‘RoboDoc: The Creation of Robocop’
The final cut of Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 dystopian, ultraviolent RoboCop clocks in at a ruthlessly efficient 103 minutes. RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop, a four-part 2023 docuseries about the making of RoboCop, clocks in at 4 hours and 58 minutes. Overkill? Perhaps, but reader, believe me when I say that I would have definitely watched another episode had one been available. Written and directed by Eastwood Allen and Christopher Griffiths, this doc is a minor miracle in and of itself, landing substantive interviews with every single person involved with the making of this masterpiece — Verhoeven, Peter Weller, Kurtwood Smith, Nancy Allen, even the “I’ll buy that for a dollar!” guy — all of whom share painstakingly passionate (and, at times, wildly off-color) recollections about this movie’s creation, release, and cultural impact.