QUOTE (ernesttomlinson @ Oct 5 2004, 07:33 PM)
I have heard also, by the way, that Cronenberg was once set to direct the adaptation of Phil Dick's "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale"; that instead went to Paul Verhoeven and became Total Recall just another movie where Arnold Schwarzenegger kills a lot of people.
I'll take issue with this. Total Recall, in my opinion, is probably, next to Predator, the best of all the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. And I actually just read We Can Remember It For You Wholesale, and you know what, I'm glad they did what they did. WCRIFYW was a stupid little short story that Dick wrote. Actually, a lot of his short stories seem to follow the pattern of WCRIFYW. Start out with an interesting, sometimes brilliant premise, make it seem like something interesting is going to happen, and then go for a sometimes predictable, sometimes not as predictable, and sometimes great, surprise ending, more like a Twilight Zone ending.
WCRIFYW (I love that acronym!) starts out with a great premise, looks like it's going to go somewhere, then goes for a predictable surprise ending. In short, it was a very disappointing short story. Total Recall took the premise (as the movie version of Minority Report did with The Minority Report) and just ran with it, which is what I wish Dick had done. They made it into an action movie, yes, but it was a thought-provoking action movie with fabulous visuals, good action, and really an actor in Schwarzenegger who was very good, very much like a lost puppy until he remembers who he was. It, like Minority Report, was a really good movie that took a great premise from a Dick short story and made an actual story out of it instead of just going for the payoff (although I will say The Minority Report was a good story, it just wasn't nearly as thought-provoking as the movie, and was almost like an Asimov 3-Laws of Robotics story).
Now, I heard that Verhoeven royally fucked Heinlein's Starship Troopers, of which I am not happy, but I must give him credit for Total Recall. He took a mediocre short story and made it into a really good movie. Although I will admit, it would be interesting how Cronenberg would have done it.