Total Recall (1990)
Average Rating: 7.3/10
Reviews Counted: 51
Fresh: 43 | Rotten: 8
Under Paul Verhoeven's frenetic direction, Total Recall is a fast-paced rush of violence, gore, and humor that never slacks.
Average Rating: 6.8/10
Critic Reviews: 10
Fresh: 8 | Rotten: 2
Under Paul Verhoeven's frenetic direction, Total Recall is a fast-paced rush of violence, gore, and humor that never slacks.
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Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 235,139
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Movie Info
In Paul Verhoeven's wild sci-fi action movie Total Recall, Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a 21st-century construction worker who discovers that his entire memory of the past derives from a memory chip implanted in his brain. Schwarzenegger learns that he's actually a secret agent who had become a threat to the government, so those in power planted the chip and invented a domestic lifestyle for him. Once he has realized his true identity, he travels to Mars to piece together the rest of his
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Cast
-
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Doug Quaid -
Rachel Ticotin
Melina -
Sharon Stone
Lori Quaid -
Ronny Cox
Vilas Cohaagen -
Michael Ironside
Richter -
Marshall Bell
George/Kuato -
Mel Johnson Jr
Benny -
Michael Champion
Helm -
Roy Brocksmith
Dr. Edgemar -
Rosemary Dunsmore
Dr. Lull -
Pricilla Allen
Fat Lady -
Marc Alaimo
Everett -
Ray Baker
McClane -
Erika Carlson
Miss Lonelyhearts -
Mark Carlton
Bartender -
Debbie Lee Carrington
Thumbelina -
Erik Cord
Lab Assistant -
Benny Corral
Punk Cabbie -
Robert Costanzo
Harry -
Roger Cudney
Agent -
Gloria Dorson
Woman in Phone Booth -
Ken Gilden
Hotel Clerk -
Ellen Gollas
Martian Wife -
Michael Gregory
Rebel Lieutenant -
Linda Howell
Tennis Pro -
Mickey Jones
Burly Miner -
David Knell
Ernie -
Frank Kopyc
Technician -
Michael LaGuardia
Stevens -
-
-
Paula McClure
Newscaster -
Lycia Naff
Mary -
Dave Nicolson
Scientist -
Dean Norris
Tony -
Robert Picardo
Johnnycab -
Sasha Rionda
Mutant Child -
Alexia Robinson
Tiffany -
Rebecca Ruth
Reporter -
Chuck Sloan
Scientist -
Monica Steuer
Mutant Mother -
Ken Strausbaugh
Immigration Officer -
Milt Tarver
Commercial Announcer -
Bob Tzudiker
Doctor -
-
Parker Whitman
Martian Husband -
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All Critics (51) | Top Critics (10) | Fresh (52) | Rotten (8) | DVD (37)
It's not a masterpiece, but it is a fast-moving thriller, one worth revisiting (and, evidently, remaking).
Total Recall is too much -- but it's too much of a good thing.
The fierce and unrelenting pace, accompanied by a tongue-in-cheek strain of humor in the roughhouse screenplay, keeps the film moving like a juggernaut.
Top CriticA worthy entry in the dystopian cycle launched by Blade Runner, 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.
The future doesn't come any better.
Melding the ever-more-workable Schwarzenegger mystique with a better-than-average science-fiction premise, the director Paul Verhoeven has come up with a vigorous, superviolent interplanetary thriller that packs in wallops with metronomic regularity.
Gives its viewers something to chew on while never neglecting a gruesomely satisfying pay-off.
Paul Verhoeven's sci-fi classic Total Recall holds up very well, even against some of today's sci-fi standards.
A wickedly violent, action-packed old school piece of warped, twist-filled sci-fi and Schwarzenegger cheese. You'll wish you had three hands to hold this one.
Minor Verhoeven, well-above-average Schwarzenegger, and as well-made as any action movie from around the turn of the 1990s you could name.
Total Recall's caricaturing of Schwarzenegger, its flip ribbing at his stocks of action-hero cache, signal the deep, almost atomic level at which its satire functions.
When the leader of the rebels turns out to be Baby Herman from Who Framed Roger Rabbit, it's clear that the satirical bull's-eyes Verhoeven nailed in RoboCop have here been turned into a more benign state of rib-nudging.
Crass, loud, and proud, Total Recall gets a not-very-special special edition (more like an SE DVD where the feature has been remastered in 1080p), but a worthwhile buy for fans, with terrific grain and an even better commentary track.
Verhoeven's version of Philip Dick's story is vigorous, exciting, and inventive sci-fi thriller, combining pulp savviness, ultra-graphic violence, and Oscar-winning special effects.
A symphony of breaking glass, swearing and Uzi fire occasionally interrupted by car chases or flashes of tit, Total Recall seems to have been surgically targetted at a demographic of 14-year-old boys.
It's a blockbuster from another era, when a big idea, rather than a pair of 3D goggles, gave the film its extra dimension.
It's still a guilty pleasure - though the guilt quotient is a bit higher - and that's down to the still-extraordinary presence of the massively gym-built Arnold...
Still a ripsnorting yarn with lashings of sex and violence that hasn't aged a day.
Brilliant but disturbing and violent Schwarzenegger sci-fi.
An absolutely superb sci-fi film and a true modern cornerstone of the genre not seen since the deeper though less entertaining Blade Runner nearly ten years previous.
Not only one of the best films of 1990, it's one of Arnold's finest cinematic accomplishments -- a fireball of a film...still disembowels like a champion.
Total Recall is fine entertainment, complete with breathtaking action sequences and special effects that impress even in these computer-generated times.
Ugly, stupid, loud, offensive, and pointlessly violent.
Audience Reviews for Total Recall
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- Doug Quaid: When you hear the crunch you're there.
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- Doug Quaid: You, you're not you. You're me.
- Doug Quaid: No shit!
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- Doug Quaid: [Quaid points a gun at Dr. Edgemar's head] All right, let's say you're telling the truth and this is all a dream. I could pull this trigger and it won't matter!
-
- Fat Lady: Two weeks...
-
- Vilas Cohaagen: In 30 seconds you'll be dead, and I'll blow this place up and be home in time for Corn Flakes!
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- Doug Quaid: See you at the party, Richter!
Discussion Forum
| Topic | Last Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| Super underrated | 21 days ago | 0 |
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Foreign Titles
- Total Recall (1990) (DE)
- Total Recall (1990) (UK)
Despite a few silly and cheesy moments, this is a wonderful, if violent action thriller that is both entertaining, and rather thought provoking. It really toys with that oft-used concept of blurring the line between what's real and what isn't, and this is one of the few films that actually does it quite well, with enough evidence to support multiple theories, with the true ending of the film dependent upon each viewer's own opinion.
Like many of Verhoeven's American films, it's got a lot of violence, but provides a lot of thought provoking ideas and material, often satirical, as well. It's all presented with some groundbreaking special effects (almost all of them done practically or in camera as opposed to CGI), a terrific score by Jerry Goldsmith, and some decent, if sometimes silly, but still fun performances. And let's not forget about the most memorable thing this film has to offer: a three-breasted mutant prostitute!
Definitely give this one a watch. It's not flawless, but it is remarkably strong, and easily one of both Verhoeven and Schwarzenegger's best films.