The Little-Known Connection Between ‘Blade Runner’ and ‘RoboCop’

The ’80s saw the dawn of many iconic science fiction films, with two of the most notable being Blade Runner and RoboCop. The former was a stirring meditation on identity, and it grew to be a cult classic over the years. The latter was a searing, blood-soaked satire that director Paul Verhoeven described as the story of “the American Jesus” — and he wasn’t wrong, especially when it came to the symbolism. But if you look at them, they’re as different as night and day; or to keep up the science fiction theme, as different as Star Trek is from Star Wars.

That being said, there is one thing that connects RoboCop to Blade Runner — and it involves RoboCop screenwriter Ed Neumeier. Neumeier went deep into detail about his career in an interview with TheDissolve, where he revealed that he drew inspiration for RoboCop during a set visit to Blade Runner. It also turned out that a certain aspect of Blade Runner‘s iconic story would end up shaping RoboCop.

RoboCop

In a dystopic and crime-ridden Detroit, a terminally wounded cop returns to the force as a powerful cyborg haunted by submerged memories.

Release Date

July 17, 1987

Director

Paul Verhoeven

Runtime

102

‘Blade Runner’s Themes of Identity Shaped ‘RoboCop’

Neumeier started out his career as a script reader for Warner Bros., which meant he’d often visit the sets of film productions. One of those sets was Blade Runner, and Neumeier said that the seed for what eventually became RoboCop was planted during said visit:

“I watched Ridley Scott direct four nights of
Blade Runner
, and it was astounding to be able to do. At that moment, I was in a very
refined
location. I was in the atmosphere created by Ridley Scott, looking at a prop he had designed. After four nights—and maybe not enough sleep, because I was doing double shifts—I had this astounding idea:
RoboCop
came into my head as a title, and I saw the character in this kind of bluish armored thing. He was a policeman who was also a robot, and he was looking at this strange human race. It was an
A.I.
idea, like, ‘Why are people the way they are?'”

Neumeier’s story highlights the question at the heart of both Robocop and Blade Runner: can a machine truly gain humanity? The idea of humanity is present throughout Blade Runner, especially when it comes to the Replicants. While the film follows the perspective of the titular ‘blade runner’ Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) as he hunts a fugitive group of replicants, it’s the replicants who receive most of the character development. After all, who could forget the revelation that Rachael (Sean Young) is a replicant whom Deckard falls for? Or the stirring “tears in rain” monologue delivered by Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer)? These philosophical elements would continue to shape science fiction stories for years to come, including RoboCop and Blade Runner 2049.

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The same story of discovering one’s innate humanity is present throughout RoboCop. When Alex Murphy (Peter Weller) is fatally wounded by a group of thugs, he’s rebuilt by Omni-Consumer Products into the law enforcement machine known as Robocop. But Murphy slowly starts recovering his memories of his past life, leading to a burning desire for vengeance against Clarence Boddicker (Kurtwood Smith) — the man who killed him. This would be a tricky balancing act for any director, but Verhoeven had two secret weapons: the screenplay from Neumeier and Michael Miner, and Weller himself. Weller’s physical performance is key to making RoboCop work, both in terms of how he moves and his humanity. At first, RoboCop speaks in a stilted, mechanical tone and wears the same expression on his face, but soon he starts to regain humanity — and with it, his emotions. A turning point comes when RoboCop visits his old house; he’s awash in Murphy’s memories, and even though Weller’s eyes are obscured by the RoboCop helmet, the emotional turmoil can be seen in the twitching of his jaw as well as his harried movements. Neumeier took the right lessons from Blade Runner, and it shows throughout RoboCop.

‘Blade Runner’ and ‘RoboCop’ Continue To Thrive

RoboCop and Blade Runner have both become franchises in their own right, spawning sequels as well as other media projects. In Blade Runner‘s case, it not only received a direct sequel in Blade Runner 2049 but an animated series with Blade Runner: Black Lotus. Blade Runner: Black Lotus and Blade Runner 2049 both continue exploring the themes of humanity that the original Blade Runner did, but with a twist: they both focus on Replicants. Black Lotus‘ Elle (Jessica Henwick) is trying to regain her memories while 2049‘s Officer K (Ryan Gosling) was engineered to hunt down his own kind. Prime Video is slated to continue the trend with the upcoming Blade Runner 2099 series, which reportedly is already in production.

RoboCop has also had a resurgence in pop culture lately, most notably in video games. Not only was he a guest character in Mortal Kombat 11, but he also headlined RoboCop: Rogue City. Both of these games are notable in that they feature Weller returning to reprise his role as Alex Murphy; there was even a release of a documentary that went in-depth on the history of the making of the first RoboCop film.

TV and film-wise, however, things haven’t been in RoboCop’s corner. Neumeier and Miner were slated to write and executive produce RoboCop Returns, a film that would take place immediately after the events of the original RoboCop — yet the project has gone through multiple roadblocks and is currently in development hell. But with Amazon’s purchase of MGM Studios, there have been talks about reviving the classic franchise — perhaps once again following in Blade Runner’s footsteps.

RoboCop is available to stream on Max in the U.S.

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