An Arnold classic!

Rating: 9/10 (2 July 2002)

As you'd expect coming from a Phillip K Dick short story, this film has an interesting view of the future and certainly has a debatable conclusion to it. `Was Qauid dreaming?' Well its not quite the same classic movie question as another K. Dick based film had, that being `Is Deckard a Replicant' from Blade Runner. This is not in the same league as Blade Runner, it falls short on all respects except for the action, this brings you excessive violence that you'd expect from a Paul Verhoven film. This hasn't got the deep meanings that Blade Runner had, this won't be studied in quite the same way but it is not the films intent. It is in parts a satirical look at the future of mankind, part visual delight and part excessively violent action flick. We have come to expect this combination from Verhoven and it works well.
The cast are good in the most part. Arnold as we all know is the lead. If this had leant towards different aspects than action then he would not have been suited but for the violence involved there was only one man who could have played Qauid at the time and that was Arnold. This is his ideal role, little to say and lots of mayhem to cause. He does well in his role and gives one of his best performances. Schwarzenegger revelled in these violent films, snapping necks and Verhoven definitely pushes the boundary's of taste where the action is concerned. I enjoyed the gorish nature immensely but some may find it too much. The plot for an action film is very good, we have this ordinary guy who has an obsession with mars, he then goes to a place called Total Recall, where they implant memory's. It's kind of like the ultimate holiday service without the sun tan and the packing of bags. This seems to trigger off a memory in his head that he already has of Mars so the guys at Recall knock him out and dump in a cab. Then from that moment he finds his life is in danger. He has to find out why and stay alive. After he receives help from unknown and known allies he goes to mars, all the time with a man called Richter after him, played villainously good by Michael Ironside. There are twists an turns as you'd expect and the ending poses the question of whether the whole thing was a dream.
Anyway as well as Arnold and a near show stealing turn by Michael Ironside we have solid main cast supported by some bad actors such as Richters right hand man. Ronny Cox also revels in his Bad guy role and like many Schwarzenegger films we have some excellent support to balance out Arnolds limitations as an actor, this is true to nearly all the action stars, particularly of that time, Van Damme, Seagal et al. Also in her pre mega fame days, before Basic Instinct we have the sexy Sharon Stone in a delightfully bitchy and villainous role as Qauids supposed wife who tries to kill him. She is good and you could almost say watchable simply for the fact she is so hot. Rachel Ticotin is also good as Melina, who teams with Arnold.
The visuals in this film are great, from the special effects to the recreation of Mars, the production design have brought to life some great imagery and this is definitely Arnolds best film in that respect. One great scene is Arnolds meeting with Kauto who helps him remember about a machine that Mars previous inhabitants created that could bring air to the planet, its a visual effects master class and a dizzyingly eerie look. Also the music is great too. Verhoven is a pretty tasteless director as he certainly showed in Showgirls but in general his direction is good and stylish. Overall this is one of the Austrian Oaks best and probably Verhovens best. It is a classic in some respects while you won't see any Oscar winning acting or dialogue, its basically a great story put into an average script. I hope they bring out a special feature laden DVD soon! 9/10.