Total Recall

Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sharon Stone, Michael Ironside
Directed by: Paul Verhoeven
Rating: R
Genre: Science Fiction, Action
1990

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A regular working man (Arnold Schwarzenegger) realizes his entire life has been fabricated and all his memories are fake. He is then swept up in a global conspiracy and finds himself on Mars, trying to uncover the truth about his past.

Review:

Tim: This is a surprisingly intelligent and exciting futuristic sci-fi action thriller. The film succeeds because it completely screws with our minds. There are several scenes that make you question everything you've seen thus far in the film. There are the most interesting parts of the film. The futuristic technology plays a big part in the movie, too.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is suprisingly good. This ranks near his better performances. He scales back from the ultimate action hero to play a regular guy (albeit with huge muscles and the ability to kill many people) caught up in something he can't fully understand. He still manages a few trademark one-liners, though.

Sharon Stone is uninspiring and totally forgettable. Michael Ironside plays the bad guy well as always.

This is a very well made film. It actually contains some deep questions into the advance of technology- what would it be like to have fake memories put into your head? The questions regarding the mind are the most fascinating to see unfold amidst action-packed surroundings. This is due to its source material, of course, but provides a solid framework for the movie.

Total Recall does have its flaws- the plot is a bit too ridiculous and ends in absurd fashion- interesting visually, but absurd nonetheless.

For a Schwarzenegger film, this is very intelligent and will surprise you in more ways than one. Do not overlook this movie.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Impostor; I, Robot; Predator, The Terminator