People walking into Paul Verhoeven ’s large action filmRoboCopexpecting an opera house of exaggerated violence were not disappointed . But that ’s not all audience become : A knifelike observation on militarize police enforcement and corporate surfeit , RoboCop — which make field 30 years ago today — executed satire with as much acquirement as it had explosions . mark off out these 15 facts ( or there will be worry ) .
1.ROBOCOPEXISTS BECAUSE A GUY NAMED ED HATED HIS JOB.
Ed Neumeier was so uneasy as a Universal Pictures story editor that he began to toy with an idea of his own about a robot law officer . cinema student Michael Miner had a similar notion thathe calledSuperCop ; the two bring their ideas together on a script , RoboCop : The Future of Law Enforcement . Despite its satirical knack , the title was so ludicrous they had trouble garnering interestingness until Orion Pictures — which had just had a hit withThe Terminatorin 1984 — decided to hightail it with it .
2. JUDGE DREDD WAS A MAJOR INFLUENCE.
While Neumeier has said that being on the set ofBlade Runnergave himinspirationfor the idea of automaton in law of nature enforcement , RoboCop ’s stoical mannerisms and individual - apt activity owes a considerable debt to Judge Dredd , the British amusing al-Qur’an cop who presides over a diseased urban landscape . Production artists even adopt heavily from Dredd ’s helmet ( above ) before settling on the sleek suit seen in the moving picture .
3. STAN LEE TURNED IT DOWN.
In 1984 , Neumeier decide to see if he could reel theRoboCopscript into a amusing book to use as a launching pad for a feature . He ran the approximation by Stan Lee ; before Lee could devote one way or the other , he and Neumeier attended an early masking ofThe Terminator , which also had a mechanical man as the main character . An impressed Leetoldthe author , “ Boy , you ’re never going to top that ! ” and passed .
4. PETER WELLER BECAME A MIME FOR THE ROLE.
Knowing the suit of clothes ( which was still being fabricated ) would confine his facial expression , Orion Pictures head Mike Medavoysuggestedto lead story actor Peter Weller that he search out a mime coach to become more physically expressive . After interview several in what amounted to a mime - off , Weller settle onMoni Yakim , a performing artist who taught at Juilliard . The two work for months on fluid , balletic motility that incorporated saltation training ; Weller even suit up in football gear and walked around Central Park to get a feel for moving with added mass . Unfortunately …
5. WELLER COULD BARELY MOVE IN THE ROBOCOP SUIT.
After extend excogitation debates with theatre director Paul Verhoeven , effects artist Rob Bottin was unable to deliver the wooing until the day they were to begin shoot with it . It take Weller nearly 11 60 minutes to squeeze himself into it , at which full point he spent an hr trying to becharm a bent of auto keys for a fleeting shot . Cumbersome beyond his expectations , all of Weller ’s pantomimist work had go out the window ; Yakim took the frustrated actor aside and told him to begin thinking of himself as a " beast . " Production was halted for several days so that Weller could mature well-off with his movement .
6. THE HEAT ON THE SET WAS EXCRUCIATING.
While the film was set in Detroit , Michigan to reflect the industrial crash of the metropolis ’s car industry , it did n’t do much shoot there , as location pathfinder set the Motor City ’s horizon did n’t look appropriately futurist . Instead , the production was based primarily in Dallas , where summer temperatures on a regular basis exceeded 100 degrees . Weller could suffer eight pound in a Clarence Day ; much of his time between payoff was spent re - hydrating or having cool air hose stuffed into the suit of clothes .
7. WELLER REFUSED TO ANSWER TO HIS REAL NAME.
Accordingto co - star Miguel Ferrer , Weller instructed the producer to cut a memoranda to the casting and crew advising that no one should name to him by his genuine name ; he favour to be called by his character ’s name , Murphy , or “ Robo . ” Ferrer went on to say that , having known Weller for years prior to the picture , he enjoyed greeting him with “ Hey , Pete . ” Weller ignored him .
8. ROBOCOP’S GUN NEEDED FBI APPROVAL.
concord to Weller , the modified 9 mm Beretta automatic sidearm that RoboCop observe in his second joint had to be approved by the FBI for entry into the United States . The worker , who had handled weapons as a teenager and was able-bodied to twirl handguns , saidtrying to spin out the piece was like “ trying to birl half of a baseball bat . ”
9. WELLER WAS WEARING A WALKMAN UNDER THE ROBO-HELMET.
In summation to having a very narrow area of visual modality and practically sautéing in his own stew , Weller also had fuss see in the suit of clothes . For a gunplay with drug dealer , Weller decide to ready the mood by put on headphones confiscate to a Walkman andplayingPeter Gabriel ’s “ Red pelting . ” Weller call up the moment “ wildly , psychotically pleasurable . ”
10. IT RECEIVED AN X-RATING—EIGHT TIMES.
Verhoeven thought he had sensationalized the furiousness to a comedic degree , in particular in a scene where an office executive is the victim of a “ bug ” in law enforcement machine ED-209 . The robot fundamentally tears him to shreds by firing high - quality ballistic trajectory , at which point someone asks for a medic . The MPAA did not find this as amusing as Verhoeven did and asked him to reduce down the tantrum , as well as the execution of Weller ’s Officer Murphy . In all , Verhoeven take the filmeight timesbefore finally receiving an R rating .
11. SOME OF THE ACTORS GOT UNSOLICITED STUNT PAY.
Kurtwood Smith and Ray Wise had been standing in such close proximity to a building explosion that the production — without any sense of humor — paid both men for “ stunt oeuvre , ” which amounted to roughly $ 400 from each one for the scene . But the actors did n’t feel their remuneration justify the risk to their lives ; neither was cognizant the explosion would be that big , and Smith ’s coat end upcatching on fire .
12. IT BESTEDSNOW WHITEANDJAWSAT THE BOX OFFICE. BARELY.
RoboCopopened in theaters on July 17 , 1987 , with the only other novel release beingJaws : The Revenge , the fourth entering in the shark dealership . RoboCopwonthe weekend with just over $ 8 million , slightly more than third - placeJawsand Disney ’s reissue ofSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs . When all tickets were enumerate , the film made roughly$53 million — enough to break the top 20 for the year , coming in at number 16 , but still not enough to topple the fifteenth highest - grossing flick of the class : La Bamba .
13. ROBOCOP SOLD FRIED CHICKEN IN KOREA.
While he may not actually have a venter , there ’s just no killing RoboCop ’s appetite for chicken : RoboCop shill for a Korean frozen food company in the 1980s , terrorizing a housewife before making off with the entire refrigerator . In a noodlecommercial , RoboCop can be see work out his nonexistent abdominal muscles on a beach .
14. ROBOCOP ALSO DID A LITTLE PRO WRESTLING.
As the years went on , RoboCop ’s piazza as societal ridiculer gave way of life to a more one - dimensional portrayal of the character as a shellacked action champion in sequel , animation , and television receiver . His low-water mark likely come in 1990 , when an role player in the rig emerged from offstage to assist professional wrestler pang for a World Championship Wrestlingpay per view upshot . luckily , he was able to restore order of magnitude without open fire .
15. A ROBOCOP STATUE WILL BE ERECTED IN DETROIT. SOMEDAY.
In 2012 , discussion began to unfold about a campaign to rear a RoboCop statue in Detroit — this despite the fact that the metropolis was not exactly portrayed in the most flattering path in the pic . A Kickstarter campaign wassuccessful , and work on the statue has begun , but there ’s still no ETA for the unveiling .
Additional Sources:“On the Beat with RoboCop , ” Starlog#117 ; “ RoboCop : The Strong Arm of the Law , ” Starlog#123;Flesh + Steel : The Making of RoboCop .
