Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Space Elevator

I’m a big fan of Arnold Schwarzenegger, the actor (not so sure about the person) and one of my favorite movies of his was Total Recall.  Futuristic, lots of mind-twists, unseen aliens, etc., all things which appeal to a science fiction geeks like me.

In a recent posting on io9, David Hughes tells us how a sequel of Total Recall nearly came into being several times – and, in one of the possible versions, Arnold Schwarzenegger (playing Quaid), goes to work on a construction site for a Seattle-based Space Elevator.  From the article:

Dejected and financially dependent on Rekall, Quaid finds a job on the construction site of a Seattle-based ‘space elevator’ — one of Arthur C. Clarke’s proposed constructs tethering an orbital space station to the Earth, allowing payloads to be transported cheaply to and from space.

Meanwhile, an imminent presidential election draws Quaid’s attention to an electoral campaign by Gloria Palomares, the President from his dream, denounced by her opponents as a “mutant lover” for promising to hold a referendum on Mars’ independence if she is elected. Torn between his feelings for Melina (whom he now believes to be a construct of Rekall) and Renee, one of Mrs Palomares’ campaign volunteers, Quaid becomes involved with her political campaign, but is betrayed and framed for an explosion which wrecks the space elevator. Imprisoned for six months in a space prison known as the Pasternak Institute for the Criminally Insane, he manages to escape, and rejoins what remains of the rebels, who tell him of Melina’s death.

Why do they always blow up the Space Elevator?  And, a Space Elevator based in Seattle?  That’s more than 47° north of the equator.  I don’t think so – but hey, it’s Hollywood!

The article is a difficult, confusing read and, I guess it was supposed to be as it is an excerpt from Hughes’ book, Tales From Development Hell.  Reading this excerpt, it seems amazing that anything actually gets done in Hollywood.

But Arnold Schwarzenegger and a Space Elevator?  I’d definitely pay to see that…

(Picture thumbnail of Arnold as they attempt to reprogram him in Total Recall – click on it to see a larger version.)

2 thoughts on “Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Space Elevator

  1. dmal

    Yes, we need movies that show a space elevator in action!
    Sooner or later we’ll get one.
    The original Total Recall story was by Philip K. Dick, of course, and he had a 1950’s Sci Fi (non-engineering) perspective on space travel and of course his ideas on Mars colonization was rockets, rockets, and more rockets.

    The book 3001 by Arthur C. Clark was a fun listen with a megasized orbital tethered spacestation/space colony.

    There was a short story in the “Running The Line” collection of space elevator stories that had a similar feel/theme as Philip K. Dick used. It was the one about the cloning and teleportation of the executive guy fakes his own death. What was it called? That would make a good Schwarzenegger sci-fi story.

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