Andrew G. Vajna was a Hungarian-American film producer whose films include the first three entries in the Rambo series, Total Recall, Tombstone, Die Hard with a Vengeance, Evita, and Terminator 3. He founded the now-defunct production companies Carolco Pictures, Cinergi Pictures, and C2 Pictures, frequently in collaboration with Mario Kassar.
Vajna in 2013
Total Recall is a 1990 American science fiction action film directed by Paul Verhoeven, with a screenplay by Ronald Shusett, Dan O'Bannon, and Gary Goldman. The film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rachel Ticotin, Sharon Stone, Ronny Cox, and Michael Ironside. Based on the 1966 short story "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" by Philip K. Dick, Total Recall tells the story of Douglas Quaid (Schwarzenegger), a construction worker who receives an implanted memory of a fantastical adventure on Mars. He subsequently finds his adventure occurring in reality as agents of a shadow organization try to prevent him from recovering memories of his past as a Martian secret agent aiming to stop the tyrannical regime of Martian dictator Vilos Cohaagen (Cox).
Theatrical release poster
Producer Dino De Laurentiis (pictured in 2009) thought Arnold Schwarzenegger was not suitable to lead the film.
Director Paul Verhoeven (pictured in 2016). He wanted the script rewritten to make it possible for the events of Total Recall to be a dream or reality.
Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1991. The actor playing against his action hero persona in portraying a sympathetic and vulnerable character was generally well received, although some found the role to be beyond his acting abilities.