Schwarzenegger and Verhoeven's Martian Epic...

Rating: Null/10 (14 February 2004)

One of the biggest fans of Paul Verhoeven's extremely violent and stylish SF classic, ROBOCOP, was Arnold Schwarzenegger. Knowing that their artistic temperaments would mesh perfectly, Schwarzenegger promised the Dutch director that when he found the 'right' property, they would make a film together. TOTAL RECALL became their 'dream' collaboration, and stands today as one of the most popular and successful SF films ever made.
From his first reading of an early draft of the script, very loosely based on Philip K. Dick's novel "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale", Schwarzenegger was confident of it's potential, but had to wait for Dino De Laurentiis, who owned the rights, to decide what to do with the property. When the Italian producer decided against filming it, the action star bought the script, then used his leverage to get Carolco Pictures and TriStar to finance the production, with himself in the lead, and Verhoeven to direct.

The script, while very good, needed a lot of work ("It lacked a strong third act," as Verhoeven put it), and a number of writers, credited and uncredited, contributed to the end result, with Gary Goldman doing rewrites on the set, daily. A fabulous cast was assembled, including ROBOCOP alum Ronny Cox (again playing the villain), Rachel Ticotin, Michael Ironside, and, in her breakout role, Sharon Stone as Schwarzenegger's 'wife'. Despite having done nude scenes before, Stone shyly balked at Verhoeven's request to "show some skin" in a bed scene with Schwarzenegger ("I got her back in BASIC INSTINCT", the director would joke). Shot at Carolco's studio in Mexico, the production proved rigorous but enjoyable, with Schwarzenegger keeping the atmosphere light and productive.
The story combines many classic SF elements (brainwashing, virtual reality, mutants, interplanetary war, ancient alien civilizations and technology), served up with Verhoeven's unique brand of graphic violence and sexuality, and Schwarzenegger's humor and brawny action. As 'Douglas Quaid', a construction worker on Earth who has dreams of a totally different life on Mars, he would discover that his entire life, including his marriage and even his name, were all an elaborate lie. In his search for his 'true' past, 'Quaid' would become a hunted man on two planets, and a tool for both sides in a conflict to determine the ultimate destiny of humanity on Mars.
Although the 'science' of the film is farfetched (terraforming a planet in minutes stretches credibility!), the story is fast-paced and spectacular, and would become a major box office hit, worldwide.
And with Verhoeven and Stone moving on to BASIC INSTINCT, and Schwarzenegger's follow-up projects KINDERGARTEN COP and TERMINATOR II, TOTAL RECALL heralded the start of the most successful period of each of their careers.