Total Recall
1990
***
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rachel Ticotin, Sharon Stone, Ronny Cox, Michael Ironside, Mel Johnson Jr., Marshall Bell, Michael Champion, Roy Brocksmith, Ray Baker
Paul Verhoeven's follow-up to the brilliant Robocop is also set in the future. In the year 2084, a construction worker dreams of a trip to Mars. It finally becomes reality through a memory implant, but the real world doesn't feel the same after the procedure. The complex and fascinating story is based on Philip K. Dick's 1966 novelette We Can Remember It for You Wholesale. However, this is a terribly clunky and bombastic action movie, which features all the worst elements of its time: a steady wall of noise, continuous machine gun fire, people flying through windows at every turn, and badly dated special effects.
