1. CINEMORE
  2. movie
  3. RoboCop
  4. A story about the passion of Executive Producer John Davison, the unsung hero who led RoboCop to great success.
A story about the passion of Executive Producer John Davison, the unsung hero who led RoboCop to great success.

© Photofest / Getty Images

A story about the passion of Executive Producer John Davison, the unsung hero who led RoboCop to great success.

PAGES


Born from Marvel Comics and Japanese special effects heroes



Davison was deeply impressed by Japan's special effects, anime, and manga culture, and when creating the character RoboCop, he incorporated the essence of films such as `` 8 Man '' and `` Space Sheriff Gavan '' as ideas. I suggested to Bottin, who was at a loss. Davison sent a letter Signs by director Verhoeven to Katsuji Murakami, who was working at Bandai at the time and was in charge of the design of Space Sheriff Gavan. Davison speaks with a heavy breath as to why he wanted to go to this length to incorporate Japanese hero culture into Hollywood movies.


``Director Verhoeven had an image similar to the resurrection of Christ when he set out to film the character of Alex Murphy, a police officer who died in the line of duty.However, I was a little different.He was supposed to be a human, but after he died I thought that if I could express the sadness of being created by Dr. Frankenstein's hands, regardless of my own will, and the sense of hopelessness and loneliness I've had since I had a family, I could create a hero who suffers. is."



"RoboCop" © Photofest / Getty Images


Immediately a reply was received from Bandai and permission was obtained, and the designs from ``Rom Space Knight'' and ``Space Sheriff Gavan'' were combined, and the robot suit was finally completed. As a side note, due to the relationship with ``Rom Space Knight'', ``RoboCop'' was later made into an anime by Marvel, and a comic was published, resulting in a honeymoon relationship.


Due to the time it took to complete the robot suit and the amount of time spent rehearsing with Peter Weller, who will be in the suit, it became clear that Verhoeven was unable to shoot the film alone. So Davison decided to take advantage of the timing when Mark Goldblood, the editor who had worked with him on Piranha and The Howling (1981), had just finished editing Commando (1985) and was free. Selected as the second team director of "RoboCop". somehow finish the movie.


As you can see from reading this far, the man behind the scenes that led RoboCop to great success was producer John Davison. The reason he was able to assemble a staff through his connections and support Verhoeven behind the scenes is probably due to the passion of the staff, who were attracted to the excellence of the script. Davison, Neumayer, and Minor are currently receiving a considerable amount of royalties from RoboCop every year without having to do anything.


Hollywood says you can build a house just by winning one movie. ``RoboCop'' is a low-budget film made by a group of anonymous people who are competing in ideas, and it's a novelty in that it embodies the American Hidden Figures while implicitly satirizing the United States, and no matter how many times you watch it, you never get tired of it. It's the best masterpiece ever. And it's my all-time best one!



Text: Junk Hunter Yoshida

Real name: Takeshi Yoshida. The Game and movie columnist, transportation journalist. After having his right leg amputated due to worsening after-effects of a traffic accident 11 years ago, he is currently aiming to return to work after taking a break for about six months, and is currently unemployed, having narrowed down his 12 regular jobs to 3 and undergoing mental rehabilitation. . In April 2019, he is preparing for political activities to run for the ward assembly election from Kita Ward, Tokyo.


Watch now


View work information


© Photofest / Getty Images

*Information at the time of article publication in November 2018.

PAGES

Share this article

Email magazine registration
  1. CINEMORE
  2. movie
  3. RoboCop
  4. A story about the passion of Executive Producer John Davison, the unsung hero who led RoboCop to great success.