One Director Made Three of the Best Sci-Fi Action Movies Ever
Some directors have one defining film. A few have two.
It’s a rare thing to find someone who delivered three genre-defining sci-fi action movies in a single career.
I’m talking about director Paul Verhoeven.
Across RoboCop, Total Recall, and Starship Troopers, Verhoeven built a trio of films that blended violence, satire, and social commentary in a way that still feels relevant today.
RoboCop (1987)
RoboCop is set in an ultra-violent, near-future version of Detroit where the police force is managed by a mega-corporation. Peter Weller plays Murphy, a police officer who is brutally murdered and brought back to life as a cyborg law enforcer.
As RoboCop begins to carry out his programming, fragments of his past life begin to resurface, pushing him toward something more human and, eventually, toward revenge.
The film also stars Nancy Allen along with a stacked cast of character actors including Kurtwood Smith (yes, Red Forman himself), Ronny Cox (Beverly Hills Cop, Total Recall), Miguel Ferrer, and Ray Wise.
RoboCop stands as one of the defining sci-fi action movies of the 80’s, but what’s made it stand the test of time is the ideas behind it.
The film digs into:
Unchecked corporate power
The privatization of public services
The role of media in shaping perception
The question of what it actually means to be human
These themes run throughout Verhoeven’s work and still resonate today, maybe even moreso.
There was a remake in 2014 with Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton, and Samuel L. Jackson, but that cast couldn’t save it. Stick with the original.
Find the UHD Director’s Cut from Arrow Video on Amazon here.
Total Recall (1990)
Total Recall takes things in a bit of a different direction.
The story follows a man who visits a company that implants artificial memories as a sort of vacation. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays Quaid (or is it Hauser?), a construction worker dreaming of a vacation to Mars. What starts as a harmless procedure quickly spirals into something much bigger, forcing him to question everything he knows.
Or… maybe it’s all still part of the memory.
The film is based on a story by Philip K. Dick and also stars Sharon Stone, Michael Ironside, Rachel Ticotin, and Robby Cox.
Here, Verhoeven leans heavily into:
Authoritarianism
Colonialism
Identity and perception
The impact of technology on both society and the individual
It’s one of those movies where the central question never fully resolves, and that ambiguity is part of what makes it so memorable.
It features just the type of action set pieces you expect from an Arnold flick along with some pretty inventive sci-fi gadgets, aliens, and even mutants. All in all, it’s just a really fun and engaging story that takes enough twists and turns to keep you guessing.
There is also some extremely inventive practical special effects that are paired with the latest visual effects that 1990 had to office which have all mostly aged pretty well.
There was also a 2012 remake starring Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, and Bryan Cranston. Once again, a great cast, but it didn’t work. Stick with the original (see the pattern?).
Find the 30th Anniversary 4K + Blu-ray + Digital on Amazon here.
Starship Troopers (1997)
Starship Troopers might be the most misunderstood of the three.
On the surface, it’s a big, explosive sci-fi war movie about humanity fighting giant alien bugs. Underneath, it’s something else entirely.
The film is set in a militaristic future where authoritarianism has been fully normalized. Citizenship is tied to military service, violence is routine, and propaganda shapes how people see the world, and no one questions it. It is completely normalized.
It stars Casper Van Dien, Denise Richards, Neil Patrick Harris, Jake Busey, Clancy Brown, and again, Michael Ironside.
Like his other films, Verhoeven explores deeper concepts, such as:
Authoritarianism and militarism
Propaganda and media influence
The normalization of violence
The cost of tying citizenship to service
Wildly enough, there hasn’t been a direct remake, but the film has spawned multiple sequel and influenced a wide range of games and media such as the modern video game, Helldivers 2.
It also features the same sort of practical ultra-violence that has become a mainstay in his films by this point as well as some visual effects that look just as good as the effects we see today.
Find the 4K + Blu-ray on amazon here.
Bonus: Verhoeven’s Other Filmography
Outside of these three, Verhoeven has also directed:
Basic Instinct
Showgirls
Hollow Man
A pretty wild range, to say the least.
Final Thoughts
What makes this run so impressive is both the quality of the films and how consistent the ideas are across all three.
RoboCop tackles corporate power and the loss of humanity
Total Recall poses questions of identity, memory, and control along with corporate greed
Starship Troopers exposes authoritarianism, the normalization of violence, and how these things impact everyday life
Different worlds, different stories, but all built around the same core questions about power, technology, and what it means to be human.
Not a bad three-film stretch, and a great way to run a little sci-fi action movies marathon.
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