Total Recall (1990)

When a man goes for virtual vacation memories of the planet Mars, an unexpected and harrowing series of events forces him to go to the planet for real, or does he?

Director:

Paul Verhoeven

Writers:

Philip K. Dick (short story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale"), Ronald Shusett (screen story),

Stars:

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rachel Ticotin, Sharon Stone

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Arnold Schwarzenegger	...	Douglas Quaid / Hauser
Rachel Ticotin	...	Melina
Sharon Stone	...	Lori
Ronny Cox	...	Vilos Cohaagen
Michael Ironside	...	Richter
Marshall Bell	...	George / Kuato
Mel Johnson Jr.	...	Benny
Michael Champion	...	Helm
Roy Brocksmith	...	Dr. Edgemar
Ray Baker	...	Bob McClane
Rosemary Dunsmore	...	Dr. Lull
David Knell	...	Ernie
Alexia Robinson	...	Tiffany
Dean Norris	...	Tony
Mark Carlton	...	Bartender

Storyline

Douglas Quaid is haunted by a recurring dream about a journey to Mars. He hopes to find out more about this dream and buys a holiday at Rekall Inc. where they sell implanted memories. But something goes wrong with the memory implantation and he remembers being a secret agent fighting against the evil Mars administrator Cohaagen. Now the story really begins and it's a rollercoaster ride until the massive end of the movie.

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Plot Keywords:

mars | memory | reality | colony | planet | 

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Taglines:

Get ready for the ride of your life.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 June 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

El vengador del futuro

Filming Locations:

Valley of Fire State Park - Route 169, Overton, Nevada, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$65,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$5,788 (USA) (10 August 2012)

Gross:

$119,412,921 (USA) (17 August 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Carolco Pictures, Carolco International N.V.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby SR (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Spanish title for this movie is "Desafío Total", which translated to English means "Total challenge". This movie was also released under another Spanish title, "El Vengador del Futuro", which translates to "Future Avenger"

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Goofs

After the fight at the construction site, Quaid rushes home. When he is turning off the lights, he flicks off individual switches, yet while fighting with Lori, he flicks on one light switch to see who he's fighting, and the room becomes completely lit.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[Doug awakens from a nightmare]
Lori: Doug? Honey, are you all right?
[nods]
Lori: You were dreaming. Doug? Was it about Mars?
[nods]
Lori: [kisses him] Is that better?
Douglas Quaid: Hmm.
Lori: My poor baby. This is getting to be an obsession.

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Crazy Credits

Play the Total Recall video game by Acclaim.

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Connections

Featured in Atop the Fourth Wall: Cable #1 (2009)

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Soundtracks

"Rubble City"
Written and Performed by Bruno Louchouarn
Produced by Joe La Mont
Published by Lygon St. Music and Barney Sue Music

User Reviews

One of Arnie's best – an action movie with a very good core plot

In 2020, Douglas feels he needs a break from the day to day life and goes to Total Recall – where memories are planted in your head to make you think you are someone else for a while – a holiday in your head if you will. However before he can be injected he begins to have flashbacks and suddenly finds that people are trying to kill him and that somehow he must get to Mars to uncover the reasons. However what is truth and what is fake and is the whole thing really happening or not?

Based on a Phillip K. Dick story this was always going to be intelligent – however it's surprising that Verhoeven manages to keep that core well. The plot allows his excessive violence but is also a great story that more than holds the interest with twists and turns and neither Douglas or us fully knowing what's going on. The action is great – even 10 or so years on, and the tension just stays solid throughout.

Schwarzenegger does his usual invincible muscles stuff and looks happy blasting crowds, but he is also OK in other areas too. Tictin is good but never repeated this success for herself. The baddies (or maybe not?) are the best roles – solid baddies like Ironside and Cox are just as good as they were in other similar roles and Sharon Stone is good as Douglas' wife.

Overall this continues Verhoeven's trend of making ultra-violence and clever plots and satire work well together (Robocop, Starship Troopers and this) as opposed to his trend of making trash! Everything about this film works well – whether it be the action or the acting or the plot – a surprisingly nice package for a violent action movie!