Reviewed by Will

Synopsis: It's the year 2084, and humanity has reached out to new worlds! New worlds mean new economies, new governments, and new greed.
Welcome to Mars, an exotic locale frequented by tourists, terrorists and secret Martian artifacts.

Mars is the only source of Turbinium; an ore crucial to the Civil War that rages back on  Earth. The terrorists, led by psychic mutants, fight against Mars' oxygen-selling ruler, Vilas Cohaagen.

But what does any of this have to do with Douglas Quaid, a construction worker from Earth? Maybe everything, or maybe nothing.

Total Recall is a perfect example of classic, plot-driven sci-fi. There aren't a ton of special effects, in fact there are very few.

What sets this movie apart is the story, with so many plot twists and turns, some of which
aren't apparent at first. Inspired by Phillip K. Dick's story Can We Remember It For You Wholesale?, the audience finds itself questioning whether the events surrounding Douglas Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenneger) are real or just in his mind.

Director Paul Verhoeven does a brilliant job blurring the reality of Douglas Quaid's existence. Visiting REKALL, a travel agency where customers simply buy memory implants of great vacations, Douglas Quaid buys a memory of a trip to Mars — and opts for the "secret agent" value package.

After that he spends most of the movie on the run from Cohaagen's jack-booted thugs. Turns out he really was a secret agent, who had his memory erased!

About halfway into the movie when the audience is fairly certain that Douglas Quaid is a secret agent, the plot takes a sharp turn.

Dr. Edgemar from REKALL arrives! He informs Doug that his memory implant has been botched, and that he has been sent into his dream to pull him back to reality.

At this point the movie takes everything you thought you knew and throws it in the blender and hits frapay! Soon after you are rewarded with a grrrreat cat fight bewteen Rachel Ticotin and Sharon Stone — MEOW!

The remainder of the movie is pretty straight forward, evil is thwarted and the innocent are victorious but the beauty of this film is the last scene! Standing at the top of a red Martian mountain, with the girl of his dreams, it all seems to fit the description of his "secret agent" vacation a little too well.

Quaid (Schwarzenneger) acknowledges this, asking, "I just had a terrible thought. What if this is all just a dream?"

Melina (Ticotin) expresses the movie's central message when she says: "Well then kiss me quick before you wake up!"

Is it really all just a computer dream, or is it real? By this point, it won't matter. You'll have seen just another Schwarzenegger movie that rocks.

P.S. Just be careful on those darn escalators! (Watch the film and you'll know what I mean.)

Rating: 7.0 Nostril Enemas!

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Last updated: June 29, 2000.