MEMORIES:
The CEO: Well, I gotta hand it to ya... what do they call you? Murphy is it?
Robocop: My friends call me Murphy. You call me... Robocop.
1991 marked the beginning of the end for the popular sci-fi satire franchise. Filming began shortly after the completion of Robocop 2, but with Peter Weller declining to return in order to star Naked Lunch, the role of Alex Murphy/Robocop went to Robert Burke. Once again, Frank Miller penned the script, but cult horror director Fred Dekker changed or scrapped much of it. Added to that, the appeal to minors (due to the animated series) meant that P.R. necessitated a PG-13. Gone, therefore, were the graphic violence, adult content, and explicit reference to drug use in the first films. Instead of filming in Dallas or Houston as they had in the first two films, the production filmed in an abandoned section of Atlanta prior to its demolition for the 1996 summer Olympic games.
With the all-powerful conglomerate OCP facing bankruptcy, the head honchos turn to Japanese interest, the Kanemitsu Corporation, to help realize their dream of a pristine city. The Kanemitsu Corporation responds with not only a mercenary army, but also a pair of ninja robots who are ordered with driving out the blue-collar resistance stalling the works. Meanwhile, having abandoned all hope of reconnecting with the family of Alex Murphy, Robocop finds ready friends in Detroit’s impoverished underground: an orphan girl, one of the scientists who built him, and a whole slew of displaced families. When the ninja robots finally come to call, Robocop defeats them and rallies the police department to stop OCP’s development of a new “perfect” city.
Though filmed in 1991, Orion’s subsequent bankruptcy kept Robocop 3 out of theaters until 1993. When it finally arrived, the $22 million picture only made a disastrous $10 million. Speculation from the first film’s director, Paul Verhoeven, has given some fans hope for a redemptive fourth film. Still, Julian Grant’s Robocop: Prime Directives, a 2000 television miniseries starring Page Fletcher has been praised by fans and critics alike for its return to the scarred heritage of the original films.
