DIFF—Saturday
After my ‘illness’ I was ready to see more movies with my fellow film fanatics. We traveled down to the Texas Theater in southern Dallas to attend the 25th anniversary screening of Robocop.
Even though the film was set in future Detroit, the film was shot in Dallas. Who would have thought that Motor City would build both a Reunion Tower and a Trammel Crow Building? When I think of future urban decay and lawlessness, I think Dallas.
The first thing I noticed about the screening was the crowd. There were lines around the block of patrons waiting to get into the movie. It was to be another sold out show for the DIFF. The historic Texas is most well known as the place where Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested. Even though the cinema palace is showing signs of wear, it is still a perfect nostalgic venue for watching this classic film.
On hand for the screening of Robocop were the film producers, the writers and the star Peter Weller, who still looks great at 64. The film shown was a 35mm print, with blemished and scratches in more than a few places. It added to the feel of being at an old style revival house.
I had not seen the film since it first came out all those years ago. I remembered as a cool action flick. As an adult, I can see the film as much more than a simple entertainment. The movie takes on some serious issues such as corporate greed, public worker unions and the role of the individual in against the overpowering state. At a basic level, it is still a cool action flick.
After the film, the four principles came upon stage and talked about the work. The panel was hosted by Mark Walters of BigFanBoy.com. He was the one who got the conversation going about both the making of the film and the more esoteric aspects of the work.
The producers said that the studio wanted Arnold Schwarzenegger to be the star. Weller said that over the years, he has been asked about some of the more idiosyncratic aspects of the work. He sees the film as a cross between the Frankenstein story and the Resurrection story. He talked about having to go to a motion expert at Julliard in order to get the right fluid motions of the mechanical character.
After the very short Q&A, the writers and producers stayed at the front of the stage to answer questions to the fans of the film. Peter Weller, along with his wife and infant son, were off into the night.
