Total Recall

Arnie has a few entries in the 1001 Movies book, so they were among the first to be checked out. This particular addition is directed by the fantastic Dutchman Paul Verhoeven, who is well known in Holland for Soldier of Orange, and elsewhere for RoboCop. Verhoeven is also known for his graphic violence and dark sense of humour, and this movie certainly lives up to those expectations.

The year is 2084, and Douglas Quaid (Arnie) is a construction worker who suffers from repetitive dreams of being on Mars. His wife Lori (Sharon Stone) tries to comfort him but to no avail. He discovers ‘Rekall’, a company that uses memory implants to give its customers the experience of a holiday right from their building. These holidays can be anything, so Quaid decides to be a secret agent on Mars. However, while preparations are being made to give him the implant, Quaid suddenly awakes: ‘You’ve blown my cah-ver!’

The staff of Rekall decide that something’s gone wrong, so they make him forget his trip to Rekall, and bundle him on a futuristic cab to go home. However, he is intercepted by one of his co-workers who, rather than help Quaid remember, try to kill him instead. Arnie does what he does best and kills all four men in a trice. Quite brutally too. He falls back into his apartment and explains to Lori just what has happened, but she starts to attack him too. She then explains that he is not who he thinks he is. I’ll leave the plot there I think.

At this point, we’re not even a quarter of the way into the film, and the twists and turns don’t end there. Neither does the brutal violence. Arnie’s acting is suddenly rather credible, and his role in Total Recall is a match made in heaven. Eventually, the action gets its ass to Mars (finally I understand why that’s an Arnie quote), and the special effects, which are well above par for 1990, make the hostile planet very believable. In the Mars Hilton, Arnie is confronted by the man from Rekall, who explains that this is all part of the dream he paid for back on Earth. Arnie doesn’t believe him at first, but he then starts to question what has happened to him. However, a brilliant piece of logic in the form of a bead of sweat helps Arnie make the right decision. The writing of this film is simply excellent.

I could go on and on about how awesome this sci-fi action film is, but I’d rather you saw it yourself. A film with brains as well as brawn, it manages to meld both action and sci-fi without compromising either genre. Simultaneously, Arnie is on top form, shooting guns, pumping muscles and of course, delivering his characteristic one-liners. This might just be one of the best sci-fi action films out there!