RoboCop (film)
RoboCop is a 1987 science-fiction, superhero action movie directed by Paul Verhoeven. Filming took place in Detroit, Michigan, United States, with Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Dallas, Texas filling in for Michigan locales as well. It spawned two sequels, several comic books, multiple video games, two animated series, dozens of action figures and two television series, all featuring a cyborg police officer. The film was produced by Orion Pictures.
Paul Verhoeven initially considered Rutger
Hauer, whom he had worked with on most of his films, as well as Michael Ironside,
for the role of RoboCop. Allegedly Arnold Schwarzenegger was at one point in talks
to do the film, but Verhoeven eventually dismissed all three on the basis that
the bulky RoboCop costume would require a light-built actor to work with. Peter
Weller was subsequently cast as Murphy/RoboCop and prepared for the role by studying
bird movements in a padded baseball suit.
RoboCop opened in American theaters on July 17, 1987. The film was a commercial success and grossed over $8 million in its opening weekend and almost $54 million during its domestic run, making it the 16th most successful movie that year
Tagline: Part man. Part machine. All cop. The future of law enforcement.
Cast
Peter
Weller - Officer Alex J. Murphy / RoboCop
Nancy Allen - Officer Anne Lewis
Dan O'Herlihy - The Old Man (as Daniel O'Herlihy)
Ronny Cox - Dick Jones
Kurtwood Smith - Clarence Boddicker
Miguel Ferrer - Bob Morton
Robert
DoQui - Sergeant Warren Reed
Ray Wise - Leon Nash
Felton Perry - Johnson
Paul McCrane - Emil Antonowsky
Jesse D. Goins - Joe
Cox (as Jesse Goins)
Del Zamora - Kaplan
Calvin Jung - Steve Minh
Rick Lieberman - Walker
Lee de Broux - Sal (as Lee DeBroux)
Plot
The 1987 film is set in Detroit at an indeterminate near future time. Although the world is not exactly dystopian, news reports from Media Break (slogan: "Give us three minutes, we'll give you the world!") indicate that wars, pollution, terrorism and violent crime have become worse. In Detroit, violent crime has reached the point that cop killings are routine, and the police force is preparing to walk out on strike. The city contracts with megacorporation Omni Consumer Products (OCP) to operate the police department, in effect privatizing it. "Old Detroit has a cancer. That cancer is crime," proclaims OCP's Chairman of the Board (Daniel O'Herlihy). OCP's plans are to replace "Old Detroit" with "Delta City", and crime must be eliminated before the construction project can begin. Part of the plan is to find a way to replace the Detroit police with machines, with several projects in the works and the idea to market an eventual success for military contracts as well. OCP Senior President Dick Jones (Ronny Cox) demonstrates to the corporation's board of directors the prototype of the "enforcement droid", ED-209. The "glitches" haven't been worked out, however; an eager young executive volunteers for the demonstration and is shot to death when ED-209 malfunctions. Taking advantage of a chance for promotion, Bob Morton (Miguel Ferrer), who had been developing the "RoboCop" project, bypasses Dick Jones and pitches his program to the Chairman, who greenlights the idea.
All the Robocop project needs is a human candidate. Fortunately for Morton, police officer Alex J. Murphy (Peter Weller), who had just transferred from another precinct, is mortally wounded while trying to arrest the vicious gang led by Clarence J. Boddicker (Kurtwood Smith). Murphy is pronounced dead in the hospital, and his body is rebuilt by OCP as the prototype for a cyborg police officer, with the hardware of a robot and the "instincts" of a policeman. When RoboCop goes online, he spectacularly stops crimes throughout Detroit, using extreme methods bordering on police brutality. His programming is built on three directives ("Serve the public trust. Protect the innocent. Uphold the law.") and a classified fourth rule. Morton's success has earned him an OCP vice presidency, as well as the enmity of Jones. After a confrontation in the executive washroom, Jones arranges for Morton to be murdered at home by Boddicker.
Meanwhile, RoboCop is slowly recovering the memory of his previous life (starting with the moment he was shot to death by Boddicker and his gang). After being recognized by his former partner, Anne Lewis (Nancy Allen), and by a member of Boddicker's gang, Emil Antonowski (Paul McCrane), RoboCop reconstructs the information about his identity as Alex Murphy, then starts to pursue his assailants. He eventually arrests Boddicker in a cocaine bust, and is on the verge of killing him, when Boddicker admits that he works for Dick Jones of OCP and manages to appeal to Robocop, telling him he's a cop.
RoboCop, proceeds to the OCP Building, but when he tries to arrest a surprisingly undisturbed Jones, Directive Four is triggered and RoboCop starts malfunctioning. Jones tells Robocop about Directive Four, which states: Any attempt to arrest a senior officer of OCP results in immediate shutdown. Jones calls in ED-209 to finish off the job. Despite severe damage, RoboCop escapes, as ED-209 could not navigate the stairwell to follow him. In the OCP garage, a large number of police with orders to destroy him are waiting. After taking withering fire, Robocop hurls himself down several levels of the parking lot, where Officer Lewis rescues her former partner. With help from Lewis, Robocop partially repairs his robotic body, sheds his non-functional helmet and relearns how to use his gun manually.
Directive
4Concerned with RoboCop's recording of Boddicker's admission, Jones arranges for
the release of Boddicker and gang, and provides them with military weapons - high
powered rifles, explosive ammunition, and a tracking device - and the task of
the destruction of RoboCop. The gang tracks RoboCop and Lewis back to the abandoned
mill where the gang had tried to kill Officer Murphy. Lewis and 'Murphy' are alerted
to their attackers' arrival when Clarence and what's left of his gang ride in.
A dangerous shootout and car chase begins, resulting in the deaths of Clarence
and his men. Although Murphy is damaged and Lewis is seriously wounded, he remarks
"They'll fix you- They fix everything."
RoboCop, battered and injured, returns to OCP headquarters, where Jones is again attempting to pitch ED-209 to another board of directors meeting- intent on arresting him but admits that Directive 4 stops him. When RoboCop plays back the recording of Jones's admission to murder, Jones tries to take the chairman hostage. The chairman solves the dilemma by yelling, "Dick, you're fired!!". To which Murphy replies "Thank you" and shoots Jones, who crashes through a window and falls to his death. By the film's end, RoboCop has resolved his emotional conflicts over being a hybrid of machine and man. The chairman says to the former OCP product, "Nice shooting, son. What's your name?" Satisfied that he is considered a human first and a robot second, RoboCop smiles and replies, "Murphy."
Filming began during the summer of 1986 and lasted from August 6 until mid-October. Many of the urban settings of the movie were filmed in downtown Dallas, Texas due to the futuristic appearances of the buildings. The front of Dallas City Hall was used as the exterior for the fictional OCP Headquarters, combined with extensive matte painting to make the building appear taller.
The Ford Taurus was used as the police cruiser in the movie, due to its then-futuristic design.
One of the Taurus's competitors at the time, the Pontiac 6000, is parodied in the movie as the "6000 SUX". The 6000 SUX itself was based on a 1976 Oldsmobile Cutlass with extensive bodywork. Commercials advertise the SUX as "an American tradition" with a fuel efficiency of 8.2 miles per gallon. In early production, it was to be powered by jet turbines; the exhaust of the turbine is still visible above the rear license plate of Clarence Boddicker's SUX in chase scenes. The 6000 SUX was designed by Gene Winfield of Winfield Rod & Custom, while Chiodo Brothers Productions fabricated and animated the dinosaur puppet in the 6000 SUX commercial. The dinosaur itself was animated by Don Waller, who also had a cameo in the same sequence, reacting to the rampaging creature in a tight close-up. [7].
The newly-released Merkur XR4Ti makes a small cameo appearance as an
executive vehicle when RoboCop is delivered to the precinct.
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