DALLAS — The classic sci-fi action thriller "Robocop" is returning to many theaters in honor of its 35th anniversary and reminding many viewers why Dallas played an important role in making this classic a reality.
Paul Verhoeven’s 1980s movie "Robocop" is a near-future dystopian crime film that takes place in a crime-infested Detroit and stars Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Daniel O'Herlihy, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith, and Miguel Ferrer.
While the movie was released in 1987, filming took place between August and October of 1986.
Where was it mainly filmed? Dallas. Here's a closer look at some of the movie's more notable ties to the Lone Star State.
Dallas or Houston?
Similar to the 1982 film "Blade Runner," which screenplay writer Edward Neumeier also worked on, "Robocop" took place in a city that was both futuristic but also run down. This is what gives the movie a dystopian feel, which was a very popular genre in the 1980s.
So with a starting budget of $11 million, which wasn't a very high budget at the time, Verhoeven needed to find a city that could provide both a futuristic look along with some areas that were more desolate.
The final two options for where to shoot the movie came down to Dallas and Houston, according to a 2017 interview Verhoeven did with the Dallas Observer.
In the article, Verhoeven said:
"Ultimately, we felt that Dallas would give us that, let’s say, that Old Detroit that’s mentioned in the movie. We felt that Dallas would give us the possibility to show streets that were in disarray and also falling apart or whatever, and there were enough skyscrapers to give us a modernistic look. That was the reason to go to Dallas, which was perfect. We had a great time there. Everything went very smoothly. There was a lot of cooperation. We never got in any problems. Everything we wanted to do was possible and we found all the locations there."
Robocop was an Eagle
Peter Weller, who played the title character in "Robocop," appeared in more than 70 movies and TV shows during his decades of acting. He was also nominated for a Saturn Award for his role in "Robocop."
But before he was in his first feature film in 1979, the Wisconsin-native did a lot of traveling due to his father being a career helicopter pilot in the Army.
Eventually, his family moved from Germany to San Antonio in the 1960s. Weller eventually enrolled at North Texas State University—now known as the University of North Texas. Weller graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and began his acting career soon after.
From high school to police department
Dallas High School, which was located at 2214 Bryan Street, lasted for more than a century from 1884 to 1995. The building remained vacant for nearly 20 years after closing before it became a mixed-use development in 2017.
While there were a handful of notable graduates, including former U.S. Attorney General and Supreme Court Justice Tom C. Clark, one its most noteworthy moments in history came in this movie.
The outside of the Dallas High School building was used to represent the exterior of the Detroit Police Department in "Robocop."
Other prominent Dallas locations used some of the scenes include:
- Renaissance Tower
- Dallas City Hall
- Plaza of the Americas
- Sons of Hermann hall
- Dallas Municipal Building
- Arts District
- Dallas Public Safety Supply Building
Explosions at Deep Elum
While "Robocop" made Deep Ellum look more like an abandoned part of Dallas compared to what it looks like today, a scene shot in this location turned into a very dangerous situation.
Clarence Boddicker, a crime boss played by Kurtwood Smith, was a part of a scene when members of his gang were blowing up some stores in this Deep Ellum neighborhood at the intersection of Ross Avenue and Arts Plaza.
One of the explosions ended up being bigger than expected. This forced many of the actors to start moving away from the explosion, which can be seen in the movie.
At one point in the shot, Smith starts removing his coat because it was legitimately on fire. And because of this larger-than-anticipated explosion, all of the actors got $400 more in stunt pay.
“When he shoots the window, there was such a big explosion that you can see it in the reaction of the actor, and he dives away,” Verhoeven said in an interview with the Dallas Observer in 2017. “We were all shocked. That was beyond what anybody had in mind. Everybody just looked at each other and said, ‘Wow, we survived.’”
Young executive or artist?
Actor Kevin Page played the Omni Consumer Products junior executive known as Mr. Kinney, who was shot dead by law enforcement droid ED-209. This scene, in particular, is a large reason the movie got an "X" rating from the MMPA ratings board before Verhoeven agreed to shorten part of the death scene.
Born in Oklahoma and raised in Nebraska, Page has decades of experience in the movie and television industry, including being a recurring character in "Seinfeld" and in the "Dallas" re-boot shot from 2012-2014.
However, Page has now made Dallas his home, where he started working on pointillism. This is when artists use 21st-century technology with a 19th-century art technique. In 2013, he opened up Kevin Page Fine Art Gallery in the Dallas' own Valley View Mall.
On the actor's website, it says he has created over 200 unique works of art both in the physical and digital domains. He also calls himself an NFT artist and NFT collector.