MOVIE NEWS – Arnold Schwarzenegger has spent the past several days promoting Edgar Wright’s new take on The Running Man, which he believes surpasses his own 1987 classic, yet when the topic shifts to the 2012 remake of Total Recall, the actor doesn’t hold back and calls the decision to redo the ’90s sci-fi film a flat-out “stupid thing to do.”
In recent days, social media has been buzzing with debates over whether Edgar Wright’s reinterpretation of The Running Man is truly superior to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 1987 original. The former California governor thinks it absolutely is and has enthusiastically endorsed the new adaptation during public appearances. Still, his support for the film does not mean he embraces every Hollywood attempt to revisit his past work. In fact, the 2012 remake of Total Recall remains a decision he openly criticizes.
During a screening of the original The Running Man, Schwarzenegger reflected on the golden age of action films in which it was produced. According to him, the ’80s and ’90s produced some of the finest action movies ever made, and studios today often try to remake them unnecessarily. As he put it in a clip shared on Instagram: “In 1987, we made The Running Man. It was a time when some of the best action movies ever made were made. And now, a lot of companies remake them. In most cases, I’m not happy about it because they are perfect movies. Why remake Total Recall? I wasn’t very happy. I said, ‘Okay, that’s… that’s a stupid thing to do.’”
When explaining why a modern retelling of The Running Man makes sense, Schwarzenegger said the original film, despite being well-received, did not have the budget needed to portray its futuristic setting with the detail and scale he envisioned. By contrast, he felt the new adaptation had the resources to fully realize its world. “It turned out very well, but we didn’t have the money at the time to depict that future properly. (…) When I saw the new one, I was blown away. The visual effects were fantastic, the action was fantastic, and the acting was fantastic. The story was very well told. I was very excited,” he said.
This perspective resonates with many filmgoers: certain stories benefit from modern filmmaking tools and can justify being retold. Still, Schwarzenegger emphasizes that a remake must offer something extra to be worthwhile. In the case of The Running Man, that “extra” may be a more faithful adaptation of Stephen King’s novel, as the author himself was never fully satisfied with the original film. Ultimately, though, it is up to audiences to decide.
The situation is entirely different for Len Wiseman’s 2012 reboot of Total Recall, starring Colin Farrell and Bryan Cranston. Even with advanced visual effects, the film never established a strong identity of its own, staying too close to Paul Verhoeven’s classic and failing to explore Philip K. Dick’s ideas in depth. The movie lacked personality, received mixed-to-negative reviews, and became a box-office disappointment. Today, it is largely forgotten, whereas the original Total Recall remains widely accessible on Netflix, Prime Video, and Filmin — and is still the version most fans recommend revisiting.
Source: 3djuegos
