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''RoboCop 2'' is a 1990 American
science fiction action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...
directed by Irvin Kershner and written by Frank Miller and
Walon Green Walon Green (born December 15, 1936) is an American documentary film director and screenwriter, for both television and film. Career Green produced and directed documentaries for National Geographic and David Wolper, including ''The Hellstrom Chr ...
. It stars
Peter Weller Peter Weller (born June 24, 1947) is an American film and stage actor, television director, and art historian. He has appeared in more than 70 films and television series, including '' RoboCop'' (1987) and its sequel '' RoboCop 2'' (1990), in wh ...
, Nancy Allen,
Dan O'Herlihy Daniel Peter O'Herlihy (May 1, 1919 – February 17, 2005) was an Irish actor of film, television, and radio. With a distinguished appearance and rich, resonant speaking voice, O'Herlihy's best known-roles included his Oscar-nominated portraya ...
, Belinda Bauer, Tom Noonan and Gabriel Damon. It is the sequel to the 1987 film ''
RoboCop ''RoboCop'' is a 1987 American science fiction action film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner. The film stars Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Daniel O'Herlihy, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith, and Miguel Fer ...
'', the second entry in the ''RoboCop'' franchise, the last to feature Weller as
RoboCop ''RoboCop'' is a 1987 American science fiction action film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner. The film stars Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Daniel O'Herlihy, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith, and Miguel Fer ...
, and the last film Kershner directed before his death in 2010. Set in a
dystopia A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...
n Detroit, the plot follows RoboCop (Weller) as he becomes embroiled in a scheme made by Omni Consumer Products to bankrupt and take over the city while also fighting the spread of a street drug and its gang of dealers led by Cain (Noonan). The film was shot on-location in
Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...
. While receiving mixed reviews, the film received attention in 2013 from news media due to its plot predicting Detroit filing for bankruptcy in the future. It was nominated for three
Saturn Award The Saturn Awards are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The awards were created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films be ...
s, including Best Science Fiction Film, Best Performance by a Younger Actor (for Damon), and Best Special Effects (for Phil Tippett, Rob Bottin, and Peter Kuran).


Plot

In a near
dystopia A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...
n future,
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
is close to bankruptcy after failing to pay off its debts to conglomerate Omni Consumer Products (OCP). The OCP chairman intends to have the city default on its debt, then foreclose on all public property, effectively taking over its government and allowing for OCP's on-going, radical urban-redevelopment plan (as established in the first film). To rally public opinion behind the project, OCP sparks an increase in street crime by terminating the privatized
Detroit Police Department The Detroit Police Department (DPD) is a municipal police force based in and responsible for the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan. Founded in 1865, it has nearly 2,500 officers, making it the largest law enforcement organization in Michigan. Histo ...
's pension plans and cutting salaries, triggering a police strike.
RoboCop ''RoboCop'' is a 1987 American science fiction action film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner. The film stars Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Daniel O'Herlihy, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith, and Miguel Fer ...
remains on duty with his partner, Anne Lewis. They raid a manufacturing plant of Nuke, a new
designer drug A designer drug is a structural or functional analog of a controlled substance that has been designed to mimic the pharmacological effects of the original drug, while avoiding classification as illegal and/or detection in standard drug tests. D ...
plaguing Detroit. The cartel's leader Cain and his prepubescent accomplice Hob escape. RoboCop has flashbacks to his previous life as Alex Murphy, and has begun watching his wife and son outside their home. Still grieving over the death of her husband, his wife brings litigation against OCP, complaining of harassment. After his handlers dress him down, RoboCop tells his wife that Murphy is dead. OCP struggles to develop RoboCop 2, a police droid fitted with the brains of legally-dead police officers, intended for mass production to replace the striking police force. The resurrected cops keep committing suicide upon activation. Morally-warped psychologist Dr. Juliette Faxx theorizes that Murphy's strong moral code and strict Catholic upbringing were critical in his initial success; she convinces the Chairman to let her lead the project to recover their 90-million dollar
research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...
investment. The research staff are later horrified to learn that she seeks to use
death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting execution ...
inmates, who desire power and immortality, rather than police officers. Cain fears losing his grip after the Delta City project, and uses corrupt police officer Duffy to undermine OCP and RoboCop's enforcement efforts. RoboCop tracks down Duffy and violently confronts him, revealing Cain's hideout. He confronts Cain's gang at an abandoned construction site, but he walks into a trap and is overwhelmed. The criminals cut apart RoboCop's body and dump the pieces in front of his precinct. Cain has Duffy vivisected for revealing their location and encourages Hob to watch. RoboCop is repaired, but Faxx intentionally reprograms him with new and softer directives with the approval of the OCP Board of Directors that severely impede his ability to perform his duties so that her project can be selected. RoboCop eventually clears these by shocking himself with a high voltage transformer and rebooting his system. Murphy motivates the striking officers to aid him in raiding Cain's hideout. As Cain tries to escape, RoboCop wounds and apprehends him. Hob escapes and takes control of Cain's drug empire. Believing she can control Cain via his Nuke addiction, Faxx selects him for the RoboCop 2 project and disconnects his life support. Surgeons place his brain in a heavily armed robotic body, similar to
ED-209 The Enforcement Droid Series 209, or ED-209 (pronounced ''Ed Two Oh Nine''), is a fictional heavily armed robot that appears in the ''RoboCop'' franchise. It serves as a foil for RoboCop, as well as a source of comic relief due to its lack of int ...
, and reactivate him. After failing to pay the city's debts via voluntary
fundraising Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...
, the Mayor is contacted by Hob, who offers to retire the city's entire debt in exchange for a "hands off" policy towards Nuke, thereby nullifying OCP's scheme and preventing Delta City's construction. Threatened by this move, OCP sends Cain to the meeting. Cain slaughters everyone but the mayor, who escapes. RoboCop arrives to find a wounded Hob, who identifies the attacker before dying. The chairman presents an unveiling ceremony for Cain and Delta City, their redevelopment plan. When he presents a canister of Nuke, Cain's uncontrollable addiction causes him to disobey his programming and murder many civilians and police officers. RoboCop arrives and fights Cain, and their battle extends to the street. RoboCop recovers the Nuke canister and Lewis uses it to distract Cain. RoboCop leaps onto his back, shoots through his armor, rips out his brain and smashes it onto the ground, ending Cain's rampage. The Chairman and Johnson decide to use Dr. Faxx as the scapegoat for Cain's attack. As Lewis complains that OCP is going to avoid accountability again, RoboCop insists they must be patient because "we're only human".


Cast


Production


1987–1988: ''The Corporate Wars''

''RoboCop'' screenwriters
Edward Neumeier Edward Neumeier (born August 24, 1957) is an American screenwriter, producer and director best known for his work on the science fiction movies ''RoboCop'' and ''Starship Troopers''. He wrote the latter's sequels '' Starship Troopers 2: Hero of ...
and Michael Miner started drafting a sequel in September 1987 per strong demand by Orion which imposed a deadline of December 31, 1987. Neumeir and Miner rushed the screenplay as they were also simultaneously writing for another Orion project, ''Company Man''; a film about the
Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
's involvement in the
Contras The Contras were the various U.S.-backed and funded right-wing rebel groups that were active from 1979 to 1990 in opposition to the Marxist Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction Government in Nicaragua, which came to power in 1979 foll ...
, it was planned to be directed by
Oliver Stone William Oliver Stone (born September 15, 1946) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Stone won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay as writer of '' Midnight Express'' (1978), and wrote the gangster film remake '' Sc ...
, star
Paul Newman Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, race car driver, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, three ...
, and released before the next United States election. Neumeier and Miner's draft, ''RoboCop 2: The Corporate Wars'', is set 25 years after RoboCop, trying to stop a bank-robbery, is blown up by a thief. The titular protagonist wakes up in a new United States named AmeriPlex, consisting of upper-class "plexes" made out of former cities (i.e. NewYorkPlex, RioPlex, DelhiPlex) and many more shantytowns with residents named OutPlexers. He is revived in a now-abandoned building for the defunct Omni-Consumer Products by two goons of a "super-entrepreneur" named Ted Flicker, who plans to make the national government a private corporate entity he owns. Flicker also currently has a lot of control over the country, despite another person (who was a former comedian) being the president. RoboCop's new system is also the central computer system of AmeriPlex, NeuroBrain. ''RoboCop 2'' follows numerous subplots, such as Flicker's plan for domination, a violence-spreading narcotic named Smudge, the Internal Grid Security commander trying to commit genocide against the OutPlexers, and RoboCop's code being played with by an American scientist and a Chinese hacker. The script expands upon the first film's consumerist aspects; those in the high-class city plexes eat at LeisureGold where ServiceDroids serve them and make love with SexBots at various brothels; while the environment's media landscape is filled with "NewsBlips," mood-enhancing drugs ads, and MoonDog, a rapper from space, changing public opinion. On March 7, 1988, a five-month Writers Guild of America strike began, and its length resulted in Neumeier and Miner being fired from the project for breach of contract. Additionally, the writers and Orion struggled to agree on a story, with the studio turned off by the gritty parts of Neumeier and Miner's draft. Stone also stopped ''Company Man'' to work on ''
Talk Radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featu ...
'' (1988), making Neumeier and Miner no longer involved at Orion.


1988–1989: Frank Miller's ''RoboCop 2''

In order for a sequel to still be possible, Orion had to sign a
waiver A waiver is the voluntary relinquishment or surrender of some known right or privilege. Regulatory agencies of state departments or the federal government may issue waivers to exempt companies from certain regulations. For example, a United St ...
to develop other ''RoboCop'' scripts, and, before he was fired, Neumeier recommended two popular comic book authors and artists to write them:
Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including '' Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', '' The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and '' From He ...
and Frank Miller. Although Moore rejected the offer under the reason of "I don't do movies," Miller accepted and started writing his own script, which went through four drafts. Davison hired Miller through his company Tobor Pictures initially to write ''RoboCop 3'', only for the comic book author to write ''RoboCop 2'' after Miner and Neumeier's firing. Miller, a year before the original film's release, became popular for his edgy, "tragic hero" take on the
Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on March 30, 1939. I ...
character, a style also suited for
RoboCop ''RoboCop'' is a 1987 American science fiction action film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner. The film stars Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Daniel O'Herlihy, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith, and Miguel Fer ...
. Though there are no reports of Miller taking influence from ''The Corporate Wars'', both drafts share multiple traits: they begin their plots during the holiday season, follow a battle between corporations and poor citizens, depict an entrepreneur trying to buy governments (for Miller's screenplay, a city's government instead of a country's), have Asian hackers as RoboCop's sidekick (in Miller's case, a Japanese teenager named Keiko McFarland), and have a violence-causing drug selling throughout society. Miller's first draft was less comic and had a bigger emphasis on corporate fascism than the final film, with the last showdown pitting RoboCop against OCP forces instead of RoboCop 2. It was enjoyed by Davison for its grittiness, "inventive action," humor, and politics; however, Orion rejected it as "unfilmable" and brought in a screenwriter of the violent western film ''
The Wild Bunch ''The Wild Bunch'' is a 1969 American epic Revisionist Western film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O'Brien, Ben Johnson and Warren Oates. The plot concerns an aging outlaw ga ...
'' (1969),
Walon Green Walon Green (born December 15, 1936) is an American documentary film director and screenwriter, for both television and film. Career Green produced and directed documentaries for National Geographic and David Wolper, including ''The Hellstrom Chr ...
, to re-write it. Cut material included backstories for Anne Lewis and the marriage between Alex Murphy and his wife Ellen. Miller later used his treatment as the story of his own series of ''RoboCop'' comics published in the 2000s.


Development

''
RoboCop ''RoboCop'' is a 1987 American science fiction action film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner. The film stars Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Daniel O'Herlihy, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith, and Miguel Fer ...
'' (1987) producer Jon Davison was skeptical about doing a sequel to ''RoboCop''. He had a negative opinion on sequel films, finding most of them worse than their predecessors and disliking not being able to make a different movie in order to produce another product audiences of the first film were used to. Additionally, he was in a dilemma between producing a second ''RoboCop'' film and
Warren Beatty Henry Warren Beatty (né Beaty; born March 30, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker, whose career spans over six decades. He was nominated for 15 Academy Awards, including four for Best Actor, four for Best Picture, two for Best Director, ...
's screen adaptation of the ''
Dick Tracy ''Dick Tracy'' is an American comic strip featuring Dick Tracy (character), Dick Tracy (originally Plainclothes Tracy), a tough and intelligent police detective created by Chester Gould. It made its debut on Sunday, October 4, 1931, in the ''De ...
'' comics; he chose to do ''RoboCop 2'', as "''RoboCop'' is my movie and ''Dick Tracy'' is more Warren's movie".
Paul Verhoeven Paul Verhoeven (; born 18 July 1938) is a Dutch director, producer and screenwriter, active in the Netherlands, France and the United States. His blending of graphic violence and sexual content with social satire is a trademark of both his dram ...
did not return as he was working on '' Total Recall'' (1990). As with the first film, multiple directors rejected offers from Davison to direct ''RoboCop 2'', although for different reasons; Davison reported potentials either concerned about following up Verhoeven's directing or not wanting to direct a sequel film.
Alex Cox Alexander B. H. Cox (born 15 December 1954) is an English film director, screenwriter, actor, non-fiction author and broadcaster. Cox experienced success early in his career with '' Repo Man'' and '' Sid and Nancy'', but since the release and c ...
, for one week, was interested in the project, only to have a viewing of the sequel to ''
The Exorcist ''The Exorcist'' is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin and written for the screen by William Peter Blatty, based on his 1971 The Exorcist (novel), novel of the same name. It stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, ...
'' (1973) change his decision. Davison first hired his friend Tim Hunter, most known for '' River's Edge'' (1986), to direct ''RoboCop 2'', citing his "realistic tone with actors" and "real dark sensibility" as reasons. However, Hunter's vision of an entirely dark product like the first film was at odds with Miller's intention of a dark yet humorous film, leading to a tonally unfocused script by June 1989, 11 weeks before filming started and when Hunter left the project. He was replaced by Irvin Kershner, who previously experienced taking over the director's chair in a film series with the ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...
'' sequel ''
The Empire Strikes Back ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back'') is a 1980 American epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner from a screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, based on a stor ...
'' (1980). Kershner luckily had the same goals as Miller, but Davison, earlier in development, made a requirement for a replacement director to not change the screenplay once shooting started; however, given the very close deadline to begin filming and the messy state of the script, Kershner had no choice but to work with Miller during filming, as well as editing, to tidy up the screenplay. Miller rejected other work offers to do this. Kershner's biggest addition was dialogue, as it was part of Miller's writing to be sparse with it; and he also threw out additional scenes written by Green for reasons of Kershner and Miller already re-working the script.
Orion Pictures Orion Pictures (legal name Orion Releasing, LLC) is an American film production and distribution company owned by Amazon through its Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) subsidiary. In its original operating period, the company produced and released films ...
was far more dictatorial with ''RoboCop 2'' than the 1987 first film, strongly going against input from Miller, Kershner, and the actors; and scheduling a release date before the story was completed, resulting in a rushed production. Neumeir and Miner reported this activity going on, claiming Orion controlled the material based on business decisions rather than creativity. According to Weller, the film did not have a proper
third act Third Act is the third full-length album by the Swedish/Danish band Evil Masquerade. Track listing All songs written by Henrik Flyman. Black Ravens Cry was released as a single in 2012 by Dark Minstrel Music Personnel ;Evil Masquerade *Hen ...
as Orion thought "the monster's going to be enough." The planned released date was originally Christmas 1989 before being moved to an early summer date.


Casting

Initially, Orion was skeptical of casting Weller, under the reasoning that the audience would find RoboCop the same if another actor was under the helmet, similar to the titular character of Universal's ''
The Mummy A mummy is an unusually well preserved corpse. Mummy or The Mummy may also refer to: Places * Mummy Range, a mountain range in the Rocky Mountains of northern Colorado in the United States * Mummy Cave, a rock shelter and archeological site in P ...
''. Weller himself was also skeptical coming back; he disliked Neumeier and Miner's draft as a "cartoon" and lacking in tension, felt not "complete with the character" thinking "there was something else to say with it," and wondered if he should do months of training for acting in a RoboCop suit or get paid for filming in the Caribbean for ten weeks. Ultimately, Weller returned for Miller and Green's new screenplay, and the fact that he would again work with mime Moni Yakim, who developed RoboCop movements for Weller in the first film; he praised him as the "magic element" to solve all of a crew's problems. Additionally, Russell Towery returned as Weller's stunt double, with Weller more dependent on him than the first movie. Allen, despite already having played a cop character in the first RoboCop, still made preparations for shooting ''RoboCop 2''; she learned martial arts and spent two months of training at a Los Angeles police academy. Although Cain was originally planned to be a typical professionally-suited drug dealer, his actor, Tom Noonan, came up with the character being a former hippie, with the actor using his experience as one in the 1960s.


Filming

''RoboCop 2'' was chiefly filmed in
Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...
. Kershner mentioned that Houston was an ideal location due to the relative calmness of
Downtown Houston Downtown is the largest central business district in the city of Houston and the largest in the state of Texas, located near the geographic center of the metropolitan area at the confluence of Interstate 10, Interstate 45, and Interstate 69. The ...
at night. He also claimed that they were shooting in winter, and snow and rain would be an inappropriate climate for film production.
Jefferson Davis Hospital Jefferson Davis Hospital operated from 1924 to 1989 and was the first centralized municipal hospital to treat indigent patients in Houston, Texas. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The building, located in Houston's Histor ...
was used as the location for the Nuke manufacturing plant. The finale of the film was shot in the Houston Theater District near Wortham Theater Center and
Alley Theatre The Alley Theatre is a Tony Award-winning theatre company in Houston, Texas. It is the oldest professional theatre company in Texas and the third oldest resident theatre in the United States. Alley Theatre productions have played on Broadway at L ...
.
Cullen Center Cullen Center is a skyscraper complex in Downtown Houston, Texas, United States. The complex is now managed by Brookfield Properties. Previously Trizec Properties owned all four office buildings. The complex includes the headquarters of the Houst ...
was depicted as the headquarters of Omni Consumer Products, while Houston City Hall was shown in a scene in which Mayor Kuzak speaks to the press. The George R. Brown Convention Center and the Bank of America Center were also included in the film. Additional footage was filmed at the decommissioned Hiram Clarke Power Plant. With Kershner's first few weeks spent storyboarding the visual effects during pre-production, the first month of filming ''RoboCop 2'' were for night filming and
Vistavision VistaVision is a higher resolution, widescreen variant of the 35 mm motion picture film format which was created by engineers at Paramount Pictures in 1954. Paramount never used anamorphic processes such as 2.55: 1, CinemaScope but refi ...
-camera background plates for Phil Tippett's animated
special effects Special effects (often abbreviated as SFX, F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the imagined events in a story or virtual wo ...
of the final battle scenes. A week spent filming a major sequence at an abandoned steel mill established how Kershner would direct the film's other scenes in terms of acting, lighting, and camera movements. The
second unit Second unit is a discrete team of filmmakers tasked with filming shots or sequences of a production, separate from the main or "first" unit. The second unit will often shoot simultaneously with the other unit or units, allowing the filming stag ...
was directed by Conrad Palmisano and mostly shot in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
, although a stunt sequence by the unit was reported to be filmed near the entrance of the Wortham Theater Center. it got so busy it was unable to produce all the shots Kershner wanted; this meant the director had to film at the unit for a few weeks. A magazine article published at the time of filming described the environment on set as "hell on earth," with the cast and crew rebelling against Kershner's "obsessive finickyness" and "costly reshoots." However, this was debunked by Weller who said, "Kersh didn't delay anything, he's very, very instinctive - he had his mind made up, usually ahead of time."Cinefantastique Vol 21 No 1 (July 1990) Kershner said "I didn't shoot a lot of film at all. You see, if I'd tried to do a lot of coverage, I would never have finished. I would have been 120 days. I had to pretty much lock it in, piece by piece by piece, giving myself an out here and there, a variation, so I wasn't totally locked in. That way, I could finish. If I didn't do that, this would have gone on forever. I never would have gotten each day's work done." Although, at the time, Allen praised Kershner for his creativeness and attention to detail, she later criticized the director as antagonistic and ruining the humor and "heart" of the screenplay. Peter Weller was also critical of the script: "''RoboCop 2'' didn't have a third act. I told the producers and Irv Kershner up front, and Frank Miller. I told them all. I said, 'Where's the third act here, man? So I beat up a big monster. In the third act, you have to have your Dan O'Herlihy. Somebody's got to be the third act.' 'No, no, the monster's going to be enough.' 'Look, it's not enough!'" Despite the script problem, he enjoyed working on the movie with Kershner: "I had a good time making ''RoboCop 2'' but the script did not have the code, the spine, or the soul of the first one." Noonan also claimed to be "relaxed" and enjoying himself on set, where "everyone was incredibly nice," and found Kershner able to adapt with many location and script changes during shooting.


Effects

Phil Tippett returned from the first ''RoboCop'' to do the visual effects for the sequel, this time leading all the effects units. ''RoboCop 2'' was Tippett and Kershner's second collaboration, after Tippett worked at
Industrial Light & Magic Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is an American motion picture visual effects company that was founded on May 26, 1975 by George Lucas. It is a division of the film production company Lucasfilm, which Lucas founded, and was created when he began pr ...
for ''The Empire Strikes Back''. Most of the RoboCop 2 design was done while Hunter was signed as director. RoboCop suit designer Rob Bottin, although not overseeing the process like in the first film, returned to produce a new suit for the second film. The first suit was dark chrome using metal flake and various green, purple, and gold colors to create a look made
iridescent Iridescence (also known as goniochromism) is the phenomenon of certain surfaces that appear to gradually change color as the angle of view or the angle of illumination changes. Examples of iridescence include soap bubbles, feathers, butterfl ...
and steel-like by
Jost Vacano Jost Vacano, BVK (born 15 March 1934) is a German retired cinematographer. His work included ''Das Boot'', and he also worked together with director Paul Verhoeven on seven films, including ''RoboCop'' and '' Total Recall''. He was also the cin ...
's
fluorescent Fluorescence is the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation. It is a form of luminescence. In most cases, the emitted light has a longer wavelength, and therefore a lower photon energy, ...
lighting; however, since
Mark Irwin Mark Irwin (born August 7, 1950) is a Canadian cinematographer. He was born in Toronto, Ontario, and studied political science at the University of Waterloo and filmmaking at York University. He is widely known for his early collaboration ...
replaced Vacano for cinematographer and used conventional lighting, the second film suit (although using a black base like the other suit) looked light-bluer, so
iridescent Iridescence (also known as goniochromism) is the phenomenon of certain surfaces that appear to gradually change color as the angle of view or the angle of illumination changes. Examples of iridescence include soap bubbles, feathers, butterfl ...
colors were more directly applied with powder. Thanks to a bigger budget, the effects team had more time to paint and polish the suit, which led to Bottin's desired "show car" look he couldn't achieve in the first. With a lot of planning and fastener hunting, Bottin also built all parts of the suit to come on and off quickly so that it couldn't decay from the actor having it on too long, which was the case of the first film. Stop-motion and computer animation was used for the final showdown between the RoboCop and RoboCop 2 characters.


Music

The film score was composed and conducted by
Leonard Rosenman Leonard Rosenman (September 7, 1924 – March 4, 2008) was an American film, television and concert composer with credits in over 130 works, including '' East of Eden'', ''Rebel without a Cause'', '' Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home'', ''Beneath th ...
, who did not use any of
Basil Poledouris Basil Konstantine Poledouris (; August 21, 1945 – November 8, 2006) was an American composer, conductor, and orchestrator of film and television scores, best known for his long-running collaborations with directors John Milius and Paul Verho ...
's themes from the first film, instead composing entirely new themes and ''leitmotifs''. The soundtrack album was released by
Varèse Sarabande Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, owned by Concord Music Group and distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums, as well as newer r ...
. The
glam metal Glam metal (also known as hair metal or pop metal) is a subgenre of heavy metal that features pop-influenced hooks and guitar riffs, upbeat rock anthems, and slow power ballads. It borrows heavily from the fashion and image of 1970s glam ...
group
Babylon A.D. ''Babylon A.D.'' is a 2008 science fiction action film based on the 1999 novel '' Babylon Babies'' by Maurice Georges Dantec. The film was directed by Mathieu Kassovitz and stars Vin Diesel in the lead role, Mélanie Thierry, Michelle Yeoh, La ...
released a song called "The Kid Goes Wild", written by members Derek Davis, Vic Pepe, and Jack Ponti. The song is played in the background in the middle part of the film, and it was also used to promote the film. The group created a
music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...
featuring RoboCop targeting the band and having a shootout with some bad guys (footage of the film was also used).


Release


Marketing

To promote the film, RoboCop made a guest appearance at WCW's
pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program g ...
event
Capital Combat Capital Combat: Return of RoboCop was a one-time professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event from the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) held under the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) name. Capital Combat took place on Saturday, May 19, ...
, where he rescued
Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-earth ...
from
The Four Horsemen The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are figures in the Christian scriptures, first appearing in the Book of Revelation, a piece of apocalypse literature written by John of Patmos. Revelation 6 tells of a book or scroll in God's right hand th ...
.


Home media

The film was first released to VHS on December 13, 1990, and was later released to DVD in 1998. The film first received a
Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...
release in 2011. VHS copies of ''RoboCop 2'' began with an anti-drug PSA starring an out-of-character Weller that announced the
Boys & Girls Clubs of America Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) is a national organization of local chapters which provide voluntary after-school programs for young people. The organization, which holds a congressional charter under Title 36 of the United States Code, h ...
were where there was "no pot, no pills, no crack, no smack, no coke — no exceptions."


Reception


Box office

''RoboCop 2'' debuted as the second-highest-grossing film at the box office in its opening weekend. It went on to gross $45.7 million at the U.S. box office and additional $22,505,000 from video rentals.


Critical response

''RoboCop 2'' received mixed reviews from critics. While the special effects and action sequences are widely praised, a common complaint was that the film did not focus enough on RoboCop and his partner Lewis and that the film's human story of the man trapped inside the machine was ultimately lost within a sea of violence. In his ''
Chicago Sun Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'' review,
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
wrote: "Cain's sidekicks include a violent, foul-mouthed young boy named Hob, who looks to be about 12 years old but kills people without remorse, swears like
Eddie Murphy Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and singer. He rose to fame on the sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'', for which he was a regular cast member from 1980 to 1984. Murphy has als ...
, and eventually takes over the drug business... The movie's screenplay is a confusion of half-baked and unfinished ideas... the use of that killer child is beneath contempt." The film "reset" RoboCop's character by turning him back into the monotone-voiced peacekeeper seen early in the first film, despite his reclaiming his human identity and personality by the end of that film. Many were also critical of the child villain Hob; David Nusair of Reel Film Reviews stated, "That the film asks us to swallow a moment late in the story that features Robo taking pity on an injured Hob is heavy-handed and ridiculous (we should probably be thankful the screenwriters didn't have RoboCop say something like, 'Look at what these vile drugs have done to this innocent boy')."
Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...
of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' wrote, "Unlike ''RoboCop'', a clever and original science-fiction film with a genuinely tragic vision of its central character, ''Robocop 2'' doesn't bother to do anything new. It freely borrows the situation, characters and moral questions posed by the first film." She further adds, "The difference between ''Robocop'' and its sequel, ..is the difference between an idea and an afterthought." She also expressed her opinion about the Hob character, "The aimlessness of ''Robocop 2'' runs so deep that after exploiting the inherent shock value of such an innocent-looking killer, the film tries to capitalize on his youth by also giving him a tearful deathbed scene."
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
wrote: "This ultraviolent, nihilistic sequel has enough technical dazzle to impress hardware fans, but obviously no one in the Orion front office told filmmakers that less is more." Peter Rainer of the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
'' panned the film.
Jay Scott Jeffrey Scott Beaven (October 4, 1949 – July 30, 1993), known professionally by his pen name Jay Scott, was a Canadian film critic."Critic Jay Scott, 43 among world's best". ''Toronto Star'', July 31, 1993. Early life Scott was born in Lincol ...
, of ''
The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
'', was one of the few prominent critics who admired the film calling it a "sleek and clever sequel. For fans of violent but clever action films, ''RoboCop 2'' may be the sultry season's best bet: you get the gore of '' Total Recall'' and the satiric smarts of '' Gremlins 2: The New Batch'' in one high-tech package held together by modest B-movie strings. ''RoboCop 2'' alludes to classics of horror and science-fiction ''(
Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific ...
'', ''
Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big c ...
'', ''
Westworld ''Westworld'' is an American science fiction-thriller media franchise that began with the 1973 film ''Westworld'', written and directed by Michael Crichton. The film depicts a technologically advanced Wild-West-themed amusement park populate ...
)'', for sure, but it also evokes less rarefied examples of the same genres–'' Forbidden Planet'', ''
Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film '' Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produ ...
'', and that Z-movie about Hitler's brain in a bottle. It's ironic that the directorial coach of the first ''RoboCop'', Paul Verhoeven, went on to ''Total Recall''; couldn't he see that the script for ''Robo 2'' was sleeker and swifter than Arnie's cumbersome vehicle? His absence in the driver's seat is happily unnoticed because Irvin Kershner, the engineer of sequels that often zip qualitatively past the originals (''
The Empire Strikes Back ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back'') is a 1980 American epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner from a screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, based on a stor ...
'',''
The Return of a Man Called Horse ''The Return of a Man Called Horse'' is a 1976 Western film directed by Irvin Kershner and written by Jack DeWitt. It is a sequel to the 1970 film '' A Man Called Horse'', in turn based on Dorothy M. Johnson’s short story of the same name, ...
'', and the best
Sean Connery Sir Sean Connery (born Thomas Connery; 25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. Origina ...
James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors hav ...
of all, ''
Never Say Never Again ''Never Say Never Again'' is a 1983 spy film directed by Irvin Kershner. The film is based on the 1961 James Bond novel '' Thunderball'' by Ian Fleming, which in turn was based on an original story by Kevin McClory, Jack Whittingham, and Fle ...
''), has tuned-up the premise until it purrs." Review aggregation website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...
retrospectively collected 39 reviews to give the film a score of 28%, with an average rating of 4.70/10. The site's consensus reads, "A less satisfying rehash that generally lives down to the negative stereotype of sequels, ''Robocop 2'' tries to deliver more of everything and ends up with less". On
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
the film has a score of 42 based on reviews from 22 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by
CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film a grade B− on scale of A to F. The plot element of Detroit's bankruptcy received attention from the news media after this actually happened in 2013.


Thematic analysis

Bryan Kristopowitz described ''RoboCop 2'' as a parody of its predecessor.


Politics and corporations

Kershner took the offer to direct ''RoboCop 2''. ''RoboCop 2'' continues the first film's critiques on American capitalism, corporate power and its resulting militarization and other perceived negative impacts; the city's greedy politics continue to benefit only a few, while other citizens have to face problems of crime, pollution, and infrastructure dilapidation due to inadequate restructuring and police strikes. Unlike the predecessor which had a self-aware tone and was hopeful the human race would last due to its rebelliousness, ''RoboCop 2''s take on the corporate and political system is cynical, and more in the forefront of the story, with more staff of Omni-Consumer Products (including its CEO) becoming antagonists. It also includes a few humorous pokes at bleeding-heart liberalism, such as OCP recoding RoboCop into an environmentalist role model. The creation of a second RoboCop to repeat the success of the original cyborg can be interpreted as a take on companies making their older products quickly out-of-date in order to keep selling new ones, and RoboCop 2's uncontrolled murdering of humans showcases how corporate entities devalue human life to a variable in an equation. More mock advertisements are seen, such as the MagnaVolt security system that electrocutes car thieves and the Sunblock 5000, a blue-and-green skincare product which can cause skin cancer itself to prevent getting
skin cancer Skin cancers are cancers that arise from the skin. They are due to the development of abnormal cells that have the ability to invade or spread to other parts of the body. There are three main types of skin cancers: basal-cell skin cancer (BCC) ...
"ever since we lost the ozone layer." Noonan's idea behind Cain being a hippie was that a love for sex and drugs and hatred for law enforcement (common aspects of hippies) were negatively impacting a 1990s' Detroit.


Humanity and masculinity

''RoboCop 2'' also elaborates on Officer Murphy's remaining humanity and the tech's impact on it, another reason Kershner wanted to direct; he found the conflict a symbol on real-life society becoming programmed and "roboticized" by outside forces unconsciously. Kershner's intention with ''RoboCop 2'' was to focus more on human depth and emotions and less on violence than the first film: "It's really the violence of the soul, the violence of human interaction that counts, and that's all there." Weller summarized that the character, after "finding out" in the predecessor, is now "reaching out for ways to return to who he was." A scene depicts RoboCop spying on his former wife's home that brings back memories of his previous life; the camera presents from his point-of-view in these set of memories, which end with Murphy seeing his human face in a bathroom, changing his expression from a smile to frown, and match cutting back to the helmeted face of RoboCop in the police car.
Fordham University Fordham University () is a private Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its original campus is located, Fordham is the oldest Catholic and Jesuit un ...
social professor Maxwell Guttman suggests that while having memories don't make RoboCop more human than any other regular cyborg, the addition of unnecessary, lengthy, and conflicting directives by Dr. Juliette Faxx symbolizes how complicated human behavioral science is. David Roche and Isabelle Schmitt-Pitiot interpreted mirror sequences in ''RoboCop 2'' and its predecessor as showing identity problems in the hypermasculine figure, mourning the loss of a "natural" masculine identity; while the first film's sequence showcased a mixture of a fake human face and electronic parts on his head as him having a fragmented identity, the second film's memory scene showcases two separate identities, where the real human one is no longer a part of him. The re-programming of RoboCop's code and use of it for a different RoboCop also presents masculinity as changing, taking various forms, and revealing hypermasculinity to not be a good form in comparison to others.


Impact

Serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...
Nathaniel White Nathaniel White (born July 28, 1960) is an American serial killer. Active in the Hudson Valley region of New York during the early 1990s, White confessed to beating and stabbing six women to death while on parole. Killings White claimed to have ...
claimed to have found inspiration for his first murder while watching ''RoboCop 2'': "The first girl I killed was from a 'RoboCop' movie... I seen him cut somebody's throat then take the knife and slit down the chest to the stomach and left the body in a certain position. With the first person I killed I did exactly what I saw in the movie."


Other media


Sequel

A sequel titled ''RoboCop 3'', was released in 1993.


Novelization

A
mass market paperback A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) books are bound with cardboard covered with cloth, lea ...
novelization A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...
by
Ed Naha Ed Naha (born June 10, 1950) is an American science fiction and mystery writer and producer. His first known publication was artwork that appeared in the first issue of ''Modern Monsters'' magazine, dated June 1966. Education and early career ...
, titled ''RoboCop 2: A Novel'', was published by
Jove Books Jove Books, formerly known as Pyramid Books, is an American paperback and eBook publishing imprint, founded as an independent paperback house in 1949 by Almat Magazine Publishers (Alfred R. Plaine and Matthew Huttner). The company was sold to ...
.
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in ...
produced a three-issue adaptation of the film by Alan Grant. Like the novelization, the comic book series includes scenes omitted from the finished movie.


Comic books

Frank Miller's original screenplay for ''RoboCop 2'' was turned into a nine-part
comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
series titled '' Frank Miller's RoboCop''. Critical reaction to the comic adaptation of the Miller script was mixed. Ken Tucker of ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular ...
'' gave the comic a "D" score, criticizing the "tired story" and lack of "interesting action." A recap written for the pop culture humor website I-Mockery said, "Having spent quite a lot of time with these comics over the past several days researching and writing this article, I can honestly say that it makes me want to watch the movie version of ''RoboCop 2'' again just so I can get the bad taste out of my mouth. Or prove to myself that the movie couldn't be worse than this.""Frank Miller's Roboflop"
I-Mockery, March 31, 2008


See also

* List of American films of 1990 * ''RoboCop 2'' (video game) * '' RoboCop 3''


References


Citations


Works cited

* * * * * * *


External links

* * * * Watch a 1990 "making-of" documentary about the production of ''RoboCop 2'' on the Internet Archive * Watch the Robocop 2 workprint (alternate/unfinished effects) on the Internet Archive {{Frank Miller RoboCop (franchise) 1990 films 1990s English-language films 1990 independent films 1990s science fiction action films 1990s dystopian films 1990s superhero films American independent films American science fiction action films American sequel films American superhero films Cyberpunk films Cyborg films Films about amputees Films about child death Films about drugs Films about terrorism in the United States Films adapted into comics Films directed by Irvin Kershner Films scored by Leonard Rosenman Films set in Detroit Films set in the future Films shot in Houston Films using stop-motion animation Juvenile delinquency in fiction Fictional portrayals of the Detroit Police Department Orion Pictures films Films with screenplays by Frank Miller (comics) Films about brain transplants Techno-thriller films 1990s American films