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Who say's Robocop was not influenced by Judge Dredd.

Started by james newell, 11 November, 2012, 12:35:58 PM

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james newell

Who say's Robocop was not influenced by Judge Dredd. (well maybe know one here!)

Don`t know if this was on the boards before but this is a preliminary sculpture concept by Rob Bottin (special makeup effects) of Robocop on the features of the Robocop dvd.



Although i personally  think this might have been a joke by Rob as its way to close to Dredd helmet to have ever been considered.

.j

Frank

I think the official line is that it was a starting point and inspiration, which they always knew they were going to alter quite radically. To be honest, the first time I ever considered the relationship between Murphy, A and Dredd, J was when John Brosnan brought it up as a possible reason why a Dredd film might not work (at that time) in his flix column. The reasons he gave and the comparisons he made struck me as a little reductive, since I'd never thought of Dredd as emotionless, just a mean cunt, and Weller wears the helmet for less than a third of the film.

Not only that, but Robocop's story of the corporate world's dehumanising commercialisation of every aspect of life and Murphy's quest to (re)discover his humanity didn't strike me as territory which Wagner and Grant had explored at that time. There's really about ten minutes of the film, when Murphy first hits the street, which you could say cop some moves from Dredd, but the rest is its own wonderful thing.

Toni Scandella

When I first saw Robocop, which was in the cinema when it came out, I really enjoyed it but even then I felt that aspects like - how nasty Clarence Boddikers gang were, the fake ads, Robocop's lines, robocop's look, - all could have been from the Prog - but it did become its own thing as the movie wore on and I never thought of it as a rip off - but Dredd was clearly a major influence.


Frank

Quote from: M.I.K. on 11 November, 2012, 02:53:22 PM
Some of Robocop's lines were from the Prog.

You mean this? It's undeniable, but if I hadn't learned the history of Neumeier and Miner's involvement with Pressman's Judge Dredd film I would have chalked it up to coincidence. It's used in a different context for a different effect, and it's no cheekier a lift than the many (more subtle) ways Harry Callaghan influenced early Dredd's character and speech. And, like I say, the story and the character never really struck me as particularly Dredd-like. You certainly can't sue over a similar tone.

'I am the Law' sounds a lot like l'etat c'est moi too, but Louis Quatorze est mort, so I suppose it's out of copyright.


Bubba Zebill

Doing a picture search right now for this piece...and it takes me to these forums of all places!

In answer to why this original sculpt looked so like Dredd ...I read somewhere (maybe even on this forum) that they got the ball rolling on a Dredd film in the mid-80's, but before they actually secured the rights, this sculpt was made, they didn't get the rights, so they wrote up Robocop as a totally different unique thing....obviously not quite shaking loose of the DNA...

Not sure where I read that now. But I worked with the sculptor Brian Wade and he's a friend/ former colleague of the sculptor that made this Dredd sculpt...I may have heard that from him. You'll know Brian's excellent work from here...

Judge Dredd : The Dark (Gamebook)
http://tinmangames.com.au/blog/?p=3105

JOE SOAP

#6
Quote from: Bubba Zebill on 06 September, 2013, 09:25:28 AM
In answer to why this original sculpt looked so like Dredd ...I read somewhere (maybe even on this forum) that they got the ball rolling on a Dredd film in the mid-80's, but before they actually secured the rights, this sculpt was made, they didn't get the rights, so they wrote up Robocop as a totally different unique thing....obviously not quite shaking loose of the DNA...


Not exactly; Ed Neumeier (RoboCop writer/producer) had his effort to secure the rights to JD scuppered long, long before that production sculpt was made- Robocop was close to shooting or even shooting by the time of its manufacture. The JD rights had all ready been sold to Charles Lippincott in the very early 80's after he'd been chasing them since the late 70's and Ed Neumeier was asked to work with them on their early development work for Dredd which was when they found out he was also interested in the property.

As far as I know Rob Bottin made the RoboCop sculpt and stuck the Dredd head on it temporarily because they didn't know how it would look yet.




Bubba Zebill

Thanks Joe.

So it's still a mystery then. If it were a British sculptor I could see why he might make the connection and pop a Dredd-head on a 'Robo-Cop'. Otherwise I can't see why he would do it unless instructed...or maybe he's a fan...he'd seen the Eagle re-prints? ...or was shown them...
Judge Dredd : The Dark (Gamebook)
http://tinmangames.com.au/blog/?p=3105

Bubba Zebill

Groan...For some reason...probably something very simple that I did wrong...the Terminator picture I posted above showed in preview but appeared on screen as a silly banner for Tripod...

Anyway, Brian Wade's work on Terminator etc can be seen at the link below...

http://brian-wade-fx.tripod.com
Judge Dredd : The Dark (Gamebook)
http://tinmangames.com.au/blog/?p=3105

JOE SOAP

Quote from: Bubba Zebill on 06 September, 2013, 12:29:37 PM
So it's still a mystery then.

Not a mystery at all Dredd was the clear inspiration even Verhoeven said it in a 2002 interview.


Director Paul Verhoeven has admitted in a 2002 interview with Dutch website XI Online that RoboCop, Verhoeven's first major American film, was inspired by British comic book character, Judge Dredd, and you can see it, too

http://www.filmbuffonline.com/FBOLNewsreel/wordpress/tag/paul-verhoeven/


Bubba Zebill

Nice ....very nice. I'd buy that explanation...for a cred.
Judge Dredd : The Dark (Gamebook)
http://tinmangames.com.au/blog/?p=3105

Judge Brian

I had always heard that is was a Dredd script that was rewritten to be Robocop. Kinda how Diehard was originally Commando 2.

Richmond Clements

Quote from: Judge Brian on 08 September, 2013, 05:37:18 AM
I had always heard that is was a Dredd script that was rewritten to be Robocop. Kinda how Diehard was originally Commando 2.

Yup. Die Hard is also based on the brilliant Nothing Last Forever.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing_Lasts_Forever_(1979_novel)