Don't get too distracted by the acting...

Rating: 5/10 (15 January 2002)

Aside from some truly horrible acting (does anyone actually think Arnold is talented in that realm?), Total Recall's an interesting piece. The plot has more twists than a Rold Gold factory, and there's the interesting notion that any part of the movie could actually be the dream/hallucination - even what we consider the eventual climax and resolution.
And effects-wise, absolutely superb. This one definitely deserved its awards - from the violent action sequences to everything on Mars, the visuals are crafted to near perfection. Complaints that Recall is too heavy-handedly bloody ignore the fact that ruthless dictators are almost universally violent - look at Somalia or Iraq if you're confused on that measure. Bad guys in charge need guns to keep themselves in place, no matter where they are in the universe or in time.
Recall is worth watching, even a couple times. Put it in your DVD player or VCR on one too many an occasion, and you'll probably start noticing some of the ridiculousness - but that's okay, so long as you appreciate both the bad and good elements of the movie.