Reality and fantasy are equally shitty except in one of them you are important.
Construction worker Douglas Quaid's obsession with the planet Mars leads him to visit Rekall, a virtual vacation company that manufactures memories. When something goes wrong during Quaid's memory implant procedure, his life turns upside down, leading him to question what is reality and what isn't.
Where to watch
1Total Recall is showing in 1 cinema in Los Angeles — next screening Wednesday 29 July at 20:00 at BRAIN DEAD STUDIOS.
Wednesday, 29 July
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Cast & crew
6What people say
There’s a strong argument to be made for TOTAL RECALL as the greatest practical effects movie in history.
For about 10 years Verhoeven was the undefeated God of being hired to turn in a crass piece of studio genre product—in this case, a conspiratorial sci-fi thriller starring an A-list action star—and both deliver on all the well-crafted, gruesomely entertaining memory/identity thriller setpieces (including some of the all-time great squib work, never forget that commuter escalator human shield lol) and smuggle in some genuinely intelligent satirical, subversive ideas. In this case, ones that make you consider who crafts the images we see in our dreams and what they are meant to make us feel and how they can bleed into reality. Like Robocop, this indulges every single sleazy, cartoon American sex-and-violence action fantasy impulse there is; however, here it's with the fascinating goal of not simply making a smirking critique but creating a genuinely tangible, vibrant reality where a lowly construction worker can through sheer force of belief in that fantasy/dream (of shredding bad guys to bloody bits and kissing the girl) ultimately save the planet from corporate privatization, colonial military brutality and environmental destruction. I don't know what else to call a movie where a telepathic mutant fetus gets its brain blown out in vivid detail and yet is ultimately also a moving expression of the desire to live inside a commodified pulp fantasy other than a masterpiece.full discussion on episode 118 of my podcast SLEAZOIDS.
Common questions
What is Total Recall about?+
A construction worker visits a facility to purchase artificial memories of a vacation to Mars, only to discover his entire identity may be a false construction planted to hide a conspiracy.
Who directed Total Recall?+
Paul Verhoeven directed this 1990 film, a Dutch filmmaker known for his provocative science fiction and thriller works.
Is Total Recall based on a book?+
The film is loosely based on Philip K. Dick's short story "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale."
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