Review of Total Recall (1990) by Jason H — 12 Jun 2014

Not as good as '87's ROBOCOP, but Paul Verhoeven's second big-budget pulp picture is still a decent sci-fi trip. TOTAL RECALL, based on a Philip K. Dick story, is about delusions, 'just a dream' mind confusions, and Schwarzenegger on Mars. Average guy Douglas Quaid is a construction worker in the near future who's intrigued one day by Rekall, where a past can be served up to you in manufactured memories. From this premise, a whole conspiracy unfolds involving a secret life he may have had on Mars, his wife Lori, and a tyrant named Cohaagen.

Verhoeven's style definitely has some faults here... Ponderous sci-fi "transcendence" -- eg., caught in the full-body Xray machine with a gun (both ends inescapably blocked) Quaid decides to jump _through_ the screen to escape! Overdone gore (eg., ruby-red blood) or overdone profanity (eg., "'No shit?'/'Don't fuck with your mind, man'."). Some wooden dialogue -- eg., a Mars fortune-teller asking "Would you like to see into the future?" and Quaid responding with a wink and smile "What about the past?", or the sickly-sweet romantic end of "'What if this is all a dream...?'/'Well, kiss me quick before I wake up'.".

Or even, throughout, Schwarzenegger's mawkish, plastic, B-movie crap -- "Nice knowing you!" he says to his fake wife after punching her out and before running out of the room. Nothing horrible, but not much great.