Has it been that long?

Rating: 10/10 (11 June 2003)

I can't beleive it's been 12 years since this sci-fi masterpiece was released. It only seems like yesterday when I was watching the original screenings on Sky Movies. Arnold was right when he remarked that this movie holds up very well all these years on. In fact it puts all of today's sci-fi movies to shame. And nobody deserves more credit for this than director Paul Verhoeven for his exciting visionary style. When Recall first came out it broke new ground in special effects technology (e.g. the camera panning away from Arnold on the train as we get a beautiful and realistic view of the Martian surface. Add to this the brilliant cast and star power of Arnie and Sharon Stone. Ronny Cox was brilliantly evil as Cohaagan as was his equally nasty henchman Richter (played to perfection by Michael Ironside). Verhoeven has given Sharon two of her most popular roles ever - as Arnie's wife/nemesis Lori and of course Catherine Tramell in Basic Instinct. The one thing that made these characters so enduring was their unbelievable evilness. Sharon has the ability to play a complete sweetheart one moment and then shoot you dead without any hesitation the next. The movie also gave Arnold one of his most popular roles and dominates every scene he's in. One especially exciting scene was his memorable and heart-pounding fight scene with Sharon. All of their scenes together are unfortunately few, but show their amazing chemistry together - you can't take your eyes off the screen. Combining the awesome special effects with Arnie and Shazza'a strong screen presences resulted in one of the most unforgettable movies in recent memory. It is also notable for being Verhoeven's biggest U.S. hit to date and Schwarzenegger's first action movie to top $100 million.

10/10 Excellent
P.S. Sharon would have made a perfect female Terminator (T-X). Watch her kick Arnold's ass in this movie and you'll see what I mean.