Other Titles • Total Recall - Die totale Erinnerung (1990)
Synopses for Total Recall (1990)
1.
Total Recall, director Paul Verhoeven's mega-budget sci-fi action blockbuster from 1990, began its production life as a very different movie. An adaptation of the Philip K. Dick short story "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale", it was originally conceived of with Richard Dreyfuss starring as a Walter-Mitty-like character who experiences a variety of artificially induced fantasies. But with Arnold Schwarzenegger on board, the final version took a rather different direction. The Austrian Oak plays a normal working man who discovers his entire reality has been invented to conceal a scheme for planetary domination on Mars. Oscar-winning special effects and violent action propel the twisting plot, in which Arnold manipulates his manipulators in a world of dazzling high technology. Verhoeven (Robocop, Starship Troopers) indulges his usual penchant for gratuitous bloodshed, but the movie has enough cleverness to rise above its excesses. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
On the DVD: Not many extras, but excellent picture and sound. The reds of Mars are a terrific way of testing your television's colour definition in this digital transfer. Combine that with testing your speakers in the opening scene to Jerry Goldsmith's pounding score boosted to Dolby 5.1, and what an ideal home cinema demo disc this is! Two trailers show the way a film should and shouldn't be advertised, since the teaser gives nothing away but the main advert tells you everything. A seven-minute behind the scenes featurette with cast interviews and on-set action rounds out the extras package. --Paul Tonks
(46 votes)
2.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is perfectly cast as Quaid, a 2084 construction worker haunted by dreams of Mars in this crowd-pleasing science fiction spectacle. Against the wishes of his sexy blonde wife (Sharon Stone), Quaid goes to Rekall, a company that implants artificial memories, so he can "remember" visiting the red planet that is now being settled by human inhabitants. However, Quaid is actually an amnesiac secret agent from Mars--or is he? Enemy agents led by a thug named Richter (Michael Ironside) start trying to kill him before Quaid remembers anything more. Bullets and bone-crunching mayhem follow in large doses as Quaid heads to Mars to deal with mutants, ancient alien races, and Cohagen (Ronny Cox), a greedy capitalist controlling the colonists' air supply, in an effort to remember his real identity. TOTAL RECALL is based on the story "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" by Philip K. Dick and was a big box-office hit, helping to firmly establish director Paul Verhoeven as a specialist in darkly satiric, blood-drenched genre films. His next stop: BASIC INSTINCT, also with Stone.
(46 votes)
3.
Get ready for the ride of your life.
Arnold Schwarzenegger explodes out of the year 2084 A.D. with gut chrunching, white knuckle, non-stop action, as he smashes his way through a horrifyingly real fantasy world, complete with a gorgeous but deadly wife (Sharon Stone), and into a mind-bending, nightmarish reality of a Martian mining colony ruled over by a terrorizing dictator (Ronny Cox), who can alter reality to suit his whims. The red planet erupts with rebellious mutants, the fire of an alluring and mysterious woman (Rachel Ticotin) and a vicious and savage enemy. In this film, directed by Paul Verhoeven ("Robocop"), with special effects by Dream Quest (Academy Award for "The Abyss"), it's total war, total action, total Schwarzenegger... TOTAL RECALL.
(43 votes)
4.
This science fiction blockbuster from 1990 began its production life as a very different movie than the one that was released. An adaptation of the Philip K. Dick short story "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale," Total Recall was originally conceived of with Richard Dreyfuss starring as a Walter Mitty-like character who experiences a variety of artificially induced fantasies. The movie we know is a mega-budget action epic set on Mars. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a normal working man who discovers that his entire reality has been invented to conceal a plot of planetary domination. Oscar-winning special effects and violent action propel the twisting plot, in which Arnold manipulates his manipulators in a world of dazzling high technology. Director Paul Verhoeven (Robocop) indulges his usual penchant for gratuitous bloodshed, but the movie has enough cleverness to rise above its excesses. --Jeff Shannon
(41 votes)
5.
Get ready for the ride of your life!
This Special Edition DVD allows you to experience Total Recall the way it was meant to be seen and heard. 16:9 newly remastered widescreen version will immerse you in the action.5.1 newly remastered Dolby Surround with Nearfield Audio mix delivers optimum home theater audio performance.
Arnold Schwarzenegger provides a rare audio commentary along with Director Paul Verhoeven.
Imagining Total Recall, a documentary created for this special edition, takes you behind the scenes with the film's stars and special effects wizards showing you why it won the Academy Award's Special Achievement Award for Visual Effects.
Rekall's Virtual Vacations will transport you from the deserts of Mars to tropical destinations, allowing for hours of relaxing mini getaways.
(40 votes)
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