WTF Happened to Robocop (1987)?

Paul Verhoeven’s Robocop (1987) is one of the greatest films of the 1980s. You may be wondering why we’re covering it on WTF, but the fact is, as good as the finished product ended up being, the production itself was a complicated one, with too many great stories from the set not to share. In this episode, we dig into star Peter Weller’s experience inside the (very uncomfortable Robocop suit), some near misses with casting. Rutger Hauer, Michael Ironside and many others were considered to play Alex Murphy. At the same time, Remington Steele star Stephanie Zimbalist was set to play Officer Lewis, only to lose the gig when Remington Steele came back for another season (the same thing that cost Pierce Brosnan his first shot at 007). Then there were Verhoeven’s many battles with the MPAA, with the film slapped with an X-rating initially due to the darkly comedic ED-209 sequence, as well as Alex Murphy’s ultra-violent demise. The movie was cut to an R, although nowadays, the “unrated version” is readily available in all of its glory.

Join us as we dig into this incredible film in “WTF Happened to Robocop?”! This episode of WTF Happened to this Movie is written by Jake Dee, edited by Jeremy Hamley, narrated by Dave Davis, produced by Ben Cantler and executive produced by Berge Garabedian. Check out previous episodes below and let us know your thoughts on Robocop in the comments!