Synopsis
Construction worker Douglas Quaid's obsession with the planet Mars leads him to visit Recall, a company who manufacture memories. Something goes wrong during his memory implant turning Doug's life upside down and even to question what is reality and what isn't.
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Cast
- Arnold SchwarzeneggerDouglas Quaid / Hauser
- Rachel TicotinMelina
- Sharon StoneLori Quaid
- Ronny CoxVilos Cohaagen
- Michael IronsideRichter
- Marshall BellGeorge / Kuato
- Mel Johnson Jr.Benny
- Michael ChampionHelm
- Roy BrocksmithDr. Edgemar
- Ray BakerBob McClane
- 88
Chicago Sun-Times
One of the most complex and visually interesting science fiction movies in a long time. - 83
Entertainment Weekly
Starts out as mind-bending futuristic satire and then turns relentless -- it becomes a violent, postpunk version of an Indiana Jones cliff-hanger. - 80
Chicago Reader
A worthy entry in the dystopian cycle of SF movies launched by "Blade Runner" (including "The Terminator" and "Robocop"), this seems less derivative than most of its predecessors yet equally accomplished in its straight-ahead storytelling, with plenty of provocative satiric undertones and scenic details. - 75
San Francisco Chronicle
A first-rate action movie, slickly done and with so many imaginative bonuses that, for a time, it feels like a classic in the making. It's not, but it's still solid and entertaining [1 June 1990] - 75
USA Today
Both female roles are unexpectedly meaty, so much so that the film loses something once the far more lively Stone is dispatched. Hour one (more satirical) is better all around, though the falloff isn't fatal. [1 June 1990, Life, p.2D] - 63
Chicago Tribune
From first to last frame, Total Recall is in your face. Its rather elegant little science-fiction story is as suffocated as the Martians are. The director has violated his own movie, going so far over the top he's still out there-weightless. [1 June 1990, Friday, p.C] - 50
Christian Science Monitor
The plot, based on a Phillip K. Dick story, is ingenious; and Arnold Schwarzenegger brings an effective blend of machismo and innocence to his role. Too bad director Paul Verhoeven lets brainless violence and tricky special effects swamp the cleverness of the tale itself. [22 June 1990, Arts, p.10] - 40
Washington Post
Actually, any fun you might encounter in Recall can be traced, most often, to director Verhoeven, who injects some of his "Robocop" camp into this mega-dumb project.