In 1993, RoboCop roared onto Manchester's motion screens with the "Turbo Ride" experience, "RoboCop: The Ride."  Many Manicunian moppets marvelled at Motor City's motorized man as he took us through the mean streets of Old Detroit with his JetCycle 2000, on an adventure to rescue the Mayor and bring low the loathsome cyberpunk ROM and his gang.

Produced by prolific ride-film makers Iwerks Entertainment, "RoboCop: The Ride" was a then-revolutionary experiment in combining live-action effects and CGI simulation. Anecdotal reports say that they also blew air on your face which is cool too.

Trade publications at the time covered the production, revealing that the live-action stunts we're filmed in none other than... My home town of Denver!

Why? Iwerks is a Southern Californian company, and the film series was shot in places like Dallas, Houston and British Columbia. Perhaps early 90's era LoDo just had the right look for a burned out metropolis. Very little footage of the ride is publicly available, and what remains is in poor quality -- it's my best guess that RoboCop is tooling around downtown in what is now the Union Station neighborhood, before the demolition of the I-25 overpass. (See video link below.)

Regardless, all we know for sure is that Denver has a (very small) part in themed entertainment history that should be celebrated!

OUR PRIME DIRECTIVES:

1. Preserve the public trust.

2. With public or private financing, create a plaque or marker commemorating RoboCop's visit to the Queen City of the Plains.

3. Comb the available footage and reach out to the principals behind the film to ascertain what locations were used in production.  If possible, stake out a site that was significant in the film (perhaps where the fuel tanker blew up!).

4. SPREAD THE WORD!!! Sign the petition, tell your friends, family, co-workers who already think you're weird! If we get some momentum going we can't be ignored! I won't sugarcoat it: it's very possible no one in the world cares about this. But we'll take the fight to City Hall if we have to! 

Many thanks to the RoboCop Archive for all the info for this nearly-forgotten experience! More info here: https://youtu.be/BrV1rbpr9ZU