Get ready for the ride of your life.
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.
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Character
Relentless, epic, unpretentious and plot-driven.
- contemplativerelentless
- intimateepic
- unpretentiousprestige
- character-ledplot-driven
- gravecomic
Who loves it, who doesn't
88 profiled raters. Loved most by The Prestige Hunters; disliked most by The Prestige Hunters.
Where do you stand?
Answer first; then see how everyone, and your circle, split.
“Is Total Recall better than RoboCop?”
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“Does the pace leave no room to feel anything?”
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“Is Arnold Schwarzenegger the best thing in Total Recall?”
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A yes-or-no question, answered from what people wrote here, on TMDB and on Wikipedia. Never made up.
Reviews
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Reviews on TMDB
Written by TMDB members; each links to the original. Not part of Tastebuds's numbers.
- kevin2019on TMDB · Nov 20258/10
"Total Recall" is an extraordinarily violent and gory extravaganza, but even though it is quite needlessly graphic in some places - Quaid's, Melina's, and Cohaagan's suffocation after they are exposed to the poisonious Martian atmosphere; the deaths of innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire during scenes of gunplay; the severing of limbs; the stabbings and impalings and so forth - the film is admittedly staged superbly and directed by Paul Verhoeven in an exciting way at all times and it is enjoyably well paced. The visual effects are also of a high standard - they feature some realistic shots of Mars - and the reactor sequences towards the end look terrific. This is a marvellous and incredibly entertaining popcorn movie overall which has been brilliantly made by experts in this highly competitive genre.
Read the whole review on TMDB - GenerationofSwineon TMDB · Jan 202310/10
Man, it's almost like Saw with it's torture-porn thing... only the over-the-top gore actually fits beautifully into the story in the most entertaining way possible, even when it is so 80s cheese that it's almost comical. But the ultra-violence is part of the fun of these types of films. It's part of the reason why people love them... and it's over-the-top in a way that can't really be done today. It's also pretty stylistic and fun and that brings you into the world that the story is trying to create, while at the same time it leaves the viewer thinking that they are watching one heck of a mystery. Like Blade Runner, if you wanted to, you could walk away thinking that it's all an illusion, that what you thought was real was fake... if you wanted to be that deep. But let's face it, no one really bothers to debate that because what we are watching is an action sci-fi movie that is so well done, we don't want it to be as deep as it really is.
Read the whole review on TMDB - CinemaSerfon TMDB · May 20227/10
Aside from maybe "Predator" (1987) this is probably my favourite outing from Arnold Schwarzenegger. He ("Quaid") goes off to have an harmless implant of memories from an holiday on Mars (that he hasn't had) only to find that his life starts to unwind very quickly afterwards. Even his girlfriend "Lori" (Sharon Stone) becomes a would-be assassin and he is soon under attack from just about every other quarter too. Why? Well, that's what we now explore as he decides that he - helped by a video iteration of himself - must travel back to the red planet and get to the bottom of things. My flaw - well Ronny Cox is just dreadful as "Cohaagen" which does prove important towards the end of the film, but for the main part it is an action packed and well directed vehicle for a very much on-form star. It's one of the first films I recall that started messing about with timelines. We are not quite sure what happened when or if, indeed, at all - and Paul Verhoeven keeps that tempo running well right from the start of the film. Arnie has a chance to deliver some quite fun one-liners and the visual effects enhance, sparingly, the production rather than impose themselves on it. It has dated a little,
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Cast
- Arnold SchwarzeneggerQuaid
- Rachel TicotinMelina
- Sharon StoneLori
- Michael IronsideRichter
- Marshall BellGeorge / Kuato
- Michael ChampionHelm
- Mel Johnson Jr.Benny
- Roy BrocksmithDr. Edgemar
- Rosemary DunsmoreDr. Lull
- Ronny CoxCohaagen
Crew
- Paul VerhoevenDirector
- Ronald ShusettScreenplay
- Dan O'BannonScreenplay
- Gary GoldmanScreenplay
- Jost VacanoDirector of Photography
- Jerry GoldsmithOriginal Music Composer
- Frank J. UriosteEditor
- Buzz FeitshansProducer
- Ronald ShusettProducer
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Pairings
Companions we picked from the closest works, and how to take them.
Similar in taste
Closest on the same fourteen dimensions, from everything scored on Tastebuds Other media included when they land close.
Cowboy Bebop: The Movie 200167% alikeBoth epic.
Young Guns II 199066% alikeBoth relentless, unpretentious, plot-driven.
The Matrix 199966% alikeBoth epic, relentless, plot-driven.
Starship Troopers 199765% alikeBoth epic, plot-driven.
Sucker Punch 201164% alikeBoth relentless, unpretentious.
Both epic, plot-driven.
RoboCop 198763% alikeClose across the board.
Æon Flux 200563% alikeBoth unpretentious, relentless, plot-driven.
What If...? 202172% alikeTelevision · Both epic, unpretentious, plot-driven.
Re:Creators 201768% alikeTelevision · Both epic, unpretentious.
Often watched with
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