In three of his best known films, RoboCop, Total Recall, and Starship Troopers, Danish director Paul Verhoeven combined futuristic science-fiction action with plenty of gore and abundant moments of black comedy. There's even a hint of social commentary, although that usually arrives in the form of parody.

Total Recall had perhaps the greatest commercial success of the three films. It was a summer blockbuster in 1990, back when Arnold Schwarzenegger was the leading box office draw. Although Schwarzenegger had surprising success with comedy in Twins and Kindergarten Cop, he was better cast as a burly, wise-cracking lead in action films.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) would make even more money, but Total Recall may have been the peak of Schwarzenegger's career, because he did not have to share the spotlight with Linda Hamilton.

Total Recall also did wonders for Sharon Stone's career. Long cast as a secondary sex kitten (King Solomon's Mines, Action Jackson), her beauty and ferocious attitude in a major supporting role paved the way for her star-making role in Verhoeven's next project, Basic Instinct.

The plot of Total Recall has Quaid (Schwarzenegger) as a construction worker wed to Lori (Stone). Quaid develops a fascination with Mars, and soon believes he has an important mission to fulfill there. In Hitchcockian 'Wrong Man' fashion, bad guys try to kill him, led by bad-humored Richter (Michael Ironside) and corporate despot Cohaagen (Ronny Cox).

As a work of science fiction, Total Recall is easy to pick apart. A nuclear reactor creates oxygen by melting ice, but what happens to the massive quantities of explosive Hydrogen gas that would also be created? And why would the core of a planet be made of ice, when we know that to be its hottest part? If this core was removed, wouldn't it result in devastating marsquakes? And since Mars isn't a big enough planet to retain an oxygen atmosphere, wouldn't it be wasteful to pump all that gas essentially directly into space?

Other parts of the story don't hold up, either. In one scene, Quaid uses a dead body as if it were a bulletproof shield. But bullets from a semi-automatic weapon will pass through a body. Quaid might just as well be holding up a shower curtain.

Of course, Total Recall is a cynical action film, and not a documentary. The only plausible explanation for the plot is that it is all just a dream, and Quaid remains in the Recall laboratory on Earth. This would help explain why Lori keeps trying to fool Quaid, while Richter keeps trying to kill him, and Cohaagen wishes to use him as a spy. They're at completely cross purposes, yet are supposedly working together.

Dream or not, the movie is definitely a guilty pleasure. Stone and Ironside are particularly effective, as they relish their exaggerated roles. On the other hand, 'demure' Melina (Rachel Ticotin) is dull in comparison.

One of the most entertaining moments in RoboCop featured a high-tech robot that couldn't navigate stairs. Total Recall has a similar exercise of technology's limitations, in the form of Johnny Cab. A robot cab driver, his programming is so limited that he can't service his most desperate customer, Quaid. As a comic film character, Johnny Cab is top notch, and much more fun than his human counterpart, the con artist cabbie Benny (Mel Johnson Jr.).

Total Recall received good reviews despite an incredulous ending, and even won an Academy Award for "Special Achievement in Visual Effects." It was also nominated for its sound and sound effects. (54/100)

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Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older