FILM 1892: SHOWGIRLS

FILM 1892: SHOWGIRLS

TRIVIA: When the film swept The 16th Annual RAZZIE Awards, Paul Verhoeven turned up in person to accept Worst Director and Worst Picture. He was the first director to ever turn up to collect the Award.

Pamela Anderson, Angelina Jolie, Vanessa Marcil, Denise Richards and Charlize Theronauditioned for the role of Nomi Malone. Richards would be cast in Paul Verhoeven's next film, Starship Troopers (1997).

Kyle MacLachlan denied rumours that he walked out of the premiere - "I sat there and suffered for the whole two hours".

Jenny McCarthy auditioned for the lead and was very much in the running until it was discovered that she couldn't dance.

The filmmakers wanted Madonna to play Cristal Conners and Drew Barrymore to play Nomi Malone. The name card Gaye takes off the mirror when she shows Nomi her table in the dressing room even says "Drew." Barrymore turned the film down because she was uncomfortable with the amount of nudity required.

This film enjoyed huge success in home video market in the United States, generating more than $100 million from video rentals and became one of MGM's top 20 all-time bestsellers.

Elizabeth Berkley was dropped by her agent after the film was released.

Jennifer Lopez told The Hollywood Reporter (2016) that the worst audition of her career occurred when vying for a part in this film.

After this film bombed at the box office and "swept" the 16th Annual RAZZIE Awards, MGM/UA attempted to re-market it as a "Midnight Cult Flick" à la The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). A new print ad, with a leopard-skin patterned background and prominently mentioning the film's seven RAZZIE "Wins" ran in several L.A. area newspapers, promoting midnight showings in West Hollywood in Spring, 1996. Clever though it was, this new marketing gimmick also failed at the time. However, since then, the movie has indeed enjoyed a significant degree of cult following, with fans showing up in Showgirls-themed attire at screenings of the movie. Several influential filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino, Jim Jarmusch and Jacques Rivette have professed their appreciation of the movie; screenwriter Joe Eszterhas and director Paul Verhoeven both claim that they frequently meet people who secretly admit that they loved the movie. The critical re-evaluation of the film even inspired author Adam Nayman to write the novel "It Doesn't Suck", in which he makes a case for the movie being an actual masterpiece.

Kyle MacLachlan used a body double.

FILM 1882: ROBOCOP

FILM 1882: ROBOCOP

TRIVIA: It was discovered that when in full RoboCop costume, Peter Weller could not fit properly into the police car as he was too bulky. That's why most shots of him show him exiting the car or preparing to get into it. For shots where he actually needed to be in the car, he only wore the top part of the costume and sat in his underwear. However, to maintain the illusion that RoboCop wears the entire suit while inside a car, most shots show his robotic feet exiting the car first.

Some 25 years later, an internet rumor began to get funding for a RoboCop statue to be placed in Detroit. Peter Weller himself created a public service announcement to support the proposal. Eventually, a Kickstarter campaign was created and proved successful, as the 12 foot statue is now in production.

The RoboCop suit was so hot and heavy that Peter Weller was losing 3 lbs a day from water loss. Eventually, an air conditioner was installed in the suit.

In Sacramento, California, a robbery suspect fled into a darkened movie theatre to escape pursuing police. He became so engrossed in the movie playing on screen (RoboCop), that he failed to notice that police had evacuated all other patrons from the theatre. When the lights flipped on, the stunned man was taken into custody.

Paul Verhoeven and Rob Bottin clashed repeatedly before and during production over the design and make-up of the RoboCop character. What they argued most about was the scene where Murphy takes off his helmet. Bottin wanted the scene to be filmed in a darkened area, fearing that harsh light would reveal too much of the make-up effects; Verhoeven wanted the scene to be filmed as brightly as possible, citing that director of photography Jost Vacano would be able to light it properly without revealing anything. Verhoeven got his way and Bottin refused to talk to him any further for the remainder of production. However, at the premiere, both men were so impressed with how the scene had turned out, that they instantly forgave each other. Bottin, who had even vowed to never again work with Verhoeven, happily accepted the offer to work on Verhoeven's next project, Total Recall (1990).

Nancy Allen first arrived on set when Paul Verhoeven was shooting the deliberately cheesy sitcom "It's Not My Problem" which appears on television screens throughout the film. Allen was initially horrified to think that she had signed on to make a film with an incompetent director.

Because the hands of the RoboCop suit were made of foam rubber, the car keys would bounce off of Peter Weller's hand every time he attempted to catch them. The production took up to 50 takes and an entire day's worth of filming before finally getting the shot right.

On the DVD Ray Wise explains that he and Kurtwood Smith ended up being too close to an explosion which caused pieces of glass to be embedded into Ray's face. He received an additional stunt pay for this mishap as per the studio. Ray then jokingly states that he devised ways where he would be as close to the explosions as possible to gain extra money.

RoboCop's first Directive, "Serve the public trust", was inspired by a fortune cookie.

After Peter Weller complained about the costume during the first few days of filming, the role of RoboCop was offered to Lance Henriksen, who turned down because of time conflicts - Henriksen was also considered for the title role in The Terminator (1984) (before the cyborg was decided for to be large and bulky and Arnold Schwarzenegger was brought on), and finally got to play a robot in Aliens (1986) (see also trivia for The Terminator (1984)).

Paul Verhoeven's first American film.

Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.

DIRECTOR TRADEMARK: Paul Verhoeven: [in-movie fake commercials] Several fake advertisements are featured throughout the movie: The Family Heart Center (a medical center specializing in artificial heart transplants), Nukem (a futuristic Battleship-like board game), and the 6000 SUX - the primary vehicle that Clarence Boddicker and his gang use.

FILM 1830: STARSHIP TROOPERS

FILM 1830: STARSHIP TROOPERS

TRIVIA: The year in the movie is 2197.

Director Paul Verhoeven's favorite movie of his own.

The scenes involving explosions and fire after the destruction of Buenos Aires were actually videos taken from the Oakland Hills fire in October of 1991.

In a 2016 interview, Casper Van Dien revealed in an interview about an funny incident when he was picking up his two daughters from school, "I went by the line at school to pick up my kids. You know, you drive up to the school and when I get there and there are these six 10 and 8 year old boys hanging out with my daughters. I pull up in the line and the boys go "JOHNNY RICO! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US YOUR DAD WAS JOHNNY RICO!" and I said " what are you boys doing watching STARSHIP TROOPERS!" and they said "our dads made us watch it with them!" then my daughters get in the car and my 10 year old says "dad were you really naked in STARSHIP TROOPERS?" and I said "yeah" and she said " HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO ME!" then my 8 year old says "wait, like naked naked?" and I said "yup" and she said "OH MY GOD MY LIFE IS RUINED!". That was the longest three minute ride home I have had in my life"

More ammunition was used in this film than in any previous movie.

During filming Jake Busey (Ace) suffered heat stroke after working all day in 120 degrees desert sun, this stopped production for a week, when he recovered several large holes were cut into his uniform so he could cool off, many other cast members suits had this modification as well in order to prevent further cases on average there were 25 people per day being treated for heatstroke during filming.

The opening recruitment scene of the Mobile Infantry is modeled after the propaganda movie Triumph of the Will (1935).

Mark Wahlberg turned down the role of Johnny Rico.

The base that houses the Fleet Academy is named "Tereshkova" after Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space. There are many more examples in the movie of the future being gender-neutral (meaning there is no bigotry based on gender), such as the mixed-shower scene and the female captain.

The combat helmets were repainted again and used by the SWAT team at the end of the 2001 remake of Planet of the Apes.

Dialogue changes in German version: when Mr. Rasczak is talking about failure of democracy and how the veterans took control. Only citizens are allowed to vote, in the German version all this is changed about some talking about the war against the bugs,democracy is not mentioned. "Service guarantees citizenship" is changed to "Fight for the Future" * also during the classroom scene when Mr. Rasczak is talking about violence he says "I wonder what the city fathers of Hiroshima would say about that" and Carmen replies "They probably wouldn't say anything Hiroshima was destroyed" this scene was removed from the Japanese version. In the German version Mr. Rasczak says "I wonder what the citizens of Washington would say about that". And Carmen replies "They probably wouldn't say anything Washington was destroyed during the first Bug War".

In an early Federation broadcast, there is a psychic who says, "If you think you're psychic, maybe you are." The psychic is played by Timothy Omundson, who stars in the TV series 'Psych'. In the series, he plays a police detective who is constantly at odds with 'psychic' Shawn Spencer and determined to prove him a fraud.

Dale Dye was the movies Military Adviser, reportedly putting the main actors through a one week long intense boot camp, just like all of his other films.

Cameo: Edward Neumeier: The screenwriter appears as the criminal sentenced to death during one media break.

FILM 1669: ELLE

TRIVIA: The initial plan was to produce the movie in the United States, but there were problems finding a female lead. Nicole Kidman, Sharon Stone, Julianne Moore and Diane Lane were offered the role, but they all passed on the opportunity. Marion Cotillard and Carice van Houten were also considered. According to Paul Verhoeven, most actresses immediately rejected the part as soon as they had read the script, instead of waiting for a few days, which is normal. One of the actresses said she felt uncomfortable because of things that had happened to her in the past, one didn't give any reasons but just said, 'certainly not'. Verhoeven relocated the shoot of Elle to France after being turned down by Hollywood actresses. Verhoeven revealed that Isabelle Huppert read the book, called up the writer and the producer and said she wanted to do the movie. When they were discussing it, she brought up Verhoeven's name. Huppert chose Verhoeven, not the other way around. Verhoeven told The Guardian that the only American actor who would have been game, he thinks, is Jennifer Jason Leigh, "she would have had absolutely no problem, She's extremely audacious. But she's an artistic presence and we were looking for names", he said.

Paul Verhoeven's first French-language film.

Before the production began, Paul Verhoeven went to a Dutch language institute to learn French, in order to better communicate with the cast and crew. He said it was simply necessary, because according to tradition, making a French movie should be done with an all-French crew. He initially spoke English with them, but this didn't work efficiently. Fortunately, Verhoeven had once been to a French school in his youth, so he picked up the language quickly.

Based on the novel "Oh..." by Philippe Djian.

Film 940: Basic Instinct

Trivia: Writer Joe Eszterhas and producer Irwin Winkler walked off the picture after failing to reach agreement with director Paul Verhoeven over the script. Verhoeven promptly hired Total Recall writer Gary Goldman to come up with some new scenes, most of which beefed up Michael Douglas's character and made him less wimpy. These changes were largely made at the behest of Douglas. It was during this later stage that Verhoeven realized his changes weren't going to work, so he publicly acknowledged his error and made up with Eszterhas (which Eszterhas admitted to be a rare thing in Hollywood). Problems reoccurred later when the script had been leaked, and the gay and lesbian communities had serious reservations about the depiction of lesbian and bisexual characters. Eszterhas wanted to make more changes to appease them, but Verhoeven point blank refused to incorporate these changes. Eszterhas again publicly distanced himself from the production, but once again reconciled with Verhoeven when the finished movie was praised by critics and homosexual communities alike.

Writer Joe Eszterhas was paid a then-unheard-of sum of $3 million for his script.

The first film of Jeanne Tripplehorn.

50 San Francisco Police Department riot police had to be present at every location every day to deal with picketing gay and lesbian activists.

So choreographed were the sex scenes that Sharon Stone referred to herself and Michael Douglas as "the horizontal Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers of the '90s".

According to Sharon Stone, director Paul Verhoeven asked her to remove her underwear for the leg-crossing scene, as he said they were too bright and reflected at the camera. Stone agreed to do so under the assumption that her genitals weren't visible. It was only at an early preview that Stone discovered Verhoeven chose to use this specific shot. Stone was mainly cross with Verhoeven for not discussing the matter with her beforehand, but decided to let the scene go without changes, as she felt this conformed with her movie character. However, Verhoeven's version of the conflict is that he told Stone beforehand about the leg-crossing shot, as it was important for showing Catherine Tramell's free-spirited nature and her constant drive to toy with people. Stone was reportedly excited about the idea and shot the scene. However, during the early preview, her agents supposedly disproved of the scene, fearing it would harm her future career. According to Verhoeven, Stone radically changed her mind about the shot and demanded that he remove it, which he ultimately refused.

Joe Eszterhas wrote the script in ten days while listening to The Rolling Stones non-stop. He then sold it three days later at auction.

Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone had to wear genital pads during the sex scenes due to the AIDS epidemic in the early 1990s.

No body doubles were used in any of the sex scenes.

Sharon Stone's infamous leg-uncrossing scene was not in Joe Eszterhas' original script; it was thought up by Paul Verhoeven while the movie was being shot. The shot was based on a memory of Verhoeven's college years, when a lady at a party had done the exact same thing to embarrass him.

According to a poll for movie subscription service LoveFilm, Sharon Stone's infamous leg-crossing scene has been named the most-paused "blink-and-you'll-miss-it" moment in movies.

Michael Douglas had a clause in his contract that meant he would never be shown full frontal in the movie.

Sharon Stone was only offered the role of Catherine after thirteen actresses had turned it down.

The movie completely ignored DNA, which had been used in criminal investigations since the mid-1980s. The film was set in the year of its release (1992), by which time DNA was constantly being used for crime investigations.

In 2002 screenwriter Joe Eszterhas apologized in an op-ed for The New York Times for glamorizing smoking in this movie. Eszterhas was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2000, as was Michael Douglas in 2010.

The main sex scene with Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone took five days to film.

Sharon Stone was seriously considering giving up acting to study law at the time she was offered the role of Catherine Tramell.