They upgraded, they were limited to the technology of their time. Don't think that the people who handle the vfx just slack off. They really put their backs into it to make it as realistic as possible
I don't know, an arm-span is meant to be approximately equal to height. If you take a measurement of the mold shown in this clip, and rotate it, it comes to about 2 feet longer than the puppet. Maybe they wanted the arms bent a little and never actually did it in the final composite? Since I first saw this film I always thought the arms were too damn long!
I've never been more obsessed or captivated by a movie in all my life than I was with Robocop. I could watch these doco's all day. It's amazing the amount of work and dedication these guys put into a film with a 'laughable' title. It had the potential to flop but it's still one of the best action sci-fi movies of all time.
Tweekend27 Technically every creative movie does. Especially star wars. This movie was,a million bucks. Today it would just be a mindless cgi flick with lousy actors if done by typical hollywood today, or JJ Abrams.
Agree! My favorite movie growing up In the 80s. (B. 81) My uncle had the uncensored Vhs version/bootleg copy in his basement... W the extra long gory ED-209 malfunction scene... Totally traumatized me. So ultraviolet. The Murphy death scene too was like whoa when I saw it 'Not on tv'
I'm a filmmaker and I stand on what you say, not using CGI they achieved a really very impressive movie to its time. And It is stll the reference for Sci-fi. I use these techniques (phtoshop) to make some backgrounds.
CGI looks like shit when used very much at all. Whenever I can tell a scene is almost entirely done on computer it instantly kills all of the entertainment value for me. When the T-1000 walks through the fire as liquid metal in Terminator 2 it is absolutely amazing. Why? Because the semi-truck was real, it really crashed with the roof cut off and was aflame with real fire in a real water canal in southern California. Close to 98% of the area of the screen is done with 100% real elements put there by people out in the real world doing real hard work. Doesn't matter how simple it may seem. Doesn't matter if the CGI "looks bad by today's standards" or whatever other bullshit excuse is used. When I see a fighting sequence in an Avengers movie and know for a fact that 98% of the stuff on screen was done by somebody sitting in front of a computer on a desk in a comfortable office area, not moving any lights or props, not setting off any real sparks or fire, and not doing any sort of work that is physically or mechanically difficult in any way, then it always looks like shit. The truth is very simple yet very hard to accept. It honestly doesn't matter what it looks like. Movies are judged by the audience solely on how much work seems to have been put into it. How difficult were the emotions expressed by the actors and how well were the conveyed through body and facial expressions? How much time did it take to build the sets or scout the locations? Were any of the shots hard to frame or light properly? Did the stunt actors do anything truly risky and daring? Were the conditions or costumes on set hot, uncomfortable, or grueling for any of the cast or crew?
I remember seeing Ed209 for the first time. That thing gave me nightmares. I still chill everytime i hear those special effects when they fire him up. Mad respect for the sound effects crew too
Would have worked better having the actor on wires with a blue screen and camera above then shrinking the shot down in frame... would have looked more realistic with a live actor that way.
As a VFX artist working in Hollywood today, Robocop was one of the few movies I look up. I have so much respect for the VFX Artist who work on that masterpiece of a project.
Phil Tippett is LEGENDARY. 👍😎 It was Phil Tippett, ILM and Lucasfilm, who changed the industry entirely, once again while pushing the technology in order to realize another film in the Star Wars franchise. The man who changed the way movies were made, from the old stop-motion days of King Kong and 2001; A Space Odyssey to the matte paintings and "go-motion" techniques for his first trilogy of Star Wars films once again drove the technology forward into the future from the go-motion of Robocop and Terminator to make the prequels, clearing the way for James Cameron and Stephen Spielberg to be able to make T-2 Judgment Day and Jurassic Park, George Lucas was ALWAYS at the forefront of the industry, years ahead of his time. Most people malign the computer generated effects George used for the prequels because they fail to realize those were the FIRST appearances of such techniques put to screen. And those same people are usually surprised to see how much in-camera miniatures and practical effects were actually used. (Don't take MY word for it, though. Watch ANY documentary about ILM or the motion picture special effects technology. There are quite a few to choose from out there, right here on RU-vid.) 👍😊
The incredible details and choices in here; like choosing brutalist cold architecture in most scenes to set the atmosphere, and the gun flashes... amazing. These were artists who literally had to *make* the film. I wonder if many films these days really consider such details; think about the story, the feel, the atmosphere vs. just bashing on a load of action, effects, romance scenes and scary music
Steven Whiting Yeah matte paintings were pretty much the go-to effect for environment/architecture for a good 60 years until CGI finally became viable.
Actually, even Boardwalk Empire show has intensive use of (digital) Matte Painting. It's a technique that's almost unavoidable even in movies or shows that seem realistic.
As someone that does graphic design and visual effects, I love seeing how these old effects are done... it's amazing how digital technology, makes the process easier with replacement shots... e.g OCP building... which could very quickly be masked and edited in something like After Effects very quickly today with some filters. I love and respect the artists of the time, who had a much more challenging way to do these effects without the help of computers.
@@supernerdgamer7959 you don't see most CGI, meaning most CG effects are completely invisible, people only notice when they look bad. but with most practical effects its always a fight to try to get a realistic look. typically most movies have a LOT of subtle CGI the viewer doesn't notice at all.
The stop-action has an organic quality about it. And there's an artistic quality than with CG. Even though Robocop is meant to be an over the top action flick, it's really a perfect movie. Every scene works, from the humor, to the action to the poignancy. Everyone is a villan! There's no lag. It's brilliant.
CGI movies have no soul compared to the films that were painstakingly put together like RoboCop. This was a great movie it helped to define my childhood. I was 6 when I first saw RoboCop and it blew me away.
No matter how slick cgi becomes I will always love these effects the most. Wonderful craftsmanship and astonishing creativity. They also have a warmth that cgi never could :)
RoboCop and T2 were the movies of my childhood, what a great time to be a kid! I love how it's 15 minutes of how maticellous and interesting the special effects craft was 30 years ago and then now days is 2 minutes and basically "you can just do all of that with a computer. Even if you can't draw you can buy a computer and do effects" . We have come along way but kind of lost something else along the way.
This is one of the films I grew up watching over and over again. If you're reading this and you were involved in the making of these amazing special effects, you should feel very proud of the work you did.
The amount of work that went into making this movie is amazing. Alien, Aliens, Terminator, The Abyss and The Predator are just a few of the other great ones.
ED-209 is scarier than any horror movie villain out there, and I’m a Horror fan! Freddy, Jason, Myers, Chucky Etc... yea they’re scary, but ED-209 actually petrified me as a child.
I never knew matte painters were such wizards. Wow. I never would have known that the OCP HQ was all the work of a special effects artist. I knew their work involved painting to some degree but they were so good at their jobs you'd never guess which shots used a matte. Well done, Rocco!
Only the ones that you notice. And i tell you, you notice only 20% of cgi in modern films. Rest of it is so well made that you don't even have an idea.
Don't worry you guys made a masterpiece. I thought the difference in the ED-209 units was because there were so many of them dispersed all over town, and you know how things get updated with each model.
So much work, passion and heart went into movies back then. Now it's just run of the mill and cash in. Doesn't really matter as long as they make money.
The hand-crafted creativity is amazing. And I can't even begin to imagine the amount of forethought and concentration it takes to do such complex stop motion work.
The artistry and passion that went into RoboCop is not something you see very often anymore. Everyone seemed to be very enthusiastic about being on the team, they wanted to be there rather than just being a job. Everyone is genuinely proud of having worked on RoboCop and they should be, because it's a great movie.
I seriously had no frickin idea that his movie used matte painting( dont usually check credit rolls as a kid). But goddamn, if theyre that unnoticeable, its a testament to the quality of work of the artists involved
Honestly could take any frame from Robocop and just....not tell there's a matte painting background. It's *that* good. Hell, most of the effects in that film hold up. Yea, some of the stop motion is a little janky but a good chunk of it is still pretty flawless. The only effect I would really say needs be redone is Johnson's arms being so disproportionate during his death....BUT....a slow camera zoom out/follow could fix that.
I just want to say thank you to all who were involved in the making of Robocop. I grew up in Dallas and didn’t know the OCP building was city hall until I was 17 and felt like I was the only one who knew this secret as I stood in the place where ED209 was before being destroy Robo
Amazing film. These guys excelled at what they do. What I loved about the movie was the way the business sharks in suites were made to be the really ruthless b'stards. Even more sinister that the robots. Such a brutal truth about life that came across so well.
I finally know who's responsible for those inhumanly long, janky looking, arms at the end. Good job dude! I think it's time to update your prescription!
Nah...it's more he modeled the puppet in a falling position that required a very precise camera angle that they didn't get. If you look at the mold, it looks fine. All in the lens.
There are many classic examples of how computer effects can be a step backwards in some cases. Alien films were terrifying when they used models until alien 3. Star Wars felt like a real universe in the original 3. Now it’s like a cartoon. Computer graphics are amazing, but until about 4 years ago they were easy to spot. Only a few studios can make stuff seem seamless.
Traditional matte painting, animatronics and stop motion figures, not any CGI effect at all and one of the best Sci-fi movies ever made. I use the same kind of techniques on my backgrounds when filming.The only diference I use photoshop and after effects, but I try to choose a nice background I can disguise easily. the best special effects are many times the traditional ones.
dharkbizkit just think though, in those days you couldn’t step back a frame and re shoot if it didn’t look right. All you had was a video assist camera above the film camera to give you an idea of what it would look like for framing. No real idea if it worked until you’d finished the sequence and had the film developed. You have to hold the sequence in your head so you know exactly what’s coming next.
I love to see how old school effects are done, so interesting, animatronic and puppetry, stop motion, paintings and gory sludgy stuff, wicked. The Thing's got a lot of awesome painting effects to of the big spaceship and stuff.
I have to get some of that blue foam that guy was talking about to make a miniature ED209. This makes me want to make more stop motions, and make more scale custom models!
Stop motion effects hold a very dear place in my heart not just because of this movie but many others that used it. King kong, nightmare before christmas and caroline to just name a few.
Amazing work by all! And I think there's something to be said about the pride and commitment that went into all the models and paintings for the movie. Whereas CGI now, though it's not easy work either - there's not that comparison to the actors and sets. And I think it shows in acting and interacting with the virtual. To have that big ED-209 in the board room got more realistic fear out of everyone than gasping at some empty space or a spindly tripod in place where a big mammoth machine will be inserted later.
