Kuato: What do you want, Mr. Quaid?
Douglas Quaid: The same as you, to remember.
Kuato: But why?
Douglas Quaid: To be myself again.
Kuato: You are what you do. A man is defined by his actions, not his memory.
The Arnold Schwarzenegger thriller TOTAL RECALL explodes onto the screen with extravagant action, eye-popping special effects, spectacular sets, and gallons and gallons and gallons of blood. The film is literally an assault on the senses, and yet, it is much more than a mere roller coaster ride. TOTAL RECALL is also an intriguing mystery, a throwback to the film noir tradition where nothing is as it appears.
TOTAL RECALL asks the eternal question: is it live or is it Memorex? The movie is set in the year 2084; Mankind has developed "recall," a technology for implanting memories into a person's brain. For example, if you can't afford a vacation to Saturn, you can get the next best thing: the MEMORY of a vacation to Saturn. In the film, Schwarzenegger plays a construction worker who is haunted by nightmares about Mars, which in the 21st century is a politically unstable mining colony. Schwarzenegger has never been to Mars so he wonders where these nightmares are coming from: are they just dreams or are they partially erased memories bubbling into his subconscious? He travels to Mars to unravel the mystery.
Like ALIENS, DIE HARD, and THE TERMINATOR, TOTAL RECALL rarely surfaces for air once it plunges into the action. ROBOCOP director Paul Verhoeven has achieved the ultimate in wham-bam, rock 'em-sock 'em, rip-roaring movie-making. TOTAL RECALL is a violent and gory tour de force, a virtual bloodbath with stomach turning makeup and special effects. Fortunately, the film has a captivating story line which offsets the gratuitous gore. The elaborate and intricate plot is full of double crosses, triple crosses, and even quadruple crosses, with mind games galore.
In the tradition of BLADE RUNNER and BRAZIL, TOTAL RECALL offers a vivid vision of the future. Verhoeven creates an entire society on Mars, complete with a sleazy red-light district. The ornate sets reflect both a fertile imagination and a loving eye for detail.
As for the acting, Schwarzenegger is in his element, reaffirming his status as today's premier action hero. The rest of the cast, on the other hand, is somewhat pedestrian, except for Sharon Stone who makes for a deliciously bitchy villain. Unfortunately, TOTAL RECALL veers out of control at the end, providing science fiction which is heavy on fiction and light on science.
When all is said and done, however, TOTAL RECALL sets a new standard for action which should be difficult, if not impossible, to beat.
By : Randy Parker
Source: rec.art.movies.reviews newsgroup
Rating: 5
Carolco pictures and Dutch director Paul Verhoeven (ROBOCOP) came together to create the 1990 mega hit that is TOTAL RECALL. The film is a masterpiece of sets, action, and special effects. Action and science fiction just don't get any better than this!
The story involves a construction worker named Douglas Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger) who lives on Earth with his beautiful wife Lori (Sharon Stone). Quaid is obsessed with Mars and decides to go with the second best choice; a brain implant (fake memory) of a two week vacation on Mars. While being implanted a memory cap is triggered and the doctors realize that Quaid's memory has previously been erased. Now the people who did it are after him. Quaid must find out who he really is and why these people want him dead. The plot unfolds at a rapid pace explaining itself through great action, special effects, and twist after mind-boggling twist. It grabs you and never lets go!
This film is a winner from beginning to end. The plot is superb; combining the best elements of science fiction and psychological mystery to create a rip-roaring saga. Schwarzenegger gives his best performance ever, and the supporting cast is good too. The action and stunts are terrific. The sets are huge and elaborate with a lot of attention payed to detail. The music and sound effects are perfect for the film and really add a certain level of impact to the action. The make-up effects by Rob Bottin (THE HOWLING, THE THING, and ROBOCOP) are top notch, not to mention extremely outlandish. The visual effects by Dream Quest (THE ABYSS) and Industrial Light and Magic (STAR WARS TRILOGY, JURASSIC PARK, and TERMINATOR 2) are phenomenal! The visuals had such a state of the art "slickness" that they won an Oscar. Of course the film isn't always realistic; it's more fiction than science. For example, it is true that a body won't explode in the vacuum of space but in TOTAL RECALL they do. Who cares? It's a movie. Movies are supposed to entertain. And in my opinion this film achieves an entertainment level in film that is so terrific, it may be impossible to beat.
