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RoboCop poster

RoboCop

year 1987decade 80sdirector Paul Verhoevengenre Science fiction / Action

102 minutes

Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Peter Weller Alex Murphy / RoboCop
Nancy Allen Anne Lewis
Daniel O'Herlihy The Old Man
Ronny Cox Dick Jones
Kurtwood Smith Clarence Boddicker
Miguel Ferrer Bob Morton

RoboCop | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Kyle Brandt
Explore episodeClose episode

Producer credits not yet identified.

Roger Ebert's review

Roger Ebert gave RoboCop three stars out of four.

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:25:56Read transcript
  • The podcast states that Roger Ebert gave RoboCop three stars.
  • The panel says Ebert could have added another half star because the film was ahead of its time.

Casting What-Ifs

Peter Weller ultimately won the role after a long search; the discussion covers many alternate Murphy, Lewis, and Boddicker choices.

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:15:34Read transcript
  • Jonathan Kaplan left to direct Project X, and Verhoeven initially dismissed the script.
  • Schwarzenegger, Ironside, Rucker Hauer, Tom Berringer, Armin Asante, Keith Caradine, and James Remar were Murphy possibilities.
  • Steven Seagal appears among possible Murphy headshots and is developed as a comic alternate.
  • Stephanie Zimbalist was cast as Lewis but a Remington Steele pickup prevented it.
  • Michael Ironside declined Boddicker and Kurtwood Smith moved from auditioning for Dick Jones to Boddicker.

Recasting Couch

A Wes Anderson RoboCop is proposed.

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:21:16Read transcript
  • The imagined version places RoboCop in corduroy amid ironic banjos and typewriters.

Half-Assed Internet Research

Research covers the costly suit, writers, Dallas locations, Nixon promotion, killer cop names, set incidents, ratings fight, Ford Tauruses, VHS success, and Leza Gibbons.

In the discussion (11)
Approx. transcript time · 01:24:22Read transcript
  • The RoboCop suit reportedly cost between $500,000 and $1 million.
  • Edward Neumeier developed the story with Michael Miner.
  • Dallas was selected because its architecture suggested the near future.
  • Richard Nixon received $25,000 to promote the home video and donated the money.
  • The cops are said to be named after notorious killers.
  • Verhoeven reportedly took prescription medication for insomnia and behaved manically on the set.
  • An unexpectedly large explosion sent actors scattering and Ray Wise reported glass hitting his face.
  • The movie was refused its R rating repeatedly before approval.
  • The police cars were 1986 Ford Tauruses.
  • RoboCop had a long VHS rental waiting list in 1988.
  • Leza Gibbons’s later show, marriages, family, and rescue dog are discussed.

Picking Nits

The nitpicks target ED-209’s live ammunition and stairs, Murphy’s tactics and family gaps, RoboCop’s exposed jaw, and Boddicker walking freely into OCP.

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 01:34:18Read transcript
  • ED-209 should have been loaded with blanks for the boardroom demonstration.
  • Murphy and Lewis should have waited for backup before entering the warehouse.
  • Lewis takes too long to recognize Murphy from his gun movement.
  • Murphy appears to have no family or friends searching for him.
  • RoboCop’s exposed mouth and jaw create an unnecessary target.
  • ED-209 being unable to use stairs is an implausible rollout failure.
  • Known mob boss Clarence Boddicker can walk into Dick Jones’s office without arrest.

Probably Unanswerable Questions

The panel asks when the story occurs and whether Bob Morton engineered Murphy’s transfer; the transfer theory is treated as answerable.

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:41:50Read transcript
  • A home-video ad reportedly placed the story in 1991, but the film itself does not establish a year.
  • The panel guesses a setting around 2005 to 2011 based on the technology.
  • Bob Morton is suspected of transferring suitable cops into dangerous districts to create RoboCop candidates.