Most worthy of the Philip K. Dick adaptations!

Rating: Null/10 (11 June 2007)

Although his name and stories have been known to genre fans worldwide for years, it hasn't been until recently that the work of Philip K. Dick has gotten the attention of Hollywood. Much of the credit has been given to Minority Report director Steven Spielberg. While Spielberg should receive a portion of the credit, the majority of it should to two others: Ridley Scott for Blade Runner, the first Dick film adaptation, and Paul Verhoeven for proving with Total Recall that Dick's ideas can translate into highly successful and highly profitable storytelling on the big screen. Reportedly going through as many as 50 drafts before shooting began, Total Recall was in pre-production for somewhere around two decades. Final writing credits go to Ronald Shusett & Dan O'Bannon and Gary Goldman, who managed to turn out the most well written the most worthy of the Philip K. Dick adaptations. Shusset and Goldman were constantly on set, according to Verhoeven on the DVD commentary, which may explain why Total Recall is one of the few Dick adaptations that doesn't suffer from the constant feeling of having too many writers aboard. Verhoeven knows how to tell a compelling and intelligent story like no other director can, which is obvious here with his complete understanding of the material. Second to Robocop, this Verhoeven's best. His direction is flawless alongside Jost Vacano amazing cinematography. Also at his best, is Arnold Schwarzenegger in his strongest performance. Sharon Stone and Ronny Cox are also memorable in their supporting roles. From every angle, this is a solid film. The only real flaw lies in the choppy MPAA required cuts evident throughout certain moments. If it weren't for the censorship of the MPAA, this could stand as perfect sci-fi masterpiece. 9/10