carolco pictures and dutch director paul verhoeven ( robocop ) came together to create the 1990 mega hit that is total recall .
the film is a masterpiece of sets , action , and special effects .
action and science fiction just don’t get any better than this !
the story involves a construction worker named douglas quaid ( arnold schwarzenegger ) who lives on earth with his beautiful wife lori ( sharon stone ) .
quaid is obsessed with mars and decides to go with the second best choice ; a brain implant ( fake memory ) of a two week vacation on mars .
while being implanted a memory cap is triggered and the doctors realize that quaid’s memory has previously been erased .
now the people who did it are after him .
quaid must find out who he really is and why these people want him dead .
the plot unfolds at a rapid pace explaining itself through great action , special effects , and twist after mind-boggling twist .
it grabs you and never lets go !
this film is a winner from beginning to end .
the plot is superb ; combining the best elements of science fiction and psychological mystery to create a rip-roaring saga .
schwarzenegger gives his best performance ever , and the supporting cast is good too .
the action and stunts are terrific .
the sets are huge and elaborate with a lot of attention payed to detail .
the music and sound effects are perfect for the film and really add a certain level of impact to the action .
the make-up effects by rob bottin ( the howling , the thing , and robocop ) are top notch , not to mention extremely outlandish .
the visual effects by dream quest ( the abyss ) and industrial light and magic ( star wars trilogy , jurassic park , and terminator 2 ) are phenomenal !
the visuals had such a state of the art ” slickness ” that they won an oscar .
of course the film isn’t always realistic ; it’s more fiction than science .
for example , it is true that a body won’t explode in the vacuum of space but in total recall they do .
who cares ?
it’s a movie .
movies are supposed to entertain .
and in my opinion this film achieves an entertainment level in film that is so terrific , it may be impossible to beat .