Total Recall (1990)

One thing about Paul Verhoeven's films - they are fast paced. It's not just the action bits; there's always something kinetic going on in a film such as this, even when it's just two characters having breakfast in their futuristic apartment, and the film never seems to slow down. There's always some splashy visual or brash movement. In the plot, Quaid (Schwarzenegger) seems to be a construction worker living a standard life on Earth, in year 2084. His wife (Sharon Stone) is a bit on the gorgeous-exotic side, but it's a dull life - maybe that's why he has dreams about Mars and wants to check out a service which implants vacations into the minds of customers. There are hints that all is not what it seems - a co-worker seems too eager to dissuade Quaid from trying this service.


Things get really hectic after Quaid tries this service: suddenly he is forced to kill an assault group led by his supposed co-worker and then he's on the run from Michael Ironside and his cronies, who are intent on killing him. Before the audience can catch its breath, Quaid has arrived on Mars, where there's a rebellion going on. The chief baddie is played by Ronny Cox, fresh from a similar role in Verhoeven's Robocop; here, he's the boss of a mining operation which makes him the most powerful man in the solar system. But, of course, he's very corrupt, misusing his authority to the detriment of all the workers - hence, the rebellion. Many of the workers are mutants, deformed due to the villain's cheap methods. Quaid tracks down the mysterious brunette Melina (Rachel Ticotin) - the woman of his dreams - and the fun goes on.
Much of the plot does not hold up well under close scrutiny - even the villain himself states in the final act that he is surprised that his master plan worked. This is why there is a prevalent theory among those familiar with this film that the entire film after the first 10 minutes is a dream that Quaid is having. The plot is just too elaborate, too outlandish for what the villain intends, which is just a simple infiltration to eliminate key rebels. Plus, there's that subplot about a huge alien artifact which can convert the Mars atmosphere, just waiting for Quaid to activate it.   To me, though, the telling moment is when Quaid describes his fantasy woman as he prepares to have the vacation implanted in his mind -> the fantasy woman who appears on the computer screen is Melina - not a woman who looks like Melina, but Melina herself. This tells me that the rest of the film is Quaid's dream.
And, like the best dreams, this one is always interesting and thrilling. The film grabs you in the first few minutes and then has you wondering what is the next strange or exciting thing that Quaid will encounter. The visuals are pretty good; though most of the FX and sets were done old-school, hands on crafting, this was also the beginning of the computer FX era and a little of that is mixed in (Terminator 2 was released only a year later). Michael Ironside has always been one of the most natural for the villain or tough henchman roles; he lives for shooting his guns in this one, to the point that it sometimes backfires on him (as when the protective glass breaks). Ronny Cox does not do as well; he tries too hard to be a bastard in this one. The women are great and just as involved in the action. BoG's Score: 7.5 out of 10
Total Trivia: in an early role as a mutant is Dean Norris, who got famous many years later in the TV series Breaking Bad; Star Trek actor alert: also in a small role is Marc Alaimo as the captain of the Mars police force; he went on to the semi-regular role of Gul Dukat on Star Trek DS9. And, in a small role of a 3-breasted woman is Lycia Naff, who had guest-starred in the famous Star Trek TNG episode Q Who.