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RoboCop
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Paul Verhoeven
Produced by	Jon Davison
Written by	Edward Neumeier Michael Miner
Starring	Peter Weller Nancy Allen Dan O'Herlihy Ronny Cox Kurtwood Smith Miguel Ferrer
Music by	Basil Poledouris
Cinematography	Sol Negrin Jost Vacano
Editing by	Frank J. Urioste
Distributed by	Orion Pictures
Release date(s)	July 17, 1987 (1987-07-17)
Running time	103 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$13 million
Gross revenue	$54 million
Followed by	RoboCop 2

RoboCop is a 1987 science fiction film directed by Paul Verhoeven. Set in a crime-ridden Detroit, Michigan in the near future, RoboCop centers on a police officer who is murdered brutally and subsequently re-created as a super-human cyborg known as "RoboCop". In addition to being an action film, RoboCop includes larger themes regarding the media, gentrification, corruption, and human nature. It has spawned merchandise, two sequels, three television series, a television mini-series, video games and two comic book adaptations.

The film features Peter Weller, Dan O'Herlihy, Kurtwood Smith, Nancy Allen, Miguel Ferrer and Ronny Cox.

Synopsis

In a dystopian future, the city of Detroit, Michigan is on the verge of collapse due to financial ruin and unchecked crime. The city brings in the mega-corporation Omni Consumer Products, or OCP, to solve the problems. OCP promptly privatizes the police force. It is quickly revealed, however, that the senior executives of OCP, acting covertly, created most of the city's problems. OCP makes plans to destroy "Old Detroit" to replace it with the utopia of "Delta City."

The OCP Chairman (Dan O'Herlihy) recognizes that the human law enforcement is insufficient to stop the crime spree and seeks other opportunities. Senior President Dick Jones (Ronny Cox) offers a "law enforcement 'droid," the ED-209, but when the demonstration kills one of the other executives, the President of OCP turns instead to the "RoboCop" program to create an augmented cyborg, led by junior executive Bob Morton (Miguel Ferrer). Jones becomes bitterly jealous of Morton, as Bob Morton's accomplishment with Robocop allows him to move up on the ladder of success in the OCP ranks.

Veteran police officer Alexander James Murphy (Peter Weller) is transferred to a new precinct and partnered with Anne Lewis (Nancy Allen). On their first duty, they chase down a team of criminals led by crime boss Clarence Boddicker (Kurtwood Smith) to an abandoned steel mill outside town. Murphy and Lewis separate, and Boddicker's men capture Murphy, shooting him many times with shotguns before running off. Murphy is pronounced dead at the hospital, but OCP takes his body and uses it to create the first RoboCop. RoboCop is guided by three Directives in his programming, to:

1. Serve the public trust
2. Protect the innocent
3. Uphold the law

He is able to single-handedly deal with much of the violent crime in the city, causing the rest of the police force to become worried they may be replaced. However, RoboCop still retains memories of his life as Murphy, including brief glimpses of his wife and son, and the action of spinning his gun before holstering it, a trick Murphy had done for his son. Lewis recognizes these elements from Murphy's mannerisms, and tries to learn more from RoboCop, but he remains silent on the issues.

Morton's success and arrogance leads Jones to have Boddicker, secretly in his employ, kill the junior executive. An armed gas station holdup by one of Boddicker's men allows RoboCop to track down Boddicker to a cocaine bunker. RoboCop bursts into the facility and a shootout between him and the bandits ensues. RoboCop then apprehends Boddicker and forcefully makes him reveal his alliance with Dick Jones. RoboCop then visits Jones at his offices at OCP, showing him Boddicker's statement and prepares to arrest Jones. However, as RoboCop does so, a secret Fourth Directive activates, which prevents RoboCop from acting against any senior executive of OCP. Jones boasts to RoboCop about the Fourth Directive, which he added, and his role in Morton's murder, and then sends an ED-209 against RoboCop. It quickly becomes evident that OCP's technical prowess is no match for its ambition. Robocop, by engaging in a shoot-out against an opponent armed with clearly superior fire-power, demonstrates the limits of his neural network. The ED-209, prize of the engineering department, proves incapable of navigating anything other than a flat, unobstructed plane. In the end, Robocop is saved not by his honed reflexes, but by forward-thinking city inspectors, who, in better days, required that OCP's headquarters contain emergency exit stairwells at both the north and the south end. The ED-209 seems incapable of registering the movement of an opponent along a vertical axis, and, after a moment's hesitation plunges three or four feet down the stairwell to its untimely demise. Viewers realize that if OCP unleashes the ED-209, owners of ranch-style homes are doomed.

Though RoboCop is severely damaged, Lewis rescues him. Later, Lewis tends to RoboCop's injuries at the same steel mill where Murphy was killed, and discovers that there is still some of Murphy present despite the cyborg augmentation. Meanwhile, the police launch their long-threatened strike, sending the city into chaos. Jones arranges for Boddicker and his men to be released from prison and funds them with new cars and Cobra Assault Cannons capable of puncturing RoboCop's heavy armor. With a tracking device, Boddicker's team converges on the steel mill. RoboCop and Lewis defend themselves and kill the whole gang, but Lewis is severely wounded at the end.

RoboCop returns to OCP headquarters and uses one of the Assault Cannons to destroy the ED-209 guarding the building. Arriving during the middle of an executive board meeting with the president, Jones, and other executives, RoboCop plays back Jones's confession to Morton's murder. Jones quickly grabs a gun and takes the president hostage, but RoboCop, bound by the Fourth Directive, cannot take action against him. The president, in response to being taken hostage, fires Jones, invalidating his protection under the Fourth Directive. After thanking the president, RoboCop promptly shoots Jones, who then falls out the window to his death. As the board room recovers from the crisis, the president commends RoboCop for his shooting and asks for his name, to which he replies, "Murphy". Then he smiles and walks away.

Production details

RoboCop was written by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner. Edward Neumeier stated that he first got the idea of Robocop when he walked past a poster for Blade Runner. He asked his friend what the film was about and he replied saying, "It's about a cop hunting robots". This then sparked the idea for him about a Robot Cop.

Allegedly, while the two were attempting to pitch the screenplay to Hollywood executives, they were stranded accidentally at an airplane terminal with a high-ranking movie executive for several hours. Here they were able to speak to him about the project and thus begin the series of events which eventually became RoboCop the movie.

RoboCop marked the first major Hollywood production for Dutch director Paul Verhoeven. Although he had been working in the Netherlands for more than a decade and directed several films to great acclaim (e.g. Soldier of Orange), Verhoeven moved away in 1984 to seek broader opportunities in Hollywood. While RoboCop is often credited as his English language debut, he had in fact previously made Flesh & Blood during 1985, starring Rutger Hauer and Jennifer Jason Leigh. It was for RoboCop, however, that Verhoeven would rise to the international spotlight.^{[citation needed]}

On the Criterion Edition audio commentary (available on both the laserdisc and DVD versions) Verhoeven recalls that, when he first glanced through the script, he discarded it in disgust. Afterwards, his wife picked the script from the bin and read it more thoroughly, convincing him that the plot had more substance than he originally assumed. Repo Man director Alex Cox was offered to direct before Verhoeven came aboard.^[1]

The character of RoboCop itself was inspired by British comic book hero Judge Dredd^[2] as well as the Marvel Comics superhero Rom. A ROM comic book appears on screen during the film's convenience store robbery. Another ROM comic appears in a flashback of Murphy's son. Although both Neumeier and Verhoeven have declared themselves staunchly on the political left, Neumeier recalls on the audio commentary to Starship Troopers that many of his leftist friends wrongly perceived RoboCop as a fascist movie. However, on the 20th Anniversary DVD, producer Jon Davison referred to the film's message as "fascism for liberals" - a politically liberal film done in the most violent way possible.

Casting

Paul Verhoeven initially considered Rutger Hauer, whom he had worked with on most of his films, as well as Michael Ironside, for the role of RoboCop. Ironside was also originally considered for the villainous part of Clarence; he later portrayed a similar villain in Verhoven's Total Recall (coincidentally, Kurtwood Smith (who portrayed Clarence) was considered to play the villain in Total Recall, but passed the script to Ironside). Allegedly Arnold Schwarzenegger was at one point in talks to do the film, but Verhoeven eventually dismissed all three on the basis that the bulky RoboCop costume would require an actor of light build to work with. Peter Weller, a method actor known for playing everyman characters, was subsequently cast as Murphy/RoboCop.

After being cast as Anne Lewis, Nancy Allen had to get her hair cut several times, until it was short enough for Verhoeven, because he wanted to desexualize her character.

In the commentary, Verhoeven explains his choice to cast Kurtwood Smith and Ronny Cox as the central villains. Cox was an actor who until then was primarily known for "nice-guy" roles such as fatherly figures, and similarly Smith was cast as a more intellectual type; Smith was originally brought in to audition for both Clarence and Jones.^[3] Verhoeven comments that the look of Clarence Boddicker with the glasses reminded him of Heinrich Himmler.

The principal cast of RoboCop:

• Peter Weller — Police Officer Alex Murphy / RoboCop
• Nancy Allen — Officer Anne Lewis
• Ronny Cox — OCP Vice President Richard "Dick" Jones
• Kurtwood Smith — Clarence Boddicker
• Miguel Ferrer — OCP Executive Robert "Bob" Morton
• Dan O'Herlihy — The Old Man
• Paul McCrane — Emil Antonowsky
• Ray Wise — Leon Nash
• Jesse D. Goins — Joe Cox
• Calvin Jung — Steve Minh
• Robert DoQui — Sergeant Warren Reed
• Felton Perry — OCP Executive Donald Johnson

In addition, Barbara the secretary of OCP Vice President Dick Jones (whom Boddicker lasciviously hits on) is played by Joan Pirkle, the real-life wife of Kurtwood Smith. Television personality Leeza Gibbons has a small role as news anchor Jesse Perkins. Paul Verhoeven himself has a small cameo appearance during the arrest of Leon in the nightclub scene; there is one brief close-up of him dancing maniacally as Leon is being dragged away by his hair.

Filming

Filming began during the summer of 1986 and lasted from August 6 until mid-October. The scenes depicting Murphy's 'death' were not filmed until the following January (1987), some months after principal shooting had ceased. Many of the urban settings of the movie were filmed in downtown Dallas, Texas due to the futuristic appearances of the buildings, you can also see the Renunion Tower in the backround near the end. The front of Dallas City Hall was used as the exterior for the fictional OCP Headquarters, combined with extensive matte paintings to make the building appear taller. The steel mills were filmed in Monessen, Pennsylvania.

Peter Weller had prepared extensively for the role using a padded costume (supposedly, development of the actual RoboCop suit was three weeks behind schedule). By the time shooting was underway and the costume arrived on set, however, Weller discovered he was almost unable to move in it as he had anticipated, and required additional training to get accustomed. Weller later revealed to Roger Ebert that during filming, he was losing three pounds a day due to sweat loss while wearing the RoboCop suit in +100°F (+38°C) temperatures.^[4] Peter's personal assistant, Todd Trotter, was responsible for keeping the actor cool in between takes with electric fans and, when available, large ducts connected to free-standing air conditioning units. The suit later had a fan built into it.

Vehicles

6000 SUX advertisement.

The 1986 Ford Taurus was used as the police cruiser in the movie, due to its then-futuristic design.

One of the Taurus's competitors at the time, the Pontiac 6000, is parodied in the movie as the "6000 SUX". The 6000 SUX itself was based on a 1976 Oldsmobile Cutlass with extensive bodywork. Commercials advertise the SUX as "an American tradition" with a fuel efficiency of 8.2 miles per gallon. In early production, it was to be powered by jet turbines; the exhaust of the turbine is still visible above the rear license plate of Clarence Boddicker's SUX in chase scenes. The 6000 SUX was designed by Gene Winfield of Winfield Rod & Custom, while Chiodo Brothers Productions fabricated and animated the dinosaur puppet in the 6000 SUX commercial. The dinosaur itself was animated by Don Waller, who also had a cameo in the same sequence, reacting to the rampaging creature in a tight close-up.^[5]

The newly-released Merkur XR4Ti makes a small cameo appearance as an executive vehicle when RoboCop is delivered to the precinct.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack score for the movie was composed by Basil Poledouris (1945–2006), who used both synthesized and orchestral music as a mirror to the man-versus-machine theme of the movie. The score alternates brass heavy material, including the memorable RoboCop theme and ED-209's theme, with more introverted pieces for strings, such as during RoboCop's home-coming scene. The soundtrack is available on CD and has been reissued and remastered several times in recent years. The theme song also made its way into the arcade and NES RoboCop video games.

In the Nightclub scene of the movie, the song "Show Me Your Spine" by P.T.P. was played. P.T.P was a short lived side project consisting of members of the band Ministry and Skinny Puppy. However, this song was not available in any official form and could only be heard in the film. It was eventually released in 2004 on a compilation album called Side Trax by Ministry.

Rating

Prior to being released, the movie was originally given an X rating by the MPAA in 1987 (The rating which replaced X, NC-17, emerged in 1990) due to its graphic violence. To satisfy the requirements of the ratings board, Verhoeven reduced blood and gore in the most violent scenes in the movie, including the malfunctioning of ED-209, Murphy's execution (where his entire right arm is severed by a shotgun blast and a final overhead shot of Lewis sobbing over Murphy on the blood-soaked floor), and the final battle with Clarence Boddicker (in which RoboCop stabs Boddicker in the neck with his neural spike and a chunk of Boddicker's throat splatters onto RoboCop's chest). Verhoeven also added humorous commercials throughout the news broadcasts to lighten the mood and distract from the violent aspects of the movie. After 11 original X-ratings, the film was eventually given an R rating. ^[6] The original version was included on the Criterion Collection laserdisc and DVD of the film (both now out of print), the 2005 trilogy box set and the 2007 anniversary edition, the latter two were released by MGM and are classified as unrated.

Regarding the omitted scenes, Verhoeven stated in the 2007 anniversary edition DVD that he had wanted the violence to be 'over the top', in an almost comical fashion (the executive that is killed by ED-209, for example, and the line about calling a paramedic soon after his demise, was meant as black comedy). Verhoeven also states that the tone of the violence was changed to a more upsetting tone due to the deletions requested by the MPAA, and that the deletions also remove footage of the extensive animatronic puppet of Murphy just before he is executed by Boddicker.

Reception

RoboCop was released in American theaters on July 17, 1987. The film was a commercial success and grossed over $8 million in its opening weekend and almost $54 million during its domestic run, making it the 16th most successful movie that year.^[7][8]

The film was well-received by critics and is considered by many as one of the best films of 1987.^{[9][10][11][12]} On the Rotten Tomatoes site, it has an 88% "Certified Fresh" rating from critics, with the following consensus: "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."^[13]

RoboCop was nominated for an Academy Award for Film Editing and an Academy Award for Sound. It won the Academy Award for Sound Effects Editing. In 2007, Entertainment Weekly named it the #14 greatest action movie of all time.^[14] In 2008, the film was selected by Empire Magazine as one of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time.^[15] It was placed on a similar list, The Best 1000 Movies Ever Made, by The New York Times.^[16]

At its release, British director Ken Russell said that this was the best sci-fi movie since Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1927).

Themes

RoboCop explores larger themes regarding the media and human nature in addition to being a big budget action film; the philosopher Steven Best wrote an essay on some of this content.^[17]

In the Criterion Edition DVD commentary track, executive producer Jon Davison and writer Edward Neumeier both mention the decay of American industry from the 1970s through the early 1980s. The abandoned "Rust Belt-style" factories that RoboCop and Clarence Boddicker's gang use as hideouts demonstrate this theme. Massive unemployment is prevalent, being reported frequently on the news, as is poverty and the crime that results from economic hardship.

Director Paul Verhoeven, known for his heavy use of Christian symbolism, states in the documentary "Flesh and Steel: The Making of RoboCop" (featured on the RoboCop DVD) that his intention was to portray RoboCop as a Christ figure. This is represented in Murphy's horrific death, his return as RoboCop, and the scene at the steel mill where RoboCop is seen walking ankle-deep in water, creating the illusion of him walking on water.

Derivatives

Due to the enduring popularity of the character, there have been a number of RoboCop spin-offs, sequels, and attractions. They are:

• Two feature film sequels, RoboCop 2 and RoboCop 3, were made. Both movies were based on a story by Frank Miller, but each one was less successful than the last, both critically and commercially.
• A series of licensed video games for various arcade and home console systems. See: RoboCop computer and video games and RoboCop versus The Terminator.
• Football player Todd Marinovich was once "Robo-QB".
• Two animated television series, RoboCop: The Animated Series (a sequel to the first film) in the 1980s, and RoboCop: Alpha Commando in the late-1990s.
• A live-action television series in 1994, RoboCop: The Series, which starred Richard Eden, Yvette Nipar, and Andrea Roth.
• RoboCop: The Ride – SimEx-iWerks (formerly iWerks Entertainment) opened RoboCop: The Ride around the world at its various iWerks Motion Simulator Theaters, amusement parks, and casinos in the winter of 1995. The "Turbo Ride," as it was dubbed, was a "ride simulation" which could accommodate between 20-30 riders depending on the size of the theater where synchronized hydraulically-activated seats with an over-sized screen displaying the projection, putting the audience right in the middle of the movie action. The ride focused on you partnering with RoboCop in where you and Robo would ride souped-up police motorcycles on a mission to save the mayor of Detroit from the clutches of the vicious Cyberpunk ROM and his gang of villains. In the latter part of the ride the bike would then convert into hover mode where you and Robo would fly through the skyline of New Detroit using rockets that jettisoned from the back sides of the motorcycle. Though not as impressive or technical-savvy as other iWerks attractions at the time, due to the enduring popularity of the character the ride was very popular amongst children and teenagers and especially in foreign markets outside of North America. The ride was a mixture of motion picture film and computer animation which lasted approximately 4:00 minutes, the cost in the United States was $5.00 USD to ride at pay-per-ride theaters. The ride was removed from the iWerks theaters in the North American market in 1998.^[18]
• A four-part television mini-series, RoboCop: Prime Directives, in 2000.
• Comic books published by Marvel, Dark Horse Comics and Avatar Press which, along with containing the further adventures of RoboCop, also included titles such as the speculative crossover RoboCop vs. The Terminator (which was also converted into a video game and almost into a movie) and Frank Miller's RoboCop, a graphic novel limited series of Miller's rejected original script for RoboCop 2.
• In 1989, Toei Company created a series similar to, and based on, RoboCop, called Kidou Keiji Jiban. They did the same in 1993 with Tokusou Robo Janperson. The former's similarity was in concept (a police officer revived as a cyborg, but specifically to fight a mutant criminal element); the latter's was in appearance (Janperson's head design greatly resembled RoboCop's, yet was otherwise closer to 1973's Robot Detective).
• In 1990, Data East released a pinball machine based on the movie.
• In 1992, the Matrix Theater Company performed the first stage version of RoboCop at four Detroit theaters. The production was interrupted, however, during its second performance at the Gem Theater when Tom Sizemore, in the role of Clarence Boddicker, fell from the stage, breaking his collar-bone. The play resumed three weeks later at the Fox Theater but cast members, taking their cue from Shakespearean theatre tradition, refused to refer to the production by its name, instead citing it as "the Detroit Play" in a bid to ward off further bad luck.
• Montreal hard rock band Priestess' song from their 2009 album Prior to the Fire, "Murphy's Law," was written about the movie RoboCop, which is singer Mikey Hepner's favorite movie.^[19]

2011 film

Sony Pictures (Screen Gems division) was working on a new RoboCop film in late 2005. No details were revealed other than the unofficial (and confirmed) announcement. In November 2006, Bloody Disgusting reported that the RoboCop remake had been halted.^[20]

In March 2008, however, RoboCop was mentioned in an MGM press release^[21] regarding franchises it would be focusing on in the future. An MGM poster displayed at the Licensing International Expo of June 2008 read, "RoboCop coming 2010."^[22] The studio met with Darren Aronofsky to discuss the possibility of his directing the film.^[23] At the San Diego Comic-Con 2008, Aronofsky was confirmed to direct the "2010 RoboCop" movie, with David Self writing the script.^[24] However, the release date was postponed to 2011.^[25]

On July 23, 2009, at the San Diego Comic-Con 2009 MGM was clearly present at the convention but when questions were asked about the RoboCop 2010 movie, MGM representatives confirmed that there would be no promotion or information concerning the movie at the convention that year except the confirmation that the movie would be pushed back to a summer 2010 or a later date, due to conflicting projects with the director. When asked if Darren Aronofsky was still being considered or had been signed to direct the movie, MGM representatives said they could neither confirm nor deny if Mr. Aronofsky was still connected with the project at that time.^[26]

References

External links

• Robocop at Metacritic
• RoboCop at the Internet Movie Database
• RoboCop at Allmovie
• RoboCop Archive
• Criterion Collection essay by Carrie Rickey

From Wikiquote

RoboCop is a 1987 science fiction action movie, directed by Paul Verhoeven. It features a dystopian near-future, set in Detroit, Michigan. Violent crime is out of control, and the city is in financial ruin. The city hires the megacorporation Omni Consumer Products (OCP) to operate the police department, in effect privatizing it. OCP is interested in rebuilding "Old Detroit" and replacing it with what they call "Delta City". Before this large construction project can begin, OCP wishes to end crime in the city, and creates RoboCop.

Dialogue

[Dick Jones directs Kinney to threaten ED-209. Kinney points a gun at the robot.]

ED-209: Please put down your weapon. You have 20 seconds to comply.

Dick Jones: I think you'd better do what he says, Mr. Kinney.

[Alarmed, Kinney quickly tosses the gun away. ED-209 growls menacingly.]

ED-209: You now have 15 seconds to comply.

[After ED-209 experiences a malfunction in a board meeting, killing a man named Kinney in the boardroom.]

The Old Man: Dick, I'm very disappointed.

Dick Jones: I'm sure it's only a glitch. A temporary setback.

The Old Man: You call this a glitch?! We're scheduled to begin construction in 6 months. Your temporary setback could cost us 50 million dollars in interest payments alone!

[As Lewis and Murphy chase Boddicker's open truck, he has his men lift another one of them.]

Clarence Boddicker: Can you fly, Bobby?

[In the abandoned warehouse, Lewis catches Boddicker gang member Joe Cox urinating.]

Lewis: Okay. Let's see those hands, nice and easy.

Joe Cox: Sure. Mind if I… zip this up?

[Antonowsky reaches for a shotgun.]

Murphy: Go ahead and do it. Dead or alive, you're coming with me.

[Boddicker kicks the captured Murphy around.]

Clarence Boddicker: Where's your partner? Where's your partner?!

Joe Cox: Well, guys, other one was upstairs. She was swe-e-e-e-e-e-t, um! Um, um. I took her out. Ha ha ha ha ha!

Clarence Boddicker: You probably don't think I'm a very nice guy, do ya?

Murphy: Buddy, I think you're slime.

Clarence Boddicker: See, I got this problem. Cops don't like me. So I don't like cops.

[Boddicker shoots off Murphy's right hand.]

Clarence Boddicker: Well, give the man a hand!

. . .

[Boddicker finishes Murphy off with a shot to the head, then leaves.]

Joe Cox: Good night, sweet prince. Ha ha ha ha ha!

[The RoboCop team wheels their equipment into the station as a drunk talks to the desk sergeant.]

Prisoner: I-I'm what you call a repeat offender. I repeat, I will offend again!

Sergeant Warren Reed: Shut up, asshole.

[Staring at the not-yet-revealed-to-the-audience Robocop.]

Bob Morton: You're going to be a bad motherfucker!

[Morton tests his new creation.]

Bob Morton: What are your prime directives?

RoboCop: Serve the public trust. Protect the innocent. Uphold the law.

Dick Jones: Congratulations, Bob. I remember when I was a young executive at this company. We used to call the old man funny names. "Iron Butt", "Boner", once I even called him... "asshole". But there was always respect. I always knew where the line was drawn. And you just stepped over it, buddy-boy. You've insulted me. And you've insulted this company with that bastard creation of yours. I had a guaranteed military sale with ED-209. Renovation program. Spare parts for the next decade. Who cares if it worked or not?

Bob Morton: The old man thought it was pretty important... Dick.

Dick Jones: You know... he's a sweet old man. And he means well. But he's not gonna live forever. And I'm number two around here. Pretty simple math, huh, Bob? You just... fucked with the wrong guy!

Bob Morton: You're out of your fucking mind!

Dick Jones: You better pray... that that unholy monster of yours doesn't screw up.

[Repeated line from a TV program.]

Bixby Snyder: I'd buy that for a dollar!

[RoboCop calmly bashes a violent convenience-store robber, then turns to the proprietors.]

RoboCop: Thank you for your cooperation. Good night.

[RoboCop stops a rape attempt by firing through the woman's dress into the testicles of one rapist, then turns to the other.]

Robocop: Your move, creep.

[Former city councilman Ron Miller, holding the mayor hostage, makes demands of the police.]

Lt. Hedgecock: Okay, Miller! Don't hurt the mayor! We'll give you what you want!

Ron Miller: First, don't fuck with me. I'm a desperate man! And second, I want some fresh coffee. And third, I want a recount! And no matter how it turns out, I want my old job back!

Lt. Hedgecock: Okay!

Ron Miller: And I want a bigger office! And I want a new car! And I want the city to pay for it all!

Lt. Hedgecock: What kind of car, Miller?

Ron Miller: Something with reclining leather seats, that goes really fast, and gets really shitty gas mileage!

Lt. Hedgecock: How about the 6000 SUX?

Ron Miller: Yeah! Okay, sure! What about cruise control? Does it come with cruise control?

Lt. Hedgecock: Hey, no problem, Miller. You let the mayor go, we'll even throw in a Blaupunkt!

Ron Miller: Lieutenant, don't jerk me off! When people jerk me off, I kill them! You wanna see? [Walks over to mayor] Get up, Your Honor. Get up! Get up. Your public wants to see you. [pulls mayor to the window and points a gun to his head] Nobody ever takes me seriously! Well, get serious now... and kiss the mayor's ass goodbye!

Reporter: Robo, excuse me, Robo! Any special message for all the kids watching at home?

RoboCop: Stay out of trouble.

[RoboCop confronts Antonowsky, holding up a gas station.]

RoboCop: Dead or alive, you are coming with me.

Emil Antonowsky: I know you. You're dead! We killed you!

[Clarrence enters Bob Morton's house, draws a gun on him and brings him into his living room, where he notices two women are sitting down.]

Clarence Boddiker: Bitches, leave!

[Boddicker meets with Sal in the latter's drug factory.]

Clarence Boddicker: I dunno, I dunno, maybe I'm just not making myself clear. I don't want to fuck with you Sal, but I've got the connections, I've got the sales organization, I got the muscle to shove enough of this factory so far up your stupid wop ass, that you'll shit snow for a year!

Sal: Frankie, blow this cock sucker's head off.

[Sal's men pull weapons on Boddicker and his crew, who draw their own weapons.]

Clarence Boddicker: Ooh, guns, guns, guns! Come on, Sal! The Tigers are playing...tonight! I never miss a game.

. . .

[RoboCop bashes his way into the factory.]

RoboCop: Come quietly or there will be trouble.

Steve Minh: Aww, fuck you!

RoboCop: You're in big trouble!

[RoboCop enters Dick Jones's office to arrest him.]

Dick Jones: I usually don't see anybody without an appointment, but for you, I'll make an exception.

RoboCop: You are under arrest.

Dick Jones: Oh? On what charge?

RoboCop: Aiding and abetting a known felon.

Dick Jones: Sounds like I'm in a lot of trouble. You're gonna have to take me in.

RoboCop: I will.

[But before he can do so, "Directive 4" interferes with RoboCop's attempt to arrest Jones.]

Dick Jones: What's the matter officer? I'll tell you what's the matter. It's a little insurance policy called "Directive 4", my contribution to your very psychological profile. Any attempt to arrest a senior officer of OCP results in shutdown. What did you think… that you were an ordinary police officer? You're our product. And we can't very well have our products turning against us, can we?

[Jones tosses Boddicker RoboCop's tracker.]

Dick Jones: Destroy it.

Clarence Boddicker: Gonna need some major firepower. You got access to military weaponry?

Dick Jones: We practically are the military.

[Boddicker spears RoboCop/Murphy with a sharp metal pole.]

Clarence Boddicker: Sayonara, RoboCop!

[Seriously wounded Lewis and RoboCop/Murphy look at each other across a muddy pit.]

Lewis: Murphy! I'm a mess!

RoboCop/Murphy: They'll fix you. They fix everything.

[Robocop forces the doors open on a high level conference meeting of OCP senior personel.]

Old Man: How may we help you, officer?

Robocop: Dick Jones is wanted for murder.

Dick Jones: This is absurd! That...thing...is a violent, mechanical psychopath!

Robocop: My program will not allow me to act against an officer of this company.

Old Man: These are some serious charges. What is your evidence?

[Robocop moves toward the TV monitors, and plays back Dick Jones confessing "I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake; now it's time to erase that mistake."]

[Jones pulls a gun on the Old Man in a board meeting.]

Dick Jones: I want a chopper! Now! We will walk to the roof, very calmly! I will board the chopper with my hostage. Anybody tries to stop me, the old geezer gets it!

[Robocop aims his firearm in the general direction of Dick Jones, but makes no intention to shoot him.]

The Old Man: Dick, you're fired!

[Directive 4 disappears from RoboCop's vision.]

RoboCop/Murphy: Thank you.

[Robocop shoots Jones out of the window]

The Old Man: Nice shooting, son. What's your name?

RoboCop/Murphy: Murphy.

RoboCop: Excuse me, I have to go. Somewhere, there is a crime happening.

Cast

• Peter Weller — Officer Alex J. Murphy/RoboCop
• Nancy Allen — Officer Anne Lewis
• Dan O'Herlihy — The Old Man
• Ronny Cox — Dick Jones
• Kurtwood Smith — Clarence Boddicker
• Miguel Ferrer — Bob Morton
• Robert DoQui — Sergeant Warren Reed
• Ray Wise — Leon Nash
• Paul McCrane — Emil Antonowsky
• Jesse D. Goins — Joe Cox
• Lee de Broux — Sal
• Mark Carlton — Ron Miller
• Gene Wolande — Prisoner
• S.D. Nemeth — Bixby Snyder
• Jon Davison — ED-209 (voice)

About RoboCop

• RoboCop, a futuristic story about a policeman shot to death and then revived after all parts of his body have been replaced by artificial substitutes, introduces a more tragic note: the hero who finds himself literally "between two deaths"—clinically dead and at the same time provided with a new, mechanical body—starts to remember fragments of his previous, "human" life and thus undergoes a process of resubjectivication, changing gradually back from pure incarnated drive to a being of desire. (...) [I]f there is a phenomenon that fully deserves to be called the "fundamental fantasy of contemporary mass culture," it is this fantasy of the return of the living dead: the fantasy of a person who does not want to stay dead but returns again and again to pose a threat to the living.
  • Slavoj Žižek, Looking Awry: An Introduction to Jacques Lacan through Popular Culture, p. 22. ISBN 026274015X

External links

Wikipedia has an article about:

RoboCop

• RoboCop quotes at the Internet Movie Database