A feature-length retrospective into the making of RoboCop (1987), its sequels, and cultural impact over the last thirty | dG1fdk16S3NZTDJJMlU
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00:00 I think the character is a modern knight in armor.
00:09 The idea of landing a superhero within the consciousness of western civilization.
00:15 The vision that came to me that there was this overlay of the American Jesus.
00:22 There's a sincere purity about his goals and yet he promises action.
00:27 What are your prime directives?
00:30 Serve the public good.
00:32 Protect the innocent.
00:35 Uphold the law.
00:37 RoboCop, who is he?
00:39 What is he? Where did he come from?
00:44 We wanted to grab people by the throat.
00:48 We were so on target.
00:50 The movie is so precise.
00:53 Who really made it a masterpiece I think is Paul Verhoeven.
00:57 Verhoeven mantra was "blood, I want more fucking blood."
01:03 You know, shoot him up and blow it up.
01:06 Bloody it up.
01:08 They were putting more squibs in my body than anyone in film history.
01:13 I always thought the gang as guys that were having fun.
01:17 Can you fly, Bobby?
01:18 I said, "This guy's a real sadistic bastard."
01:21 But he enjoys it.
01:23 Being part of a gang and being a badass, how many kids want to play that?
01:27 Your move, creep.
01:30 All I remember is a wall of flame coming straight at me.
01:34 People are all like, "Ahh!"
01:36 We just did some stuff that you wouldn't do as a professional actor.
01:39 I like it!
01:42 Peter Weller was very serious.
01:44 That are all eyes, you're coming with me.
01:46 He's one of the most disciplined people I've ever met in my life.
01:49 Murphy, it's you.
01:51 One of the greatest challenges I've ever had in my entire life to make that work.
01:55 Definitely the best robot suit ever.
01:58 The chest will be the first thing to react.
02:01 And then the neck, and then the head.
02:05 Almost every sound in RoboCop was created and recorded originally for the picture.
02:11 Stop motion adds to the effect of robots.
02:13 You can infuse it with a certain mechanical look.
02:15 I'm now authorized to use deadly force.
02:18 Drop it!
02:20 RoboCop was a very difficult shoot.
02:23 I can blow this cocksucker's head off.
02:25 I don't think anybody had a good time on that picture.
02:28 It was non-stop.
02:31 The MPAA changed rules after that movie.
02:33 The whole film was pretty much in danger.
02:35 They're going to shut us down.
02:37 He felt that he was betrayed.
02:39 I was dead.
02:40 You're going to be a bad motherfucker.
02:43 Mixing politics and action,
02:45 I think we got there first.
02:48 Wow, this is different than anything I'd ever seen.
02:51 Get them before they get you.
02:52 It's a great satire.
02:53 Future seeing in a way, and people got a kick out of that.
02:56 I'm sure it's only a glitch.
02:57 Real sophisticated comedy.
02:59 I'd buy that for a dollar.
03:04 Ryan was in financial trouble.
03:06 They immediately wanted to do another one.
03:10 The film took a radical turn.
03:12 It was not the original script.
03:14 It was dark.
03:15 There was a meanness about it.
03:17 It was really scary to me.
03:21 This brother is not dying in the first 15 minutes.
03:24 Some of our humanity is being squeezed out of us by technology.
03:32 There was a lot more blood, sweat, and tears back in the day.
03:36 As digital technology was taking over more and more,
03:39 we had to get into digital effects too.
03:42 There is a family dynamic that's kind of unique.
03:45 It's not pretty in real life, but playing a character, it's fun.
03:50 Whoa, this is the coolest thing I've ever seen.
03:53 I mean, I was a kid.
03:54 What the hell is that?
03:58 I mostly made fun of him being in the suit.
04:01 What's bugging you, Murph?
04:02 Kane's bugging me.
04:06 Kane was the Swiss Army knife robot.
04:10 This idea that this was coming from a comic book writer
04:13 to try to bring some of that comic pulp feel to it.
04:18 Orion had licensed the character to comic books, toys, the animated series.
04:24 It had a kind of eye candy to kids.
04:27 By the time you have the third film, the studio said to me,
04:30 "We're looking for a kinder, gentler RoboCop."
04:35 It was the most amazing thing to open up Ed 209
04:39 and control him with a laptop.
04:41 Eat lead suckers.
04:44 I'm playing this ninja, but I have no martial arts background.
04:47 You called for backup?
04:48 Wait a minute, that's my voice.
04:50 Holy f---.
04:52 Where's McDaniel?
04:54 You fantasize that you could be a genocidal maniac.
04:57 Don't count on it, chum.
04:59 They're going to kill her.
05:00 I just knew they were going to do that.
05:01 I was so upset.
05:02 Get them for me.
05:03 If I'd done all the crazy stuff that I was afraid to do,
05:06 like kill Nancy and have her come back as a cyborg,
05:08 the movie probably would have done pretty well.
05:10 I think my dentist saw it before I did.
05:13 We're cutting edge here, baby RoboSupply.
05:19 RoboCop is an icon.
05:21 People relate to it to this day.
05:23 Today's world needs a RoboCop.
05:25 This is a guy who's going to show up and do the job.
05:28 A wonderful, unique hero.
05:30 That's the lightning in the bottle.
05:32 Every successive generation discovers it for themselves.
05:34 So I think there's an ongoing fascination.
05:37 That keeps him relevant.
05:38 Stay out of trouble.
05:40 RoboCop.
05:43 [♪♪]
05:46 (dramatic music)
05:49 [BLANK_AUDIO]