All language subtitles for RoboDoc.The.Creation.of.RoboCop.S01E03.Blood.Sweat.and.Steel.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H264-WhiteHat

A lot of my friends
were police officers.

In fact, in '77,

I went through SWAT survival
with the LAPD.

I don't care.
Get those men by the stairs.

Now. Hit it.

And so I wanted this role,

because all my friends
would love it.

There were two roles.

Ah, the SWAT Commander
and SWAT Captain at the time.

I got the SWAT Captain.
SWAT Captain worked three days.

The SWAT Commander
had two weeks.

I called and I said,
"Can I come in a day early?"

We're not gonna pay
for your hotel room

at the Hyatt Regency
in Dallas, Texas.

What's your rate?

$35 a night.

I'm coming in two nights early.

I came in two nights early
and Miguel Ferrer,

he was a young kid,

hanging out
at Dean Martin's house,

when I did security
for Dean Martin.

And I saw him.

He says, "Oh Michael,

I'm having drinks
with Ed Neumeier tonight.

Why don't you come by?"

And I met them.

We had drinks together,

and Ed's looking at me,
and he says,

"You know, Verhoeven loved you
for both roles.

Let me talk to him."

The next day,

they paid the other actor
for two or three weeks' work.

Told him to stay home,

and I got the role
of Lieutenant Hedgecock,

which was a combination
of the... the two roles.

I always tell young actors,
"Always go in early."

That scene was shot outside
the exterior

of the old Dallas courthouse.

Former city councilman
Ron Miller,

entered City Hall with a gun.

He's now on the second floor
holding Mayor Gibson

and his staff hostage.

My role, back then,

was originally written
as off-screen.

But then they realized that

it's gonna be too interesting
not to show it, so...

We cut and did an interior shot.

So, that's where the role
expanded.

Lieutenant, what's next?

We wait, Terrorism
is a very tricky business.

It's one of those scenes
where there is a crowd scene,

and there's this,
and there's that.

And Robo comes up.

He was in full regalia
and it was like,

my first interaction with Peter.

To see him move like that,
it was like,

I was looking
at the real RoboCop.

Where the hell do you think
you're going?

Keep him talking.

Just the way he moved,

it was like,
"Oh, look at that."

Paul is very giving
with his actors.

He said to me, "Alright,
these are your prisoners.

What do you want
to do with them?"

I said, "I want 'em
kneeling down here

with their legs crossed behind

and their hands
behind their head."

He goes,
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah."

And one of 'em will be dead.

And you need to put a guy
on the ground

that he's already killed.

And then he got a squirt bottle
of blood.

He was painting it
like Jackson Pollock.

But the guy had to lay there
all day long.

As a joke, they go,
"Do you wanna be an extra?"

And I said, "Sure."

And so, they put me in makeup.

And put me in wardrobe.

I didn't know
what I was gonna do.

And I end up being
the Mayor's assistant.

And for the nine years
I worked with Paul,

he kept throwing me
little bones in his movies,

which was fun.

In terms of my character,

there was no ad-libbing
whatsoever.

All those lines were written.

The fact that
they turned out funny,

I think it's a tribute
to the writers.

The line was first,
"Don't fuck with me."

First, don't fuck with me!

I'm a desperate man.

Second,
I want some fresh coffee.

And third, I want a recount.

And no matter how the vote
turns out,

I want my old job back.

He's making all those demands
in that office.

And I want this and I want that.

And I want whatever, you know.

How about an SUX 6000?

How about the uh, 6000 SUX?

Yeah!

Okay, sure!

With reclining leather seats,

those get really shitty
gas mileage.

What about cruise control?

Does it come
with cruise control?

As I read that,
I just cracked up.

I kept saying it,
"This guy is...

This guy is wigged out."

That just...

That scene just rang to me,

of the lunacy of uh,
American politics.

He was characterized as being

the guy who had
the mayor held hostage

and had been there
for three days.

Lieutenant, don't jerk me off!

I had eaten all the candy out
of all the machines

in the office, theoretically.

And had a sugar buzz going.

So, I was really hyper.

You wanna see?

At the same time that we were
doing RoboCop,

I think Joel Hynek
was working on Predator.

Predator had actual real thermal
vision in it.

And honestly,

I didn't even know that there
was such a thing, you know.

If I'd known that,

they were actually doing
real thermal vision,

I might have gone down
that avenue.

But as it is,

I just got these leotards
and spray-painted them

with spray paint
to look like a thermal effect,

and then had people dress up
in those,

shot them against black,

and then composited that
into some overlays

of the mayor's office.

The wall and stuff like that.

Get up, Your Honor.
Get up! Get up!

Your public wants to see you.

Pulling up to the window
by his tie was my idea.

The Las Colinas was a studio out

between Dallas and Fort Worth,

where they shot the interiors.

Nobody ever takes me seriously.

Well, get serious now!

And kiss
the mayor's ass goodbye.

I had to go through the wall
four times.

Two from the front side
and two from the back side.

And I was pretty beat up
at the time.

And the crew kept saying,
"Don't do anymore.

Don't do anymore.
They're killing ya."

Paul had 'em score the wall,
so I can get through it.

And then RoboCop punches
through on both sides.

They see me go through,
fire the machine gun.

It was a mini Uzi.

Holding the thing all day long,
scene after scene.

Got to be a bit heavy.

Then they stood me up
and punched me out the window.

There was another external shot
to the building

where I was walking down
the stairs with an assistant

who had a box full
of the contents of my desk

since I had been voted out
of office.

And they didn't use that,

because they cut
to the news thing instead,

which worked better I think.

RoboCop, who is he?
What is he?

Where did he come from?

He is OCP's newest soldier

in their revolutionary
crime management program.

Mixing the politics,
and action, and satire,

I think we in some ways
got there first.

More fighting
in the Mexican crisis today.

The guiding principles were
that Detroit was sort

of a western town
that needed to be cleaned up.

There was a larger world,

but the border stopped
at the edge of Delta City,

and the larger world
was only the media breaks.

So, we never had to deal
with a larger context

than the western town.

Excuse me, Robo,
any special message...

And the sheriff character,
RoboCop,

whose task it was
to clean it up.

Stay out of trouble.

They were the glue that got you

to the plot points
so brilliantly.

You're on your own.

They were funny.

It's a lot of jungle.

They were really well crafted
kind of in your face,

progressively liberal insights
into um, you know these kind of

really pretty heavy handed
statements on where we were.

Reporting a city wide strike
by police.

This is a movie being made.

And written during Reagan.

It's Reaganomics,
and it is trickled down.

And it is like you have to

take government out of it
and put business in it.

I say good business
is where you find it.

And you got the old man
saying that.

We're taking it over.

Old Detroit has a cancer.

The cancer is crime.

We're gonna make this Detroit.

This is the new Detroit.

Delta City.

This is our town.

This riffraff is done. Right?

Except they're controlling
the riffraff, too.

This constant battle between uh,
the rulers and the 99%,

was something I think
we understood,

along with
the police officer's strike.

Labor versus management.

They got job security.

They're not supposed to strike.

Historians now say that
the 80s in America

were a tipping point.

The economy in America
was booming,

but it was booming
under false pretenses.

Our productivity is up.

So, is our manufacturing
product up.

People were going
into debt massively.

So, is the United States.

As I say, I don't think
anyone should panic.

And it all started
to go downhill after that.

And RoboCop's right
in the middle of that.

I always characterized RoboCop

as comic relief
for a cynical decade.

Because we'd had eight years
of Ronald Reagan

and obviously we killed him
in Santa Barbara

at his retirement home.

Two former United States
Presidents

who had retired
in the Santa Barbara area.

No one said,

"Ooh, that's too over the edge
or over the top.

Or too critical of the system.

So, thank God we were at Orion.

You know, and Mike Medavoy
was kind of a gun slayer.

He was a risk taker.

You can't stand the heat.

You better stay out
of the kitchen.

The video world was
a completely separate world.

And if you watch
the commercials,

we shot with a Betacam.

The urban politics
that are in the movie

had this kind of Reaganomics,
I think.

I couldn't identify
with the people

very much at all.

I mean, the Americans.

You picked the heart.

I was more amazed and... and...
and I'd say,

the film is expressing
my amazement.

I remember Verhoeven
being there and...

and directing the sequences,
and he didn't really care,

if he's embarrassing you
in front of everybody or not.

And remember, we care.

Paul told me, he says,

"I'm not here making
a science-fiction movie.

I'm making a movie
about America today."

In principle, it's a dystopia.

Yes, of course.

But in the movie, it's...
it's presented as a utopia.

He's got his finger
on the pulse.

Red Alert!

Red Alert!

Red Alert!

You crossed my line of death.

You haven't dismantled
your MX stockpile.

Pakistan is threatening
my border!

The spoofy commercials
they were kind of the insight

into the thematic structure
of the movie really.

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

You can see the jokes and say,

"Gosh, that kind of strikes
close to home."

Nukem.

Nukem.

Get them before they get you.

And some of the commercials
and the jokes that are there

are very much a sign
of the times.

Um, it's got a tremendous wit.

We got this call
to do this car commercial,

and they wanted
a sexy commercial.

So, we said, "Okay, we'll
come up with something."

They wanted a dinosaur in it.

And the reference they gave us
was Beast From 20,000 Fathoms.

Yeah,
Ray Harryhausen's '50s movie.

When you cut to it,

it was a monster burst
into the frame.

People running and screaming.

I sculpted the dinosaur figure

and we made a cast foam rubber
animation puppet,

with a ball and socket armature.

The extras running away
from the dinosaur.

That's all us.

They were gonna cut it out
of the movie.

The editor did not know where
to put the clip.

If I didn't think that
something was gonna be,

not gonna be...
I wouldn't even cut it.

And Jon Davison said,

"Well, just cut it in anywhere.
Just cut it in the movie."

He says,
"Please, please cut it, Frank."

I said, "Okay, I'll cut it.

I'll put it in."

It's back.

Big is back.

Because bigger is better.

6,000 SUX,
an American tradition.

And the audience absolutely
loved it.

And he was... you know, I said,
"You're right, Jon.

I would have a big mistake."

When you think about
the structure of the first act

in which the police officer
is tortured, murdered.

Rebuilt
as a robotic police officer.

He solves
three stupendous crimes.

And when that first
media break hits,

the audience is delirious.

They are absolutely out
of their minds,

because you've given them
the birth of a hero.

There's a new guy in town.

His name's RoboCop.

And then,

this media farce about
strange advertising,

news breaks,

you kind of let the audience
laugh at you.

- It's for you.
- Go Robo!

So, I think
there's something rhythmic

about that a lot like music.

That you let the audience...

Exhale into a new kind of form,

and then you start
the story again.

Hey, hey, hey, Bobby Boy,
Vice President.

Congratulations.

The studio was
pretty freaked out

about how much
the movie was costing.

And they weren't seeing...
they saw dailies.

But they weren't really seeing
the movie.

Welcome to the club, Bob.

They were contemplating
pulling the plug,

and the story I heard was,
they said cut together ah,

a really good scene
for us to show to investors.

And they cut together
the bathroom scene.

Let me in
on the bottom line, pal.

I hear Jones was plenty pissed.

So, they asked me if I could get
a set done for them.

Something that they could shoot
in a key scene,

showing the dynamics
of the characters.

Let's face it,
he's lost his teeth.

The guy's a pussy.

We started building this set,

which was pretty complicated,
structurally interesting set.

And we built, and built,
and built.

And we didn't stop for,

I think it was 36 hours,
we built straight.

He's old, we're young.

And that's life.

We got it done.

Paint was still drying
in places.

But they walked
and they had to shoot,

and they shot it.

It's in the picture.

Miguel and I,

the first time we really met
was in that bathroom scene.

You've insulted me,

and you've insulted this company

with that bastard creation
of yours.

When we first got there,
Miguel was adamant.

I mean adamant
about me not grabbing his hair.

'Cause he thought

that was sort of invading
his space as an actor.

And he didn't wanna have
to deal with that.

Pretty simple math, huh pal?

And he said, "Well, I don't know
what I'm gonna do."

I said, "Okay.

You react the way you react
and we'll go from that.

We'll see what happens
from that."

You just fucked with wrong guy.

Are you out
of your fucking mind?

See, in a way, for Dick Jones
not to do that

would be anathema to who he was.

See, that's the other thing.

And I understand Miguel's
point of view.

Miguel's point of view is,
"I gotta protect my character."

Absolutely.

But I have
to protect my character, too.

You better pray.

That that unholy monster
of yours doesn't screw up.

And it worked.

Once they saw a cut sequence,
they... they got it.

Initially, I'm twirling a gun,
and Nancy Allen

will remember me.

She says, "Murphy, is that you?"

And then something else happens
with Paul McCrane,

and then...

Then I started having dreams.

Verhoeven reversed this!

Verhoeven said, "No!"

The dreams, first!

Verhoeven's sitting
in a suite with me saying,

"Look, you have these dreams
first.

Because this is not amnesia.

This is your soul waking up.

It is the one thing,

that in the name of progress
and science,

they can't take it away
from you.

They've taken away
your identity.

They've taken away your life,
your physical life.

But they can't take away
his soul."

And that wakes up on it's own.

And then it's like,
"Get... let me

the fuck out!"

Then all of a sudden,
he becomes a beast.

Hey look, bucket boy's online.

And his soul trying
to define itself.

What in God's name would
this movie have been

without Verhoeven?

I did not understand
the profound depth of this.

And nobody could have this movie
but Verhoeven.

Let's get this loud and clear.

If you hadn't given that
to an American action director,

no matter how talented they are,

they'd never dug
what Paul dug out of that thing.

It has some other level,

telling you something about
possibility of the human soul

to survive everything.

So, it's on two levels.

I think it's an action picture,
and it's a...

it's a picture about human soul.

That is the crux.

And then I'm off,
walking down the hall.

And that was a blast.

What the hell is going on?

I don't know. He just left.

Just left?

'Cause all of a sudden,
the guy wants to know,

not the robot anymore,
but the guy.

I haven't really had a chance
to introduce myself.

I'm Anne Lewis.

Do you have a name?

People say, "Well, how did you
relate to him?"

Well, what was great was that
with that tiny little strip,

you could just see
an eyelash move.

How can I help you,
Officer Lewis?

But it really gave me something
to work with.

To constantly be looking,

trying to find his eyes
for a minute.

And Peter's
such a wonderful actor.

I mean, there was just...

you know sometimes I look
at him.

"Is there anyone...
is there anyone there?"

So, I think because of
how good he is at his job,

it made it really easy for me.

She was fun, you know.

She was just so giving
to it, man.

"Murphy, it's you.
Murphy, it's you."

Can't ever get over that.
It's heartbreaking.

Murphy, it's you.

Ah, what a sad movie.

You know, RoboCop
is essentially,

extraordinarily sad.

You really don't remember me,
do you?

Excuse me?

I have to go.

"Somewhere there's a crime
happening",

is a line that I think
Paul wanted to cut,

or somebody wanted to cut,
but I wanted to say it.

Somewhere there is a crime
happening.

Which is like the existential,
RoboCop man, you know.

That's my mission, man.

That's my raison d'etre,

that somewhere
there is crime happening.

It was set up from the beginning
to pick him

to be the fall guy for this.

And there wasn't any sense
of ever having

to put the genie back
in the bottle.

What did you talk to him about?

- What did you say?
- Nothing.

It was just this greedy,
selfish myopic sensibility

of everybody wanting
their moment.

He doesn't have a name.
He's got a program.

He's product.

It's an interesting study

in the realities
of a lot of human nature.

It was an abandoned gas station,

and when we first applied
for a permit,

they said, "No, absolutely not."

Meanwhile, the mayor had said,
"Come to Dallas.

You gotta come here.

It'd be great", you know,
so we got on the phone.

We working it out
with our people.

And talked them
into letting us do it.

Give me all your money bookworm
or I'll blow your brains out.

It's not often that you have
someone who really loves

and knows how to talk to actors
and encourages performances.

And in the way that Paul did.

And he really did.

Don't do nothing stupid, man.

So, my experience on that scene
was that he was encouraging you

to have fun and try things,
and we did.

And some of them worked
and some of 'em didn't.

And he was fine with both.

Hey man,
what you reading in there?

"You a college boy
or something?"

You a college boy
or something, huh?

Robo shows up, expressionless,

you know almost lifeless,
machine-like.

Drop it.

You have to choose the places
we're in.

Slowly but surely,
humanity seeps out.

Dead or alive,
you're coming with me.

And then it's born out
in a physical reality

with Paul McCrane saying,

I know you.

And he really woke up
to what the definition

of this film was
as I was doing the part, man.

You're dead.

We killed you!

We killed you,

and he himself had the feeling
there was something.

There is past in my life,

which I don't know exactly
anymore.

But the audience get a feeling
that inside of this machine,

there is still Murphy.

Paul had a desire to do
exaggerated explosions.

Really, really hyper-violent
kind of things.

I know some
of the special effects folks.

They had a little issue
with Paul.

My sense was that Verhoeven
was frustrated

at some of the level
of special effects.

We'd be setting up
for something,

and he would say,

"You know, that's really kinda
over the top."

Where he'd say,
"Of course, you can't do it.

Of course, you can't.
Of course, you can't.

Of course, you can't do it.
Of course, we understand."

Then the crew responding with
"Okay.

Sure, we'll fo...
we'll work that out."

Steve Lim and Paul Verhoeven
did not get along at all.

They were just
at each other's throats.

In fact, Paul just stopped
talking to him,

just to ignore him
after a while.

He would bait the... the US crew

and was smart enough
to really know how

to get under people's skin.

Paul would always say,

"Anyway, we have fucked,
I suppose."

You know, he'd say that
fairly often,

and you know,
anything went wrong.

"We're fucked. We're fucked",
you know.

"You guys are fooked.

You guys are so bad,
you can't do this,

you know, and it's like,
"Well, fuck you Paul.

How many special effects shows
have you done?"

There were times
when we got into it.

See, every call sheet
has a cartoon on it,

that was drawn by Steve Lim.
The assistant director.

He was rubbing us the wrong way,

and that's part of the reason
why I did the cartoons.

And it kind of got popular
with the crew,

and it helped me,

and it helped us vent
this sort of unusual project.

Paul pushed the envelope so much
especially in terms

of effects and safety.

It was much more visceral
than a lot of movies had been.

For me, it's more important
to have a great image

than to be
in a really safe position.

Yeah, that's...
Yeah, you know.

Paul wanted the set to be...

Boom.

Huge.

I didn't have a clue how big
that was going to be.

Action!

They built the suit.

I think it's made out of some
kind of non-flammable.

It wasn't the same suit
as the regular one.

And it weighed about
twice as much.

So, I had a internal
air system designed,

so I could breathe.

And so I had about five minutes
of air,

and they designed a mask for me.

Every step I took,
they had propane cannons.

And as the propane cannons
were going off,

I just had to count my steps.

After the gas station explosion,

they were almost ready
to shut us down.

The fire marshals, the cops,
everybody.

Fire trucks came.

I mean, the city was like,

"What the fuck
are you guys doing?"

"Oh, nothing.

Just shooting a film."

I was talking to them
and trying to just say,

"Wow, that was... You know,
it's over.

And everything's okay, you know.

The fire's out."

Out of the corner of my eye,

I see Jost Vacano
driving towards Verhoeven

and I walk over there,

and I hear Jost Vacano
tell Paul Verhoeven

that the explosion
wasn't big enough

to be recorded on film.

And I wanted to kill him.

Oops.

I had specifically tried
to get a Shell gas station

blowing up,

popping off the S,
so, we see flames and hell.

Jon Davison cleared the name.

They did it all.

The effects people
rendered it perfectly,

and then Paul didn't put it
in the film.

So, that's about the only thing
I think I would have changed

if I'd been around.

I would have started yelling.

Maybe I would have been fired.

The motorcycle gag.

I shot close-ups of the thug
on his motorcycle,

looking back at the fire,

which was simulated
by using a fire bar.

They were shooting out flames.

When I go sort of flying off
that bike,

that's a stunt guy.

I remember those stunt guys
very well.

They were... they were great.

And uh, really, really brave.

Part of it was
him going up to it

and then the other part of
is they headed on a track.

And they pulled it into the car.

We had a dummy
in the actual impact shot.

Because
that was pretty dangerous.

One of the things that sets
RoboCop apart

from a lot of pictures,

is that you have great empathy
for the lead character.

Who are you?

So, Murphy is
the ultimate victim.

Who are you?

And it's not,

let's just say existentially,
there's no victims.

There's only volunteers.

He begins to have a taste of uh,

what was once his humanity
and it confuses him.

And curiously enough,

he starts off on a road
of not only vengeance,

but a road on rediscovering
what it was to be human.

To me,
I become an audience member.

I stop being a member
of the crew.

I was so invigorated
and exhilarated,

because the rhythms of it,

the intelligence
that was in that movie

Murphy, it's you.

Murphy, it's you.

In the name of getting
that bad guy off the street.

We're gonna take
an innocent dude

and turn him into a robot.

Yeah.

Think of that.
It's like uh, frightening.

Somebody came up
with a storyboard.

There was a scene where RoboCop
is at his own grave.

It was an idea that
we'd all talked about,

because it's an iconic idea.

You know, "Oh my God.
A man seeing his own grave."

And the idea of a robot looking
at a grave.

It's at mercy.

And perhaps, I argued
to keep that scene,

and Ed did, too.

And I kept trying
to get it in the movie.

But I can understand why Paul
wouldn't want it there.

Because Paul
is the metaphysicist, you see.

And you don't want
the physical evidence

of the guy that preceded
RoboCop.

Right? The physical evidence
is gone.

That's the whole thing.

So, I get it
why Paul didn't want a grave.

And it just never fell
in any place.

It didn't seem to be part
of RoboCop's journey.

The house ended up being
what you needed

and it was complex enough.

I felt that the flashback scene
when he goes to the house.

That was probably
the most important scene

in that movie.

Because what it does
is humanize this robot.

It is the movie.

It certainly is the movie,
is going home.

My scenes were at a home here
in Dallas.

I read it

and the whole premise seemed
really interesting to me.

And I thought,

"Gosh, am I the only nice person
in this film?"

Besides Alex Murphy.

Welcome, shopper.

Let's take a stroll
through your new home.

I felt that RoboCop should
reflect some vulnerability,

so that the audience can
identify with him.

Can you do that, dad?

There was so much pathos
in the character, RoboCop

and you really felt
for this... this man.

I mean, really you felt for him.

What would it be like
to be trapped

in that body, that machine?

Seeing the beautiful life
that he had before

with his lovely wife,
with his lovely child.

And it's all gone.

You are RoboCop going
through that house,

going, "If I cannot remember
the Halloween,

when he was 10,
what is it really worth?"

And that's the tragedy of it.

I hadn't met Peter yet
when I did my scene.

I met him afterwards.

I mean, for years
people have said,

"Oh, you know your part
made me cry.

And it really touched me."

I really have
to tell you something.

I really have
to tell you something.

I love you.

Everything was to my face,

and I'm talking to the camera.

When he puts the camera
on my face,

I mean the lens was on my face,
before they cut.

When I first saw,
it brought to my eyes,

'cause all of a sudden she fades
and then they do the wide shot.

And he's blown in this deserted,

sterilized home.

The feeling process was
very important

and we tried to instill it
within the rhythm

of each movement.

If he was sad, it was slower
and softer.

If he was angry,
it would have been

a little bit faster
and more powerful.

So, we tried
to build the emotional content

into the rhythm of the gesture.

Why not make me an offer?

I...

The TV monitor was set up

and they actually had
a push ramp

with a section of Robo's hand
and forearm.

They, out of camera,
actually had a steel bar

and they just rammed it
into the TV set.

Go!

I remember the night they shot
at the Starck Club.

We were encouraged to go on set
and look.

'Cause I mean, you know we were
starting to figure,

this was gonna be a big deal.

It was a real disco.

Even the lights were
a little bit extended by us,

but it mainly, it was all of
the same situation.

Um, very hot dark,
steamy night club.

Before I started
to do the scene,

I didn't realize there were
any bare breasts in the scene.

But there were.

Which made it infinitely
more interesting to me,

as I was doing it.

The playback was the same music.

♪ Show yourself to her ♪

Peter was having trouble seeing
going down the stairs,

'cause they were fairly steep.

And that visor on the helmet
was like sunglass.

So, it was a real problem.

He was concerned about,

like taking a tumble down
these stairs.

I remember Paul being
very hands on.

He put himself
in the nightclub scene,

when he's like, "Aaah".

You remember that
in the movie, yeah?

And then Robo coming up
behind me,

and then you know,
doing the crazy dance.

Where is Clarence Boddicker?

And my little nervous giggles.

Leon's not too smart up here.

You know, kicking Robo
into a steel groin.

Not too smart.

And then he grabbed me
by the hair.

Let's talk.

He just barely held
on to my hair.

I clamped on to his wrist
and held on for dear life.

And then all he did
was just pull me.

Same as a good baseball player.

It's all in the wrist.

Take.

Go back that, backwards.

- Are you okay?
- 257 take Six.

- Unbelievable.
- One more time.

- Yes.
- Marker.

- You think?
- Oh, this is good blow.

You guys are unbelievable.

Paul Verhoeven has like
an energy

and a magic to him.

And you could tell
this was a scene

that he really liked.

And action!

- Gonna love this.
- Come on. Ready?

- Here we go.
- Okay.

- One more time. Go.
- Go.

Ah.

There's just something
about the way it sells.

Back then,
there was place on Sunset

where they sold
all leather dresses,

so the customer met me there,

and I got this green
leather dress,

and I thought it was the coolest
thing on earth,

until I got to Texas,

and it felt like I was
in a green cow.

Don't wear leather
in Dallas, Texas.

It was so hot.

It turns me on.

It was a beautiful,
very modern house in Dallas.

So, they flew us there.

And so when I got there on set,

I saw these piles of powder
on the coffee table in lines

and straws, and I panicked.

It looked just like cocaine.

Everybody asks me,
"Was it cocaine?"

It wasn't in the budget.

I mean...

Bob, come on.

Save some for me.

And you know, in each take,

I snorted a whole line
of powdered sugar.

Sometimes, I could just think
of something.

And it could just get me
so horny.

Miguel Ferrer,

he came up to me very seriously,

and he was a little nervous.

And he said,

"I would like to apologize
in advance,

in case I get aroused.

And in case I don't."

And I thought, it was just,

"What an incredible
human being."

Yeah, well uh,

a mind is a terrible thing
to waste.

You know, I still don't know

if she was a hooker or a model.

I mean, he refers to her,
Bobby calls her "a model".

Eh, was she really?

Yeah, I get bored so easily.

Yeah.

You need lots of stimulation,
Bobby.

I'm thinking they were more
like call girls,

but I think, every guy likes
to think it was a model,

but you know.

Yes, I do.

- Don't move.
- I won't.

Peter Weller came on set
and he was watching us shoot.

He took his script

and he wrote something down
and he gave it

to one of the crew members
and told them to give it to me.

He wrote,

"I think you're beautiful,
so there!"

Exclamation point.

I thought, "How sweet".

Peter was a pussy hound.

Okay.

Chicks would come by,

he'd go banging 'em
in the trailer.

It's not as easy as it looks.

The ADs, the makeup ladies,
you hear the...

you hear this pump.

They go, "That's Peter, he's

you know, banging someone",
blah, blah, blah.

Okay.

Look, a movie set is a city.

And if you're on location,

I mean forget LA,
everybody goes home.

But you know, that's cool.

You know, you're a star,
you get a lot of free pussy.

What the hell, you know?

And I'm a single guy and um...

you start up a thing,
but it ain't your leading lady.

Four couples on this film,

ended up meeting each other
and getting married.

And I happen to be one of them.

The camera person
and his assistant,

they... they got along well.

Let me just put it that way.

Yeah, man.

Certainly some noise being made.

At certain times, you know,
so it's like, "Where are they?

They are okay. Alright.

Get 'em out here!"

That's right, man.

Shit happens on a movie set.

I'll buy that for a dollar.

Paul was actually a little upset
that I was dating his assistant.

And he didn't feel he could
trust her because,

"Oh my God,
you're with a producer.

One of the production
people now.

How can I trust you?"

And he got over that. Yeah.

Best thing that ever happened
to me is working that movie,

because that movie
gave me my family.

Paul comes up to me.

He goes,
"Diane, I want to talk to you."

I said, "What?"

He goes,

"I think it'd be good if maybe
you and the other actress

start kissing."

I said, "I'm thinking no."

And he goes,
"What do you mean no?"

I said, "Honey,
my mom's gonna see this.

I've already had coke snorted
off my boobs.

We're good."

What do you think?

He's adorable, isn't he?

He's cute.

One of the girl says,

"Uh, excuse me, Paul,

I have a line
and should I say that here

before I go to the door.

Should I go to the door?"

And so Paul goes,

"Hmm, yeah.

Well, let me see.

Ah, Jost, the bitch,

should she say her line
after she crosses to the door,

or should she say it
before she crosses to the door?"

Jost says,

"Yeah, the bitch should
say her line at the door.

It would be easier for us."

Yeah, okay so,

He says, "Bitches leave,
then bitches,

you all go over there."

And... and Miguel and I are
like looking at each other.

Ah.

I don't think he knew
that bitches

wasn't the sweetest name
in the world be calling us.

But he said it so nicely.

It didn't bother me.

And he kept going,
"Bitches, come here.

Bitches, come here."

I said,
"Okay honey, I'm coming."

How you doing?

Bitches, leave.

"Bitches, leave."

One of... One of the great lines
in the film.

"Bitches, leave."

And we're like, "Oh, okay."

"Gee Bobby, bye.

You're gonna call me?"

I loved the fact that,

she wasn't even
all that concerned

that there's a guy with a gun
ready to kill her date.

It's like, "Yeah, this happens
all the time."

Yeah, it was fun to watch
the level of humor

laced in with a level of terror
that was going on.

What the fuck are you doing?

He knew he was gonna get killed.

Do you know who I am?

If you think you're gonna
get away with this, you got...

The leg shot was the first time
on a movie

that anybody had shot
point blank into anybody.

So, we made
some very light blanks

and I was very thankful
that Miguel trusted me enough

to... to let us shoot him
in the leg.

Goddammit!

Stop!

I'll give you anything you want.

Just please,
please don't kill me, alright.

What's interesting
about RoboCop is that

it forecasts so many things
as well.

I actually used the first DVD
in a movie as far as I know,

you know.

And of course,
there were no DVDs in 1986.

Hello, buddy boy.

Dick Jones here.

I guess you're on your knees
about now.

Begging for your life.

The good guys gets three colors.

Red, white, and blue.

You know what he's gonna do.

We could have been friends.

The bad guy,
he gets the whole palette.

Every game has a winner
and a loser.

Way more fun.

The Bob Morton scene,
where I kill Bob...

After I pulled the uh,

I pulled the pin with my tongue.

You know the key to the gang
is really Clarence Boddicker.

And Clarence Boddicker is a...
for me, was this,

always this guy
who wore glasses,

who was kind of a little hum.

He's probably on the spectrum,
but he's...

He's always humming a tune
and he was really ruthless.

He looks like an accountant
in many ways.

I don't have time
for this bullshit.

But then when you hear
him speak,

it's like,
"This motherfucker can be evil."

Bye-bye, baby.

He was based
on Carlos the Jackal,

who was then a terrorist,
who would throw hand grenades

and shoot people with shotguns.

And so, I said,

"This is shotguns
and hand grenades."

It was the idea
of Heinrich Himmler.

I didn't know at that time
that he thought I was a Nazi.

No. You know, Clarence is having
a great time.

I'm cashing you out, Bob.

It's so much fun playing
that character,

I can't tell you.

It's dead serious.

Paul, he said to me,

"The bad guys have
this cocaine machine.

We have 'em in Holland.

I see 'em all the time",
and I go,

"Uh, yeah."

I'm looking all over
and I found this place

and it filled perfume bottles.

I showed it to Paul
and Paul said,

"That's the machine, that's it."

He said, "You found it."
I said, "Yeah."

We had to create all
of the metal work,

the grid work,

the different platforms
that people were shooting from.

The scene between me
and Kurtwood Smith,

you know.

Um, so much of it was
improvised.

Maybe I'm just not making
myself clear.

One, Kurt would put his fingers
in the wine

and snorted it.

My impulse was to take it
and throw it at him.

But I couldn't...
wouldn't do that,

because it just would have
slowed everything down.

So, Calvin came up to me
and said,

"Why don't you drink it?"

It was like,
"Who's the baddest?"

It was a cockfight.

It was like,

"Well, I'm gonna do this
with your fucking wine.

I'm gonna taint it."

Sort of, "Fuck you,
you ain't that bad.

I'm gonna drink it.

Now what?"

I got the muscle to shove enough

of this factory so far up
your stupid whopped ass.

That you'll shit snow
for a year.

"Frankie, blow this cocksucker's
head off."

Frankie, blow this cocksucker's
head off.

I pull out the gun,
and he says...

Ooh, guns, guns, guns.

The guns, guns, guns line,

that was to show how cool
Clarence could be,

and that he didn't care.

You can't scare Clarence.

That was where that came from.

Tigers are playing.

Tonight.

I never miss a game.

And so I go, and I cock it,

and it created a moment,
and I'd loved that.

During the rehearsal,

I went, "Just kidding."

And they left that in.

Just kidding.

There are lots of moments
where we got

to create stuff like that
all through the whole film.

RoboCop is supposed
to kick down the door

and so I grabbed like,
all of the effects guys,

and I said,

"Bang on this door
as hard as you can,

before it pops open."

And so, of course

like seven effects guys
behind the door.

RoboCop breaking the door down.

"Put your guns down,

or there's going
to be trouble."

Come quietly
or there will be trouble.

Which I think,

was a wonderfully funny line,
you know.

Because by this time,
the audience has seen so much.

The idea that lower your guns

or there's going to be trouble,

I found it funny as hell.

I was the first guy to do
a single-arm shotgun cock.

They went, "Okay."

So, I used to practice this
on the side all the time.

Ah, fuck you.

"Fuck you."

To one of the,

sort of European touches
to an American action movie

is when Robo pulls his gun,

he's really taking
a fencing pose.

He's got his back arm up,

which is something that you do
in fencing.

Robo is firing like that.

And it's a very elegant look.

That's Paul, you know.

His earliest work was
on Dutch television,

with Rutger Hauer,

doing a kind of like
a knights in shining armor

and swords stuff.

So, he had that
in his background.

Action!

Part of that scene was

hiding full auto weapons
all around

and then they all pull 'em out.

And start the gunfire.

Action. There'll be
everybody shooting, yeah.

And so Verhoeven says to me,

"I'm gonna push this AK down
in the baking soda

that we're using as cocaine."

I said, "No, you don't need that
inside the gun.

It'll mess it up.

You're not gonna do it."

And so, like a little kid,

he'd take a scoop and he'd try
and cover the gun up with it.

And of course it didn't work.

And then you had to take it out,

clean it, and everything.

He'd tell me,
"You're fucking me."

And I'd go, "Well,

if you'd keep the coke out
of the guns,

you won't fuck yourself."

He'd... he'd go along
and he'd go,

"You know,

if you're gonna fuck me,
then tell me."

And so day 2, I walked up

and put my arm on his back
and I said,

"Paul, sooner or later today,
I'm gonna fuck you.

I'm gonna fuck you
in the middle of a take.

I'ma fuck you real hard.

Have a good day."

And I'd walk on.

And he turned to everybody
and goes,

"At least when he fucks me,
he tells me

he's gonna fuck me.

The rest of you just fuck me."

There is something about firing
a 9 mm fully automatic,

if you grew up with guns,

and you understand
that they kill people,

but you're living the fantasy
of a film,

then you better put some macho
into it.

Because it's not
for the faint of heart.

It is truly about vendetta.

I counted it once.

I think they're like 17 guys
that get killed in that scene.

So, that was take after take
and gunshot after gunshot.

You know, you...

Bam, bam, bam, wham, bam
and it'd go on all over.

And if you forgot
to put your earplugs in,

it was just deafening.

They put the earphones on me
and I'm in a helmet.

And I'd listen to walkman
all the time,

and I was listening
to Peter Gabriel's Red Rain,

and I got to help design
all that choreography

of how I wanted to shoot.

Two guys up here,

and then there's the guy
up there,

and this guy behind me.

So, if I fire, boom!

Boom! Boom!

Then I got to kill this guy.

Right, It's just so much fun
doing it, man.

In the cocaine factory,

I play one of the bad guys
in there.

So, if you see,
I actually shoot myself.

I asked him if I could do it
instead of just shooting

and hitting the ground.

Could I shoot and be shooting
while I'm getting shot?

And just start reeling
everybody.

And they'd loved it.

So, I did that
and it turned out really cool.

They put a vest on him,
put a harness on him,

and they hooked him up.

- And they just pulled him out.
- Okay, ready?

Action!

And it has a great effect.

Another great hero
of post production

that must be mentioned
is Frank Urioste.

Frank was this incredible editor
that it was seamless.

Paul Verhoeven, he said to me,

"You know why you're so good,
Frank?

Because you did so much shit."

And I said,

"Well, thank you
very much, Paul."

So, meaning that in,

that I did films that
didn't have very good material.

Yeah, we made it work.

So, when I got good material,
it just flew together.

He would cut on a Moviola

which was still old school
in those days.

As most people were now cutting
on a... on a cam,

which was a flatbed.

We turned hotel rooms
into editing suites.

We moved all the furniture out
of the rooms

at the Hyatt Regency.

This was when it was filmed,

so we put the coding machine
in the bathroom.

And the cam
in one of the editing rooms.

And Danny and I's benches,

and all the trim bins were
in the other room.

Frank, he was one
of those old school editors

that would know,
in his mind where to go out,

figure out where the in
would be,

mark it, splice it.

We'd throw it up
and watch it and there it was.

It's knowing when to cut
and not cutting,

it's just a feeling you have,
something you can't teach.

I'd seen the movie 40 times
with different music on it.

Mostly Jamie Horner's
Aliens score.

The whole film was soundtracked
by James Horner.

I had to ask James Horner
for Flesh and Blood.

And I hated the movie,
and he walked out, and said,

"I want nothing...
I want nothing to...

nothing to do with it."

And so, I was not so inclined
to go to James Horner,

in fact at that time.

Paul worked incredibly closely
with Basil Poledouris

on this score.

I came to Basil

because of uh, of Conan.

Basil did the music of...
of Flesh and Blood,

which is 1985.

So, it was a natural choice.

In fact, in this case
to come back to Basil.

You know, he'd spend the days
in the cutting room,

with Frank Urioste.

And at night,
he'd be a at Poledouris' house.

And they worked
on this music tirelessly.

Composers once in a while,

have the fortune
to collide with a picture,

you know that somehow speaks
to something

beyond their intellect.

And I mean I think as...
as a musical dramatist,

there's something that goes
beyond our normal understanding

of what a film is.

He would play piano
all the time.

And we would project video

and then he would play and play,
and then we would say,

"Try that.
Or can you do this?

And we want to see
if you use this here

or that there."

And basically it was something
very loose.

And then we started writing it,

and basically we went to London
and recorded it.

Depending upon the strength
with the director

and the imagination
of the composer

and the director together,

you could do some
outrageously interesting things.

The Robo theme,

which I call The Anvil Chorus,
was great.

And Basil is a phenomenal
talent obviously.

There are no expectations
in science fiction.

I've always liked
large orchestras and...

and choir.

The music emphasizes
the plight of RoboCop.

But there's a sadness to this.

There's a wistfulness
about this.

Sometimes
I'll spend 16-20 hours a day

to write five measures.

Because unless it feels like

it has something to do with me
and the movie.

'Cause that's truly
the blueprint for the way

the cue's going to go.

The dialogue,
you have to play softly.

Murphy, it's you.

Explosion.

You'd have to play loud
or not at all.

The pace is dictated
by the pace of the editing.

The director must play
counter to that,

and the pace would need
to be fast or slow.

There's just a feeling
when I'm writing it,

that there's a...
there's a reality to it.

There's a truth to it.

The music of a movie
has the possibility

to elevate a movie as a whole.

Music never sounds as good
as it does

on a really good movie.

You know, a really well acted,
directed,

and written picture.

Music sounds great.

The whole movie is put
on another level basically,

because of the music.

It's got that big heroic feel.

It's got that tang, tang.

That metallic sound, to me,
I got the feeling of a robot.

It's got synthesized music.

It's got those strings in it.

So, it's got several
different textures.

It's a really good,
iconic sound.

You know it's RoboCop
when you hear it.

I tried to absorb myself totally
in the picture.

And stay...
and stay in that world,

particularly, if it's
a little sci-fi thing.

I don't become those characters,
but I certainly think like them.

Really does create the subtext
to enhance the visuals.

That's what the composer
can do for me,

and I always feel that,

without that,
the film's incomplete, yeah.

I'm a big fan of film music.

In fact though, I'm a big fan
of music, you know?

Yeah, jump us into
the same moment,

but we can intercut it, yeah.

We were shooting
in Dallas, Texas.

It was hot.

Really, really hot and humid.
And it was just hideous.

It was 128 degrees
inside the thing.

It was a 105 degrees outside.

And that's saying Dallas, Texas,

it was about 128 degrees
inside it.

I would lose about 3 pounds
of water weight a day.

He lost water weight.

He lost skin, you know.

Because he'd get these rashes
underneath.

The demand that I put on myself,
I was running 6 miles a day.

And training for
a New York marathon.

And action!

My stunt guy,

he had to jump
onto the roof of this thing.

And then later on,

had to get thrown
through these windows.

That one scene

where Boddicker is thrown
the glass...

You are under arrest.

When they showed it to police,
the police loved it.

And it was one
of the favorite scenes

of a lot of my friends.

You have the right
to remain silent.

Fuck you!

Because a lot of them
would have liked

to read the beginning
of your rights.

And then throw you
through a window.

It's an iconic moment for

I'm sure many officers
around the country,

at least in the old age.

You have the right
to an attorney.

What is this shit?

My stunt guy,

they would like spring him
through the air.

And they would blow
that safety glass.

There was one window
that fortunately

they blew it too early,
rather than too late.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Just a little bit blood,
that's natural I suppose.

Or is it just fake blood?

And one person got injured.

He got shot one back.

And he hit his wrist
on the corner,

on the sharp corner
of a tool box.

It's pretty severe.

They took him to the hospital

and they were fortunate
that they had some microsurgeon

who happened to be there.

Otherwise, he would have lost
the use of his hand.

Yeah, that scene was really,
really hard to shoot.

'Cause the weather was awful,
and um, it was just unpleasant.

I've got protection!

You have the right to attorney.

It's important to me that

you only see Clarence scared
with RoboCop.

You cocksucker!

I work for Dick Jones.

Dick Jones!

He's the number 2 guy in OCP.

And that strengthens
the character of the hero.

OCP runs the cops!

That strengthens RoboCop
as well, you know.

You're a cop.

And with that,

I thought it was a much
deeper film,

and it made you think
and it made you feel.

Yes.

I am a cop.

Kurtwood Smith is handcuffed,
right?

When he brings him in
and he throws him.

Now, when Robo throws you,
you go.

Kurtwood knew that
and so he throws him in.

Kurtwood throws himself so hard.

When he hit, he hit me
and bounced off,

and he'd hit the desk hard.

And I realized
he had hurt himself.

He cracked his ribs
on the first take.

Cracked two ribs.

And we did that take
about another 11 times.

I could see him hiding it
like a football player

who's hiding it.

And he looked at me
and he saw me see

the acknowledgment

and then he'd gave me
that Boddicker look,

like, "Shut the fuck up."

Kurtwood was fantastic.

I mean, he was so vile,
you just wanted just to start...

You know.

Kurtwood's as brilliant
as you get.

He makes the thug
the real bad guy.

The guy that knows the jungle
is the real bad guy.

Not more Mr. Big.

Book him.

What's the charge?

No, it's not.

It's the guy who's working
for him.

It's the gunsel.

He's a cop killer.

I'm standing there

and I'm surrounded
by all these cops.

And I want to look bad,
you know.

And so I asked if they could go
and put some blood in my mouth.

And I asked Paul,
"What if I spit on the desk?"

And Paul,

his eyes kind of lit up
and he went,

"You want to spit some blood?

Yes. Mmm.

Yeah, let's try that."

And he spit this blood on the...

And the reaction you see
from us is real,

because we didn't know
it was coming.

We had no idea it was coming.

The AD said,
"Jon would like to see you."

So, I went to his office.

"Say, Jon, what's up?"

He said,
"Well, um, Kurtwood, um...

The studio,

they're kind of concerned about
your language in the movie."

I was like...

I was like, "Really, uh?"

He said,
"Yeah, they keep saying,

can't you cut that down?

And I told them that
that you just say

what you want."

Fuck you!

I said the word Fuck
a lot of that movie.

Listen to me, you fuck!

And a lot of it,
I just threw in.

Just give me
my fucking phone call.

I see the production
designers' job

of kind of keeping the focus
and some continuity of style.

I personally like a very bulky,
uncluttered look.

I call it and it's been called
"The New Brutalism",

when people in the '70s,
'80s were designing

those very stark, slabby
concrete buildings,

that I find interesting
structurally.

It's something that
Paul and I liked.

A matte painting
is a visual effect

that is a way of altering
the look of a location

or a set by the inclusion of
painted artwork.

When I saw the picture,

I just couldn't believe
what his work did.

You know, there's shooting
this wonderful elevator

floating up through OCP.

The interiors of the OCP
were shot at a mall

called "the Plaza"
at the Americas.

- Jon Davison.
- Yeah?

Knows his movies really well.

He came with Roger Corman.

For instance, the interiors

of the OCP building
with the elevator shots,

he just told me right out.

He says, "Can we make these
reminiscent of the down angles

in the Krell
from Forbidden Plant?"

I saw these still photos
of the City Hall

that they wanted to use
as the base for the skyscraper,

that's the OCP headquarters.

And so I said to them,

"Let's just add enough stories
and extend this thing

so it just continues up
and out of the top of frames

since we don't really
have the budget to do

a bunch of tilting shots
or camera move shots."

It was kind of a neat idea

to have this wedge-shaped
building

as the base of something
that just continues straight up.

They did have me do one
very distant shot

of um, Delta City,
that you saw the entire height,

when the police car is
driving across the bridge.

Ronny Cox's character,

you know his office, all that,
that was on a studio set.

And the fact that
always embarrassed me,

the handheld prop of
the tracks RoboCop.

I didn't have any money,

so I made Paul do
a lock-off shot.

Because I couldn't track
the optical into it.

Because tracking opticals
at that point in time

was a big deal.

You know, I wish
we could do that over.

Jesus, you really screwed up.

I always felt there needed
to be a Kryptonite.

And so, once we had that
in the room.

Ed and I started working
on the idea of a program that

wouldn't allow RoboCop
to attack an executive

of a company that owns him.

You are under arrest.

Oh.

On what charge?

Aiding and abetting
a known felon.

Directive 4 was the Kryptonite.

The way you could not
paint yourself into a corner

when he confronts Dick Jones.

You better take me in.

I will.

Dick Jones
basically castrates him.

The only time I actually used
any video material

was with Directive 4
in Dick Jones' office.

Any attempt to arrest
a senior officer of OCP

results in shutdown.

I remember Pete taking a camera
which was probably

his Mitchell photographing
monitors.

As he jiggled the cables,

just so he could get
a lot of distortion and stuff.

And then composited
in individual frames

on the optical printer
to give that messed up

that Robovision effect.

That you're an
ordinary police officer?

You're our product.

With this idea of the hierarchy
that's saying,

"We're gonna tell you
how to serve the public trust."

And we can't very well

have our products
turning against us, can we?

And in the name of science
and progression,

and freedom, and capitalism,
and whatever.

Steal everything you own,

which is essentially
your identity.

Which is essentially your life.

RoboCop, I think from
a technology standpoint,

you know, certainly
when you lift his arms,

you can see his armpits, stuff,
and things like that.

All that stuff
could be repaired now

and would be digitally enhanced.

As far as the core suit goes,

it's still just brilliant
modern design.

We don't make movies
like we used to anymore.

It was made physical.

It's a physical movie.

Maybe you'd like
to meet a friend of mine.

That thing comes in.

"I had to kill Bob Morton,
because he made a mistake.

And now it's time
to erase that mistake."