The very first time Peter Weller put the suit on, it took him 11 and a half hours to get it on fully. The first scene he shot in it was the scene where he walks out of the police building and catches the keys thrown at him. The keys kept bouncing off his rubber hands, and the scene, which only lasts a few seconds on screen, wasn't finished until 2 hours after they started filming it. Orion, annoyed that a whole day's filming was wasted on that one scene, were close to pulling the plug on the whole production.
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When Clarence Boddicker (Kurtwood Smith) is killed by Murphy (Peter Weller), Boddicker falls into the steel mill's water, blood spewing from his neck. Sharp eyes are required here to see that there is someone standing against the wall in the background... See more...
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Robocop (1987) - 21 trivia entries
Directed by Paul Verhoeven, starring Dan O'Herlihy, Kurtwood Smith, Miguel Ferrer, Nancy Allen, Peter Weller, Ray Wise, Ronny Cox (add more)
The very first time Peter Weller put the suit on, it took him 11 and a half hours to get it on fully. The first scene he shot in it was the scene where he walks out of the police building and catches the keys thrown at him. The keys kept bouncing off his rubber hands, and the scene, which only lasts a few seconds on screen, wasn't finished until 2 hours after they started filming it. Orion, annoyed that a whole day's filming was wasted on that one scene, were close to pulling the plug on the whole production.
In the original version on the DVD box set, any unauthorized duplication, distribution or exhibition of Robocop will result in criminal prosecution by Enforcement Droids.
The car 6000 SUX has a deliberate name. Paul Verhoven thought that having a brand of car, with a name which accurately describes it, would be fun to include as a running joke for the film. He decided to use the word "sucks" but using it as it is, is too obvious. He changed it to "sux" instead.
When RoboCop is in the police research room, he is searching through the computer for Emil's face. If you watch the scene in slow motion, the same 6 or so faces just keep coming up. Most of them are Clarence's gang members, (their faces appear whole each time we see them, and Emil's face appears in whole too at the start). The others are crew members, and Paul Verhoven, the film's director.
The actual car that the 6000 SUX was based on was a 1976 Oldsmobile Cutlass sedan. Rumor also had it that GM was less than amused at the 6000 SUX name used in the movie, since at that time Pontiac had a car called the 6000.
Nancy Allen had beautiful long curly hair before taking the role of Anne Lewis for the film. Paul Verhoven didn't like it and said it made her look very "un-cop like". He made her cut it 8 times until he found it short enough to make her look believable.
Paul Verhoven makes a cameo appearance in the film when RoboCop is arresting Leon in the disco. After Leon kicks RoboCop is the groin he falls in agony, and we cut to a man who appears to be laughing madly at the camera and waving his arms. That's Paul.
In 1987, a known criminal who had just committed a robbery ran into a dark cinema to avoid being caught by the police who were chasing him. He became so engrossed in the film on the screen, (RoboCop), he didn't even notice that the police had emptied the cinema. When they stopped the show and turned the lights on he was in such shock, he didn't even resist getting handcuffed and led into custody.
ED-209's voice is provided by producer Jon Davison. He was recorded as a placeholder, but the filmmakers kept it for the theatrical release. ED-209's roar is a jaguar growl played backwards.
The wife of Kurtwood Smith, (Clarence Boddiker), appears in the film. She is in the scene where Clarence walks towards Dick's office after RoboCop and ED-209 have fought. She plays Barbara, Dick's secretary.
In several scenes, Peter Weller was only wearing half of the RoboCop suit. This is because it was not very comfortable to wear and because some actions are impossible to perform, or just look plain silly whilst wearing it. Scenes include getting into and out of a car and walking up stairs. Walking up stairs makes the legs and buttocks plate wobble, making it look like RoboCop is shaking his behind, which doesn't look very intimidating on film.
Peter Weller trained with a mime artist for 4 months before filming began, so he could get all of the 'Robomovements' right.
Originally Michael Ironside was set to play RoboCop but had to drop out when the filmmakers realized that the actor would have to have a much smaller frame to fit into the costume envisioned.
In the locker room scene, there is a fleeting shot of a topless policewoman putting on her uniform. Director Paul Verhoven said the shot was included to show the gender neutrality of the future, but was so fleeting it went largely unnoticed. The shower scene in Starship Troopers (also directed by Verhoven) was in a similar and more noticeable vein.
In the scene where Robocop brings Boddicker into the police station, Kurtwood Smith improvised the line in which Boddicker requests his phone call.
Jonathan Kaplan was originally set to direct, but opted to do "Project X" instead.
The long haired bum that a news reporter interviews on the street is Alex Van Halen.
Former US President Richard Nixon was asked to help promote RoboCop when it came out on VHS. He plugged the tape on TV for $25,000, and he donated it all to the American Boys Club.
Peter Weller had to stand beside a huge fan in-between shots to keep him cool. The temperature in Dallas for the whole shoot was around 35 degrees Celsius, but inside the suit it was near 50 degrees Celsius. Peter lost almost 4lbs of water, in the form of sweat, a day whilst filming.
The film's script was turned down by almost every director in America who all thought it was just a mediocre B-movie. When Paul Verhoven first read it, he threw the script across the room in complete disgust. His wife read it all and convinced him to read it again, pointing out some very interesting layers to the story. After re-reading the script he decided to go with it.
You may also like: Robocop 2 | Terminator 2: Judgment Day | Robocop 3 | The Dark Knight | Die Hard
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