RoboCop

Did You Know?

• The film's script was purchased in early 1985 by producer Jon Davison on behalf of Orion Pictures.
• Verhoeven dismissed the script twice because he did not understand its satirical content, until his wife convinced him of its value.
• The melting condition of the character Emil was inspired by the 1977 science-fiction film The Incredible Melting Man.

Production

Edward Neumeier, a Universal Pictures junior story executive, conceived RoboCop in the early 1980s while working on the set of Blade Runner. Inspired by that film, he wrote a 40-page outline about a mechanical cop gaining human intelligence. Neumeier later met aspiring director Michael Miner, who had a similar concept called SuperCop. The two collaborated over several months, writing at night and on weekends while holding regular jobs. Their partnership initially required learning to offer constructive criticism.

Special effects and design

Rob Bottin led the special-effects team, which included Phil Tippett, Stephan Dupuis, Bart Mixon, and Craig Davies. Verhoeven made the violence extreme to heighten the comedy, comparing Murphy's death to the crucifixion of Jesus to evoke sympathy. The murder scene was filmed at an abandoned auto-assembly plant in Long Beach, California, on a raised stage for operator control. Prosthetic arms cast in alginate and filled with tubing pumped artificial blood and compressed air. Weller's left hand, attached by velcro and operated by three puppeteers, was designed to explode controllably. A monofilament wire jerked the right arm away. A detailed replica of Weller's upper body depicted Boddicker shooting Murphy through the head, with a foam latex face mold over a fiberglass skull containing a blood squib and explosive charge. Four puppeteers controlled the articulated head, which had sweat and blood details; a fan motor made the body vibrate. Emil's melting condition was inspired by The Incredible Melting Man. Bottin created foam-latex prosthetics that appeared to melt off the bones, with a second piece applied over the first for further degradation. An articulated dummy was used for Emil being struck by a car, with the head loosened to fly off. The same dummy stood in for RoboCop when crushed by steel beams made of painted wood.

Reception

RoboCop received generally positive reviews, with CinemaScore audiences giving it an A−. Critics noted influences from The Terminator, Aliens, Frankenstein, Repo Man, and Miami Vice. Some struggled to classify its genre, seeing elements of action, science fiction, satire, Westerns, slapstick, and superhero comics. Verhoeven's direction was called smart and darkly comic by some, while Dave Kehr of the Chicago Reader found it over-directed and lacking rhythm. Peter Weller's performance was praised for conveying sympathy and vulnerability beneath the costume, though the Chicago Reader said he hardly registered. Variety cited Nancy Allen as providing the only human warmth and Kurtwood Smith as a well-cast sadist.

Thematic analysis

A central theme is the power of corrupt corporations that privatize public services and gentrify Detroit. Miner, critical of Ronald Reagan's pro-business policies, believed Detroit was destroyed by corporations. The film presents a city beset by crime and Reaganomics gone awry, where unfettered capitalism leads to war and profit-driven policing. Miner said out-of-control crime was a right-wing fear, but RoboCop blames drugs and crime on technology and privatization. Verhoeven did not understand urban politics like prison privatization. Weller called trickle-down economics 'bullshit.' Michael Robertson described the Media Breaks as criticisms of neoliberal Reagan policies, focusing on OCP's claim of private ownership of RoboCop despite using Murphy's corpse. The Old Man was based on Reagan, and OCP emphasizes greed over individual rights. The police are underfunded to be replaced by robots. Jones admits ED-209's failure does not matter because spare-part contracts exist. Davison believed the film is politically liberal but its violence makes it 'fascism for liberals.' The police chief refuses to strike, but the underfunded force eventually walks out, which OCP sees as an opportunity for more robots.