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?
A fearless, globe-trotting, terrorist-battling secret agent has his life turned upside down when he discovers his wife might be having an affair with a used car salesman while terrorists smuggle nuclear war heads into the United States.
Director:
James Cameron
Stars:
Arnold Schwarzenegger,
Jamie Lee Curtis,
Tom Arnold
Amidst a territorial gang war in 1997, a sophisticated alien hunter stalks the citizens of Los Angeles and the only man between him and his prey is veteran L.A.P.D. officer, Lieutenant Mike Harrigan.
A young boy, Conan, becomes a slave after his parents are killed and tribe destroyed by a savage warlord and sorcerer, Thulsa Doom. When he grows up he becomes a fearless, invincible fighter. Set free, he plots revenge against Thulsa Doom.
Director:
John Milius
Stars:
Arnold Schwarzenegger,
James Earl Jones,
Max von Sydow
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.Written by
Harald Mayr <marvin@bike.augusta.de>
Regardless of whether people believe the movie as a whole is a dream or reality, according to Paul Verhoeven, the first 20 minutes or so of the movie (from the beginning up until the point where Quaid first undergoes the implantation of his Rekall "vacation") is all reality. See more »
Goofs
When Quaid is removing his woman mask, a part from the ear extends that goes in way too deep for his actual head to not be in the way. See more »
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.
See more »
The Swedish version is also cut, although not as heavily as the above mentioned. Edited are the scenes of Quaid using the innocent bystander as a shield in the subway fight and the first fight after Quaid has been to Rekall. Benny's death has been cut to avoid graphic violence. See more »
In 2020, Douglas feels he needs a break from the day to day life and goes to Total Recall where memories are planted in your head to make you think you are someone else for a while a holiday in your head if you will. However before he can be injected he begins to have flashbacks and suddenly finds that people are trying to kill him and that somehow he must get to Mars to uncover the reasons. However what is truth and what is fake and is the whole thing really happening or not?
Based on a Phillip K. Dick story this was always going to be intelligent however it's surprising that Verhoeven manages to keep that core well. The plot allows his excessive violence but is also a great story that more than holds the interest with twists and turns and neither Douglas or us fully knowing what's going on. The action is great even 10 or so years on, and the tension just stays solid throughout.
Schwarzenegger does his usual invincible muscles stuff and looks happy blasting crowds, but he is also OK in other areas too. Tictin is good but never repeated this success for herself. The baddies (or maybe not?) are the best roles solid baddies like Ironside and Cox are just as good as they were in other similar roles and Sharon Stone is good as Douglas' wife.
Overall this continues Verhoeven's trend of making ultra-violence and clever plots and satire work well together (Robocop, Starship Troopers and this) as opposed to his trend of making trash! Everything about this film works well whether it be the action or the acting or the plot a surprisingly nice package for a violent action movie!
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In 2020, Douglas feels he needs a break from the day to day life and goes to Total Recall where memories are planted in your head to make you think you are someone else for a while a holiday in your head if you will. However before he can be injected he begins to have flashbacks and suddenly finds that people are trying to kill him and that somehow he must get to Mars to uncover the reasons. However what is truth and what is fake and is the whole thing really happening or not?
Based on a Phillip K. Dick story this was always going to be intelligent however it's surprising that Verhoeven manages to keep that core well. The plot allows his excessive violence but is also a great story that more than holds the interest with twists and turns and neither Douglas or us fully knowing what's going on. The action is great even 10 or so years on, and the tension just stays solid throughout.
Schwarzenegger does his usual invincible muscles stuff and looks happy blasting crowds, but he is also OK in other areas too. Tictin is good but never repeated this success for herself. The baddies (or maybe not?) are the best roles solid baddies like Ironside and Cox are just as good as they were in other similar roles and Sharon Stone is good as Douglas' wife.
Overall this continues Verhoeven's trend of making ultra-violence and clever plots and satire work well together (Robocop, Starship Troopers and this) as opposed to his trend of making trash! Everything about this film works well whether it be the action or the acting or the plot a surprisingly nice package for a violent action movie!