Review for Total Recall: Ultimate Rekall Edition

Total Recall is one of thos films that I can never decide on. Is it so cheesy that it's great or so cheesy that it's embarrassing? Whenever I decide on one I watch it again and change my mind. Much like Doug Quaid himself.

Doug Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is a lowly worker in the not too distant future, married, to Sharon Stone no less, but haunted by dreams of being on Mars with a beautiful brunette. He decides instead of going to the planet to have a virtual holiday at Rekall. This is a place were you have memories implanted of a holiday or experience that feels real, you will feel like you have already been to a place or experienced something. Quaid does this and that's when things get a bit strange.

He discovers that he is not Quaid but a man named Hauser who had his memory wiped after getting too close to secrets of the evil Cohaagen (Ronny Cox) and now has to figure out what is going on and why Cohaagen will not activate the strange facility that has been discovered on Mars. On Mars he encounters a number of strange mutants including one with three breasts and Melina a woman who had been in his dreams (and it's easy to see why). Pursued by Richter (played by the wonderful Michael Ironside) Quaid/Hauser must find a way to stop Cohaagen in a barrage of action and explosions.


Directed by Paul Verhoeven off the back of his success with Robocop, this film established him as a power player when it comes to the science fiction action films. The film is awash with great special effects which were awarded a special Academy Award which was well eserving. Some of the effects do look dated, but not the point that they take you out of the film and actually the crude effects at time give the film a quirky charm that no doub the upcoming CGI remake will not have.

As well as looking and sounding amazing, the Blu-ray is jampacked with extra features that will no doubt delight fans of the film. These include a very interesting commentary with Arnie and Verhoeven which is full of great stories about the making of the film. A number of featurettes cover the making of the film, though most focus far too much on the special effects and it would have been nice to have had more of a look at the original Philip K Dick story We Can Remember it For You Wholesale and how it was adapted.

An interview with Verhoeven covers most of what was spoken about in the commentary, but is a nice overview of his experience of making the film. It is rounded off with a trailer for the remake starring Colin Farrell which actually doesn't look as bad as most remakes.

Total Recall is not an amazing film that will fill most people's top tens. However, for me it is a guilty pleasure that i can't help but enjoy. Like a lot of early Arnie it is full of one liners, explosions and kickass action which very few films seem to have without wirework and CGI these days. Overall the Blu-ray is definitely something for you to recall.