Thirty years ago, the sci-fi film was predicted by God Behind the scenes of Robocop
Detroit, once the motor city of the United States. In RoboCop, released in 1987, Detroit became a city with high unemployment and rising crime rates. I didn't expect that decades later, these things would come true. The only difference is that detroit doesn't have a mechanical police officer who "serves the public, protects the innocent, and upholds the law."
So how was the movie Robocop made?
Robocop
One
Screenwriter Edward Neumer was walking with friends and passed by the set of Blade Runner. Edward asked his friend: What kind of movie is this about? His friend replied: The police are chasing the robot.
Blade Runner poster
Inspired by this sentence, Edward suddenly had an idea in his mind. In 1981, Edward initially completed the script. The script is about a robot policeman (not a cyborg, just a machine) who slowly takes on a human mind in the process of enforcing the law. The story takes place in the distant future, where humanity is ruled by big corporations.
Unfortunately, the script was rejected by many production companies. The reason is that the storyline is incomplete and the setting is too offbeat.
It wasn't until 1984 that Edward met MTV director Michael Meyna. Michael has a hobby of writing something when he's fine. He told Edward about a screenplay he had written, Supercop, about a traumatized cop who was transformed into a cyborg. Edward was so excited when he heard it that he told Michael the outline of his script. The two people hit it off right away, merging the two scripts into one. That's where the script for Robocop comes in.
Two
The revised script is once again hitting a wall. Director Kenneth Johnson described the script as a product of "meaninglessness, ugliness, and overly violent." Director Paul Verhoeven got the script, read a few pages and threw it in the trash. Fortunately, Paul's wife advised him not to make decisions easily, and picked up the script herself and put it on Paul's desk.
Paul Verhoeven
After careful reading, Paul Verhoeven felt that the script was promising. Beyond the superficial violence, more irony can be added. With the efforts of the two major screenwriters and directors, "Robocop" was officially established.
Three
In designing the main character, the art department borrowed images from the British comic strip SWAT Judge and the Japanese feature film Cosmic Criminal Overtime. He also drew nourishment from Marvel's comic book character Rom.
SWAT Judge The comic strip image on the left and the movie image starring Stallone on the right
Cosmic Criminal Overtime
Space Knight Rom cover
Marvel's Rom comics also appear twice in the movie. Once in the scene of robbing a store, and the other time in the scene where Murphy recalls his son.
Rom caricature in the supermarket
Four
In the search for the protagonist, the first thing to consider is Schwarzenegger. When designing the drawings, schwarzenegger found that when he put on the Robocop armor, it was extremely ugly. It's just "a big man with bottles and cans hanging all over his body." The production team decided to find an actor with a moderate body. After auditioning for several actors, director Paul Verhoeven took a fancy to actor Peter Wheeler. Because the RoboCop needs to cover his face most of the time, only his lips and lower. Peter Weller's lips are very characteristic.
Peter Weller
Five
Three weeks after filming officially began, Peter Weller saw Robocop armor for the first time. It is also the result of the collective rush of the art department. When the revamped scene was filmed, Peter Wheeler disappeared because of the excitement of seeing the armor. Because the Robocop's outer armor is really too heavy. Peter Weller, at first, could not even walk freely in it. After a series of trainings, the shooting requirements were met. The sweltering heat is another conundrum.
Due to the thickness of the armor itself, it takes a lot of effort to move simply, and the temperature in the armor often exceeds 38 °C, and Peter Weller loses 3 pounds of weight every day during the shooting. This situation did not improve until the production department added some electric fans to the armor.
Six
Filming began on August 6, 1986, and filming ended on October 20, 1986. At the beginning of the film, the scene in which Murphy is executed was filmed in January 1987. The RoboCop special effect was designed by Rob Bottin. He is also the special effects designer for the classic film Strange Shape. A total of six sets of Mechamps' special effects armor were designed. Three of them are normal and three are broken to cope with different shooting stages. The OCP Building in the play is actually the Dallas City Hall Building. It's just that it's raised hundreds of layers with special effects.
Strange shape poster
Robocop checks criminal records on a computer that is actually a switcher at a phone company. The Ed-209, which does not go down the stairs, uses the model freeze-frame method to shoot frame by frame. The earliest King Kong was the same method used.
Ed-209
Seven
The film's commercials, variety shows, and news clips were deliberately added by Paul Verhoeven. The aim is to satirize brainless propaganda and meaningless entertainment on television. Borrowing from a TV news clip to satirize it, Paul Verhoeven also used it in 1997's "Galactic Team".
The kidnapping scenes in the play are based on true events. San Francisco Ombudsman Don Whit hopes to get back to his job.
Hostage-taking
The Mechmaj's thermal imaging mode is not true thermal imaging. Thermal imaging was too expensive at the time. The director found a few people to strip naked, painted with colored powder, and then added filters to darken, which became the thermal imaging of the film. Paul Verhoeven's assessment is: Not bad...
Thermal imaging
Eight
Under Paul's deliberate arrangement, robocops were given divinity. Towards the end of the film, the Robocop can be seen walking by the water's edge. Verhoeven believes that this role is as a future version of Jesus Christ. In addition, when the OCP mobilized the police to eliminate Murphy, the bullet shot through Murphy's hand as if Jesus' hands were crucified, the bullet through Murphy's head was like a crown of thorns, and in the climax of the film, Baldy Dick's blood flowed like red wine.
Murphy taking off his helmet
Nine
Due to its excessive gore and violence, the film was initially rated X. If so, then the movie is basically out of the big screen. After revising nearly 11 bloody and violent scenes, the film's rating was downgraded to R. Since the Trailer for Robocop was still in production at the time of release, the trailer used the soundtrack of Terminator. Both films were produced by the same company.
After the film was released, it was called acclaim and called. However, there are also some sensitive critics who feel that the film has a certain fascist tendency. Even so, the film was a success. After that, not only two sequels were expanded, but also a TV series, a mini-series, two animations and various games. There was also a remake in 2014. I personally don't like remakes. The original look is full of cyberpunk flavor, while the new version seems to be an iRobocop coming out of the Apple workshop.
Ten
RoboCop influenced a generation. Many film and television works have quoted lines or paid tribute to it directly.
"Dead or alive, you're coming with me."
This is Murphy's classic line. In Deadpool, when Steel Force tortures Deadpool and wants to take Deadpool away, Deadpool uses this sentence to ridicule.
Director Neil Blomkamp (District 9, Elysium Space, Super Chapai) is a big fan of Robocop. Robocop had a huge impact on him. In his films, there are always various mechanical armors to be seen. Especially in "Super Chapai", the setting of Chapai is a robot policeman. And the big villain Hugh Jackman's remote-controlled robot has a bit of Ed-209 flavor.
Remote control robot in Super Chapai
At the beginning of the film, the voice broadcast after the robot police self-test comes from Murphy's lines in "Robocop", and in the final Armageddon, the camera of the villain machine walking towards Chapai, regardless of the shooting method and angle, is consistent with the shot of Ed-209 walking towards Murphy in "Robocop". I remember seeing this shot and being thrilled.
Footage from Robocop
A shot from The Incredibles
The above are some of the behind-the-scenes stories that happened in the process of "Robocop" from its birth to its release.
If you like this article, please forward the comments. If you're interested in the behind-the-scenes story of the movie, you can follow this headline. This article is originally hand-typed. If reading this article will make you think of watching the old Robocop again, my purpose will be achieved. Thank you.