Officer Alex James Murphy (designation number: OCP Crime Prevention Unit 001), commonly known as RoboCop, is a fictional cybernetically enhanced officer of the Detroit Police Department and the titular protagonist of the Robocop franchise. Murphy is killed in the line of duty, and is resurrected and transformed into the cyborg law enforcement unit RoboCop by the megacorporation Omni Consumer Products (OCP). In the original screenplay, he is referred to as Robo by creators Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner.
Concept and creation Edward Neumeier's script and idea were rejected by many studios, and the name was thought as an "unsuitable" movie. The character was inspired by sources including Iron Man and Judge Dredd.
1987 costume Rob Bottin was tasked with designing the RoboCop outfit. He had not previously designed a robot and struggled to think of films where a robot portrayed a main character throughout. He looked at the Star Wars film series, particularly the C-3PO character. The C-3PO costume consisted of stiff costumed extremities with a cloth midsection, which made movement and action scenes difficult. Bottin was also influenced by robots in the science fiction films Metropolis (1927) and The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). Bottin's first concept was described as like a Marvel Comics superhero, based on his own appreciation for comic books. He developed around 50 different designs based on feedback from Verhoeven who pushed for a more machine-like character. Bottin said the designs inevitably returned to more human because the actor had to move while wearing it. Bottin briefly fell out with Verhoeven over the latter's criticism of his designs. Verhoeven said the outfit design was one of the project's most difficult aspects because he had unrealistic expectations about what he wanted after reading Japanese science fiction manga. He admitted that he was wrong and that it took him too long to realize it, contributing to the outfit's delayed completion. Bottin's final design features lines that imply a constant forward momentum and speed. Bottin spent ten months designing the suit. The RoboCop outfit development was unprecedented, and both design and construction were more expensive and took longer than anticipated. Bottin and a 6-person team spent six months constructing the outfit. The outfit is effectively two suits: a flexible one made from foam latex (including the jaw, neck, gloves, abdomen, pelvis, and posterior) and painted black like cast iron; and semi- or completely rigid pieces placed over the former and made from Polyurethane (chest, limbs, and feet). Moving sections like limbs were joined with aluminum and ball bearings. The entirety of the suit is supported by an internal harness of hooks, allowing for more action-heavy movements. Bottin was unfamiliar with polyurethane and unaware that it had a terrible smell and had to be primed with toxic chemicals before painting. Bottin used fiberglass to construct the helmet to spare Weller the polyurethane smell. Seven suits were made, including a fireproof version for the gas station explosion, and damaged suits to reflect the aftermath of assaults on RoboCop. The suits weighed 25 to 80 lb (11 to 36 kg); reports vary. Once completed, Weller tried on the costume. It took around 1.5 hours to put the outfit on. Weller was immediately frustrated because the costume was too cumbersome for him to move as he had practiced. Bottin spent 10 hours adjusting the outfit to help alleviate Weller's concerns. Weller's training with Mona Yakim had developed a liquid-movement style with a stiff staccato end but this was no longer possible. He also struggled to see through the thin helmet visor and interact or grab while wearing the gloves. After several days of struggle, Yakim was called to the set and helped Weller develop a slower, more deliberate movement style. Weller's experience in the outfit was made worse by warm weather, causing him to lose up to 3 lb (1.4 kg) in sweat per day. The lower body of the outfit could not be worn in vehicles because it could not fit. When RoboCop removes his helmet, a trick drill with a hollow shaft makes it appear that lengthy screws are emerging from his head. Dupuis and Mixon applied Weller's prosthetics once RoboCop's face is revealed. A fiberglass skull was fitted to the back of his head and blended with rubber prosthetics into Weller's skin. The process took between 6 and 8 hours and lasted 5 hours before the rubber began to fail. The pair found the process difficult because Weller's smooth skin could not conceal seams between real and false skin. Stuntman Russell Towery served as Weller's stunt double; he walked through the flames of the exploded gas station and was injured by an explosive during the first fight between RoboCop and ED-209 in OCP that threw him across the hallway. A 9 in (23 cm) stop motion RoboCop figure was used once during the same scene, to show RoboCop making ED-209 shoot its own arm. A Beretta 93R, modified by Randy Moore, was used for RoboCop's Auto-9 gun. The gun was adjusted to allow it to fire blanks, the barrel was extended, and the grips made larger, and vents were cut into the side to create a multi-directional burst of fire with every three-shot burst. RoboCop's leg holster was made using a leg mold and cable-controlled by three operators, and three separate arms were made for different functions: an articulated, cable-controlled arm shown moving during RoboCop's creation; one with a spring-loaded spike attached to a metal frame and held near Weller when RoboCop accesses the police database; and one built like a battering-ram to smash a television screen in Murphy's home.
Appearances
RoboCop
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