Very Graphic . Great Science Fiction

Rating: 9/10 (3 August 2014)

Director Paul Verhoeven's bloody and graphic sci-fi classic. Bullet-riddled bodies, knife slashes, decapitations and arms cut off. Not for the faint-of-heart! The cable-edited version is almost better because some of the gore and cuss-words are reduced. (Too bad it has commercials!) A great story concept from Philip K. Dick about the future of mankind and bargain vacations. Don't actually travel there, just have the whole experience trans-implanted into your mind. This all goes wrong when lowly construction worker Doug Quaid visits "Rekall" and has a psychotic meltdown. Is he Quaid or Hauser? Blue collar worker or company super spy? On Mars or just imagining the whole thing? Several clues point to both possible answers: His "athletically built brunette" looks exactly like the computer model. Sharon Stone bitches that she "had to travel all the way to f*cking Mars, just for this". Mars is a horrible place with no atmosphere. There is a hefty "tax" on oxygen. Luxury Hilton Hotels and a grimy "poor side of town" with dives, beggars and prostitutes. (Love that 3-breasted woman!) A great ending, as good old Arnold sets things right, killing off the stinking pig of an industrialist dictator (played to the hilt by Ronny Cox) in a man-to-man fight. (Guess who wins?) This movie has everything: Sharon Stone as the kick-ass slutty fake wife, mis-formed mutant humans, great special effects, and a great ending, as "Quaid" restores air to the Martian atmosphere and embraces the heroine in a lusty kiss. One of the last major movies that used matte paintings, large-sized miniatures and 10 sets, as CGI was still in it's infancy. If you can handle all the blood and gore, it's a great ride!