History Trivia / RoboCop1987

** A minor one as both actors agreed to do it beforehand. In the toilet scene between Dick Jones and Bob Morton, Ronnie Cox grabs and pulls on Miguel Ferrier’s hair for real in order to get an authentic reaction of rage out of him for the scene.

** Prior to playing Dick Jones, Creator/RonnyCox played nice guys like [[Film/BeverlyHillsCop Lt. Bogomil]]. However, Dick Jones also set up a new type for him, as proven by [[Series/StargateSG1 Senator Robert Kinsey]] and [[Film/TotalRecall1990 Vilos Cohaagen]]. Creator/KurtwoodSmith was also known for slightly more refined and elegant characters (while still bad guys) and not the unsophisticated thug Boddicker was.

** Creator/KurtwoodSmith was disappointed with the script initially, but took the part because he [[MoneyDearBoy was a working actor]] and said, "Well, maybe it will be fun."

** The stunt man playing the liqueur store bandit's reaction to Robo's first appearance was totally ad-libbed and just too perfect to not include.

** Creator/RutgerHauer, who previously worked with Paul Verhoeven on ''Film/TurkishDelight'', ''Film/SoldierOfOrange'' and ''Film/FleshAndBlood1985'', was the director's first choice for [=RoboCop=] but was deemed too stocky for the suit once they realized just how big the suit would actually be-- and how much bigger it would become when they had to start building it around an actual actor and stunt men. Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger was also reportedly considered but was rejected for the same reason when they realized they would need a much thinner, leaner actor. Enter Creator/PeterWeller in his most iconic role. Creator/TomBerenger, Creator/KeithCarradine, Creator/JamesRemar and Creator/SylvesterStallone were considered, while Creator/ArmandAssante auditioned.

** They didn't get the Robocop suit until several weeks into filming, when normally it should be ready beforehand so the actors can get a feel for how it moves and cinematographers can get a feel for how it looks. Peter Weller spent time developing the body language for the character and it was rendered useless because while the suit looked great he could not even walk. Filming shut down for several days as crews played around with the suit (mostly cutting out thick rubber round the joints) and Weller worked with a movement coach to make it work. He said originally Robocop was supposed to move uncannily smooth and efficient like liquid metal, and since the suit was so restricting he went for the opposite, very halted and every motion exaggerated. The first time getting him into the suit with make-up and prosthetics took 16 hours, by the end they had narrowed it down to 4. The very clean and shiny suit also showed the camera and crew in the reflections. They weren't sure how to deal with that until someone mentioned they should light him like they would a car.
*** The cast and crew have been left wondering how much Weller's wasted development work got to his temperament, as he spent of the production in a foul mood. It got so bad he started picking fights with the crew - luckily, however, this served to alleviate the situation a bit, since both Weller and the crew found these spats entertaining.

----

* TheWikiRule: [[http://robocop.wikia.com/wiki/RoboCop_Wiki Here ya go.]]

* DarkHorseCasting: At the time of the making of the film, Creator/PeterWeller was a barely known method actor whose notable credit include the title role of Buckaroo Banzai from ''Film/TheAdventuresOfBuckarooBanzaiAcrossThe8thDimension''. However, after this movie, Weller became a well-known name for this role.

* RomanceOnTheSet: That uninterested secretary Clarence tries to ask out? Yeah, her actress would end up marrying Kurtwood Smith.

* CastTheRunnerUp: Creator/KurtwoodSmith originally auditioned for Dick Jones, and when he first learned he had been cast, he thought that was the role he had gotten. Not until later did he find out he would be playing Clarence Boddicker. Later still, he discovered the reason: being Dutch, Creator/PaulVerhoeven had grown up near the Holocaust, and thought that, when wearing glasses, Smith resembled Heinrich Himmler. Smith apparently agreed with the idea, stating that a bigger, more menacing villain would come across as someone who could merely be outsmarted, while his character's glasses made him look smarter and therefore more of a threat.

* DarkhorseCasting: At the time of the making of the film, Creator/PeterWeller was a barely known method actor whose notable credit include the title role of Buckaroo Banzai from ''Film/TheAdventuresOfBuckarooBanzaiAcrossThe8thDimension''. However, after this movie, Weller became a well-known name for this role.

** Despite their future setting the hairstyles, fashions, music, and other things are so 80's it's painful.

** When Boddicker spits blood onto Sgt. Reed's desk and says "Just give me my fucking phone-call!", the actors playing the cops in the scene weren't told Creator/KurtwoodSmith was going to spit out blood. Reed reflexively backs away and says "Shit!"

*** The cast and crew have been left wondering how much Weller's wasted development work got to his temperament, as he spent of the production in a foul mood. It got so bad he started picking fights with the crew - luckily, however, this served to somewhat alleviate the situation since both Weller and the crew found these spats entertaining.

** Verhoeven wanted the death of Boddicker to be more gruesome as well - he originally wanted to have [=RoboCop=] stab Boddicker in his chin and show the blade going up Boddicker's mouth, but the censors didn't like that. [[EyeScream Verhoeven then wanted Boddicker to get stabbed in the eyeball]], but the censors didn't like that either, so he finally settled for having Robocop stab Boddicker in the throat (the director's cut features a more gruesome close up of this than the theatrical version).

* ShootTheMoney: The production team deliberately spent their money on everything EXCEPT Murphy’s death, purely so the executives would give them more budget to realise it the way they wanted.

** Creator/RutgerHauer, who previously worked with Paul Verhoeven on ''Film/TurkishDelight'', ''Film/SoldierOfOrange'' and ''Film/FleshAndBlood'', was the director's first choice for [=RoboCop=] but was deemed too stocky for the suit once they realized just how big the suit would actually be-- and how much bigger it would become when they had to start building it around an actual actor and stunt men. Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger was also reportedly considered but was rejected for the same reason when they realized they would need a much thinner, leaner actor. Enter Creator/PeterWeller in his most iconic role. Creator/TomBerenger, Creator/KeithCarradine, Creator/JamesRemar and Creator/SylvesterStallone were considered, while Creator/ArmandAssante auditioned.

* CaliforniaDoubling: This movie had Dallas fill in for Detroit, especially noticeable in the shots that show Reunion Tower. Also of note, Dallas City Hall served as OCP's headquarters, although the real building is only 7 stories high, and special effects were used to make it taller. Dallas had a building boom in the 1980s, which gave its skyline a more futuristic look that what Detroit had at the time.

* CaliforniaDoubling: This movie had Dallas fill in for Detroit, especially noticeable in the shots that show Reunion Tower. Also of note, Dallas City Hall served as OCP's headquarters, although the real building is only 7 stories high, and special effects were used to make it taller. Dallas had a building boom in the 1980s, which gave its skyline a "futuristic" look.

** Creator/RutgerHauer, who previously worked with Paul Verhoeven on ''Film/TurkishDelight'', ''Film/SoldierOfOrange'' and ''Film/FleshAndBlood'', was the director's first choice for [=RoboCop=] but was deemed too stocky for the suit once they realized just how big the suit would actually be-- and how much bigger it would become when they had to start building it around an actual actor and stunt men. Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger was also reportedly considered but was rejected for the same reason when they realized they would need a much thinner, leaner actor. Enter Creator/PeterWeller in his most iconic role. Creator/TomBerenger and Creator/SylvesterStallone were considered, while Creator/ArmandAssante auditioned.

* FanNickname: The ED-209 is often called Eddy.
* TheForeignSubtitle:
** Austria: ''[=RoboCop=]: The Law of the Future''
** Brazil and Portugal: ''[=RoboCop=]'': The Cop from the Future''
** Mexico: ''[=RoboCop=]: The Defender of the Future''

* SocietyMarchesOn:
** The newscast at the beginning of the film depicts UsefulNotes/SouthAfrica still [[UsefulNotes/TheApartheidEra under Apartheid]]. Three years after its release, the National Party began deconstructing the Apartheid system and transitioned to majority rule in 1994.
** [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking The convenience store having a comic book rack.]]

* DeletedScene: The film originally ended with another faux-TV program interviewing Lewis from her hospital bed and showing that she had survived the movie. Verhoeven cut it after noticing how invested test audiences got with the previous scene, with many viewers shouting "Murphy!" before Robocop said it was his name, and he decided that the movie would be more powerful if it ended right then. Nevertheless, the scene is reinserted in some TV versions.

* WagTheDirector: Miguel Ferrer was offered the role of Leon Nash, but he demanded to play Bob Morton instead, whom he felt more interesting. Ferrer also played Morton more sympathetically than the pure CorruptCorporateExecutive of the script, causing the script to be slightly rewritten in order to accommodate his interpretation.

** A scene not filmed showed Anne Lewis in the hospital being visited by Mayor Gibson after being shot by Clarence at the steel mill.

* AccidentallyCorrectWriting: The movie used the then-new Ford Taurus as its police cars just because it looked "futuristic". In the mid 90's, the Ford Taurus actually did come into wide use as a police vehicle.