Sci Fi Top 100, #43: "Total Recall" (1990)

Movie Stats:

Released 1990 (USA)
American, in English
Director - Paul Verhoeven
Stars - Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rachel Ticotin, Michael Ironside, and many others

Plot Summary:
A futuristic tale about average joe Douglas Quaid (Schwarzenegger), whose longing for something more out of life drives him to utilize a service that implants false memories. He quickly finds himself embroiled in a complicated plot involving Mars. Ticotin stars as Melina, the literal woman of Quaid’s dreams, and Ironside as Richter, the man hunting Quaid down.

Warnings:
Extreme violence; extreme gore; lots of blue language; brief female nudity (breasts only); heavily implied sexy times.

Bad Stuff:
It’s pretty cheesy, with lots of typical Schwarzenegger one-liners and some very hammy acting.

I don’t think they consulted any scientists before filming this. Most of it seems like BS.

Good Stuff:
The pacing is nice, fast enough to keep you interested but not so fast that you can’t make sense of what’s happening, and with plenty of action.

I like that it doesn’t play games with the audience. There’s not a lot of, “He’s totally dreaming. OR IS HE?”, like in “Inception.”  (Am I the only one who hated the ending of that movie?) This film is presented in a very straightforward fashion. It’s up to the audience to decide whether or not to take it at face value.

It’s fun.

The Verdict:
I’ve always enjoyed this film. Just a couple of weeks ago, I watched the remake and thought it was significantly inferior. The original has a better plot. Not hard when the remake’s plot is a hot mess, but regardless of that I think this plot is good. It makes sense. This film is a wild romp with plenty of sex, action, and humor. Yes, the science is questionable and the cheese factor is high, but, personally, I think that half the fun of Schwarzenegger movies are his punny one-liners (There’s actually a couple of great compilations of his one-liners on YouTube. Check them out if you need a good chuckle.) I don’t watch his films expecting them to be serious or deep.

I give it 3.75 stars.