in the film.
- The police cars in the film are modified Ford Tauruses.
- In a 24-hour store, a person is choosing the "Iron Man" comic book.
- The director's cut of the film has a runtime of 103 minutes.
- The basis for the robot police officer's costume was taken from the 1982 Japanese series Space Sheriff Gavan.
- The main character's automatic pistol is a modified Beretta M93R with an amplifier.
- Meryl Streep, Susan Sarandon, and Steven Spielberg's wife, Kate Capshaw, auditioned for the role of the female cop, but Paul Verhoeven chose Nancy Allen among all the candidates.
- The motif of the main theme was partially borrowed from the film "Bride of Frankenstein" (1935).
- Paul Verhoeven wanted Robocop to kill Bodicker with a shot to the eye. However, he understood that censors would not allow such a scene and was forced to change his decision.
- Peter Weller, who plays Alex Murphy, and Nancy Allen, who plays Officer Lewis, were born on the same day – June 24th, three years apart.
- Detroit was chosen as the setting not because of its criminal and dilapidated environment, but because Neumeier believed that Detroit was a symbol of American industry, and Robocop was its creation, like a beautiful car. Neumeier wanted to depict future Detroit similarly to the city from "Blade Runner," as such an industrial-futuristic landscape was much more relevant to Detroit than to Los Angeles.
- The very first scene for the screenplay that came to Edward Neumeier's mind featured RoboCop emerging from a blue Spinner. The vehicle eventually did appear in the 1988 "RoboCop" animated series.
- Edward Neumeier managed to write only 40 pages of a treatment in a couple of years, but a full-fledged screenplay didn't materialize. In 1984, while working as an editor at Universal Pictures, he met an up-and-coming cinematographer and director, Michael Miner, who was then creating and shooting music videos for hard rock and metal bands. Michael wanted to feature a robot in his next video and told Edward about it, and Edward realized this was their creative destiny. Inviting Miner to lunch, he laid out all his material. Miner really liked the universe created by his new acquaintance, but he believed the character should be someone like Tony Stark serving in the police. He mentioned that shortly before they met, he himself wanted to make a film that would combine the main ideas of Iron Man and Captain America, but in a police setting. He called the manuscript "SuperCop," but the plot wasn't particularly special, so it would be relevant to place this hero in Neumeier's bleak future and continue working on the script together. Thanks to this, the plot introduced the relevant theme of the commercialization of artificial organs and mechanical prosthetics.
- Michael Miner came up with the idea of dividing the city of Detroit into Delta City – its central part for the wealthy – and Old Detroit – the remaining outskirts for the poor, where things were still very bad. Ultimately, this idea was fully realized only in the 1994 "RoboCop" series.
- When Paul Verhoeven joined the project, he changed two things in the script: a love line appeared between Murphy and Lewis, and Boddyker and Jones were linked together. This version of the story was already the third draft, but after reading it, Verhoeven realized that such a close relationship between the cyborg and his partner would look too implausible and silly, so a fourth draft was written, in which the only new addition was Boddyker and Jones being linked, while there were no longer any romantic feelings or intimate scenes between RoboCop and Lewis.
- In the film scene where RoboCop arrests Nash Lambda in the nightclub, the song "Show Me Your Spine" by PTP was performed. PTP was a short-lived project consisting of members of "Ministry" and "Skinny Puppy." However, this song was unavailable for official release for a long time and could only be heard in the film. It was eventually released in 2004 on the album "Side Trax."
- In 1987, the fully completed film "RoboCop" received an X rating (18+), which effectively dashed Orion Pictures' distribution expectations. As a result, Paul Verhoeven was forced to re-edit parts of the film, reducing the amount of blood and violence in several episodes. In particular, especially brutal moments from the scene of Alex Murphy's shooting were cut for wider release, and humorous footage was added to the news scenes to distract the audience from the violence. Verhoeven's efforts were not in vain; after several attempts, "RoboCop" received a more lenient R rating (16+).
- Filming took place from August to October 1986.
- The film was shot in Dallas, Detroit, and several cities in Pennsylvania. Many city scenes were filmed in downtown Dallas due to the futuristic look of the buildings. Scenes at the abandoned steel mill were filmed in the city of Monessen, Pennsylvania. The interior view of the police station was filmed in the Sons of Hermann building, also located in Dallas.
- Due to various reasons causing slow production, many important scenes were never filmed. Most notably, the storyline about how, during a police strike, looters led by a punk named Ike Bender rob stores, specifically tormenting one owner by shooting him in the leg and hanging him upside down, was completely removed from the script. RoboCop and Officer Lewis soon arrive on this street, disperse the looters, and subdue Bender and his associates. As they prepare to continue restoring order, they see a gang led by Bodicker approaching them in cars, having located RoboCop via a navigator. This is followed by a large shootout with explosions and a chase to the abandoned steel mill, where the final showdown takes place. The script featured three locations in Old Detroit (abandoned urban outskirts): abandoned warehouses where Murphy died, industrial ruins where RoboCop removes his helmet, and the closed steel mill. In the film, however, these three locations were merged into one – the steel mill.
- At the end of the film, the RoboCop walks on water. According to Verhoeven, he wanted to present a futuristic image of Christ in this way.
- Two scenes were cut from the film: in the first, RoboCop goes to his father's grave and digs it up, trying to reach the corpse (according to the original idea, he does reach the corpse, but no longer remembers why he did so). In the second scene (at the end of the film), RoboCop removes his helmet and saws off the lower part of it. This lower part would subsequently be used as a blade with which he was supposed to decapitate Emil.
- In the scene where the main characters are involved in a shootout with cars, a shotgun is fired at the police car and all 3 shots hit the windshield. In the very next scene, where the car is level with the van, the windshield is as good as new.
- Jonathan Kaplan was originally supposed to direct the film, but he preferred “Project X” (1987). Alex Cox also turned down the direction, choosing “Repo Man” (1986) instead.
- At the 6th minute of the film, when police officers gather around Sergeant Reed, a woman wearing a beige bulletproof vest stands on the right side of the frame. In the next scene, when she stands behind the sergeant, a police shirt is already worn over the vest.
- At the 8th minute of the film, Bob, Johnson, and Kinney exit the elevator, and a voice announcement states they have arrived on the 95th floor. When Bob and Johnson walk to the elevator after a meeting at the 14th minute, a sign on the wall next to the elevator indicates they are already on the 120th floor.
- At the 23rd minute of the film, when the bandits order Murphy to turn around, a crew member's finger can be seen in the lower right corner of the frame, pointing to actor Peter Weller indicating exactly where he should stop.
- At the 33rd minute of the film, when the police officers are shooting at the firing range, it can be noticed that the officer furthest from the wall runs out of ammunition first, but continues to hold his empty gun and aim at the target.
- At the 46th minute of the film, Jones, after a tense conversation with Bob, supposedly leaves the restroom; however, in the reflection of the mirror behind Bob, it can be seen that Jones did not actually leave the room and continues to stand in the doorway.
- At the 55th minute of the film, when RoboCop reviews Clarence's file, the word 'murder' is misspelled as 'murdr'.
- At the 56th minute of the film, as RoboCop drives down Primrose Lane, his system states that he previously lived at number 548. When he pulls up to his house in the next scene, it can be noticed that a different number is indicated on the facade – 3128.
- At the 62nd minute of the film, as the wounded Bob crawls towards the table to defuse the bomb, the entire surface of the table is covered in cocaine. When he tries to reach for the bomb in the next scene, all the cocaine scattered on the table disappears.
- At the 73rd minute of the film, ED-209 launches its first missile at RoboCop and misses. As the robot prepares to launch a second missile, a missile can be seen back on the first launcher.
- At the 82nd minute of the film, as RoboCop prepares to remove his helmet, he has a black prosthetic attached to his chin and neck. When he removes the helmet in the next scene, the black prosthetic disappears, and mechanisms appear on his neck that were not there before.
- At the 86th minute of the film, as Clarence gets into his car and Leon slaps the roof, the rearview mirror falls off inside the car.
- In the 89th minute, Clarence and his associates walk through the factory, while RoboCop appears on the second floor behind them with a piece of scrap metal in his hand. In the next frame, RoboCop is holding nothing, and he picks up this fragment from the floor.
- During the chase in the 91st minute of the film, a hubcap flies off the rear wheel of Clarence’s car. Later in the chase scene, after a cut, all the hubcaps are back in their places.
- In the 92nd minute of the film, when Clarence crawls out of the overturned car and fires a pistol in the direction of Lewis, he hits the windshield of her police car. Several bullet holes appear in the glass simultaneously and look as if they were caused by a shotgun.
- In the 93rd minute of the film, when Lewis shoots at Leon, who is holed up in the crane cabin, a black frame falls in front of the camera lens during the shot. Presumably, a lens hood – a visor to protect the camera from stray light – detached from the camera during the pyrotechnics.
- In the 94th minute of the film, as the neck-wounded Clarence staggers and moves aside, a member of the film crew can be seen standing in the right part of the frame behind him.
- In the 95th minute of the film, RoboCop exits the vehicle and destroys ED-209 with rifle fire. At this moment, it can be noticed that there is not a single drop of blood on his chest armor, although a minute ago, during the killing of Clarence at the abandoned factory, he was heavily covered in it.
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