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Everyone remembers RoboCop, everyone remembers Basic Instinct, but not everyone remembers Paul Verhoeven's film that he directed 2 years after the former and 2 years before the latter: Total Recall.
Possibly because Arnie is in the lead role. Despite this, however much one loves or loathes the Governor of California's acting prowess, Total Recall remains one of my favourite sci-fi movies of all time. It was nominated for two Oscars, but unsurprisingly Best Actor wasn't one of them.
For a start, it's incredibly violent - metal poles being thrust through heads, industrial drill bits gouging through screaming bodies, innocent bystanders getting blasted at point blank range by inaccurate henchmen (led by Michael Ironside) and Sharon Stone happily kicking men in the crotch with knee-crossing sound effects.
Secondly, the ideas in the film were way ahead of its contemporaries - going on vacation via memory implants, mutant hookers, holographic decoys, robotic cab drivers, ancient civilisations on Mars; it's all based on the short story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" by Philip K. Dick.
And finally, it's sci-fi, my favourite genre by one of my favourite sci-fi directors. Much of the style you see here is later seen again in Starship Troopers and Hollow Man, both also directed by Paul Verhoeven, and much of the violence is on the level of RoboCop in its uncut version.
Employed as a construction worker in the future, Douglas Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger) decides he needs a vacation from Earth, but something goes wrong with his memory implant and when he wakes up it turns out he's not who he thought he was. Or is he? This theme runs through the entire film and keeps you guessing all the way.
He's being pursued by people trying to kill him, but he doesn't know who they are or why they want him dead. He discovers that he'll find answers on Mars so, head wrapped in a soaking towel, off he goes, and from then on the action becomes more and more intense and the plot becomes thicker by the minute as he works his way towards the truth. Although it should perhaps be mentioned that the majority of 'working his way towards the truth' mainly involves racking up a huge body count rather than philosophically pondering his predicament.
Michael Ironside puts in one of the best 'bad guy' performances you'll ever see, you get the feeling he was told his motivation was to be a complete and utter barsteward in every scene, and he does it so well. I didn't think Sharon Stone was all that impressive in the acting department but she gets to go out with a bang, so to speak, shortly followed by a great one-liner from Arnie. Rachel Ticotin on the other hand puts in a sterling performance as the sexy and demure love interest.
If you like your sci-fi and you haven't seen this you've been missing out.
Possibly because Arnie is in the lead role. Despite this, however much one loves or loathes the Governor of California's acting prowess, Total Recall remains one of my favourite sci-fi movies of all time. It was nominated for two Oscars, but unsurprisingly Best Actor wasn't one of them.
For a start, it's incredibly violent - metal poles being thrust through heads, industrial drill bits gouging through screaming bodies, innocent bystanders getting blasted at point blank range by inaccurate henchmen (led by Michael Ironside) and Sharon Stone happily kicking men in the crotch with knee-crossing sound effects.
Secondly, the ideas in the film were way ahead of its contemporaries - going on vacation via memory implants, mutant hookers, holographic decoys, robotic cab drivers, ancient civilisations on Mars; it's all based on the short story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" by Philip K. Dick.
And finally, it's sci-fi, my favourite genre by one of my favourite sci-fi directors. Much of the style you see here is later seen again in Starship Troopers and Hollow Man, both also directed by Paul Verhoeven, and much of the violence is on the level of RoboCop in its uncut version.
Employed as a construction worker in the future, Douglas Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger) decides he needs a vacation from Earth, but something goes wrong with his memory implant and when he wakes up it turns out he's not who he thought he was. Or is he? This theme runs through the entire film and keeps you guessing all the way.
He's being pursued by people trying to kill him, but he doesn't know who they are or why they want him dead. He discovers that he'll find answers on Mars so, head wrapped in a soaking towel, off he goes, and from then on the action becomes more and more intense and the plot becomes thicker by the minute as he works his way towards the truth. Although it should perhaps be mentioned that the majority of 'working his way towards the truth' mainly involves racking up a huge body count rather than philosophically pondering his predicament.
Michael Ironside puts in one of the best 'bad guy' performances you'll ever see, you get the feeling he was told his motivation was to be a complete and utter barsteward in every scene, and he does it so well. I didn't think Sharon Stone was all that impressive in the acting department but she gets to go out with a bang, so to speak, shortly followed by a great one-liner from Arnie. Rachel Ticotin on the other hand puts in a sterling performance as the sexy and demure love interest.
If you like your sci-fi and you haven't seen this you've been missing out.
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Everyone remembers RoboCop, everyone remembers Basic Instinct, but not everyone remembers Paul Verhoeven's film that he directed 2 years after the former and 2 years before the latter: Total Recall.
Possibly because Arnie is in the lead role. Despite this, however much one loves or loathes the Governor of California's acting prowess, Total Recall remains one of my favourite sci-fi movies of all time. It was nominated for two Oscars, but unsurprisingly Best Actor wasn't one of them.
For a start, it's incredibly violent - metal poles being thrust through heads, industrial drill bits gouging through screaming bodies, innocent bystanders getting blasted at point blank range by inaccurate henchmen (led by Michael Ironside) and Sharon Stone happily kicking men in the crotch with knee-crossing sound effects.
Secondly, the ideas in the film were way ahead of its contemporaries - going on vacation via memory implants, mutant hookers, holographic decoys, robotic cab drivers, ancient civilisations on Mars; it's all based on the short story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" by Philip K. Dick.
And finally, it's sci-fi, my favourite genre by one of my favourite sci-fi directors. Much of the style you see here is later seen again in Starship Troopers and Hollow Man, both also directed by Paul Verhoeven, and much of the violence is on the level of RoboCop in its uncut version.
Employed as a construction worker in the future, Douglas Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger) decides he needs a vacation from Earth, but something goes wrong with his memory implant and when he wakes up it turns out he's not who he thought he was. Or is he? This theme runs through the entire film and keeps you guessing all the way.
He's being pursued by people trying to kill him, but he doesn't know who they are or why they want him dead. He discovers that he'll find answers on Mars so, head wrapped in a soaking towel, off he goes, and from then on the action becomes more and more intense and the plot becomes thicker by the minute as he works his way towards the truth. Although it should perhaps be mentioned that the majority of 'working his way towards the truth' mainly involves racking up a huge body count rather than philosophically pondering his predicament.
Michael Ironside puts in one of the best 'bad guy' performances you'll ever see, you get the feeling he was told his motivation was to be a complete and utter barsteward in every scene, and he does it so well. I didn't think Sharon Stone was all that impressive in the acting department but she gets to go out with a bang, so to speak, shortly followed by a great one-liner from Arnie. Rachel Ticotin on the other hand puts in a sterling performance as the sexy and demure love interest.
If you like your sci-fi and you haven't seen this you've been missing out.
Possibly because Arnie is in the lead role. Despite this, however much one loves or loathes the Governor of California's acting prowess, Total Recall remains one of my favourite sci-fi movies of all time. It was nominated for two Oscars, but unsurprisingly Best Actor wasn't one of them.
For a start, it's incredibly violent - metal poles being thrust through heads, industrial drill bits gouging through screaming bodies, innocent bystanders getting blasted at point blank range by inaccurate henchmen (led by Michael Ironside) and Sharon Stone happily kicking men in the crotch with knee-crossing sound effects.
Secondly, the ideas in the film were way ahead of its contemporaries - going on vacation via memory implants, mutant hookers, holographic decoys, robotic cab drivers, ancient civilisations on Mars; it's all based on the short story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" by Philip K. Dick.
And finally, it's sci-fi, my favourite genre by one of my favourite sci-fi directors. Much of the style you see here is later seen again in Starship Troopers and Hollow Man, both also directed by Paul Verhoeven, and much of the violence is on the level of RoboCop in its uncut version.
Employed as a construction worker in the future, Douglas Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger) decides he needs a vacation from Earth, but something goes wrong with his memory implant and when he wakes up it turns out he's not who he thought he was. Or is he? This theme runs through the entire film and keeps you guessing all the way.
He's being pursued by people trying to kill him, but he doesn't know who they are or why they want him dead. He discovers that he'll find answers on Mars so, head wrapped in a soaking towel, off he goes, and from then on the action becomes more and more intense and the plot becomes thicker by the minute as he works his way towards the truth. Although it should perhaps be mentioned that the majority of 'working his way towards the truth' mainly involves racking up a huge body count rather than philosophically pondering his predicament.
Michael Ironside puts in one of the best 'bad guy' performances you'll ever see, you get the feeling he was told his motivation was to be a complete and utter barsteward in every scene, and he does it so well. I didn't think Sharon Stone was all that impressive in the acting department but she gets to go out with a bang, so to speak, shortly followed by a great one-liner from Arnie. Rachel Ticotin on the other hand puts in a sterling performance as the sexy and demure love interest.
If you like your sci-fi and you haven't seen this you've been missing out.