science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

Paul Verhoeven Paul Verhoeven (; born 18 July 1938) is a Dutch filmmaker, who has worked variously in the Netherlands, the United States, and in France. He is known for directing genre films with strong satirical elements, often featuring graphic violence and ...

Edward Neumeier Edward Neumeier (born August 24, 1957) is an American screenwriter best known for his work on the science fiction movies ''RoboCop'' and ''Starship Troopers (film), Starship Troopers''. He wrote the latter's sequels ''Starship Troopers 2: Hero o ...

Miguel Ferrer Miguel José Ferrer (February 7, 1955 – January 19, 2017) was an American actor. His breakthrough role was as Bob Morton in the 1987 film ''RoboCop''. Other film roles include Harbinger in '' Hot Shots! Part Deux'' (1993), Quigley in '' Blank ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

cyborg A cyborg (, a portmanteau of ''cybernetics, cybernetic'' and ''organism'') is a being with both Organic matter, organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline.RoboCop ''RoboCop'' is a 1987 American Science fiction film, science fiction action film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner. The film stars Peter Weller, Nancy Allen (actress), Nancy Allen, Dan O'Herlihy, Dani ...

Blade Runner ''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott from a screenplay by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Di ...

Orion Pictures Orion Releasing, LLC (Trade name, doing business as Orion Pictures) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by the Amazon MGM Studios subsidiary of Amazon (company), Amazon. It was founded in 1978 as Ori ...

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

Saturn Awards 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 bel ...

Reaganomics Reaganomics (; a portmanteau of ''Reagan'' and ''economics'' attributed to Paul Harvey), or Reaganism, were the Neoliberalism, neoliberal economics, economic policies promoted by United States President, U.S. President Ronald Reagan during the ...

video games A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

comic books A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same s ...

dystopia A dystopia (lit. "bad place") is an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. It is an imagined place (possibly state) in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmen ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

RoboCop ''RoboCop'' is a 1987 American Science fiction film, science fiction action film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner. The film stars Peter Weller, Nancy Allen (actress), Nancy Allen, Dan O'Herlihy, Dani ...

cyborg A cyborg (, a portmanteau of ''cybernetics, cybernetic'' and ''organism'') is a being with both Organic matter, organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline.

Cast

* Peter Weller as Alex Murphy / RoboCop: A Detroit police officer murdered in the line of duty and revived as a cyborg * Nancy Allen as Anne Lewis: A tough and loyal police officer * Daniel O'Herlihy as "The Old Man": The chief executive of OCP * Ronny Cox as Dick Jones: The Senior President of OCP * Kurtwood Smith as Clarence Boddicker: A crime lord in league with Dick Jones *

Miguel Ferrer Miguel José Ferrer (February 7, 1955 – January 19, 2017) was an American actor. His breakthrough role was as Bob Morton in the 1987 film ''RoboCop''. Other film roles include Harbinger in '' Hot Shots! Part Deux'' (1993), Quigley in '' Blank ...

as Bob Morton: An ambitious OCP junior executive responsible for the "RoboCop" project In addition to the main cast, ''RoboCop'' features

Paul McCrane Paul McCrane (born January 19, 1961) is an American film, television and theatre actor, as well as a television director and singer. He is known for his portrayal of Montgomery MacNeil in the 1980 film '' Fame'', Frank Berry in the 1984 film '' T ...

as Emil Antonowsky,

Ray Wise Raymond Herbert Wise (born August 29, 1947) is an American actor best known for his role as Leland Palmer in ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991, Twin Peaks (season 3), 2017) and its prequel film ''Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me'' (1992). He has appeared ...

as Leon Nash, Jesse D. Goins as Joe Cox and Calvin Jung as Steve Minh, members of Boddicker's gang. The cast also includes Robert DoQui as Sergeant Warren Reed, Michael Gregory as Lieutenant Hedgecock, Felton Perry as OCP employee Donald Johnson, Kevin Page as OCP junior executive Mr. Kinney (who is shot to death by ED-209), and Lee de Broux as

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

warehouse owner Sal. Mario Machado and

Leeza Gibbons Leeza Kim Gibbons (born March 26, 1957) is an American talk show host. She is best known as a correspondent and co-host for ''Entertainment Tonight'' (1984–2000) as well as for having her own syndicated daytime talk show, ''Leeza'' (1993– ...

play news hosts Casey Wong and Jess Perkins, respectively, and television-show host Bixby Snyder is played by S. D. Nemeth. Angie Bolling and Jason Levine appear as Murphy's wife and son. ''RoboCop'' director

Paul Verhoeven Paul Verhoeven (; born 18 July 1938) is a Dutch filmmaker, who has worked variously in the Netherlands, the United States, and in France. He is known for directing genre films with strong satirical elements, often featuring graphic violence and ...

makes a

cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...

as a dancing nightclub patron, producer Jon Davison provides the voice of ED-209, and director

John Landis John David Landis (born August 3, 1950) is an American filmmaker and actor. He is best known for directing comedy films such as ''The Kentucky Fried Movie'' (1977), ''Animal House, National Lampoon's Animal House'' (1978), The Blues Brothers (f ...

appears in an in-film advertisement. Smith's partner, Joan Pirkle, appears as Dick Jones's secretary.

Production

Conception and writing

''RoboCop'' was conceived in the early 1980s by

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

junior story executive and aspiring screenwriter

Edward Neumeier Edward Neumeier (born August 24, 1957) is an American screenwriter best known for his work on the science fiction movies ''RoboCop'' and ''Starship Troopers (film), Starship Troopers''. He wrote the latter's sequels ''Starship Troopers 2: Hero o ...

. A fan of robot-themed science-fiction films, ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'', and action films, Neumeier had developed an interest in mature comic books while researching them for potential adaptation. The 1982 science-fiction film ''

Blade Runner ''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott from a screenplay by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Di ...

'' was filming on the

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

lot behind Neumeier's office, and he unofficially joined the production to learn about filmmaking. His work there gave him the idea for ''RoboCop'': "I had this vision of a far-distant, ''Blade Runner''–type world where there was an all-mechanical cop coming to a sense of real human intelligence". He spent the next few nights writing a 40-page outline. While researching story submissions for Universal, Neumeier came across a student video by aspiring director Michael Miner. The pair met and discussed their similar concepts: Neumeier's ''RoboCop'' and Miner's robot-themed rock

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

. In a 2014 interview, Miner said that he also had an idea called ''SuperCop''. They formed a working partnership and spent about two months discussing the idea and two to three months writing together at night and over weekends, in addition to their regular jobs. Their collaboration was initially difficult because they did not know each other well, and had to learn how to constructively criticize each other. Neumeier was influenced to kill off his main character early by the psychological horror film '' Psycho'' (1960), whose main character is killed early in the film. Inspired by comic books and his experience with corporate culture, Neumeier wanted to satirize 1980s business culture. He noted the increasing aggression of American financial services in response to growing Japanese influence and the popularity on

Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...

of '' The Book of Five Rings'', a 17th-century book about how to kill more effectively. Neumeier also believed that

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

's declining automobile industry was due to increased bureaucracy. ED-209's malfunction in the OCP boardroom was based on Neumeier's office daydreams about a robot bursting into a meeting and killing everyone. Miner described the film as "comic relief for a cynical time" during the

presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

of

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

, when economist "

Milton Friedman Milton Friedman (; July 31, 1912 – November 16, 2006) was an American economist and statistician who received the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory and ...

and the Chicago Boys ransacked the world, enabled by Reagan and the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

. So when you have this cop who works for a corporation that insists 'I own you,' and he still does the right thing—that's the core of the film." Neumeier and Miner conceived the in-universe news and advertisement "Media Breaks" that appear throughout ''RoboCop'', and a

spec script A spec script, also known as a speculative screenplay, is a non-commissioned and unsolicited screenplay. It is usually written by a screenwriter who hopes to have the script optioned and eventually purchased by a producer, production company, or ...

was completed by December 1984.

Development

The first draft of the script, ''RoboCop: The Future of Law Enforcement'', was given to industry friends and associates in early 1985. A month later, Neumeier and Miner had two offers: one from Atlantic Releasing and another from director

Jonathan Kaplan Jonathan Kaplan (born November 25, 1947) is an American film producer and film director, director. His film ''The Accused (1988 film), The Accused'' (1988) earned actress Jodie Foster the Academy Awards, Oscar for Academy Award for Best Actress ...

and producer Jon Davison with

Orion Pictures Orion Releasing, LLC (Trade name, doing business as Orion Pictures) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by the Amazon MGM Studios subsidiary of Amazon (company), Amazon. It was founded in 1978 as Ori ...

. An experienced producer of exploitation and B films such as the parody ''

Airplane! ''Airplane!'' (alternatively titled ''Flying High!'') is a 1980 American disaster film, disaster comedy film written and directed by Jim Abrahams and brothers David Zucker, David and Jerry Zucker in their List of directorial debuts, directoria ...

'' (1980), Davison said that he was drawn to the script's satire. He showed Neumeier and Miner films—including '' Madigan'' (1968), ''

Dirty Harry ''Dirty Harry'' is a 1971 American action-thriller film produced and directed by Don Siegel, the first in the Dirty Harry (film series), ''Dirty Harry'' series. Clint Eastwood plays the title role, in his first appearance as San Francisco Polic ...

'' (1971), and ''

Mad Max 2 ''Mad Max 2'' (released as ''The Road Warrior'' in the United States) is a 1981 Australian Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, post-apocalyptic Utopian and dystopian fiction, dystopian action film directed by George Miller (filmmaker), G ...

'' (1981)—to demonstrate the tone he wanted. After Orion greenlit the project, Neumeier and Miner began a second draft. Davison produced the film with his Tobor Pictures company. Neumeier and Miner were paid a few thousand dollars for the script rights and $25,000 between them for the rewrite. They were entitled to eight percent of the producer profits upon release. Davison's contacts with puppeteers, animators, and practical effects designers were essential to Verhoeven, who had no prior experience with them. The producers discussed changing the Detroit setting, but Neumeier insisted on its importance because of its failing auto industry. The connection between Clarence Boddicker and Dick Jones was added at Orion's suggestion. Kaplan left to direct '' Project X'' (1987), and finding his replacement took six months; many prospects declined because of the film's title. The project was offered to

David Cronenberg David Paul Cronenberg (born March 15, 1943) is a Canadian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. He is a principal originator of the body horror genre, with his films exploring visceral bodily transformation, infectious diseases, and ...

,

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 (film), Repo Man'' (1984) and ''Sid and Nancy'' (1986 ...

, and Monte Hellman; Hellman joined as second-unit director. Miner asked to direct, but Orion refused to trust a $7million project to an untested director. He declined the second-unit director position in order to direct ''

Deadly Weapon A deadly weapon, sometimes dangerous weapon (although some jurisdictions differentiate between the two) or lethal weapon, is an item that can inflict mortal or great bodily harm. By statutory definition, certain items, especially firearms, are d ...

'' (1989); Orion executive Barbara Boyle suggested Paul Verhoeven—who had been praised for his work on '' Soldier of Orange'' (1977) and his first English-language film, ''Flesh+Blood'' (1985)—for director. Verhoeven looked at the first page and rejected the script as awful, stalling the project. Boyle sent Verhoeven another copy, suggesting that he pay attention to the subtext. Verhoeven was still uninterested until his wife Martine read it and encouraged him to give it a chance, saying he had missed the "soul" of the story about someone losing his identity. Not fluent in English, Verhoeven said that the satire did not make sense to him; the scene that attracted his attention was RoboCop returning to Murphy's abandoned home and experiencing memories of his former life. Davison, Neumeier and Verhoeven discussed the project at

Culver Studios The Culver Studios is a film studio in Culver City, California. Originally created by silent movie pioneer Thomas H. Ince, the studios have operated under a multitude of names: Ince Studio (1918–1925), De Mille Studios (1925–1928), Pathé St ...

' Mansion House. Verhoeven wanted to direct it as a serious film; Neumeier gave him comic books to explain the tone they wanted, including ''2000 AD'' with the character

Judge Dredd Judge Joseph Dredd is a fictional character created by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra. He first appeared in the second issue of the British weekly anthology Comic book, comic ''2000 AD (comics), 2000 AD'' (1977). He is the magazi ...

. Neumeier and Miner wrote a third draft based on Verhoeven's requests, working through injuries and late nights; the 92-page revision included a subplot about a romantic affair between Murphy and Lewis. After reading it, Verhoeven admitted that he was wrong and returned to the second draft in search of a comic-book tone.

Casting

Six to eight months were spent searching for an actor to play Alex Murphy / RoboCop.

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...

,

Michael Ironside Frederick Reginald Ironside (born February 12, 1950), known professionally as Michael Ironside, is a Canadian actor. A prominent character actor with over 270 film and television credits, he is known for playing villains and antiheroes, but has ...

,

Rutger Hauer Rutger Oelsen Hauer (; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor, with a career that spanned over 170 roles across nearly 50 years, beginning in 1969. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century. H ...

,

Tom Berenger Tom Berenger (born Thomas Michael Moore; May 31, 1949) is an American actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of the Staff Sergeant Bob Barnes in ''Platoon'' (1986). He is also known for playing ...

, Armand Assante, Keith Carradine and James Remar were considered. Orion favored Schwarzenegger, the star of their recent success ''

The Terminator ''The Terminator'' is a 1984 American science fiction action film directed by James Cameron, written by Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd and produced by Hurd. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator, a cybernetic assassin sent back in t ...

'' (1984), but he and other actors were considered too physically imposing to be believable in the RoboCop costume; it was thought that Schwarzenegger would look like the

Michelin Man Bibendum (), commonly referred to in English as the Michelin Man or Michelin Tire Man, is the official mascot of the Michelin tire company. A humanoid figure consisting of stacked white tire, tires, it was introduced at the Lyon Exposition inter ...

or the 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. The low salary he commanded was in his favor, as were his good body control from martial-arts training and marathon running and his fan base in the science-fiction genre after his performance in '' The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension'' (1984). Verhoeven said he hired him because "his chin was very good". Weller spent months working with mime Moni Yakim, developing a fluid movement style with a stiff ending while wearing an American football uniform to approximate the finished costume. Weller said that working with Verhoeven was his main reason for choosing the role over appearing in ''

King Kong Lives ''King Kong Lives'' (released as ''King Kong 2'' in some countries) is a 1986 American monster adventure film directed by John Guillermin. Produced by the De Laurentiis Entertainment Group and featuring special effects by Carlo Rambaldi, the f ...

'' (1986). Stephanie Zimbalist was cast as Murphy's partner Anne Lewis, but dropped out because of contractual obligations to '' Remington Steele'' (which had been canceled in 1986, but was revived because of its popularity). Her replacement, Nancy Allen, thought the film's title was terrible but found the script engrossing. Allen was known for her long blonde hair, but Verhoeven wanted it cut short so the character was not sexualized. Her hair was cut eight times before the desired look was achieved. Allen undertook police-academy training for her role, and sought advice from her

police lieutenant A police lieutenant is a police rank in some police departments, such as the French National Police, the Netherlands Royal Marechaussee, the Philippine National Police, the Police of Russia, the National Police of Ukraine, the Estonian Polic ...

father. Verhoeven encouraged her to act masculine and gain weight, which she accomplished by quitting smoking. Kurtwood Smith auditioned for Boddicker and Jones. He was known mainly for television work, but had not had film success, and saw ''RoboCop'' as a B-film with potential. The character was scripted to wear glasses so he would look like

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

member

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and military leader who was the 4th of the (Protection Squadron; SS), a leading member of the Nazi Party, and one of the most powerful p ...

. Smith was unaware of this, and interpreted it as the character having an intelligent and militaristic front to conceal being a "sneering, smirking drug kingpin". Ironside was offered the role, but did not want to be involved with another special effects-laden film or play a "psychopath" after working on '' Extreme Prejudice'' (1987).

Robert Picardo Robert Alphonse Picardo (born October 27, 1953) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the Doctor on '' Star Trek: Voyager''. He also appeared as Richard Woolsey in the ''Stargate'' franchise, the Cowboy in '' Innerspace'', Coach ...

also auditioned for the role. Ronny Cox had been stereotyped as playing generally nice characters, and said that this left the impression that he could not play more masculine roles. Because of this, Verhoeven cast him as the villainous Dick Jones. Cox said that playing a villain was "about a gazillion times more fun than playing the good guys". Jones, he said, has no compassion and is an "evil on of a bitch. Miguel Ferrer was unsure if the film would be successful, but was desperate for work and would have accepted any offer. The Old Man was based on MCA Inc. CEO

Lew Wasserman Lewis Robert Wasserman (March 22, 1913 – June 3, 2002) was an American businessman and talent agent, described as "the last of the legendary movie moguls" and "arguably the most powerful and influential Hollywood titan in the four decades afte ...

, whom Neumeier considered a powerful and intimidating individual. Television host Bixby Snyder was written as an Americanized, more-extreme version of British comedian

Benny Hill Alfred Hawthorne "Benny" Hill (21 January 1924 – 18 April 1992) was an English comedian, actor and scriptwriter. He is best remembered for his television programme, ''The Benny Hill Show'', a comedy-variety show whose amalgam of slapstick, bu ...

. Radio personality Howard Stern was offered an unspecified role, but turned it down because he thought the idea was stupid (although he later praised the finished film).

Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

began on August 6, 1986, on an $11million budget. Jost Vacano was the

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

, after working with Verhoeven on ''Soldier of Orange''. Verhoeven wanted ''Blade Runner'' production designer Lawrence G. Paull, but Davison said he could afford either a great production designer or a great RoboCop costumenot both. William Sandell was hired. Monte Hellman directed several of the action scenes. ''RoboCop'' was filmed primarily on location in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, with additional filming in

Las Colinas Las Colinas is a mixed-use planned community development in Irving, Texas governed by The Las Colinas Association, a Texas nonprofit corporation. Due to its central location in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex and proximity to Dallas/Fort Wor ...

and

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. Verhoeven wanted a filming location which suggested the near future. Detroit was dismissed because it had many low buildings, many

brownstone Brownstone is a brown Triassic–Jurassic sandstone that was historically a popular building material. The term is also used in the United States and Canada to refer to a townhouse clad in this or any other aesthetically similar material. Ty ...

s and Victorian-style buildings. Neumeier said that it was also a union city, making it more expensive to film there. Detroit made a brief appearance in nighttime, stock aerial footage at the beginning of the film. Chicago was dismissed for aesthetic reasons, New York City for high costs, and California because according to Davison, Orion wanted to distance itself from the project. Dallas was chosen over

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

because it has modern buildings and older, less-maintained areas where explosives could be used. The filming schedule in Dallas was nine weeks, but it soon became clear that it would take longer. Based on filmed footage, Orion approved the schedule extension and a budget increase to $13.1million. The weather fluctuated during filming; Dallas in summer was often , and the weather in Pittsburgh was frigid. RoboCop's costume was not finished until some time into filming. This did not impact the shooting schedule, but it denied Weller the month of costume rehearsal he had expected. Weller was frustrated with the costume; it was too cumbersome for him to move as he had practiced, and he spent hours trying to adapt. He struggled to see through the thin helmet visor and interact with (or grab) objects while wearing the gloves. Weller fell out with Verhoeven and was fired, with Lance Henriksen considered as a replacement; because the costume was designed for Weller, however, he was encouraged to mend fences. Mime Moni Yakim helped Weller to develop a slower, more deliberate way of moving. Weller's experience in the costume was worsened by the warm weather, which made him sweat off up to per day. Verhoeven began taking prescription medication to cope with stress-induced insomnia, and he filmed scenes under the influence. Pittsburgh-steel-company-monessen-works-blast-furnace-no-1-and-no-2-donner-7

Pittsburgh-steel-company-monessen-works-blast-furnace-no-1-and-no-2-donner-7

He often choreographed scenes with the actors before filming. Improvisation was also encouraged, because Verhoeven believed that it could produce interesting results. Smith improvised some of his character's quirks, such as sticking chewing gum to a secretary's desk and spitting blood onto the police-station counter: What if I spat blood on the desk?'... erhoevengot this little smile on his face, and we did it." Neumeier was on set throughout filming and occasionally wrote additional scenes, including a New Year's Eve party after seeing some party-hat props and a news story about the

Strategic Defense Initiative The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) was a proposed missile defense system intended to protect the United States from attack by ballistic nuclear missiles. The program was announced in 1983, by President Ronald Reagan. Reagan called for a ...

platform misfiring. Verhoeven found Neumeier's presence invaluable, because they could discuss how to adapt the script or location to make a scene work. Verhoeven gained a reputation for verbal aggression and unsociable behavior on set; Smith said that he never yelled at the actors, however, but was too engrossed in filming to be sociable. Cox and Allen spoke warmly of Verhoeven. Weller spent his time between filming with the actors who played his enemies (including Smith, Ray Wise and Calvin Jung), who maintained healthy lifestyles that supported Weller in his training for the

New York City Marathon The New York City Marathon, currently branded as the TCS New York City Marathon for sponsorship reasons, is an annual marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest marathon in the world, with 53,627 fini ...

. A number of locations in and around Dallas were used in production. An office in Renaissance Tower was used for the OCP interior of; the company's exterior is

Dallas City Hall Dallas City Hall is the seat of municipal government of the city of Dallas, Texas, United States. It is located at 1500 Marilla Street in the Government District, Dallas, Government District of downtown Dallas. The current building, the city's ...

, modified with

matte painting A matte painting is a painted representation of a landscape, set, or distant location that allows filmmakers to create the illusion of an environment that is not present at the filming location. Historically, matte painters and film technicia ...

s to appear taller. The OCP elevator was that of the Plaza of the Americas. The Detroit police station's exterior is Crozier Tech High School; its interior is the

Sons of Hermann The Order of the Sons of Hermann () is a Benefit society, mutual aid society for Germany, German immigrants that was formed in New York City on July 20, 1840,Fritz Schilo"Sons of Hermann" Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Society, ...

hall, and city hall is the Dallas Municipal Building. Scenes of Boddicker's gang blowing up storefronts were filmed in the Deep Ellum neighborhood. One explosion was larger than anticipated; actors can be seen moving out of the way, Smith had to remove his coat because it was on fire, and the actors involved received an additional $400 in stunt pay. The

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

gas station that explodes was in the

Arts District An arts district or cultural district is a demarcated urban area, usually on the periphery of a city centre, intended to create a 'critical mass' of places of cultural consumption - such as art galleries, theatres, art cinemas, music venues, and p ...

, where local residents unaware of the filming called the fire department. The scene was scripted for flames to modify the sign to read "hell"; Davison approved it, but it does not appear in the film. Miner called it a disappointing omission. The nightclub was the former Starck Club. Verhoeven was filmed demonstrating how the clubbers should dance, and used the footage in the film. Other Dallas locations included César Chávez Boulevard, the

Reunion Arena Reunion Arena was an indoor arena located in the Reunion, Dallas, Reunion district of downtown Dallas, Texas, United States. The arena served as the primary home of the National Hockey League's (NHL) Dallas Stars and the National Basketball Ass ...

and the parking lot of the Crescent. The final battle between RoboCop and Boddicker's gang was filmed at a steel mill in Monessen, outside Pittsburgh. Filming ended in late October 1986.

Post-production

An additional $600,000 budget increase was approved by Orion for post-production and the music score, raising the budget to $13.7million. Frank J. Urioste was the film's editor. Several pick-up shots were filmed during this phase, including Murphy's death, RoboCop removing his helmet, and shots of his leg holster. After the OCP boardroom scene in which RoboCop calls himself Murphy, another scene revealed that Lewis was alive in a hospital before showing RoboCop on patrol. The latter scene was thought to lessen the former's triumphant feeling, and was removed. Verhoeven wanted the in-film Media Breaks to abruptly interrupt the narrative and unsettle the viewer. He was influenced by

Piet Mondrian Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), known after 1911 as Piet Mondrian (, , ), was a Dutch Painting, painter and Theory of art, art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He w ...

's art, which featured stark black lines separating colored squares. Peter Conn directed many of the Media Breaks, but "TJ Lazer" was directed by Neumeier. ''RoboCop''s violent content made it difficult to receive an R rating from the

Motion Picture Association of America The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the Major film studios, five major film studios of the Cinema of the United States, United States, the Major film studios#Mini-majors, mini-major Amazon MGM Stud ...

(MPAA), which restricted the film to viewers over 17 unless accompanied by an adult. It initially received the more-restrictive

X rating An X rating is a film rating that indicates that the film contains content that is considered to be suitable only for adults. Films with an X rating may have scenes of graphic violence or explicit sexual acts that may be disturbing or offensive ...

, limiting the film to those over 17. Although some reports suggest it was refused an R-rating eleven times, Verhoeven said that the number was actually eight. The MPAA took issue with several scenes, including Murphy's death and ED-209 shooting an executive. The violent scenes were shortened and Media Breaks were added to help lighten the mood; Verhoeven recalled that one reviewer was confused by their jarring appearance in the film, and complained that the projectionist had used the wrong

film reel A reel is a tool used to store elongated and flexible objects (e.g. yarns/ cords, ribbons, cables, hoses, etc.) by wrapping the material around a cylindrical core known as a '' spool''. Many reels also have flanges (known as the ''rims'') a ...

. The MPAA also objected to a scene of a mutated Emil being disintegrated by Boddicker's car, but Verhoeven, Davison and Orion refused to remove it because it consistently received the biggest laughs during test screenings. Verhoeven made the violence comical and surreal, and believed that the cuts made the scenes appear more (not less) violent. He said that his young children laughed at the X-rated cut, and audiences laughed less at the R-rated version. According to Verhoeven, people "love seeing violence and horrible things". The film is 103 minutes long. Basil Poledouris composed the

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

after working with Verhoeven on ''Flesh + Blood''. The score combines synthesizers and orchestral music, reflecting RoboCop's

cyborg A cyborg (, a portmanteau of ''cybernetics, cybernetic'' and ''organism'') is a being with both Organic matter, organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline.Sinfonia of London.

Special effects and design

Special effects

The special-effects team, led by Rob Bottin, included

Phil Tippett Phil Tippett (born September 27, 1951) is an American film director and visual effects supervisor and producer, who specializes in creature design, stop-motion and computerized character animation. Over his career, he has assisted ILM and Drea ...

, Stephan Dupuis, Bart Mixon and Craig Davies. The effects were very violent because Verhoeven believed that that made scenes funnier. He compared the brutality of Murphy's death to the

crucifixion of Jesus The crucifixion of Jesus was the death of Jesus by being crucifixion, nailed to a cross.The instrument of Jesus' crucifixion, instrument of crucifixion is taken to be an upright wooden beam to which was added a transverse wooden beam, thus f ...

, an effective way to evoke sympathy for the character. The scene was filmed at an abandoned auto-assembly plant in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

, on a raised stage that allowed operators to control the effects from below. To show Murphy being dismantled by gunfire, prosthetic arms were cast in

alginate Alginic acid, also called algin, is a naturally occurring, edible polysaccharide found in brown algae. It is hydrophilic and forms a viscous gum when hydrated. When the alginic acid binds with sodium and calcium ions, the resulting salts are k ...

and filled with tubing that could pump artificial blood and compressed air. Weller's left hand, attached to his shoulders by

velcro Velcro IP Holdings LLC, trading as Velcro Companies and commonly referred to as Velcro (pronounced ), is a British privately held company, founded by Swiss electrical engineer George de Mestral in the 1950s. It is the original manufacturer of ho ...

and controlled by three operators, was designed to explode in a controllable way so it could be easily put back together for repeat shots. The right arm was jerked away from Weller's body by a monofilament wire. A detailed, articulated replica of Weller's upper body was used to depict Boddicker shooting Murphy through the head. A mold was made of Weller's face using foam

latex Latex is an emulsion (stable dispersion) of polymer microparticles in water. Latices are found in nature, but synthetic latices are common as well. In nature, latex is found as a wikt:milky, milky fluid, which is present in 10% of all floweri ...

that was baked to make it rubbery and flesh-like, and placed over a fiberglass skull containing a blood squib and explosive charge. The articulated head was controlled by four puppeteers, and had details of sweat and blood. A fan motor attached to the body made it vibrate, as if shaking in fear. The charge in the skull was connected to the trigger of Smith's gun by wire to synchronize the effect. Emil's melting condition was inspired by the 1977 science-fiction film '' The Incredible Melting Man''. Bottin designed and constructed Emil's prosthetics, creating a foam-latex headpiece and matching gloves that gave the appearance of Emil's skin melting "off his bones like marshmallow sauce". A second piece, depicting further degradation, was applied over the first. Dupuis painted each piece differently to emphasize Emil's advancing degradation. The prosthetics were applied to an articulated dummy to show Emil being struck by Boddicker's car. The head was loosened so it would fly off; by chance, it rolled onto the car's hood. The effect was completed with Emil's liquified body (raw chicken, soup, and gravy) washing over the windscreen. The same dummy stands in for RoboCop when he is crushed by steel beams (painted wood). Verhoeven wanted RoboCop to kill Boddicker by stabbing him in the eye, but it was believed the effort to create the effect would be wasted due to censorship concerns. Dick Jones's fatal fall is shown by a stop-motion puppet of Cox, animated by Rocco Gioffre. The limited development time forced Gioffre to use a foam-rubber puppet with an aluminum skeleton instead of a better-quality, articulated version. It was composited against Mark Sullivan's matte painting of the street below. ED-209's murder of OCP executive Mr. Kinney was filmed over three days. Kevin Page's body was covered with 200 squibs, but Verhoeven was unhappy with the result and brought him back months later to re-shoot it in a studio-built recreation of the board room. Page was again covered in over 200 squibs and plastic bags filled with spaghetti squash and fake blood. Page described intense pain as each squib detonation felt like a punch. In the cocaine-warehouse scene, Boddicker's stuntman was thrown through glass panes rigged with detonating cord to shatter microseconds before he hit. Gelatin capsules filled with

sawdust Sawdust (or wood dust) is a by-product or waste product of woodworking operations such as sawing, sanding, milling and routing. It is composed of very small chips of wood. These operations can be performed by woodworking machinery, portable p ...

and a sparkling compound were fired from an air gun at RoboCop to create the effect of ricocheting bullets.

RoboCop

Bottin was tasked with designing the RoboCop costume. He researched the ''Star Wars'' character

C-3PO C-3PO () or See-Threepio is a humanoid robot character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. He is a protocol droid (Star Wars), droid designed to assist in etiquette and translation, and is fluent in over six million forms of communication. The chara ...

and its stiff costume, which made movement difficult. Bottin was also influenced by robot designs in ''

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural area for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big city b ...

'' (1927), ''

The Day the Earth Stood Still ''The Day the Earth Stood Still'' is a 1951 American science fiction film from 20th Century Fox, produced by Julian Blaustein and directed by Robert Wise. It stars Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, Sam Jaffe, Billy Gray, F ...

'' (1951), and several comic-book superheroes. He developed about 50 designs based on feedback from Verhoeven (who pushed for a more machine-like character), before settling on a sleek aesthetic inspired by the work of Japanese illustrator

Hajime Sorayama is a Japanese illustrator known, along for his design work on the original Sony AIBO, for his precisely detailed, erotic portrayals of feminine robots. He describes his highly detailed style as "superrealism", which he says "deals with the t ...

. Verhoeven admitted his unrealistic expectations after reading Japanese science-fiction

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

; it took him a while to realize it, which contributed to the costume delay. The scope of the RoboCop costume was unprecedented, with its design and construction exceeding cost and schedule. The costume took six months to build with flexible foam latex, semi-and completely-rigid

polyurethane Polyurethane (; often abbreviated PUR and PU) is a class of polymers composed of organic chemistry, organic units joined by carbamate (urethane) links. In contrast to other common polymers such as polyethylene and polystyrene, polyurethane term ...

, and a fiberglass helmet. Moving sections were joined with aluminum and ball bearings. The costume is supported by an internal harness of hooks, allowing for sustained movement during action scenes. Seven costumes were made, including a fireproof version and costumes depicting sustained damage. Reports on their weight vary from . RoboCop's gun, the Auto-9, is a Beretta 93R with an extended barrel and larger grip. It was modified to fire blank bullets, and vents were cut into the side to allow for multi-directional muzzle flashes with every three-shot burst.

ED-209

To budget for ED-209's development, Tippett developed preliminary sketches and hired Davies to design the full-scale model which was constructed with the help of Paula Lucchesi. Verhoeven wanted ED-209 to look mean, and thought that Davies' early designs lacked a "killer" aesthetic. Davies was influenced by

killer whale The orca (''Orcinus orca''), or killer whale, is a toothed whale and the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family. The only extant species in the genus '' Orcinus'', it is recognizable by its black-and-white-patterned body. A cosmopolit ...

s and a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

LTV A-7 Corsair II The LTV A-7 Corsair II is an American carrier-capable subsonic light attack aircraft designed and manufactured by Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV). The A-7 was developed during the early 1960s as replacement for the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk. Its design was ...

. He approached the design with modern American aesthetics and a corporate-design policy that he believed prioritized looks over functionality, including excessive and impractical components. He did not add eyes, thinking that they would make ED-209 more sympathetic. The fully-articulated fiberglass model took four months to build, cost $25,000, stood tall, and weighed . The 100-hour work weeks took their toll and Davies minimized the detail of ED-209's feet, since he did not think they would be shown. The model was later used on promotional tours. Davies spent another four months building two miniature replicas for

stop motion Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exh ...

animation. The two small models allowed scenes to be animated and filmed more efficiently, which saved time in completing the 55 shots needed in three months. Tippett was the lead ED-209 animator, assisted by Randal M. Dutra and Harry Walton. Tippett conceived ED-209's movement as "unanimal"-like, as if it were about to fall over before catching itself. To complete the character, the droid was given the roar of a

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant cat species in the genus ''Panthera''. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of with a ...

. Davison provided a temporary voiceover for ED-209's speaking voice, which was retained in the film.

Other effects and designs

''RoboCop'' contains seven matte effects, mainly painted by Gioffre. Each matte was painted on

masonite Masonite board Back side of a masonite board Isorel, Quartrboard, Masonite Corporation, Masonite, also called Quartboard or pressboard, is a type of engineered wood made of steam-cooked and pressure-molded wood or paper fibers. The fibers ...

. Gioffre supervised on-site filming to

mask A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment, and often employed for rituals and rites. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes, ...

the camera where the matte is inserted, and remembered having to crawl out from a five-story-high ledge to get the right shot of the Plaza of the Americas. The burnished steel RoboCop logo was developed using photographic effects that supervisor Peter Kuran based on a black-and-white sketch from Orion. Kuran created a scaled-up matte version and backlit it. A second pass was made with a sheet of aluminum behind it to create reflective detail. RoboCop's vision was created with hundreds of ink lines on

acetate An acetate is a salt formed by the combination of acetic acid with a base (e.g. alkaline, earthy, metallic, nonmetallic, or radical base). "Acetate" also describes the conjugate base or ion (specifically, the negatively charged ion called ...

composited over existing footage. Several attempts had to be made to get the line thickness right; at first, the lines were too thick or too thin. Assuming that thermographic photography would be expensive, Kuran replicated thermal vision using actors in body stockings painted with thermal colors and filmed the scene with a polarized lens filter. RoboCop's mechanical recharging chair was designed by John Zabrucky. The OCP boardroom model of Delta City was made under the supervision of art director Gayle Simon. The film's police cars are 1986

Ford Taurus The Ford Taurus is an automobile that was manufactured and marketed by the Ford Motor Company in the United States from 1985 to 2019. From 1985 to 2009, Ford marketed the Taurus alongside its rebadged variant, the Mercury Sable. Four generati ...

models painted black. The Taurus was chosen because of its futuristic, aerodynamic styling for the vehicle's first production year. The car was intended to feature a customized interior that would show graphical displays of mug shots, fingerprints, and other related information, but the concept was considered too ambitious. The 6000 SUX driven by Boddicker and others was an

Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme The Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme is a mid-size car produced by Oldsmobile between 1966 and 1997. It was positioned as a premium offering at the top of the Oldsmobile Cutlass, Cutlass range. It began as a trim package, developed its own roofline, ...

, modified by Gene Winfield and based on a design by Chip Foose. Two working cars were made with a third, non-functional one that was used when the vehicle exploded. The 6000 SUX commercial features a

plasticine Plasticine is a putty-like modelling material made from calcium salts, petroleum jelly and aliphatic acids. Though originally a brand name for the British version of the product, it is now applied generically in English as a product category ...

dinosaur animated by Don Waller and blocked by Steve Chiodo.

Release

Context

Industry experts were optimistic about the theatrical summer of 1987 (June–September). The season focused on genre films—science fiction, horror, and fantasy—that were proven to generate revenue, if not industry respect. Other films—such as '' Roxanne'', ''

Full Metal Jacket ''Full Metal Jacket'' is a 1987 war film directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick from a screenplay he co-wrote with Michael Herr and Gustav Hasford. The film is based on Hasford's 1979 autobiographical novel '' The Short-Timers''. It stars ...

'' and '' The Untouchables''—were targeted at older audiences (over age 25), who had been ignored in recent years by films targeted at teenagers. The action comedy ''

Beverly Hills Cop II ''Beverly Hills Cop II'' is a 1987 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Tony Scott, written by Larry Ferguson and Warren Skaaren, and starring Eddie Murphy. It is the sequel to the 1984 film '' Beverly Hills Cop'' and the second ...

'' was predicted to dominate the theaters but many other films were expected to perform well, including the action adventure ''

Ishtar Inanna is the List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian goddess of war, love, and fertility. She is also associated with political power, divine law, sensuality, and procreation. Originally worshipped in Sumer, she was known by the Akk ...

'', the comedies ''

Harry and the Hendersons ''Harry and the Hendersons'' is a 1987 American fantasy comedy film directed and produced by William Dear and starring John Lithgow, Melinda Dillon, Don Ameche, David Suchet, Margaret Langrick, Joshua Rudoy, Lainie Kazan, and Kevin Peter Hal ...

'', ''

Who's That Girl Who's That Girl? may refer to: Film and television * Who's That Girl (1987 film), ''Who's That Girl'' (1987 film), an American film starring Madonna * ''Who's That Girl'', a List of Philippine films of 2011#Films, Philippine film of 2011 * "Who's T ...

'' and '' Spaceballs'', the action film ''

Predator Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common List of feeding behaviours, feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation ...

'' and sequels such as '' Superman IV: The Quest for Peace'' and '' The Living Daylights'', the latest

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

film. With the musical '' La Bamba'', ''RoboCop'' was predicted to be a

sleeper hit In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit refers to a film, television series, music release, video game or other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release, but eventually became a surprise success. A sleeper hit may have ...

. It received positive feedback before release, including a positive industry screening (considered a rarity) and pre-release screenings that demonstrated the studio's confidence in the film.

Marketing

Marketing the film was considered difficult. For the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', Jack Mathews described ''RoboCop'' as a "terrible title for a movie that anyone would expect an adult to enjoy". Orion head of marketing Charles Glenn said it had a "certain liability... it sounds like '

Robby the Robot Robby the Robot is a fictional character who first appeared in the 1956 film ''Forbidden Planet''. He made a number of subsequent appearances in science fiction films and television programs, which has given him the distinction as "the harde ...

' or

Gobots GoBots is a line of transforming robot toys produced by Tonka from 1983 to 1987, similar to Hasbro's Transformers. Although initially a separate and competing line of toys, Tonka's Gobots became the intellectual property of Hasbro after their b ...

or something else. It's nothing like that." The campaign began three months before the film's release, when 5,000 adult-oriented and family-friendly trailers were sent to theaters. Orion promotions director Jan Kean said that children and adults responded positively to the RoboCop character. Miguel Ferrer recalled a theater audience laughing derisively at the trailer, which he found disheartening. Models and actors in fiberglass RoboCop costumes made appearances in cities throughout North America. The character appeared at a motor-racing event in Florida, a laser show in Boston, a subway in New York City, and children could take their picture with him at the Sherman Oaks Galleria in Los Angeles. An incomplete version of the unrated film was screened early for critics, which was unconventional for an action film. Glenn reasoned that critics who favored Verhoeven's earlier work would appreciate ''RoboCop''. Feedback was generally positive, providing quotes for promotional material and making it one of the best-reviewed films of the year up to that point. The week before release saw the introduction of television commercials and limited theatrical screenings for the public. The film was released in the United Kingdom without cuts, which the

BBFC The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of films exhibited at cinemas and video works (su ...

justified by the comic excess of the violence and the clear line between the hero and villains.

Box office

''RoboCop'' began a wide North American release on July17, 1987. During its opening weekend, the film earned $8million from 1,580 theaters—an average of $5,068 per theater. It was the weekend's number-one film, ahead of a re-release of the 1937 animated film ''

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...

'' ($7.5million) and the horror sequel '' Jaws: The Revenge'' ($7.2million), both of which were also in their first week of release. ''RoboCop'' retained the number-one position in its second weekend with an additional gross of $6.3million, ahead of ''Snow White'' ($6.05million) and the debuting comedy '' Summer School'' ($6million). It was the fourth-highest-grossing film in its third weekend with a gross of $4.7million, behind ''La Bamba'' ($5.2million) and the debuts of the horror film '' The Lost Boys'' ($5.2million) and ''The Living Daylights'' ($11.1million). ''RoboCop'' never regained the number-one spot, but remained in the top ten for six weeks. By the end of its theatrical run, the film had grossed about $53.4million and was a modest success. It was the year's fourteenth-highest-grossing film, behind '' Crocodile Dundee'' ($53.6million), ''La Bamba'' ($54.2million) and '' Dragnet'' ($57.4million). Figures are unavailable for the film's performance outside North America. Due in part to higher ticket prices and an extra week of the theatrical summer, 1987 set a record of $1.6billion in box-office gross and exceeded the previous record of $1.58billion record set in 1984. Unlike that summer, which featured several blockbusters such as ''

Ghostbusters ''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American supernatural comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spengler, three eccentric ...

'' and ''

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom ''Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'' is a 1984 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg from a script by Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, based on a story by George Lucas. It is the second installment in the Indiana Jone ...

'', the summer of 1987 delivered only one: ''Beverly Hills Cop II''. More films (including ''RoboCop'') performed modestly well, however, earning a collective total of $274million—a 50-percent increase over 1986. The average audience age continued to increase, as teen-oriented films such as ''RoboCop'' and ''Beverly Hills Cop II'' had a 22-percent drop in performance from similar 1986 films. Adult-oriented films had a 39-percent increase in revenue. ''RoboCop'' was one of the summer's surprise successes, and contributed to Orion's improving fortunes.

Reception

Critical response

''RoboCop'' opened to generally positive reviews. Audience polls by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American 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 from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...

reported that moviegoers gave the film an average

letter grade Grading in education is the application of standardized measurements to evaluate different levels of student achievement in a course. Grades can be expressed as letters (usually A to F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), percentages, or as num ...

of A−. Critics noticed influences in the film from the action of ''The Terminator'' (1984) and '' Aliens'' (1986), and the narratives of ''

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 Gothic novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a Sapience, sapient Frankenstein's monster, crea ...

'' (1931), '' Repo Man'' (1984) and the television series ''

Miami Vice ''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo Tubbs, Ricardo "Rico" Tub ...

''. ''RoboCop'' built a distinct, futuristic vision for Detroit, wrote two reviewers, as ''Blade Runner'' had done for Los Angeles. A number of critics struggled to identify the film's genre, writing that it combined social satire and philosophy with elements of action, science fiction, thrillers, Westerns,

slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such as ...

comedy, romance, snuff films,

superhero comics Superhero comics is one of the most common genres of American comic books. The genre rose to prominence in the 1930s and became extremely popular in the 1940s and has remained the dominant form of comic book in North America since the 1960s. Supe ...

and camp without being derivative. Some publications found Verhoeven's direction smart and darkly comic, offering sharp social satire that ''The Washington Post'' suggested would have been just a simple action film in another director's hands. Others, such as

Dave Kehr David Kehr (born 1953) is an American museum curator and film critic. For many years a critic at the ''Chicago Reader'' and the ''Chicago Tribune,'' he later wrote a weekly column for ''The New York Times'' on DVD releases. He later became a c ...

of the ''

Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. The ''Reader'' has been ...

'', believed the film was over-directed with Verhoeven's European filmmaking style lacking rhythm, tension and momentum. According to the ''Chicago Reader'' review, Verhoeven's typical adeptness at portraying the "sleazily psychological" through physicality failed to properly use RoboCop's "Aryan blandness". ''The Washington Post'' and

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

praised Weller's performance and his ability to elicit sympathy and convey chivalry and vulnerability while concealed beneath a bulky costume. Weller offered a certain beauty and grace, wrote ''The Washington Post'' reviewer, that added a mythic quality and made his murder even more horrible. In contrast, Weller "hardly registered" behind the mask for the ''Chicago Reader''. '' Variety'' cited Nancy Allen as providing the only human warmth in the film, and Kurtwood Smith as a well-cast "sicko sadist". Many reviewers noted the film's violence. It was so excessive for Ebert and the ''Los Angeles Times'' that it became deliberately comical, with Ebert writing that ED-209 killing an executive subverted audience expectations of a seemingly serious and straightforward science-fiction film. The ''Los Angeles Times'' reviewer believed that the violent scenes simultaneously conveyed sadism and poignancy. Other reviewers were more critical, including Kehr and Walter Goodman, who believed that ''RoboCop'' satire and critiques of corporate corruption were excuses to indulge in violent visuals. The ''Chicago Reader'' found the violence had a "brooding, agonized quality... as if Verhoeven were both appalled and fascinated" by it, and ''The Christian Science Monitor'' said critical praise for the "nasty" film demonstrated a preference for "style over substance". Kehr and ''The Washington Post'' said that the satire of corporations and the interchangeable use of corporate executives and street-level criminals was the film's most successful effort, depicting their unchecked greed and callous disregard with witty criticism of

game show A game show (or gameshow) is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a game show host, host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating a ...

s and military culture. Some reviewers appreciated the film's adaptation of a classic narrative about a tragic hero seeking revenge and redemption, with the ''Los Angeles Times'' writing that the typical cliché revenge story was transformed by making the protagonist a machine that keeps succumbing to humanity, emotion and idealism. The ''Los Angeles Times'' and ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' considered RoboCop's victory satisfying because it offered a fable about a decent hero fighting against corruption, villains and the theft of his humanity, with morality and technology on his side. ''The Washington Post'' agreed that the film's "heart" is the story of Murphy regaining his humanity: " th all our flesh-and-blood heroes failing us—from brokers to ballplayers—we need a man of mettle, a real straight shooter who doesn't fool around with

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

s and never puts anything up his nose. What this world needs is 'RoboCop'."

Accolades

''RoboCop'' received a Special Achievement for Best Sound Editing ( Stephen Flick and John Pospisil) at the

60th Academy Awards The 60th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on April 11, 1988, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p.m. PDT. During the ceremony, AMPAS presented ...

. The film had two other nominations: Best Film Editing for Frank J. Urioste (losing to Gabriella Cristiani for the drama film ''

The Last Emperor ''The Last Emperor'' () is a 1987 epic biographical drama film about the life of Puyi, the last Emperor of China. It is directed by Bernardo Bertolucci from a screenplay he co-wrote with Mark Peploe, which was adapted from Puyi's 1964 auto ...

'') and Best Sound for Michael J. Kohut, Carlos Delarios, Aaron Rochin and Robert Wald (losing to Bill Rowe and Ivan Sharrock for ''The Last Emperor''). In a comedy routine at the event, the RoboCop character rescued presenter Pee-wee Herman from ED-209. At the 42nd British Academy Film Awards, ''RoboCop'' received two nominations: Best Makeup and Hair for Carla Palmer (losing to Fabrizio Sforza for ''The Last Emperor''), and Best Special Visual Effects for Bottin, Tippett, Kuran, and Gioffre (losing to George Gibbs, Richard Williams, Ken Ralston, and Edward Jones for the 1988 fantasy film ''

Who Framed Roger Rabbit ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American fantasy comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman. It is loosely based on the 1981 novel ''Who Censored Roger Rabbit?'' by Gary K. Wol ...

''). At the 15th Saturn Awards, ''RoboCop'' was the most-nominated film. It received awards for Best Science Fiction Film, Best Director for Verhoeven, Best Writing for Neumeier and Miner, Best Make-up for Bottin and Dupuis, and Best Special Effects for Kuran, Tippett, Bottin, and Gioffre. The film received three more nominations, including Best Actor (Weller) and Best Actress (Allen).

After release

Home media

''RoboCop'' was released on

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

on January 28, 1988, priced at $89.98; and had an estimated $24million in sales. Orion promoted the film by having former United States president

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

shake hands with a RoboCop-costumed actor. Nixon was paid $25,000, which he donated to the Boys Club of America. ''RoboCop'' was a popular rental, peaking at number one in mid-March 1988. Rental demand outstripped supply; estimates suggested that there was one VHS copy of a film per 100 households, making it difficult to find new releases such as ''

Dirty Dancing ''Dirty Dancing'' is a 1987 American romance film, romantic drama film, drama Dance in film, dance film written by Eleanor Bergstein, produced by Linda Gottlieb, and directed by Emile Ardolino. Starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, it tel ...

'', ''Predator'' and ''Platoon''. The longest waiting list was for ''RoboCop''. The film was released in

S-VHS S-VHS, the common initialism for Super VHS, is an analog video cassette format introduced by JVC in 1987 as an improved version of the VHS (Video Home System) format. S-VHS improved image quality by increasing the bandwidth of the luminance ...

in 1988, one of the earliest films to adopt the format, and was offered free of charge when buying branded S- VCR players. The extended violent content removed from the U.S. theatrical release was restored on a

Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films". A "sister company" of arthouse film distributo ...

LaserDisc LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. It was developed by Philips, Pioneer Corporation, Pioneer, and the movie studio MCA Inc., MCA. The format was initially marketed in the United State ...

, which included

audio commentary An audio commentary is an additional audio track, usually digital, consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with a video. Commentaries can be serious or entertaining in nature, and can add informatio ...

by Verhoeven, Neumeier and Davison. The uncut version of the film has been made available on other home-media releases. It was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

by Criterion in September 1998. In June 2004, the DVD version was released in a trilogy box set with '' RoboCop 2'' (1990) and '' RoboCop 3'' (1993). This edition included featurettes about the making of the film and the RoboCop design. A 20th-anniversary edition was released in August 2007 which included the film's theatrical and uncut versions, previous extras, and new featurettes on the special effects and villains. Its scheduled

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

debut in 2006 by

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Inc. (abbreviated as SPHE) is the home entertainment distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony. Background SPHE is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures libra ...

was canceled days before release, with reviews indicating poor video quality. A new version was released in 2007 by

Fox Home Entertainment 20th Century Home Entertainment (previously known as Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LLC. and also known as 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment) was a home video distribution arm that distributes films produced by 20th Century Stud ...

without extra features. Reviews indicated that the film's visual quality had improved, but images were still perceived as grainy or too dark. The trilogy was released as a Blu-ray Disc box set in October 2010. The film was

restored ''Restored'' is the fourth studio album by American contemporary Christian musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004, by BEC Recordings. Track listing Standard release Enhanced edition Deluxe gold edition Standard Aus ...

in

4K resolution 4K resolution refers to a horizontal display resolution of approximately 4,000 pixels. Digital television and digital cinematography commonly use several different 4K resolutions. In television and consumer media, 38402160 (4K UHD) with a 16:9 asp ...

from the

original camera negative The original camera negative (OCN) is the film in a traditional film-based movie camera which captures the original image. This is the film from which all other copies will be made. It is known as raw stock prior to exposure. The size of a roll v ...

in 2013. A two-disc limited-edition Blu-ray set was released in 2019 by

Arrow Video An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a Bow and arrow, bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like St ...

which included collectible items (a poster and cards), new commentaries by film historians and fans, deleted scenes, new featurettes with Allen and casting director Julie Selzer, and the theatrical, extended and television cuts of the film. Arrow re-released the set on

Ultra HD Blu-ray Ultra HD Blu-ray (4K Ultra HD, UHD-BD, or 4K Blu-ray) is a digital optical disc data storage format that is an enhanced variant of Blu-ray. Ultra HD Blu-ray supports 4K UHD (3840 × 2160 pixel resolution) video at frame rates up to 60 progre ...

in 2022, which included the uncut scenes re-scanned from the negative to match the quality of the theatrical-cut scans.

Other media

''RoboCop'' was considered easier to merchandise than other R-rated films and, despite its violent content, its merchandise was targeted at a younger audience. Merchandise included cap guns and other toys, comic books, theme-park rides, novels and RoboCop Ultra Police action figures, which were released with the 1988 animated series ''

RoboCop ''RoboCop'' is a 1987 American Science fiction film, science fiction action film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner. The film stars Peter Weller, Nancy Allen (actress), Nancy Allen, Dan O'Herlihy, Dani ...

''. By the time of the film's release,

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

had published a black-and-white comic-book adaptation of the film without violence and adult language; a video game was in development, and negotiations were underway to release T-shirts, other video games and RoboCop dolls by Christmas. The film's poster, painted by Mike Bryan, was reportedly more popular than the ''

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue The ''Sports Illustrated'' Swimsuit Issue is published annually by American magazine ''Sports Illustrated'' and features female fashion models, celebrities and athletes wearing swimwear in various locales around the world. The highly coveted ...

'' and its novelization, written 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 ...

, was in its second printing by July. Since its release, ''RoboCop'' has continued to be merchandised with collectible action figures, clothing and crockery. A 2014 book, ''RoboCop: The Definitive History'', details the ''RoboCop'' franchise. The story of ''RoboCop'' has been continued in comics, initially by Marvel. The adaptation of the film was reprinted in color to promote a 23-issue series that ran between 1987 and 1992, when the rights were transferred to

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, manga and Artist's book, art book publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon, by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, O ...

. Dark Horse released a number of miniseries, including '' RoboCop Versus The Terminator'' (1992), which pitted RoboCop against Skynet and its Terminators from ''The Terminator'' franchise. The story was well-received and was followed by other series, including ''Prime Suspect'' (1992), ''Roulette'' (1994) and ''Mortal Coils'' (1996). The ''RoboCop'' series was continued by

Avatar Press Avatar Press is an independent American comic book publisher founded in 1996 by William A. Christensen, and based in Rantoul, Illinois. It was originally known for publishing bad girl comics, such as ''Pandora'', ''Hellina'', ''Lookers'', ''The ...

(2003),

Dynamite Entertainment Dynamite Entertainment is an American comic book publisher founded in 2004 by Nick Barrucci in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, known for publishing comic book adaptations of licensed feature film properties, such as ''Army of Darkness'', '' Terminator ...

(2010) and

Boom! Studios Boom! Studios (stylized as BOOM! Studios), is an American comic book and graphic novel publisher. They are headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States. The company is a subsidiary of Random House division of Penguin Random House sin ...

(2013). Several games based on, or inspired by, the film have been released. A side-scroller of the same name was released for arcades in 1988, and was ported to other platforms such as the

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer developed and marketed by Sinclair Research. One of the most influential computers ever made and one of the all-time bestselling British computers, over five million units were sold. ...

and

Game Boy The is a handheld game console developed by Nintendo, launched in the Japanese home market on April 21, 1989, followed by North America later that year and other territories from 1990 onwards. Following the success of the Game & Watch single-ga ...

. '' RoboCop Versus The Terminator'', an adaptation of the comic of the same name, was released in 1994. ''

RoboCop ''RoboCop'' is a 1987 American Science fiction film, science fiction action film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner. The film stars Peter Weller, Nancy Allen (actress), Nancy Allen, Dan O'Herlihy, Dani ...

'', a 2003

first-person shooter A first-person shooter (FPS) is a video game genre, video game centered on gun fighting and other weapon-based combat seen from a First person (video games), first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action directly through t ...

, was poorly received and resulted in the shuttering of developer Titus Interactive. '' RoboCop: Rogue City'' (2023) continues the narrative of ''RoboCop'', being set between ''RoboCop 2'' and ''RoboCop 3''.

Thematic analysis

Corporate power

President Ronald Reagan addresses the nation from the Oval Office on tax reduction legislation

A central theme in ''RoboCop'' is the power of corporations. Those depicted in the film are corrupt and greedy, privatizing public services and gentrifying Detroit. A self-described

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States and spread to dif ...

who grew up during the

Watergate scandal The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the Presidency of Richard Nixon, administration of President Richard Nixon. The scandal began in 1972 and ultimately led to Resignation of Richard Nixon, Nix ...

and the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, Miner was critical of Ronald Reagan's pro-business policies and believed that Detroit was destroyed by American corporations. The Detroit presented in the film is described as beset by rape, crime and "Reaganomics gone awry", where

gentrification Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...

and unfettered capitalism result in corporations waging war as the police become a profit-driven entity. Miner said that out-of-control crime was a particularly Republican or right-wing fear, but ''RoboCop'' puts the blame for drugs and crime on advancing technology and the privatization of public services such as hospitals, prisons and the police. Although criticism of Reagan-era policies was in the script, Verhoeven did not understand urban politics such as the privatization of prisons. Weller said that the trickle-down economics espoused by Reagan was "bullshit" and did not work fast enough for those in need. Michael Robertson described the Media Breaks throughout the film as direct criticisms of

neoliberal Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pej ...

Reagan policies. Robertson focused on OCP's claim that it has private ownership of RoboCop, despite making use of Murphy's corpse. The Old Man was based on Reagan, and the corporation's policies emphasize greed and profit over individual rights. The police are deliberately underfunded, and the creation of RoboCop aims to replace them with a more efficient force. Jones admits that it does not matter if ED-209 works, because they have contracts to provide spare parts for years. He plots with Boddicker to corrupt workers brought in to build Delta City with drugs and prostitution. Davison believed that the film is politically liberal, but the violence makes it "

fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...

for liberals". It takes a pro-labor stance; the police chief, believing in the essential nature of his service, refuses to strike but the underfunded, understaffed and under-assault police eventually walk out. OCP sees the strike as an opportunity to develop more robots.

Humanity and death

Another central theme is the question of what humanity is, and how much of Murphy is left in RoboCop. Neumeier wanted to leave audiences asking "what's left" of Murphy, and described the character's journey as coping with his transformation. As an officer, Murphy works for a corporation that insists it owns individuals based on waivers and can do what it wants with Murphy's remains. He does the right thing, however, and fights against the demands of his corporate masters. Despite his inhuman appearance, RoboCop has a soul, experiences real human fears, and has a core consciousness that makes him more than a machine. Brooks Landon says that Murphy is dead, however; although he remembers Murphy's life, RoboCop is not (and can never be) Murphy and regain enough of his humanity to rejoin his family. Dale Bradley writes that RoboCop is a machine who mistakenly thinks it is Murphy because of its composite parts, and only believes it has a human spirit within. An alternative view is that RoboCop's personality is a new construct, informed partially by fragments of Murphy's personality.

Slavoj Žižek Slavoj Žižek ( ; ; born 21 March 1949) is a Slovenian Marxist philosopher, cultural theorist and public intellectual. He is the international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at the University of London, Global Distin ...

describes Murphy as a man between life and death, who is deceased and simultaneously reanimated with mechanical parts. As he regains his humanity, he transforms from being programmed by others to his former state as a being of desire. Žižek calls this return of the living dead a fundamental human fantasy, a desire to avoid death and take revenge against the living. Murphy's death is prolonged and violent, so the audience can see RoboCop as imbued with the humanity taken from him by Boddicker's gang and OCP. Verhoeven considered it important to acknowledge the inherent darkness of humanity to avoid inevitable mutual destruction. He was affected by his childhood experiences during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and the inhuman actions he witnessed. Verhoeven believed that the concept of an immaculate hero died after the war, and subsequent heroes had a dark side they had to overcome. Describing the difference between making films in Europe and America, Verhoeven said that a European ''RoboCop'' would explore the spiritual and psychological problems of RoboCop's condition; the American version focuses on revenge. He incorporated Christian mythology into the film; Murphy's brutal death is analogous to the crucifixion of Jesus before his resurrection as RoboCop, an American Jesus who walks on water at the steel mill and wields a handgun. Verhoeven said that he did not believe in the

resurrection of Jesus The resurrection of Jesus () is Christianity, Christian belief that God in Christianity, God Resurrection, raised Jesus in Christianity, Jesus from the dead on the third day after Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion, starting—or Preexis ...

, but " ecan see the value of that idea, the purity of that idea. So from an artistic point of view, it's absolutely true". The scene of RoboCop returning to Murphy's home is compared to finding the

Garden of Eden In Abrahamic religions, the Garden of Eden (; ; ) or Garden of God ( and ), also called the Terrestrial Paradise, is the biblical paradise described in Genesis 2–3 and Ezekiel 28 and 31.. The location of Eden is described in the Book of Ge ...

or a similar paradise. Brooks Landon describes the film as typical of the

cyberpunk Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting said to focus on a combination of "low-life and high tech". It features futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cyberwa ...

genre because it does not treat RoboCop as better or worse than average humans (just different), and asks the audience to consider him a new life form. The film does not treat this technological advance as necessarily negative, just an inevitable result of a progression that will change one's life and one's understanding of what it means to be human. The RoboCop character embodies the struggle of humanity to embrace technology. The central cast do not have romantic interests or overt sexual desires. Paul Sammon described the scene of RoboCop shooting bottles of baby food as symbolic of the relationship he and Lewis can never have. Taylor agreed, but believed that the confrontation between Morton and Jones in the OCP bathroom was sexualized.

Masculinity and authority

Vince Mancini describes the 1980s as a period in which cinematic heroes were unambiguously good, as depicted in films that promoted suburban living, materialism and unambiguous villains such as ''

Raiders of the Lost Ark ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. Set in 1936, the film stars Harrison Ford as Indiana ...

'' (1981) and ''

Back to the Future ''Back to the Future'' is a 1985 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale. It stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, and Thomas F. Wilson. Set in 1985 ...

'' (1985). Some films of the decade send the message that authority is good and trustworthy, but ''RoboCop'' demonstrates that those in authority are flawed and Detroit has been carved up by greed, capitalism and cheap foreign labor. Weller described RoboCop as an evolution of strait-laced 1940s heroes such as

Gary Cooper Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, silent screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, ...

and Jimmy Stewart, who lived honorably; modern audiences now cheer a maimed police officer taking brutal revenge. Susan Jeffords considers ''RoboCop'' among the many "hard body" films of the decade that portray perfect, strong, masculine physiques who must protect the "soft bodies": the ineffectual and the weak. RoboCop portrays strength by eliminating crime and redeeming the city through violence. Bullets ricochet harmlessly off his armor; attempts to attack his crotch (a typical weak point) only hurt the attacker, demonstrating the uncompromising strength and masculinity needed to eliminate crime. According to Darian Leader, the addition of something unnatural to a biological body is required to be truly masculine. RoboCop's body incorporates technology, a symbolic addition that makes him more than an average man.

Legacy

Cultural influence

''RoboCop'' is considered a groundbreaking entry in the science-fiction genre. Unlike many protagonists at the time, the film's central character is not a robotic-like human who is stoic and invincible but a human-like robot who is affected by his lost humanity. In a 2013 interview following Detroit's bankruptcy and the city's labeling as the most dangerous place in the United States, Neumeier spoke about the film's prescience: "We are now living in the world that I was proposing in ''RoboCop''... how big corporations will take care of us and... how they won't." Verhoeven described ''RoboCop'' as a film ahead of its time, which could not be improved with digital effects. Weller said that the filming experience was among the worst of his life, mainly because of the RoboCop costume. Verhoeven also considered filming ''RoboCop'' a miserable experience, in part due to the difficulties with special effects and other things going wrong. Ferrer, however, described it as the best summer of his life. The film's impact was not limited to North America, and Neumeier recalled finding unlicensed RoboCop dolls for sale near the

Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; , ultimately from Ancient Greek word "kolossos" meaning a large statue or giant) is an Ellipse, elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphi ...

in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. He has said that many robotics labs use a "Robo-" prefix for projects in reference to the film, and he was hired as a United States Air Force consultant for futuristic concepts because of his involvement with ''RoboCop''. In the years immediately after its release, Verhoeven parlayed his success into directing the science-fiction film '' Total Recall'' (1990, also with Cox) and the

erotic thriller The erotic thriller is a film subgenre defined as a thriller with a thematic basis in illicit romance or sexual fantasy. Though exact definitions of the erotic thriller can vary, it is generally agreed "bodily danger and pleasure must remain i ...

'' Basic Instinct'' (1992). He also worked with Neumeier on the tonally-similar science-fiction film ''

Starship Troopers ''Starship Troopers'' is a military science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein. Written in a few weeks in reaction to the US suspending nuclear tests, the story was first published as a two-part serial in ''The Magazine of ...

'' (1997). In 2020, the '' Guardian''s Scott Tobias wrote that in hindsight, ''RoboCop'' was the beginning of Verhoeven's unofficial science-fiction trilogy about authoritarian governance (followed by ''Total Recall'' and ''Starship Troopers''). Previously typecast as someone who played moral characters, Cox credited ''RoboCop'' with changing his image and—with the ''Beverly Hills Cop'' films—boosting his film career to make him one of the decade's most iconic villains. The RoboCop, ED-209 and Clarence Boddicker characters are considered iconic. Lines such as RoboCop's "Dead or alive, you're coming with me", ED-209's "You have 20 seconds to comply" and television host Bixby Snyder's "I'd buy that for a dollar" are among the film's most recognizable. The film has been referred to in a variety of media, from television (including ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. Th ...

'', ''

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'', also known colloquially simply as ''Always Sunny'', is an American sitcom created by Rob McElhenney and co-developed by Glenn Howerton for FX (TV channel), FX. It premiered on August 4, 2005, and stars Charl ...

'', ''

Red Dwarf A red dwarf is the smallest kind of star on the main sequence. Red dwarfs are by far the most common type of fusing star in the Milky Way, at least in the neighborhood of the Sun. However, due to their low luminosity, individual red dwarfs are ...

'', ''

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boysStan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand the ...

'', and ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

'') to films (including '' Hot Shots! Part Deux'' and '' Ready Player One'') and video games ('' Deus Ex'' and its prequel, '' Deus Ex: Human Revolution''). '' Doom Eternal'' (2020) creative director Hugo Martin cited it as an inspiration. RoboCop (voiced by Weller) is a playable character in the fighting game ''

Mortal Kombat 11 ''Mortal Kombat 11'' is a 2019 fighting game developed by NetherRealm Studios and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. It is the eleventh main installment in the ''Mortal Kombat'' series and a sequel to '' Mortal Kombat X'' (20 ...

'' (2019). The character was a design inspiration for the

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...

Power Glove (1989), and appeared in advertisements for

KFC KFC Corporation, doing business as KFC (an abbreviation of Kentucky Fried Chicken), is an American fast food restaurant chain specializing in fried chicken and chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, it is the world's se ...

in 2019 (again voiced by Weller), and Direct Line in 2020 with the

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (''TMNT'') is an American media franchise created by comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Donatello (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), D ...

and

Bumblebee A bumblebee (or bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee) is any of over 250 species in the genus ''Bombus'', part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only Extant taxon, extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct r ...

. For the 30th anniversary of ''RoboCop'' release in 2017, Weller attended a screening by

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is an American cinema chain founded in 1997 in Austin, Texas, which is famous for serving dinner and drinks during the film, as well as its strict policy of requiring its audiences to maintain proper cinema-going etiq ...

at Dallas City Hall (in his home town) and called the film an homage to the city. The crowdfunded

making-of https://www Googlefinans.co= In filmmaking, behind-the-scenes (BTS), also known as the making-of, the set, or on the set, is a documentary film that features the production of a film or television program. This is often referred to as the EPK ( ...

documentary ''RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop'' was released in August 2023. It covers the production and influence of ''RoboCop'', with interviews of many of the cast and crew involved. A RoboCop statue is to be erected in Detroit. First proposed in 2011, $70,000 was crowdfunded for its construction and, , the statue was complete and awaiting installation.

Modern reception

''RoboCop'' has been called one of the best science-fiction and action films of all time, and among the best films of the 1980s. Several publications have listed it as one of the greatest action films of all time: On review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, 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 ...

, it has a approval rating based on reviews, with an average rating of . According to the website, "While over-the-top and gory, ''RoboCop'' is also a surprisingly smart sci-fi flick that uses ultraviolence to disguise its satire of American culture." Rotten Tomatoes listed the film at number139 on its list of 200 essential movies to watch, and one of 300 essential movies. The film has a score of 70 out of 100 on

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

based on 17 "generally favorable reviews". In the 2000s, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' listed it as one of its 1,000 "Best Movies Ever", and ''

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

'' ranked the film number404 on its list of the 500 greatest movies of all time. Filmmakers have spoken about their appreciation for ''RoboCop'' and cited it as an inspiration in their own careers, including

Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck Anna Boden and Ryan K. Fleck are an American filmmaking duo. The duo rose to prominence for their work on the 2004 short film ''Gowanus, Brooklyn'', which earned the Grand Jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival. They went on to collaborate on ...

,

Neill Blomkamp Neill Blomkamp (; born 17 September 1979) is a South African and Canadian film director and screenwriter. He is known as the co-writer and director of the science fiction action film ''District 9'' (2009), for which he was nominated for the Aca ...

and

Leigh Whannell Leigh Whannell (; born 17 January 1977) is an Australian filmmaker and actor. He has written multiple films that were directed by his friend James Wan, including ''Saw (2004 film), Saw'' (2004), ''Dead Silence'' (2007), ''Insidious (film), Insid ...

and

Ken Russell Henry Kenneth Alfred Russell (3 July 1927 – 27 November 2011) was a British film director, known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style. His films were mainly liberal adaptations of ...

, who called it the best science fiction film since

Fritz Lang Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), better known as Fritz Lang (), was an Austrian-born film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety Obituari ...

's ''Metropolis'' (1927). During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, it was among the action films recommended by director

James Gunn James Francis Gunn Jr. (born August 5, 1966) is an American filmmaker. He began his career as a screenwriter in the mid-1990s, starting at Troma Entertainment with ''Tromeo and Juliet'' (1996). He then began working as a director, starting wi ...

.

Sequels and adaptations

By November 1987, Orion had greenlit the development of a sequel targeting a PG rating, which would allow children to see the film unaccompanied by adults, and tying into the 12-episode animated series ''RoboCop'', released by

Marvel Productions Marvel Productions Ltd., later known as New World Animation, was an American production company owned by the Fox Entertainment Group subsidiary of News Corporation which was founded in 1981 as the television and film studio subsidiary of the Mar ...

in 1988. Neumeier and Miner began writing the film but were fired after refusing to work during the

1988 Writers Guild of America strike The 1988 Writers Guild of America strike was a strike action taken by members of both the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) and the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) against major United States television and film studios represented by ...

and were replaced by Frank Miller, whose second draft was made into '' RoboCop 2'' and first draft became the second sequel, '' RoboCop 3''. Weller reprised his role in the Irvin Kershner–directed first sequel, which was released to mixed reviews and was estimated to have lost money. ''RoboCop 3'', directed by Fred Dekker, was targeted at younger audiences who were driving merchandise sales. Robert John Burke replaced Weller in the title role, and Allen returned as Anne Lewis for the third and final time in the series.

Plot

Production

Conception and writing

Development

Casting

Filming

Post-production

Special effects and design

Special effects

RoboCop

ED-209

Other effects and designs

Release

Context

Marketing

Box office

Reception

Critical response

Accolades

After release

Home media

Other media

Thematic analysis

Corporate power

Humanity and death

Masculinity and authority

Legacy

Cultural influence

Modern reception

Sequels and adaptations

Footnotes

Notes

References

Works cited

Books

Journals

Magazines

Other

External links