The 3 Guys Podcast Recorded on 8/17/2022 In a dystopic and crime-ridden Detroit, a terminally wounded cop returns to the force as a powerful cyborg haunted by submerged memories. In this podcast, we review the Classic 80s Action flick Robocop starring Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Daniel O'Herlihy, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith, Miguel Ferrer and directed by Paul Verhoeven. WARNING: There will be SPOILERS!
The 3 Guys Rating 3.3/5
Notes From The Show * Quick Synopsis * Released: July 17, 1987
Directed By: Paul Verhoeven
Written By: Edward Neumeier & Michael Miner
Stars: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Daniel O’Herlihy, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith, Miguel Ferrer and a bunch of other actors.
Plot: In a dystopic and crime-ridden Detroit, a terminally wounded cop returns to the force as a powerful cyborg haunted by submerged memories.
Taglines: The future of law enforcement. Part man. Part machine. All cop.
How did this movie do?Budget: $14 MillionBox Office: $53 Million * 80s Action Cuts * 1. Body count: 28 2. This film uses the word “fuck” 35 times. 3. Top One-Liners (none by Frank Dux) + - Bixby Snyder: I’d buy that for a dollar! - RoboCop: Dead or alive, you’re coming with me! - Clarence Boddicker: Can you fly, Bobby? - Clarence Boddicker: Bitches, leave! - RoboCop: [dragging Leon Nash by the hair] Let’s talk. - Dick Jones: I’m cashing you out, Bob. - RoboCop: Come quietly or there will be… trouble. (Taken from Judge Dredd) - Clarence Boddicker: [to Murphy] I bet that really pisses you off. You probably don’t think I’m a very nice guy. Do ya? - Clarence Boddicker: Well, give the man a hand! He’s all yours. - Joe Cox: [to Lewis] Mind if I… zip this up? - The Old Man: Dick, I’m very disappointed. - Bob Morton: Hey, he’s old, we’re young, and that’s life. - News Crew: This is Media Break. You give us 3 minutes, and we’ll give you the world. * 80's Checklist * 1. A “Muy Macho” Hero with quotable one-liners played by a recognizable star – Peter Weller as Robocop 2. Over the Top Villain – Dick & Clarance 3. A Montage Sequence – Does the coming online & reboot scenes count? Otherwise the “going home” sequence. 4. Over the Top Chase Scenes – Early Police Chase to the Factory 5. Epic Fight Scenes – The cocaine factory & mill fight 6. A Villain Speech/Monologue – Both Dick Jones and Clarence have monologue scenes. 7. A Final Showdown – Yes 8. An “Oh Crap” Death for our Bad Guy – Dick Jones out the Window and Clarance with the bayonet spike to the neck. 9. Franchise Potential – 2 Sequels, 2 Animated Series, a 22 episode live action series and a reboot in 2014 10. Around a 90 minute runtime – 102 minutes 11. A High Body Count – 28 Death 12. A Cool Ride: He drives a Ford Taurus * Casting * + Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Ironside, Rutger Hauer, Tom Berenger, Armand Assante, Keith Carradine and James Remar were considered for the role of Robocop. + Orion favored Schwarzenegger but was thought that Schwarzenegger would look like the Michelin Man or Pillsbury Doughboy. + Others were reluctant because their face would be largely concealed by a helmet. + Davison said that Weller was the only person who wanted to be in the film. + Stephanie Zimbalist was cast as Murphy’s partner Anne Lewis but dropped out because of contractual obligations to Remington Steele * Themes * + Power of corporations – corruption & greed - “We are now living in the world that I was proposing in RoboCop (1987)…how big corporations will ‘take care of us’ and…how they won’t.” ~ Edward Neumeier + Transformation – Coping with transformation & how much is needed to still be Murphy/still have a soul. + Jesus Allagory (Verhoeven has stated that he sees the character as a futuristic version of Christ): - Crucifixion – Shot in the hand/Death at the factory - Crown of Thorns – The bullet to Murphy’s head - Resurection – Rebuilt after death leading to a resurrection - Walk on Water – At the steel mill. - Garden of Eden – Robocop returning to his home - Water To Wine – Boddicker’s blood at the climax of the film turns the water red * Trivia * + RoboCop’s costume was not finished until sometime into filming. + Most shots of Robocop and the police car show him getting out or preparing to get in. Peter Weller didn’t fit into the police car in full costume. When he needed to be in the car, he wore the top part of the costume and sat in his underwear. To maintain the illusion that RoboCop wears the entire suit while inside a car, most shots show his robotic feet exiting first. + The RoboCop suit was so hot and heavy that Peter Weller was losing 3 lbs a day from water loss. Eventually, an air conditioner was installed in the suit. + The screenplay had been offered to, and rejected by, virtually every big director in Hollywood before Paul Verhoeven got hold of it. He threw it away after reading the first pages, convinced it was just a dumb action movie. His wife, Martine, read it all the way through and convinced him that the story was layered with many satirical and allegorical elements, leading Verhoeven to direct the film. + In Sacramento, California, a robbery suspect fled into a darkened movie theatre to escape pursuing police. He became so engrossed in this movie, which was playing on screen, that he failed to notice that police had evacuated all other patrons from the theatre. When the lights flipped on, the stunned man was taken into custody. + When in full RoboCop costume, Peter Weller would remain in character between takes, only responding to director Paul Verhoeven’s instructions when properly addressed as “Robo.” Verhoeven found this too funny to take seriously and dropped this after a couple of weeks. + The special effects were generated with a Commodore Amiga computer. + The RoboCop suit was designed by Rob Bottin and his team. The production team wasn’t satisfied with the initial design, and kept changing it and putting additions to it for months. Ultimately, nothing seemed to work and they went back to what was pretty much Bottin’s original design. + Production was halted early on so that Weller and his mime coach, Moni Yakim, could learn how to move in the suit. + It took almost 10 months of preparation for the construction of the RoboCop suit. Life casts of Peter Weller and 6-foot clay models created by Rob Bottin were used to design and construct the suit. The RoboCop suit was the most expensive item on set. While the price range varies, the producers indicated that they spent anywhere between US$500,000 to US$1 million for the suit. + Edward Neumeier came up with the idea for RoboCop after he had helped out on the set of Blade Runner (1982), which was about cops hunting robots that looked like humans in the future. Intrigued, Neumeier turned the scenario around into a future where a cop looking like a robot would be hunting human criminals. + According to Paul Verhoeven’s commentary on the Criterion Edition DVD, an additional Media Break was filmed and completed for the film. Most notably, it featured footage of Lewis hospitalized and recovering, assuring the audience that she did not die nor would become “Bride of RoboCop”, as many speculated. + Seven RoboCop suits were used throughout the movie. Out of the seven, one of them had special safeguards and fireproof fiberglass to help the stuntman perform the gas station scene. Another two were used exclusively during the third act of the movie where Robocop gets damaged from the ED-209 and the Detroit Police Department. There was no ‘one suit’ as most people would think, but actually more than one, each fragile and easily destroyed during filming. + COMIC CAMEO: In addition to Iron Man (1966), the comic book “ROM” is also seen in the mom-and-pop store, the storyline of which involves a hero sacrificing his human body and having his mind placed into a robot in order to save his people. In the scene where Murphy’s son Jimmy watches TJ Lazer on TV in a flashback, issue 41 of ROM can be seen on the floor at his feet. + RoboCop’s first Directive, “Serve the public trust”, was inspired by a fortune cookie. + The hostage scene where a former city council member holds the mayor and his staff hostage was based on a real-life crisis where former San Francisco supervisor Dan White wanted his old job back. The character is also seen eating Baby Ruth bars – as homage to White’s 1979 conviction of involuntary manslaughter where diminished capacity was used, known in legal terms as the “Twinkie Defense.” + Peter Weller turned down a role in King Kong Lives (1986) to star in this film. + Plans for a “Terminator vs Robocop” film have been on and off in the works since 1990. Although no movie has yet to be made with the crossover, several video games and comic books have been released based on the idea, making the project one of the most anticipated crossovers of all time. + The organic food paste that Robocop eats was actually made up of parsnip, tomato purée and crushed butterfinger bars. + One of the themes of Robocop was a futuristic bankruptcy of Detroit. Robocop premiered on July 17th, 1987 (the 32nd anniversary of the opening of Disneyland) and the City of Detroit, Michigan, filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy on July 18, 2013. + RoboCop’s look was inspired by the Japanese comic The 8 Man and the first Metal Hero Space Sheriff Gavan (1982). + Paul Verhoeven’s antagonistic style didn’t go down very well with his cast and crew. Peter Weller later said that this the first time he ever considered having a fist-fight with his director. + To save money, Orion tried to cut the scene of Murphy/RoboCop returning to his house because it didn’t involve a key action scene. + The company that makes Robocop is named OCP, which is the word “cop” rearranged. + DIRECTOR CAMEO: Paul Verhoeven: wildly gesticulating guy in the dance club immediately after Leon tries to kick RoboCop in the crotch. This remains Verhoeven’s only on-screen cameo in his career. + The trauma team portrayed in the movie trying to save Murphy was a real hospital trauma team. Their dialogue was mostly ad-libbed. + While filming Bob Morton’s death scene, Miguel Ferrer and Kurtwood Smith began cracking up because while directing the scene, Paul Verhoeven referred to all the actors in-character. This meant he addressed the actresses playing the prostitutes as “bitches”. + IMPROVISED LINE: In the scene after RoboCop arrests Clarence Boddicker and brings him into the precinct, Kurtwood Smith improvised the line, “Just give me my fucking phone call.” + One scene that was scripted, but not featured in the film is a fourth Media Break sequence in which Brixby Snyder, a parody of Benny Hill whose running line is “I’d buy that for a dollar!”, is forcibly arrested on allegations of receiving sexual favors from under aged co-stars. The scene would have taken place after RoboCop’s reply to the Old Man’s question, but the decision was made to instead end the film after Murphy’s reply because Director Paul Verhoeven felt the scripted ending was “more of a punch-line than a climax”. As a result, there is no dialog mentioning the names of Brixby Snyder or his program “It’s Not My Problem” in the film. + When Murphy stabs Boddicker in the throat, he uses the same hand that Boddicker shot off.
Released: July 17, 1987
Directed By: Paul Verhoeven
Written By: Edward Neumeier & Michael Miner
Stars: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Daniel O’Herlihy, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith, Miguel Ferrer and a bunch of other actors.
Plot: In a dystopic and crime-ridden Detroit, a terminally wounded cop returns to the force as a powerful cyborg haunted by submerged memories.
Taglines: The future of law enforcement. Part man. Part machine. All cop.
How did this movie do?Budget: $14 MillionBox Office: $53 Million
A “Muy Macho” Hero with quotable one-liners played by a recognizable star – Peter Weller as Robocop
A Cool Ride: He drives a Ford Taurus
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Ironside, Rutger Hauer, Tom Berenger, Armand Assante, Keith Carradine and James Remar were considered for the role of Robocop.
Stephanie Zimbalist was cast as Murphy’s partner Anne Lewis but dropped out because of contractual obligations to Remington Steele
Power of corporations – corruption & greed
Jesus Allagory (Verhoeven has stated that he sees the character as a futuristic version of Christ):
RoboCop’s costume was not finished until sometime into filming.
About The Movie From IMDB
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