In July of 1987, a movie came along that was part social commentary, disguised as an action flick, wrapped up in a sci-fi story, with a title many deemed as nonsensical. That movie is, of course, RoboCop. It would go on to become a cornerstone of ’80s pop culture, spawning sequels, comics, video games, and television shows, and it all started with… Blade Runner?
To dive into that, we have to go back five years prior to RoboCop’s release, when screenwriter Edward Neumeier was working on the set of that aforementioned Ridley Scott movie. Neumeier has stated that while working on the film, he was fascinated with the concept of robots living amongst us, and was inspired to create his own interpretation. He wanted a story that centered on robots, but differed from the human replica versions seen in Blade Runner, and began developing the idea with fellow screenwriter Michael Miner.
Neumeier wanted a heavily satirical piece that was a commentary on the bureaucracy of 1980s corporate America, as well as the declining automobile industry in Detroit. Miner, having only worked on rock music videos prior to their collaboration, was keen on the idea, stating that his goal was for the film to be partly comic relief for the trying times they were in. Together, they quickly created the first draft of the script for RoboCop, which was then purchased by Orion Pictures.
Finding a director proved challenging, as Paul Verhoeven turned it down twice before ultimately accepting. Verhoeven initially didn’t understand the tone of the script, and with English not being his first language, much of the satire was lost in translation. After a few tweaks to the overall plot, and some convincing from his wife, Verhoeven was finally on board. Peter Weller was then cast as the lead to play Officer Alex Murphy/RoboCop, and they were ready to shoot.
Filming began soon after in Dallas, but was unfortunately fraught with difficulties, most of which centered around that now famous RoboCop costume. Weller found the bulkiness and weight to be cumbersome, and nearly impossible to move in the ways the script called for, especially in the unforgiving Texas heat. Disputes began between him and Verhoeven, and Weller was eventually fired by the director. Lance Henriksen was briefly considered as a replacement, but it became evident that no one but Weller could be used, since the suit was built to fit him, forcing he and Verhoeven to work out their differences. When filming resumed with Weller back on set, a compromise was made to work with him on how to comfortably move around while in costume.
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RoboCop opened on July 17th, 1987, to successful box office numbers and positive audience and critic reviews. It was the number one film that opening weekend, and would go on to earn $53 million during its theatrical run.
Much of RoboCop’s initial (and continued) success is due to the film’s many central themes, including the aforementioned commentary on corporate power. The film is set in a futuristic Detroit, where public services have been privatized, and the businesses that own them are depicted as greedy and unethical. There’s a timely, heavy thematic narrative to the overall story. The movie makes very pointed metaphorical remarks to the gentrification of Detroit, as well as the Regan-era politics, and trickle-down economics that were synonymous with the mid 1980s.
Officer Murphy is posthumously treated as a commodity; transformed into a robot by mega-corporation Omni Consumer Products under the guise of creating an invincible entity to protect the people. Behind the scenes, though, it’s really about a race between executives to be the one who creates the “perfect” cyborg, and the glory that comes along with it. Murphy’s memory is wiped clean, and all remnants of his former life are erased. His prime directives are to protect and serve the public, and uphold the law, and to do so in an emotionless and precise way.
Matters aren’t always so cut-and-dry, though. While there is certainly nothing “human” about RoboCop at first look, elements of Murphy still remain, and manage to increase as time goes on. Characteristics that Murphy had while he was alive begin to re-emerge, and with that comes a slew of morality-based questions. Can RoboCop truly be looked at as a cyborg, when he clearly shows traces of human emotions and fears? Does this mean he essentially still has a soul?
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When memories of his past self and family begin to seep through, the moral quandaries further deepen. From everything we are shown, Murphy appeared to have a loving family, and was a dedicated husband and father. While RoboCop has momentary flashbacks of these times in Murphy’s life, and appears affected by them, there isn’t enough humanity within him where it would ever make sense for him to become a part of his family once again. Ultimately, RoboCop is a machine with traces of Murphy’s spirit, and is forced to learn to cope with these as he toggles between aspects of his former and current self.
Going back to that first main theme, he’s transformed into a corporate commodity, one who has no rights and is owned by the company. The vestiges of his past self ultimately prevail, however, and we’re given that famous last line of the movie as RoboCop regains his identity and classifies himself as Murphy once again.
For a movie that at times is not taken very seriously, RoboCop provides a rather profound look into how the human spirit can endure through impossible feats. While it does provide a heavy dose of violence, action, and gore, it manages to delve deep into complicated matters of the heart.
In that regard, there’s a lot we can all learn from a movie that began with one man’s vision to tell an action-packed story about robots. In the end, it’s just as much about humankind as it is about machines.
