# New Robocop movie - what would you like to see? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 12, 2012, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-robocop-movie-what-would-you-like-to-see/621725 "2012-05-12T20:41:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-robocop-movie-what-would-you-like-to-see/621725/21 "2012-05-13T20:50:43Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Tragic ending - he’s AC, she’s DC. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-robocop-movie-what-would-you-like-to-see/621725/22 "2012-05-13T22:10:35Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Tragic ending - he’s AC, she’s DC. Or, in a more enlightened setting, he’s AC/DC. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-robocop-movie-what-would-you-like-to-see/621725/23 "2012-05-13T22:52:08Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > Or, in a more enlightened setting, he’s AC/DC. He’s TNT. ---
**Author:** ![Ashley\_Pomeroy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@Ashley\_Pomeroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashley_Pomeroy)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-robocop-movie-what-would-you-like-to-see/621725/24 "2012-05-14T00:29:32Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > “Peter”. The man’s name is Peter Weller. He was Buckaroo Banzai! Ah. That would explain why Paul Weller looked so puzzled when I asked him to sign a photograph of Robocop. I mean, he _did it_. But, yes. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-robocop-movie-what-would-you-like-to-see/621725/25 "2012-05-14T03:01:27Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > It’s not gonna be easy. You can go one of two ways: > > 1. Just make Robocop again, or > > 2. Try to make a movie called “Robocop” that’s relevant to today. > > These are subtly but importantly different concepts. It’d be easy to make Robocop again and do it fairly well, with the right writer and director. > > But Robocop was made in 1986 (released in 1987) and the reason it worked as well as it did was in part because it was a response to the culture and politics of 1986. This is a time when people were shellshocked from the crime wave of the 1960s-1980s and felt helpless and angry about it. There had been, and continued to be, a wave of movies built on sadistic, fascist revenge fantasies, some good (“Lethal Weapon,” “Dirty Harry”) and some not so good (“Death Wish,” “Cobra,” and other bullshit movies.) “Robocop” worked because it was that kind of movie but at the same time was kind of a parody of those movies; the phony commercial with the product that fatally electrocutes the guy who steals your cap was both hilarious and kind of satisfying. > > Today’s sensibilities are a bit different. People are still wigged out by crime, to an extent disproportionate to its actual likelihood, but it’s not like it was in 1986-1987. Rather than feeling helpless, people today are becoming politically separated - indeed, often physicall separated. In 1986, you were helpless against the Criminals, so you either were a victim or had a fancy car that electrocuted them. In 2012, you live in a gated community or stand your ground. The separation in 1986-1987 was between white people and their black allies, and black/Hispanic people; today there’s a lot more complexity to that. Today people are less worried about street thugs - there’s fewer of them - and more concenred about other types of criminals like terrorists, child abductors, online scam artists, and bankers. In order to capture the same combination of parody and heartfelt sincerity the original had, you’d have to change the story in some ways or else it’ll FEEL old, no matter how it looks. The reboot will be called _RoboMuslim_. Salim is a gentle Imam in Detroit brutally hacked to pieces by a terrorist cell. After he’s rebuilt, he goes undercover as a weaving machine at burka factory, where he sucks the terrorists in one by one, rips them to shreds and uses their remains to make modest garb for devout women. His reward is that hot muslim chicks, even devout ones, regularly strip down in front of him to try on their new clothes, and none of them give a second thought to the machine that seems to vibrate just a little more when they’re naked. ---
**Author:** ![SunSandSuffering](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@SunSandSuffering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunSandSuffering)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-robocop-movie-what-would-you-like-to-see/621725/26 "2012-05-14T10:52:01Z")
What I liked about Robocop was that the film presented a pretty large scale operation (the Police, OCP, Robo and the bad guy gang) and then just let them get on with it, showing it all on screen with no build-up. Eg. Security Concepts build Robo, Bam! he’s on the street solving crimes right away, blowing away perps left and right. Most films before that just didn’t have the budget or the direction to put a scenario together and then show the large scale results with no fuss. I think Veerhoven’s Starship Troopers did it as well, just get on with it and show the explosions and killings right away. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-robocop-movie-what-would-you-like-to-see/621725/27 "2012-05-14T11:38:31Z")
We’re almost living in a world run by Omni-Consumer Products now. I wonder if that point is lost on modern audiences. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-robocop-movie-what-would-you-like-to-see/621725/28 "2012-05-14T11:46:08Z")
RE: “Shoot him in the mouth” The biologic material in Robocop was no more than a few “chunks on a coroner’s table.” I got the impression it didn’t amount to more than (some of) Murphy’s central nervous system. Everything else was metal or synthetic. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-robocop-movie-what-would-you-like-to-see/621725/29 "2012-05-14T14:25:42Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > RE: “Shoot him in the mouth” > > The biologic material in Robocop was no more than a few “chunks on a coroner’s table.” I got the impression it didn’t amount to more than (some of) Murphy’s central nervous system. Everything else was metal or synthetic. He did have at least one working arm when they got him. Bob Morton specifically ordered them to remove it in favor of “full body prosthesis” right in front of Murphy’s face. So I’m guessing he had at least a torso and organs. But just what “Full body prothesis” entails is not explicitly stated. My opinion is that he had his highly modified (armored) torso and central nervous system and a few artificially assisted organs. The rest was machine. After all, he had to eat baby food to keep his organics alive. ---
**Author:** ![SunSandSuffering](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@SunSandSuffering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunSandSuffering)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-robocop-movie-what-would-you-like-to-see/621725/30 "2012-05-14T14:47:15Z")
…And in the shoot-out with the cops in the OCP car park he was definitely using his arm to cover his face from bullets. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-robocop-movie-what-would-you-like-to-see/621725/31 "2012-05-14T21:57:41Z")
> [@SunSandSuffering](#): > > …And in the shoot-out with the cops in the OCP car park he was definitely using his arm to cover his face from bullets. I imagine his face is probably more vulnerable than the rest of him but its still not flesh and blood, and attempting to protect his face was a pitifully human gesture in what is an overall rather affecting scene. btw apparently this is what Robocop looks like underneath: [![](https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/be38d67a-3461-4fac-8844-5b77bc473c2d/d23kra9-49b4ced3-35b4-413f-a87c-81e26ca5f03c.jpg/v1/fill/w_400,h_485,q_75,strp/robocop_vs_terminator_by_haz999.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJpc3MiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwic3ViIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTppbWFnZS5vcGVyYXRpb25zIl0sIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiIvZi9iZTM4ZDY3YS0zNDYxLTRmYWMtODg0NC01Yjc3YmM0NzNjMmQvZDIza3JhOS00OWI0Y2VkMy0zNWI0LTQxM2YtYTg3Yy04MWUyNmNhNWYwM2MuanBnIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTQwMCIsImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9NDg1In1dXX0.hk4mwZPplIcO_ds4REr5_7GQGdLh7VW6YpvGHtKOmEk) ](https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/be38d67a-3461-4fac-8844-5b77bc473c2d/d23kra9-49b4ced3-35b4-413f-a87c-81e26ca5f03c.jpg/v1/fill/w_400,h_485,q_75,strp/robocop_vs_terminator_by_haz999.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJpc3MiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwic3ViIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTppbWFnZS5vcGVyYXRpb25zIl0sIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiIvZi9iZTM4ZDY3YS0zNDYxLTRmYWMtODg0NC01Yjc3YmM0NzNjMmQvZDIza3JhOS00OWI0Y2VkMy0zNWI0LTQxM2YtYTg3Yy04MWUyNmNhNWYwM2MuanBnIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTQwMCIsImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9NDg1In1dXX0.hk4mwZPplIcO_ds4REr5_7GQGdLh7VW6YpvGHtKOmEk) :eek: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-robocop-movie-what-would-you-like-to-see/621725/32 "2012-05-14T22:32:05Z")
> [@Disposable Hero](#): > > Just a nitpick on an interesting post as I’ve heard this mentioned several times before. Its quite subtley done but I believe the movie makes clear that although Robocops face looks vulnerable its actually just as artificial as the rest of his body. > > When Lewis touches his face she says his skin is cold, its just a flesh-like material over a metallic skull probably made to make him appear more appealing and humanlike to members of the public.. > [@Disposable Hero](#): > > I imagine his face is probably more vulnerable than the rest of him but its still not flesh and blood, and attempting to protect his face was a pitifully human gesture in what is an overall rather affecting scene. > [@Scumpup](#): > > RE: “Shoot him in the mouth” > > The biologic material in Robocop was no more than a few “chunks on a coroner’s table.” I got the impression it didn’t amount to more than (some of) Murphy’s central nervous system. Everything else was metal or synthetic. If Robocop’s face is artificial, why did OCP make him look like Murphy instead of random male face #42? They didn’t want anyone know he was Murphy, least of all him. It felt cold, well, maybe cyborg cops don’t run as well at 98.6 and so he’s kept at a cooler temp, I dunno. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-robocop-movie-what-would-you-like-to-see/621725/33 "2012-05-14T22:40:29Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > If Robocop’s face is artificial, why did OCP make him look like Murphy instead of random male face #42? They didn’t want anyone know he was Murphy, least of all him. Good question, don’t know. But it would be equally strange to armour him up and then leave his lower face so exposed if it was really flesh and bone, one bullet and your expensive cyborg law-enforcement machine is so much scrap metal. Actually thats an interesting ‘in-world’ question, what _should_ your new robot cop look like? He needs to be human enough for the public to emphasis with, interact with and willingly take orders from but not human enough to be vulnerable otherwise whats the point. Keeping an artificial human face over an armoured humanoid chassis is a good compromise. edited to add I imagine that sticking a human brain/mind into a non-humanoid body could in itself cause problems, the brain would be expecting two arms, two legs etc and messing with that would be difficult. Even Robocop 2.0 had a basically bipedal stance and body if I recall correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-robocop-movie-what-would-you-like-to-see/621725/34 "2012-05-14T23:27:37Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > If Robocop’s face is artificial, why did OCP make him look like Murphy instead of random male face #42? They didn’t want anyone know he was Murphy, least of all him. Even with 1986 technology it was perfectly possible for a plastic surgeon to make someone’s jawline and mouth unrecognisable (See also Michael Jackson). With Robocop era technology there was no need for him to look like Murphy even if if that is Murphy’s actual face. Either way you look at it, Robocop didn’t need to look like Murphy because of physical limitations. The real explanation is that he looked that way because the concept demanded it. The director needed physical continuity between Murphy and Robocop, and the face was the way to do that. Any in-universe explanation is just fanwankery. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-robocop-movie-what-would-you-like-to-see/621725/35 "2012-05-14T23:48:50Z")
Heck, even the Robocop 2 prototype had a videoscreen to show a rendered version of Cain’s face, complete with emotional cues to indicate his mood. Why? Why not? ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-robocop-movie-what-would-you-like-to-see/621725/36 "2012-05-14T23:57:19Z")
It’s imperative you keep the human element in RoboCop. He’s a tragic and sympathetic character, that over the course of the film begins to realize who he was before. When he was having flashbacks of his wife and son in his former life, those parts felt pretty thin and cheesy, but it still worked. I suppose a reboot could trump up that connection a bit more. But all in all, there are so many kickass parts in the original, that if you didn’t include them, it’d subtract away from the overall dark violence of the film. The scene of ED-209 malfunctioning in the OCP boardroom is a classic. It was truly horrifying and intimidating. The maiming of Murphy by Boddeicker and gang, going black, then the interspersed cuts we get as they’re bringing RoboCop online from his POV. The internal rivalry within OCP between Dick and Bob, and their respective projects was interesting, and offered the movie a passive antagonist. It has a zillion little moments that all add up to something holistic. You have to keep his prime directives, as it played right into the very end so brilliantly. What would worry me most is loosing the iconic look of RoboCop and ED-209. The darkness mixed with humor is a fine line that I think would be difficult to pull off nowadays with the lot of directors we have. That said, I think out of anyone working today, Whedon might be perfect to helm a reboot. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-robocop-movie-what-would-you-like-to-see/621725/37 "2012-05-15T00:39:53Z")
Actually I always thought that they kept Murphy’s original head and face, and a humanoid body because they needed to- they hadn’t perfected a pure brain-in-jar cyborg yet. What they really wanted was a robot. In Robocop 2 the two failed prototypes are much more machine-like, [though they still retain the skull](http://media.photobucket.com/image/robocop%202%20prototypes/sirweeze/blog/vlcsnap-2010-09-27-19h22m27s245.png) before the lab techs are finally able to have the brain and eyes be the sole organic components. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-robocop-movie-what-would-you-like-to-see/621725/38 "2012-05-15T01:24:14Z")
RoboCop’s jaw has been at least partially replaced with metal. Check out [this pic](http://www.meh.ro/original/2010_04/meh.ro3811.jpg) of the back of his head, where you can clearly see the synthetic hinge. (That pic appears to be fan art, but it matches up pretty well to the movie stills I could find on line.) I’m guessing that if any of his organic head is left at all, it’s just the upper skull and face - the fleshy bits that are left exposed by the helmet are just skin and a thin layer of flesh over a metal mandible. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-robocop-movie-what-would-you-like-to-see/621725/39 "2012-05-21T18:59:31Z")
I’ve been looking through the imdb and elsewhere, but I can’t find out the identity of a certain cast member. She was a brunette in the POV scene of Robocops creation. At a party she’s drunk and gives him a silly crown and a big kiss. Who was this character and who portrayed her? ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-robocop-movie-what-would-you-like-to-see/621725/40 "2012-05-21T22:59:06Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > I’ve been looking through the imdb and elsewhere, but I can’t find out the identity of a certain cast member. She was a brunette in the POV scene of Robocops creation. At a party she’s drunk and gives him a silly crown and a big kiss. Who was this character and who portrayed her? Was it Sage Parker? [http://www.aveleyman.com/ActorCredit.aspx?ActorID=38474](http://www.aveleyman.com/ActorCredit.aspx?ActorID=38474) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-robocop-movie-what-would-you-like-to-see/621725.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-robocop-movie-what-would-you-like-to-see/621725.md?page=3)