80s | Pop Culture | Movies

Detroit's Going To Have A Statue Of Robocop, Because Of Course They Are

If you love 80s action movies and Robocop isn't one of your favorites, you really need to re-evaluate your life choices.

Orion Films

One of the most whacked-out, over-the-top action romps given to us by director Paul Verhoeven (Total Recall, Showgirls, Starship Troopers), the movie is pure 80s cheese while also being surprisingly intelligent. It tells the story of a Detroit police officer who, after being ruthlessly killed by thugs, is returned to life as Robocop, the new future of law enforcement.

Orion Films

It gave us classic moments like this;

Or like this;

And let's not forget one of the greatest movie villains of all time, Kurtwood Smith as Clarence Boddicker.

We love Robocop here at Throwbacks, and apparently we're not alone in that; the city of Detroit (which was the setting for the movie) are such big fans that they've ordered a massive statue of the titular cyborg law enforcer to be built!

The details on making the statue are pretty awesome...

Giorgio Gikas, the president of local business Venus Bronze Works, Inc, has been hard at work with his team for the last three years, aiming to complete the Robocop statue in time for 2018. He has two employees completely dedicated to working on just this statue for 40 hours a week, and the results are coming along nicely.

The idea for the statue first came about in 2011, but was met with a few setbacks in the form of Gikas having to receive treatment for his colon cancer (he is now cancer-free), as well as the need to fund the statue, which was ultimately done via a Kickstarter campaign.

The completed statue is estimated to be 11 feet tall and weight over 3,500 pounds. Gikas apparently already has the location of the statue planned and approved, but is keeping it a secret until closer to the date of its completion.

Brandon Walley, whose arts group launched the Kickstarter campaign, is enthusiastic about the response it's gotten, stating that “We’ve heard from people around the world that they want to make the pilgrimage to Detroit to see it, so we really see it as a great tourist (attraction).”

Do you want to check out the Robocop statue when it's finished? Let us know in the comments!