RoboCop 2
A dystopian Detroit battles a drug epidemic and corporate takeover.
RoboCop 2 hit theaters in 1990 as an American science-fiction action movie. Irvin Kershner directed it, with a script from Frank Miller and Walon Green. The cast includes Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O'Herlihy, Belinda Bauer, Tom Noonan, and Gabriel Damon. It follows the 1987 original as the second chapter in the RoboCop series and marks the last time Weller played the role until he returned in *Mortal Kombat 11* (2019), *RoboCop: Rogue City* (2023), and other projects. This was also Kershner’s final film before his death in 2010.
The story takes place in a crumbling Detroit. Omni Consumer Products (OCP) wants the city to default on its debt so it can seize public land for its Delta City project. To stir up public support, OCP starves the police department of funds, letting crime surge. A new street drug called Nuke spreads fast, run by a gang leader named Cain and his teenage lieutenant, Hob.
RoboCop stays on duty with his partner Anne Lewis, still haunted by memories of his former life as Alex Murphy. He finds his widow and son and starts watching them, but when she confronts him, he denies knowing her. OCP tries to build a “RoboCop 2” using brains from dead police officers, but every test subject commits suicide upon activation. Psychologist Juliette Faxx argues the problem is the subjects themselves—Murphy worked because of his strict Catholic upbringing and moral code. She secretly begins screening death row inmates instead, seeking those who crave power and immortality.
RoboCop raids a construction site used by Cain’s gang, gets ambushed, dismembered, and his parts dumped at the precinct. After repair, Faxx loads him with over 300 new directives that cripple his effectiveness, hoping to push her own project forward. RoboCop clears the directives by shocking himself with a high-voltage transformer and rebooting. He rallies the police to hit Cain’s hideout. In the fight, Cain is wounded, arrested, and falls into a coma. Hob escapes and takes over the drug empire.
Faxx picks Cain for the RoboCop 2 project, believing she can control him through his Nuke addiction. She disconnects his life support, removes his brain, and implants it in a new cyborg body. Hob contacts the mayor and offers to cover the city’s debt to OCP in exchange for leniency. OCP sends RoboCop 2 to stop the deal. The cyborg kills everyone at the meeting except the mayor and Hob.
Quick Facts
- Director
- Irvin Kershner
- Producer
- Jon Davison
- Screenplay
- Frank Miller / Walon Green
- Story
- Frank Miller
- Based On
- Characters · Edward Neumeier · Michael Miner
- Starring
- Peter Weller / Nancy Allen / Daniel O'Herlihy / Tom Noonan / Belinda Bauer / Gabriel Damon
- Music
- Leonard Rosenman
- Cinematography
- Mark Irwin
- Editing
- William Anderson / Deborah Zeitman / Lee Smith / Armen Minasian
- Distributor
- Orion Pictures
- Released
- 22 June 1990
- Runtime
- 117 minutes
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Set in a dystopian Detroit, the plot follows RoboCop as he becomes embroiled in a scheme by Omni Consumer Products to bankrupt and take over the city, while also fighting the spread of a street drug called 'Nuke' and its gang of dealers led by Cain. The film was shot in Houston. It is the last film Kershner directed before his death in 2010.
RoboCop remains on duty with his partner Anne Lewis and is plagued by memories of his life as Alex Murphy. OCP attempts to develop a 'RoboCop 2' using the brains of legally dead police officers, but all subjects kill themselves upon activation. Psychologist Juliette Faxx selects death row inmates for the project, including Cain, who is wounded, arrested, and falls into a coma. His brain is implanted in a new cyborg body.
At an unveiling ceremony for RoboCop 2 and Delta City, RoboCop 2 goes out of control and berserk. RoboCop arrives and, along with the police, battles RoboCop 2 as it attacks civilians. Lewis uses an armored car and Nuke to distract it, while RoboCop climbs on its back, rips out its brain, and smashes it on the street, deactivating the machine.
Reader's Guide
RoboCop 2 received mixed reviews upon its release and earned a moderate box-office return, grossing $45 million domestically, compared to the previous film's $53 million gross on a significantly smaller production budget. It was nominated for three Saturn Awards, including Best Science Fiction Film, Best Performance by a Younger Actor (for Damon), and Best Special Effects (for Phil Tippett, Rob Bottin, and Peter Kuran). A sequel, RoboCop 3, was released in 1993.
The film is the last to feature Peter Weller as RoboCop until he returned in Mortal Kombat 11 (2019), RoboCop: Rogue City (2023) and other media. Frank Miller returned to write the comic-book sequel RoboCop Versus the Terminator in 1992, and Steven Grant adapted his original screenplays for the second and third films into the comics Frank Miller's RoboCop from 2003 to 2006 and 2013 to 2014. The film's production involved multiple script drafts, including an early treatment by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner titled RoboCop 2: The Corporate Wars, which was set 25 years after the first movie and featured a corporate-owned United States.
Did You Know?
- It was nominated for three Saturn Awards: Best Science Fiction Film, Best Performance by a Younger Actor (for Gabriel Damon), and Best Special Effects.
- Frank Miller's original script went through four drafts and was rejected by Orion as 'unfilmable' before Walon Green was brought in to rewrite it.
- Peter Weller last played RoboCop in this film until his return in Mortal Kombat 11 (2019) and RoboCop: Rogue City (2023).
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