People's comments here annoy me...

Rating: 9/10 (27 May 1999)

Yeah, it was hokey, so what? You don't rent a Shwarzenegger film for poignant realism. That should be understood. What I love about this movie is its simple class consciousness (Kwato raising the price of air) juxtaposed with a very sophisticated and frightening critique of consumer culture. The movie is socially aware on two levels so that it may be a meaningful experience for all watchers. The more difficult message of the movie reflects itself in the fact that Quaid actually had a lobotomy at Recall during his adventures on Mars. The movie tells us that we live in a virtual society where our enjoyment is really a delusional escapism that masks a generally lobotimized state (e.g. SUV drivers imagining themselves as rugged and actualized as those on the commercials). It was brilliant how the ending is ostensibly happy (Mars is saved and Quaid kisses the girl) but actually tragic. The fake glory points to our society's state of blissful ignorance in its false conscious consumer frenzy. Beats the heck out of Matrix, that's for sure.