Things I never noticed about Robocop

[McC]

Ann Lewis.

ED-209.

And you people call yourselves fans.

It was only in the last couple of years that I got around to seeing the Criterion RoboCop (the previous version I was familiar with was way toned down), and I was suitably re-impressed. I'd always liked RoboCop, but the Criterion version was a truly visceral experience.

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

[DPDarkPrimus]

As far as I know, the RoboCop Trilogy boxset has the Criterion remaster included.

But the actual Criterion release is superior, because it is the Criterion release.

(Hugs his copy.)

[Big Orange]

I liked the scene where Johnson tried to call paramedics to the ruined boardroom, after ED-209 blasted apart poor Mr. Kinney:

Morton: "Let's go Johnson!"

*People begin crowding around the shredded up body of Mr. Kinney, lying prone on the crushed model of Delta City; the deactivated ED-209, a giant of iron, stood stock still nearby with white smoke steaming out of it's gun ports*

Johnson: "Right, don't touch him..." *he picks up a phone, then sees somebody get too close to the body* "DON'T TOUCH HIM!!!"

OCP Tech: "He didn't hear the gun drop..."

Johnson: "He didn't hear it... ?!"

*Dick Jones approaches the quietly enraged Old Man, still firmly seated at the end of the conference table*

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

Jones: Just a glitch sir; a temporary set back.

The Old Man: *distraughtly sitting up* "You call this a glitch?! We're to begin construction in six months, this "temporary set back" will cost us 42 million dollars in interest payments alone..."

*Waiting in the wings, Bob Morten chirps in with his solution the problem*

Morton: "Not necessarily, sir. There's a Robocop program I developed as a contingency against just this sort of thing..."

*Clearly disliking this, Jones goes up to Morton*

Jones: "Thank you for your concern, but this is something that has to go through my..."

The Old Man: "Now wait a minute..."

*Jones waffles on*

The Old Man: *harshly* "DICK!" *looks at Morton with approval* "Maybe what we need here is a fresh perspective. Tell me about your plan: how long will it take?"

*In the background the paramedics arrive, led by Johnson, and vainly attempt to revive Mr. Kinney's shattered remains. Jones gives a Morton a venomous glare, as Morton continues his proposition*

Morton: "We've restructured the police department with some good candidates. We can go to prototype within sixty days."

The Old Man: "Very good. Get your staff together. I'll expect
a presentation within twenty minutes... " *The Old Man ups and leaves*

Morton: "Thank you sir." *He gives Dick Jones a wary look, after successfully gaining the favour of the OCP chairman, then leaves the conference room himself*

*Dick Jones' lethal glare bores into the back of Bob Morton's head, as an alarm klaxon wails progressively louder in the background... *

[Ted C]

RC3 was pretty lame. It seriously lost continuity with RC2 (Directive 4 had already been purged, as I recall)

They erased Directive 4 during the course of the movie. It's still there at the beginning when the Evil OCP Man shoots Lois and Robocop can't shoot him in return (he ends up firing at the empty OCP trucks instead).

The problem was that RoboCop purged his directives in RC2, but they were back in place in RC3, with no explanation: he had to get rid of Directive 4 all over again.

[Molyneux]

RC3 was pretty lame. It seriously lost continuity with RC2 (Directive 4 had already been purged, as I recall)

They erased Directive 4 during the course of the movie. It's still there at the beginning when the Evil OCP Man shoots Lois and Robocop can't shoot him in return (he ends up firing at the empty OCP trucks instead).

The problem was that RoboCop purged his directives in RC2, but they were back in place in RC3, with no explanation: he had to get rid of Directive 4 all over again.

Was Verhoeven in command for RC3?

[Jade Falcon]

Don't you just love the Robocop reference in Spaced, right at the beginning of this clip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r0qU6zY ... ed&search=

[Lost Soal]

RC3 was pretty lame. It seriously lost continuity with RC2 (Directive 4 had already been purged, as I recall)

They erased Directive 4 during the course of the movie. It's still there at the beginning when the Evil OCP Man shoots Lois and Robocop can't shoot him in return (he ends up firing at the empty OCP trucks instead).

The problem was that RoboCop purged his directives in RC2, but they were back in place in RC3, with no explanation: he had to get rid of Directive 4 all over again.

Well thats simple, he had no directives and OCP would not have let him carry on with nothing to hold him back so the reintroduced the original directives either off camera after putting Kane in hospital or between the movies. Its hardly an unthinkable occurance now really.

[Ted C]

Well thats simple, he had no directives and OCP would not have let him carry on with nothing to hold him back so the reintroduced the original directives either off camera after putting Kane in hospital or between the movies. Its hardly an unthinkable occurance now really.

It's not unthinkable at all, but it still requires an explanation. He had the police union on his side: they probably wouldn't object to directives 1-3, but they already knew about the potential consequences of directive 4 and would have resisted having it put back. The continuity glitch at least needed to be addressed.

[Lost Soal]

Well thats simple, he had no directives and OCP would not have let him carry on with nothing to hold him back so the reintroduced the original directives either off camera after putting Kane in hospital or between the movies. Its hardly an unthinkable occurance now really.

It's not unthinkable at all, but it still requires an explanation. He had the police union on his side: they probably wouldn't object to directives 1-3, but they already knew about the potential consequences of directive 4 and would have resisted having it put back. The continuity glitch at least needed to be addressed.

Robocop was considered OCP property, so they could program him however they liked and the Union couldn't do a thing about it. Also, the union would, if anything be against Robo as he continued to work when the rest went on strike.

[Ted C]

Robocop was considered OCP property, so they could program him however they liked and the Union couldn't do a thing about it. Also, the union would, if anything be against Robo as he continued to work when the rest went on strike.

If you'll recall, the Union very much liked RoboCop by the end of RC2.

And again, OCP could presumably have forced their will to have the Directives reinstalled, but it should have been mentioned somewhere.

[Darth Lucifer]

One of my favorite aspects of RoboCop was the satirical commerical breaks. This theme was continued in the sequels and even in Starship Troopers, also directed by Paul Verhoeven.

I also liked how they played up on the idea that Americans love to drive gigantic gas-guzzling cars. Commercials depicted in RoboCop advertised the 6000 SUX (not SUV, SUX). The 6000 SUX offered a whopping 18 miles to the gallon. Haven't we all seen the exact same lousy mileage numbers today in our modern sports utility vehicles??

[Lost Soal]

Not to mention the Hostage taker who demanded "something that goes really, really fast and has really lousy gas mileage."

[Ted C]

The 6000 SUX offered a whopping 18 miles to the gallon. Haven't we all seen the exact same lousy mileage numbers today in our modern sports utility vehicles??

As I remember, the 6000 SUX actually got 8 mpg. It truly did suck gas.

[Big Orange]

Robocop also has the best coporate logo in fiction:

[Loner]

Not to mention the Hostage taker who demanded "something that goes really, really fast and has really lousy gas mileage."

I always loved when he was thrown out the window all the camera guys followed the fall of the body even when it hit the ground.

[Admiral Valdemar]

Not to mention the Hostage taker who demanded "something that goes really, really fast and has really lousy gas mileage."

I always loved when he was thrown out the window all the camera guys followed the fall of the body even when it hit the ground.

The number of new things I see everytime I watch RoboCop or, for that matter, any Verhoeven/Neumeier movie is large. These little details that you miss at first and pick up after repeat viewings really make it a classic. The Old Man's inability to see past the bottom line figures when a guy was blasted in his office by a robot, the carcinogenic sun cream, the hostage taker's bizarre dialogue with the police, the news reports showing what a fucked up world we live in from Star Wars satellites vaping a load of retired presidents, to guerillas fighting US soldiers at Acapulco beach. It's just brilliant, as is the score by Verhoeven's usual, Poledouris, sadly, no longer with us.

[Loner]

Don't forget the nuclear version of Battleship!

[Admiral Valdemar]

"Red alert. Red alert."

"You crossed my line of death!"

"You haven't dismantled your MX stockpile!"

"Pakistan is threatening my border!"

"That's it, buster. No more military aid."

***

Nukem.

Get them before they get you.

Another quality home game from Butler Brothers.

Ah, a board game of DEFCON.

[NeoGoomba]

I loved the transition the news anchors made from the Star Wars satellite blowing up a ton of people including three ex-US presidents to something completely asinine.

"Truly a day of mourning for a nation"

"In other news..."

[Admiral Valdemar]

That it was a satellite for world peace was also delicious.

[Aquatain]

Speaking of great lines in Robocop : "Can you fly bobby?" -

[DPDarkPrimus]

The most well-known line from Robocop is actually probably "I'd buy that for a dollar!"

[Gustav32Vasa]

The most well-known line from Robocop is actually probably "I'd buy that for a dollar!"

Could you explaim that to a stupid Swede? I never got that.

[Admiral Valdemar]

Could you explaim that to a stupid Swede? I never got that.

Was from a silly TV show in the movie with an old geezer surrounded by beautiful women using that catchphrase for, well, anything.

[McC]

A bit more info:

A running joke within RoboCop is the TV show It's Not My Problem, with its catchphrase "I'd buy that for a dollar!", starring the goofy character, Bixby Snyder (S.D. Nemeth), who was based on Benny Hill. However neither the name of the show nor the character are ever revealed in the movie. On the DVD commentary, Edward Neumeier comments that somehow they never got it into the dialog. According to the one version of the script, Snyder was set to appear in a fourth "media break" immediately following the death of Dick Jones in the OPC boardroom (where the film version ends). A news program was to show Snyder handcuffed by police and doing a Frog-march because of allegations of child molestation.