Honestly, I forgot how fun this stupid movie is. For those that don’t know, Total Recall is a 1990 science fiction film, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as Quaid, a construction worker who soon finds out that his life is not what it seems. The film also stars Sharon Stone as Quaid’s’ supposed wife, Lori, Rachel Ticotin as Quaid’s real love Melina, and Ronny Cox as the evil Cohaagen, the man whose company has taken over the colonization of Mars, making people pay for his atmosphere in order to live.
This film kicks the hell out of the 2012 remake, solely because in the 1990s film, they actually go to Mars, and it’s just bonkers. (For whatever reason, though, they kept in the three breasted woman in the remake with no explanation about it and it was super weird). I find it hard to believe that anybody could actively hate the 1990 Total Recall. It’s perfectly campy, even if that was never the intention. And, although at one time Arnold Schwarzenegger was viewed as a more serious actor/action star, he’s become a such a caricature of his former self that it just makes his older roles more fun.
I absolutely love science fiction films and the way they world build. This film is no different. It creates a future reality that just feels like a fever dream. I love it so much.
Total Recall is filled with so many cheesy, wonderful one liners that’s it hard to choose a favorite, honestly.
And, of course, we can’t forget the one of the greatest one-liners of all time:
On top of that, there’s some wonderful practical effects, and we all know I’m a sucker for some practical effects.
Sure, if I wanted to I could go into detail about how on the surface the film seems campy, but underneath that is a film about self acceptance and reality vs fantasy, and what really makes “reality” reality, but that just seems like too heavy of a post for these hard times. I don’t want to discuss Total Recall and end up having a complete existential crisis, thank you very much.
Total Recall is currently available to stream on Netflix.