Arnie has an adventure on Mars

Rating: 8/10 (22 December 2016)

In the year 2084 protagonist Douglas Quaid is apparently an ordinary construction worker but he has recurring dreams about events on Mars involving a woman who is not his wife. He has no idea why he has the dreams; he has never stepped foot on Mars and has not met the woman or so he thinks. One day he decides to visit 'Rekall'; a company that implants the memories of a perfect holiday. Naturally he selects a holiday on Mars during which he will have a fantasy adventure as a secret agent. As the procedure starts something goes wrong and he starts ranting about having really been to Mars and how his life is in danger. He flees and is chased by people determined to kill him. He gets home and learns that his wife isn't the person he thought she was apparently his whole life up to this point is a false memory. Managing to evade his captors he heads to Mars to discover the truth. Here he meets the woman from his dreams, gets involved in a rebellion against the tyrannical authorities and learns of a plot to hide the discovery of alien technology but is it real or has something gone horribly wrong at Rekall?
This sci-fi classic is a lot of fun. As one would expect from a film that is an adaption of a story from the pen of Philip K. Dick there are plenty of twists and questions about the identity of our protagonist. Equally expected, given that it is directed by Paul Verhoeven, is a fair amount of bloody violence when I first saw it in the cinema I thought it was possibly the most violent film I'd seen! The story could easily have become confusing as the viewer wonders whether what is real but thankfully it manages to avoid confusion; what we are shown always appears to be real even if we later learn that not everybody is quite who they appear to be; an example of this is Quaid's 'wife'; at first it appears they have been happily married for years than it emerges she met him six months ago. The film looks great with impressive special effects and locations that have a futuristic feel. The cast is impressive; Arnold Schwarzenegger is in great form as Quaid and Rachel Ticotin is solid as his 'dream girl' Melina. A film like this needs good bad guys; Michael Ironside is great as Richter, the man hunting Quaid and Sharon Stone is suitably ambiguous as Quaid's 'wife'. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to anybody who enjoys solid action and a good story if you are a fan of Arnie it is a must see.