Robocop

OCP Crime Prevention Unit 001 or ***RoboCop*** is a cyborg police officer, created with the remains of brutally murdered officer Alex Murphy.

When the OCP Security Concepts project ED-209 ran into serious delays and cost overruns, the Old Man ordered a backup plan. OCP restructured the Detroit Police Department with "prime candidates" according to risk factor, and another victim of criminality was soon expected to be found.

After receiving the call from the emergency room, the scientists and surgeons at Security Concepts swung into action, harvesting what was left of brutally slain police officer Alex Murphy's organic components: parts of his digestive tract, what was left of his brain, several organs and his left arm, effectively turning Murphy's remains into the OCP Crime Prevention Unit 001, or RoboCop, a cyborg with the fastest reflexes made possible by modern technology, a memory assisted by an on-board computer, and programmed with a lifetime experience in on-the-street law enforcement as well as a selection of dynamic software for plotting strategies and ballistic vectors in any situation. In short, the ultimate crime fighting machine.

Fundamental to his operational limits are RoboCop's Prime Directives, a set of rules, unbreakable and unbendable, that RoboCop is firmware bound to uphold.

1. "Serve the public trust"
2. "Protect the innocent"
3. "Uphold the law"
4. (Classified)

The fourth directive, which he was programmed to be unaware of unless it became relevant, rendered him physically incapable of placing any senior OCP employee under arrest: "any attempt to arrest a senior OCP employee results in shutdown".

### July 17, 1987 (US); February 5, 1988 (UK): RoboCop (1987)

> *"Part man. Part machine. All cop. The future of law enforcement."*
>
>

***RoboCop*** is a cyberpunk action film directed by Paul Verhoeven. Set in crime-ridden Detroit, Michigan, in the near future, RoboCop centres on a police officer named Alex J. Murphy who is murdered brutally by a vicious gang and subsequently re-created as a cyborg known as RoboCop. It includes larger themes regarding the media, gentrification and human nature in addition to being an action film. It has spawned merchandise, two sequels, a TV Series starring Richard Eden, a TV miniseries directed by Julian Grant, video games, and two comic book adaptations and an animated series. A remake was released in 2014.

#### Plot Summary

In a violent, near-apocalyptic Detroit, evil corporation Omni Consumer Products (OCP) wins a contract from the city government to privatise the police force. To test their crime-eradicating cyborgs, the company leads street cop Alex Murphy into an armed confrontation with crime lord Boddicker so they can use his body to support their untested RoboCop prototype. But when RoboCop learns of the company's nefarious plans, he turns on his masters. [IMDb.com]

#### Notable Cast

* Peter Weller as Police Officer Alex Murphy / RoboCop
* Nancy Allen as Officer Anne Lewis
* Ronny Cox as OCP Vice President Richard "Dick" Jones
* Kurtwood Smith as Clarence Boddicker
* Miguel Ferrer as OCP Executive Robert "Bob" Morton
* Daniel O'Herlihy as The Old Man
* Paul McCrane as Emil Antonowsky
* Ray Wise as Leon Nash
* Robert DoQui as Sergeant Warren Reed
* Felton Perry as OCP Executive Donald Johnson

#### Soundtrack

The score for ***RoboCop*** was composed by Basil Poledouris, who used both synthesised and orchestral music as a mirror to the man-versus-machine theme of the movie. The score alternates brass heavy material, including the memorable RoboCop theme and ED-209's theme, with more introverted pieces for strings, such as during RoboCop's home-coming scene. The music was performed by the Sinfonia of London conducted by Howard Blake and Tony Britton.

Listen to the soundtrack on Google Play Music.

#### June 1, 1987: Novelisation

Written by Ed Naha, the novel differed in several ways from the film by following one of the earlier drafts of the screenplay. It expanded on Murphy's struggle with being part man and part machine, and his memories. It also included more "humanised" dialogue from RoboCop, as opposed to the minimal, cold dialogue heard in the film.