Total Recall (1990)

When a man goes for virtual vacation memories of the planet Mars, an unexpected and harrowing series of events forces him to go to the planet for real, or does he?

Director:

Paul Verhoeven

Writers:

Philip K. Dick (short story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale"), Ronald Shusett (screen story),

Stars:

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rachel Ticotin, Sharon Stone

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 7 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Arnold Schwarzenegger	...	Douglas Quaid / Hauser
Rachel Ticotin	...	Melina
Sharon Stone	...	Lori
Ronny Cox	...	Vilos Cohaagen
Michael Ironside	...	Richter
Marshall Bell	...	George / Kuato
Mel Johnson Jr.	...	Benny
Michael Champion	...	Helm
Roy Brocksmith	...	Dr. Edgemar
Ray Baker	...	Bob McClane
Rosemary Dunsmore	...	Dr. Lull
David Knell	...	Ernie
Alexia Robinson	...	Tiffany
Dean Norris	...	Tony
Mark Carlton	...	Bartender

Storyline

Douglas Quaid is haunted by a recurring dream about a journey to Mars. He hopes to find out more about this dream and buys a holiday at Rekall Inc. where they sell implanted memories. But something goes wrong with the memory implantation and he remembers being a secret agent fighting against the evil Mars administrator Cohaagen. Now the story really begins and it's a rollercoaster ride until the massive end of the movie.

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Plot Keywords:

mars | memory | reality | planet | colony | 

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Taglines:

What would you do if someone stole your mind?

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 June 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

El vengador del futuro

Filming Locations:

Valley of Fire State Park - Route 169, Overton, Nevada, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$65,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$5,788 (USA) (10 August 2012)

Gross:

$119,412,921 (USA) (17 August 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Carolco Pictures, Carolco International N.V.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby SR (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Ronald Shusett and Dan O'Bannon first started working on the screenplay for this movie back in the 1970s, they realized that the movie would probably be too expensive and difficult to make (by the standards of special effects and budget at the time). They delayed working on the story and instead worked on an idea O'Bannon had about a space monster terrorizing a spaceship crew. This became Alien.

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Goofs

After the fight at the construction site, Quaid rushes home. When he is turning off the lights, he flicks off individual switches, yet while fighting with Lori, he flicks on one light switch to see who he's fighting, and the room becomes completely lit.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[Doug awakens from a nightmare]
Lori: Doug? Honey, are you all right?
[nods]
Lori: You were dreaming. Doug? Was it about Mars?
[nods]
Lori: [kisses him] Is that better?
Douglas Quaid: Hmm.
Lori: My poor baby. This is getting to be an obsession.

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Crazy Credits

Play the Total Recall video game by Acclaim.

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Connections

Referenced in Fear of the Flesh: The Making of 'The Fly' (2005)

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Soundtracks

"Rubble City"
Written and Performed by Bruno Louchouarn
Produced by Joe La Mont
Published by Lygon St. Music and Barney Sue Music

User Reviews

Action sci-fi at it's best..

Total Recall is without doubt Arnold Schwarzenegger's best movie since The Terminator. Arnold fits perfectly in the role of Doug Quaid (definitely his best acting in a movie to date) the confused construction worker and Ronny Cox provides his usual evil plotting arch bad-guy. The impressive visual effects are worth the movie's $100million price tag, and Paul Verhoeven proved that, as with Robocop and Starship Troopers, sci-fi is where he does his best work.

What does spoil films like these, however, are people who cannot grasp the concept of Science FICTION, and refuse to suspend their belief for 2 hours(a vital part of enjoying these movies). Movies like this don't work without the overplayed violence, cheesy one-liners and stunning effects. Take away any of these elements and you no longer have a sci-fi action movie.

Chill out, check out and enjoy...