5. Robocop
Is there a more identifiable symbol of Motor City than RoboCop? (Don't say "urban decay.") Keeping it above the belt, Cyber-Murphy has become so closely linked to hope and resurgence in the troubled town that a fan push has led to a 10 foot tall bronze statue of Robo being created, to be unveiled within a year or so. The fact is, the mean streets of a dystopian Detroit play such a significant role in providing the bleak, utilitarian stomping grounds for the corrupt OmniCorp that it's quite a mind-tweak to learn that filming took place in Dallas, Texas. The famous Reunion Towerthink a giant phallic symbol covered in lights (take that, RoboCop statue!)is even visible at times. And the towering OmniCorp building is actually the City Hall, with matte paintings used to heighten the building to the film's ninety-five storeys. Interestingly, after shooting President Kennedy (or being made a patsy if you prefer, eh conspiracy theorists?), Lee Harvey Oswald was temporarily gaoled in the
former City Hall, the setting for
RoboCop's own political crisis. And one can't help wondering how differently the world might have turned out if old squeaky had been there to shoot Oswald in the peen. Maybe Tarantino could shed some light on it ...