TOTAL RECALL (1990) MOVIE NEWS & REVIEW

total recall(1990) movie

Genre              |   Science Fiction

Classification   |   MA 15+ 

Running time   |   113 minutes

Released         |   1 June 1990 

cast

Arnold Schwarzenegger ... Quaid
Rachel Ticotin ... Melina
Sharon Stone ... Lori
Ronny Cox ... Cohaagen
Michael Ironside ... Richter
Marshall Bell ... George / Kuato
Mel Johnson Jr. ... Benny
Michael Champion ... Helm
Roy Brocksmith ... Dr. Edgemar
Dean Norris ... Tony
Debbie Lee Carrington ... Thumbelina
​Marc Alaimo ... Everett

director

Paul Verhoeven

writer

Philip K. Dick ... (short story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale") (as Phillip K. Dick) (inspiration)
 
Ronald Shusett ... (screen story) &
Dan O'Bannon ... (screen story) and
Jon Povill ... (screen story)
 
Ronald Shusett ... (screenplay) &
Dan O'Bannon ... (screenplay) and
Gary Goldman ... (screenplay)

cinematographer

​Jost Vacano

music

Jerry Goldsmith

film editor

​Carlos Puente
Frank J. Urioste

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box office result

Worldwide             $​​​​​​​​​261,317,921

Australia                 $​​​​​ not available

North America       $​​​​​​​​​​119,412,921

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movie minutiae

Although never mentioned in the film, the cover of the VHS edition mentions that it takes place in 2084 AD. This has also been confirmed by Paul Verhoeven; he mentioned BLADE RUNNER (1982) as an example of a movie with a far too advanced depiction of the future for the time period it is supposed to take place in (which was 2019). He wanted to avoid that for Total Recall by situating it much further into the future.

​When filming the fight scene between Lori and Melina, director Paul Verhoeven asked second unit director Vic Armstrong to choreograph the fight not as a "cat fight" but more like a martial arts fight, to give the feel of two "warriors" fighting each other and not simply two women. Verhoeven remarks in the DVD commentary that this is probably the first time in a feature film where we see two women fighting each other normally, as opposed to a cat fight.

​Regardless of whether people believe the movie as a whole is a dream or reality, according to Paul Verhoeven, the first 20 minutes or so of the movie (from the beginning up until the point where Quaid first undergoes the implantation of his Rekall "vacation") is all reality.

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related movies

TOTAL RECALL (2012)

TOTAL RECALL (1990) MOVIE IMAGES

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TOTAL RECALL (1990) STORY SYNOPSIS

​Douglas Quaid tries to find the reason behind his recurring dream about Mars. He soon learns that a false memory has been planted into his brain and the people responsible for this want him dead.

TOTAL RECALL (1990) MOVIE REVIEW

Reviewed by Mark Geraghty   |   Review date 1 June 2015

​​Pop Movee Rating

Philip K. Dick’s novels have had more misses than hits in terms of film adaptations, as the source material can be difficult to interpret. Dick’s own psychological challenges (his ongoing battle with schizophrenia until his death in 1982) were reflected in his writing and the concept of fractured reality appeared frequently as a key plot device. The 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger project TOTAL RECALL was based on Dick’s short story “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale” and used fractured reality to great effect.

Dutch Director Paul Verhoeven brought the film to life after a tortured development process, adding the violent aesthetic that had impressed movie-goers with his 1987 science fiction feature ROBOCOP. The result is a big-budget, brash, violent action film that has dashes of sly humour and intrigue thrown into the mix to give the viewer a 113 minute thrill ride that belies its title.

The script for TOTAL RECALL had been kicking around Hollywood studios for a number of years with different actors and directors attached to the project. Ron Shusett and Dan O’Bannon, who were credited with the original ALIEN (1979), had written the screenplay based on Dick’s short story, but only Shusett remained with the project long-term.

Dino DeLaurentis held the rights for many years and attempted a version with David Cronenberg at the helm, but the movie moguls bankruptcy allowed the rights to be picked up by the fledgling Coralco Pictures at Arnold Schwarzenegger’s urging.

By late 1988, Schwarzenegger had the ability to get a film green-lit on his say-so and he took a very active role in the production process. On TOTAL RECALL, it has been reported that he was responsible for hand-picking Verhoeven to direct the film, such was his ascension to something beyond being just an actor. The single-mindedness that had served Arnold so well as a body-builder, fitness promoter and real estate investor were being applied in the same fashion to building his career as an international entertainment superstar.

TOTAL RECALL opens with Schwarzenegger working as Doug Quaid, an Earth-bound construction worker in the near future. Quaid harbours a desire to take a break from himself and take a “vacation” at the Rekall Company, where clients can have a fictional memory implanted into their mind, where among other things they can take on the role of a Secret Agent involved in a government conspiracy on Mars!

Quaid mentions that is toying with the idea of going to Rekall, but he’s quickly rebuffed and told by his colleague that he’s heard of people having their brain’s fried by the memory implant process. In this moment, the duality of TOTAL RECALL opens up, allowing the viewer to go one of two directions; either everything that happens from this point is real from Quaid’s point-of-view or it’s just a dream. Quaid’s colleague Harry (Robert Costanzo) provides a clue with the “look” that he gives as Quaid leaves after he tells him that Rekall is a bad idea. Harry is an obvious plant at Quaid’s construction company, whose job it is to make sure that Quaid (without becoming aware of the situation) does exactly what he’s meant to do - live the life of a construction worker.

Of course, Quaid doesn’t take Harry’s advice and decides to go to Rekall for the memory implant holiday procedure and, after some consideration, decides to take up the Secret Agent story.

Another red herring is thrown to the viewer during this sequence, as the Doctor in charge of the procedure throws a number of things into the conversation with Quaid that become important plot points later in the film. These kinds of details came about from the work that Gary Goldman, Verhoeven’s script doctor on the film, included to help create an element of doubt in the authenticity of Quaid’s emergence as a brain-washed Secret Agent in the film’s second and third Acts.

As anticipated, Quaid’s decision to go to Rekall ends in disaster as he tears the place apart when the technicians at the facility discover that he already has a memory implant. Escaping from Rekall, Quaid is confronted by Harry. Suddenly, Quaid is attacked by a group of unknown assailants. Quaid, unleashing swift and decisive moves, kills the men but is stunned by what he has done. He flees to his apartment but is also attacked by his wife Lori (Sharon Stone). Quaid overpowers Lori and she reveals that they’re not married. Her job has been to keep an eye on him and report back to her superiors. Realising that she’s now delaying him until back-up arrives, Quaid knocks her out cold and escapes his former domestic refuge!

TOTAL RECALL is not generally regarded as a “clever” story; it garnered more attention for its big set-pieces and over-the-top Verhoeven-induced violence than a screenplay that mined the depths of Philip K. Dick’s source material and the author’s own psychotic breaks from reality.

Without realising it, the viewer is subjected to the film’s own interpretation of fractured reality. Much like Harry’s “look” at Quaid, the story casts the seed of doubt at successive points where they are required to make a decision about the authenticity of Quaid’s adventure.

The script toys with the audience and delights in doing so. At one point, after Quaid’s arrival on Mars, he claims that his female partner Melina (Rachel Ticotin) is real because he dreamed about her before he went to Rekall! Roy Brocksmith’s Dr.Edgemar challenges Quaid to listen to his claims and scoffs at him, but does himself  no favours when he breaks a bead of sweat on his forehead. Sensing a lie, Quaid summarily executes Edgemar, but no one’s any the wiser about reality. If Edgemar was a plant he deserves to die because he’s working for the bad guys, but if everything is taking place in Doug’s head then he’s just killed an innocent man who was just a figment of his imagination.anyway!

Outside of Schwarzenegger and Ticotin, just about everyone else in TOTAL RECALL is a villain. At the top of the tree is veteran character actor Ronny Cox, whose Vilos Cohaagen is an extension of Dick Jones, the corporate douche-bag he played for Verhoeven in the 1987 ROBOCOP. Cox really gets to chew the scenery in TOTAL RECALL and will be fondly remembered spouting lines about Corn Flakes and being dressed like he’d just mugged Talking Heads lead singer David Byrne after The Stop Making Sense concert tour.

Not far behind is Michael Ironside as Richter, the Not-Thinking Man’s henchman. Ironside and his sidekick (Michael Champion) tool around from one scene to the next leaving a trail of mayhem behind them and, at one point, even earning their boss’s wrath about how much destruction they’ve caused.

Sharon Stone is no slouch in the villain stakes either. She does a great job as Lori and literally throws herself into the role, dealing out round-house kicks and martial arts punches in spades as she takes Arnold on all on her own. Mel Johnson Jr. as Benny is the only let-down in the villain stakes. Out of all the ham served up throughout the movie, Johnson takes it a bridge too far with his duplicitous character who wins over Quaid and Melina, only to be betrayed by him just as quickly.

Technically, TOTAL RECALL is a stunning achievement for its time. The film features a huge array of effects, some done physically on-set and others achieved in the post-production process. TOTAL RECALL featured an early computer-generated effect sequence; the scene in which people are being scanned through the 3-D X-ray tube. The majority of visual effects are achieved through the more traditional process of the time and the film was one of the last to feature the large-scale use of miniature model-making.

Paul Verhoeven’s direction is excellent and he manages to tease out one of Schwarzenegger’s best performances and, outside of THE TERMINATOR (1984), TERMINATOR 2 (1991) and PREDATOR (1987), TOTAL RECALL is regarded by critics and fans as his next best film. TOTAL RECALL is rated a 7.5 by over 220,000 IMDB users and is the best performing movie based on a Philip K. Dick story when ticket prices are adjusted for inflation.

TOTAL RECALL is a great action film, but it also holds more for the viewer who wants to think a little bit harder about the twists and turns of the story. Paul Verhoeven summed up the approach viewers can take when he posed the questions, “Is it the reality of a dream, or is it the reality of someone who has a dream but comes out of the dream?”

TOTAL RECALL (1990) USEFUL LINKS

Total Recall (1990 film) - Wikipedia
​Total Recall (1990) - IMDb
​Total Recall (1990) - Rotten Tomatoes​

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