RoboCop - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of RoboCop or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to RoboCop

[francisco]

Alex Cox turned down directorial duties to make Straight to Hell (1987).

[manuel]

On the DVD Ray Wise explains that he and Kurtwood Smith ended up being too close to an explosion which caused pieces of glass to be embedded into Ray's face. He received an additional stunt pay for this mishap as per the studio. Ray then jokingly states that he devised ways where he would be as close to the explosions as possible to gain extra money.

[liam]

Clarence Boddicker (Kurtwood Smith) uses two different types of the Desert Eagle in the film. His main weapon is an Desert Eagle Mark I in .357 Magnum with an elongated threaded barrel (sometimes fitted with a suppressor). He also uses one without the extended barrel during the drug lab shootout.

[lena]

Robert DoQui and Felton Perry who both star in the film played the same character of Obra in the Walking Tall series. Perry played Obra in Walking Tall (1973) and DoQui played Obra in Walking Tall Part II (1975).

[nicholas]

Jonathan Kaplan was originally set to direct, but opted to do Project X (1987) instead.

[jim]

In the hostage scene, as RoboCop is walking toward the room where the former councilman is holding the mayor hostage, the infrared heat vision mode was actually executed using fluorescent body paint on the (nude) actors and a black light. Paul Verhoeven says that he thought this technique would be cheaper than getting an actual infrared spectrometer camera.

[mathew]

A semi-automatic civilian version of the Sterling SMG, the Sterling Mark 6 Semiautomatic Carbine (recognizable by its 16" barrel, necessary to comply with gun laws in the U.S.) is seen used by the convenience store robber (Mike Moroff). It was imported for commercial sale into the U.S. during the 1980s and banned from import after 1989 (under the so-called Congressional Assault Weapons Ban, which, however, expired in the 2000s). The carbine is fired semiautomatic throughout the robbery.

[ivan]

Running Gag: Every time a patrol car speeds up or down a ramp of a parking garage, the rear bumper hits the ground causing sparks to fly.

[ethel]

Kurtwood Smith's wife, Joan Pirkle, has a small role as Dick Jones' secretary, Barbara.

[terry]

RoboCop's gun, referred to in the script as an Auto-9, was a modified Beretta M93R: The barrel was extended and modified to resemble a casket. The weapon has a selectable fire mode switch, semi-automatic and three-round burst. The basic design of the Beretta 93R machine pistol is based on the famous Beretta 92 pistol. However, the trigger mechanism is somewhat different from Beretta 92, as it is a single action only, with non-ambidextrous frame mounted safety and additional fire mode selector.

[lynn]

Ken Russell called this the greatest science-fiction film since Metropolis (1927).

[janice]

The stuntman playing the liquor store bandit's reaction to RoboCop's first appearance was totally ad-libbed and just too perfect to not include.

[russell]

One unused idea for a scene was to have RoboCop going to his old house where his family would still live. He meets his son, but the boy does not recognize him; the only one who does is his old dog (similar to The Odyssey, where Odysseus returns home and isn't recognized by anyone except his dog). The producers liked the idea but Paul Verhoeven decided not to shoot the scene for being a bit too sentimental. The scene would later be used in the 2014 remake. This idea was also used in RoboCop 2, as he passes in front of the house in a police car and his former wife recognizes him.

[marc]

In 2019, KFC released a series of hilarious commercials featuring a character, in reference to the character of RoboCop, named Colonel RoboCop. Among the most famous of these commercials was of a family watching this film in their living room when Colonel RoboCop shows up and scare the family into eating the product when the family tried to ignore him. Peter Weller himself provided the voice for Colonel RoboCop.

[alyssa]

Paul Verhoeven: [religious imagery] RoboCop is seen walking on water near the end of the film. Verhoeven has stated that he sees the character as a futuristic version of Christ. Additional references include the gunshot blast to Murphy's hand as Jesus' hands being nailed to the cross, the bullet to Murphy's head seen as the Crown of Thorns, and Boddicker's blood at the climax of the film turning the water red, like wine.

[bernice]

Paul Verhoeven: [nude co-ed shower scene] A nude scene takes place in a co-ed shower room and locker room, as in Starship Troopers (1997).

[harry]

Originally, Clarence Boddicker was the lone villain in the movie, but the filmmakers decided to capitalize on the political commentary by making Dick Jones (as played by Ronny Cox) the arch villain pulling the strings. As a result, the two central storylines (RoboCop hunting Boddicker/the politics of OCP) converge into the finale.

[nora]

Released on the 32 year anniversary of the opening of Disneyland Park in California.

[francisco]

Kurtwood Smith claims in the 20th Anniversary DVD release that the scene where he is taken into the precinct was the first scene he had shot, and proposed the spitting of the blood and swearing to give the scene more punch. Paul Verhoeven, intrigued, decided to give it a shot. Smith mused that this may have simply been due to Verhoeven's love of bloodletting.