Violent, stupid but fun

Rating: 8/10 (3 April 2004)

Arnold Schwarzenegger plays Douglas Quaid. He lives on Earth in the future with a loving wife (Sharon Stone) and a good life. But he keeps having dreams about Mars and another woman. Then he finds out they might be more than just dreams...
There's a lot more going on in the plot but I won't spoil it. This came out in the summer of 1990. It was a huge hit but was attacked by many critics who complained about the extreme violence in the film. Seen today it still IS very violent (I'm surprised it got by with a R rating) but...it's just a movie. Also, if you don't take the film too seriously (and you shouldn't) it actually gets kind of amusing. There's plenty of blood and dead bodies (and body parts) flying around but it's really hard to take it realistically.
The plot is very complicated--too much. The twists and turns keep you guessing but there are a LOT of plot holes in this. Two huge examples--How did Melina know they were going to take Quaid down the service elevator when she saves him and who (or what) IS Quatro? We see him/it but it's never explained why he's viewed as a God. And the constant product placement is Venusville was very obvious (and annoying). Still, I DO recommend this movie.
The movie moves very quickly (it's directed by the great Paul Verhoeven), the violence keeps things interesting and the acting is not bad. Schwarzenegger (surprisingly) is pretty good in the main role. Stone really sucks in her role but this movie was her breakthrough. Michael Ironside is lousy too--but then he always is. However Rachel Ticotin is great as the heroine and Ronny Cox has lots of fun as Cohaagen, the slimy villain (although supposedly he was appalled at the amount of violence in the film). The special effects are great (no crappy CGI was available back then) and there's a GREAT cat fight between Stone and Ticotin.
So it's fast, extremely violent and lots of fun. Just don't think about the plot too much. Recommended.