RoboCop

Sex + Violence: The Films of Paul Verhoeven, Part II

After the commercial disappointment of FLESH + BLOOD, Paul Verhoeven made a bold move—he left the Netherlands and relocated to the United States, determined to understand American audiences from the inside out.

His first major project on U.S. soil? A dystopian action movie about a cyborg police officer called ROBOCOP.

In this episode, we track the development of ROBOCOP—from the satirical, ultra-violent script by Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner, to Verhoeven’s initial dismissal (and eventual embrace) of the project, through its chaotic shoot and over-the-top violence that nearly earned it an X rating. We also explore the film’s legacy as one of the smartest, bloodiest, and most influential sci-fi films of the 1980s.

---

Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.

This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, and Todd A. Davis.