Total Recall (1990 film): Difference between revisions

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===Analysis===
===Analysis===
According to Jason P Vest, a Professor of English at the [[University of Guam]], most political assessments of the film considered it [[left-wing]] for its anti-corporation and revolutionary message but Vest perceived a more [[Conservatism|conservative]] subtext in which the "white protagonist saves a society of the less well-off who cannot save themselves".{{sfn|Vest|2009|pp=39,41}} Vest identified ''Total Recall'' as one of many films produced throughout the 1980s—such as ''[[Rambo: First Blood Part II]]'' (1985) and ''Predator''—that were fronted by white male characters who "employ violence to preserve American righteousness, liberty, autonomy, and reinforce an idealistic American image of combating unnecessary bureaucracy, fascists, communists, and foreign and domestic threats". Schwarzenegger supported conservative ideologies such as those of [[President of the United States|U.S. president]] [[Ronald Reagan]] which Vest opined made him "an unusual choice to portray the protagonist who liberates Mars from Cohaagen's dictatorship".{{sfn|Vest|2009|p=39}}
According to Jason P Vest, a Professor of English at the [[University of Guam]], most political assessments of the film considered it [[left-wing]] for its anti-corporation and revolutionary message but Vest perceived a more [[Conservatism|conservative]] subtext in which the "white protagonist saves a society of the less well-off who cannot save themselves".{{sfn|Vest|2009|pp=39,41}} Vest identified ''Total Recall'' as one of many films produced throughout the 1980s—such as ''[[Rambo: First Blood Part II]]'' (1985) and ''Predator''—that were fronted by white male characters who "employ violence to preserve American righteousness, liberty, autonomy, and reinforce an idealistic American image of combating unnecessary bureaucracy, fascists, communists, and foreign and domestic threats". Schwarzenegger was a conservative and supported [[President of the United States|U.S. president]] [[Ronald Reagan]] which Vest opined made him "an unusual choice to portray the protagonist who liberates Mars from Cohaagen's dictatorship".{{sfn|Vest|2009|p=39}}


Writing for ''SyFy'', Stephanie Williams compared the privatization of air to the privatization of water sources in the real world by companies whose core incentive is to increase profits, as in the [[Flint water crisis]]. The mutants on Mars are the result of early colonists exposed to a toxic atmosphere because of cheap domes, and their offspring still serve Cohaagen, meaning the authorities have escaped any responsibility for their involvement. In the end, Cohaagen suffocates in a toxic atmosphere that he could have changed at any time.<ref name="SyFyPrivatization"/>
Writing for ''SyFy'', Stephanie Williams compared the privatization of air to the privatization of water sources in the real world by companies whose core incentive is to increase profits, as in the [[Flint water crisis]]. The mutants on Mars are the result of early colonists exposed to a toxic atmosphere because of cheap domes, and their offspring still serve Cohaagen, meaning the authorities have escaped any responsibility for their involvement. In the end, Cohaagen suffocates in a toxic atmosphere that he could have changed at any time.<ref name="SyFyPrivatization"/>

Revision as of 21:14, 1 February 2022

Total Recall
The film poster shows a close up of Arnold Schwarzenegger, with his last name on top and a pyramid shape glowing on top with planets near the bottom. The tagline reads "Get read for the ride of your life". Below the tagline is the film's name and the bottom contains a list of the film's credits.
Theatrical release poster
Directed byPaul Verhoeven
Screenplay by
Story by
Based on"We Can Remember It for You Wholesale"
by Philip K. Dick
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyJost Vacano
Edited byFrank J. Urioste
Music byJerry Goldsmith
Production
company
Distributed byTri-Star Pictures
Release date
  • June 1, 1990 (1990-06-01)
Running time
113 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$48–90 million
Box office$261.4 million

Total Recall is a 1990 American science fiction action film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Ronald Shusett, Dan O'Bannon, and Gary Goldman. The film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rachel Ticotin, Sharon Stone, Ronny Cox, and Michael Ironside. Based on the 1966 short story "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" by Philip K. Dick, Total Recall tells the story of Douglas Quaid (Schwarzenegger), a construction worker who receives an implanted memory of a fantastical adventure on Mars. He subsequently finds his adventure occurring in reality as agents of a shadow organization try to prevent him from recovering memories of his past as a Martian secret agent aiming to stop the tyrannical regime of Martian dictator Vilos Cohaagen (Cox).

Shusett bought the rights to Dick's short story in 1974 and developed a script with O'Bannon. Although considered a promising idea, the project's ambitious scope kept it in various stages of development at multiple studios over sixteen years, seeing forty script drafts, seven different directors, and multiple actors cast as Quaid. Total Recall eventually entered the early stages of filming in 1987 under the De Laurentiis Entertainment Group shortly before its bankruptcy. Schwarzenegger, who had long held an interest in the project but had been dismissed as inappropriate for the lead role, convinced Carolco Pictures to purchase the rights and develop the film with him as the star. On an estimated $48–90 million budget (making it one of the most expensive films made in its time), filming took place almost entirely on expansive sets at Estudios Churubusco in Mexico over six months. Cast and crew suffered numerous injuries and illnesses during filming.

Total Recall was anticipated to be one of the year's most successful films. On its release, the film earned approximately $261.4 million worldwide, making it the fifth-highest-grossing film of the year. Its critical reception was mixed, with reviewers praising its themes of identity and questioning reality, but criticizing content perceived as vulgar and violent. The practical special effects were also well received, earning the film an Academy Award, and the score by Jerry Goldsmith has been praised as one of his best works.

Since its release, the film has been praised for its ambiguous ending positing whether Quaid's adventures are real or a fantasy. It has also been analyzed for themes of colonialism and authoritarianism, and criticized for elements perceived as sexist and racist. Retrospective reviews have called it one of Schwarzenegger's best films and placed it among the best science-fiction films ever made. Alongside comic books and video games, Total Recall has been adapted into the 1999 television series Total Recall 2070. An early attempt at a sequel, based on Dick's The Minority Report, became the 2002 stand-alone film Minority Report, and a 2012 remake, also called Total Recall failed to replicate the success of the original.

Plot

In 2084, Mars is a colonized world under the tyrannical regime of Vilos Cohaagen, who controls the mining of valuable turbinium ore. On Earth, construction worker Douglas Quaid experiences recurring dreams about Mars and a mysterious woman. Intrigued, he visits Rekall, a company that implants realistic false memories, and chooses one set on Mars (with a blue sky) where he is a Martian secret agent. However, before the implant is completed Quaid lashes out, already thinking he is a secret agent. Believing Cohaagen's "Agency" has suppressed Quaid's memories, the Rekall employees erase evidence of Quaid's visit and send him home.

En route, Quaid is attacked by men led by his work colleague Harry because Quaid unknowingly revealed his past; Quaid's instincts take over and he kills his assailants. At home, he is assaulted by his wife Lori who claims their marriage is a false memory implant, and the Agency assigned her to monitor Quaid. He flees but is pursued by armed men led by Richter, Cohaagen's operative and Lori's real husband. A man claiming to be Quaid's former acquaintance gifts him a suitcase containing supplies and a video recording in which Quaid identifies himself as Hauser, a Cohaagen ally who defected after falling in love. According to the recording, Cohaagen brainwashed Hauser to become Quaid and conceal his secrets before securing him on Earth. Hauser instructs Quaid to return to Mars and stop Cohaagen.

On Mars, Quaid evades Richter and, following a note from Hauser, travels to Venusville, a district populated by humans and those mutated by air pollution and radiation. He meets Melina, the woman from his dreams, who knows him as Hauser and believes he is still working for Cohaagen. In his hotel room, Quaid is confronted by Lori and Dr. Edgemar from Rekall, who explains that Quaid is trapped in his fantasy memory and is still at Rekall on Earth. Quaid notices Edgemar is sweating and, believing he is real, kills him. Quaid is captured by Richter's men, but Melina rescues him and Quaid kills Lori. The pair escape with taxi driver Benny to Venusville.

The mutants lead them to a hidden rebel base, where Quaid meets their leader Kuato, a mutant growing out of the abdomen of his brother George. Kuato psychically reads Quaid's mind, learning that Cohaagen is hiding a 500,000-year-old alien reactor built into a mountain that, once activated, produces breathable air but could also destroy all turbinium, ending Cohaagen's monopoly over both resources. Benny shoots George, revealing himself to be in Cohaagen's employ, and Cohaagen's forces attack the base, killing the rebels. Kuato implores Quaid to start the reactor before Richter executes him. Cohaagen disables Venusville's air supply to slowly suffocate the remaining inhabitants.

Quaid and Melina are brought to Cohaagen, who explains that Hauser was his close friend who volunteered to become Quaid as an elaborate ruse to bypass the mutants' psychic abilities, infiltrate the rebellion, and destroy it. Quaid's Rekall visit had activated him earlier than planned and Cohaagen has been helping him to survive the oblivious Richter's pursuit. Cohaagen orders Hauser's memories to be restored in Quaid and Melina to be reprogrammed as his subservient lover, but they manage to escape to the mines below the reactor. Benny, Richter, and his men attack them, but the pair outwits and kills them all.

Cohaagen awaits them in the reactor control room, claiming that activating it will destroy the planet. He sets off an explosive but Quaid throws it down a tunnel, creating a breach to the Martian surface. The explosive decompression blows Cohaagen out to the surface where he suffocates and dies. Quaid activates the reactor before he and Melina are also blown out. The reactor melts the planet's ice core into gas that bursts to the surface, forming a breathable atmosphere and saving Quaid, Melina, and the rest of Mars's population. As everyone beholds the now-blue sky, Quaid momentarily wonders if everything was a dream, before he and Melina share a kiss.

Cast

A photograph of Arnold Schwarzenegger
A photograph of Ronny Cox
A photograph of Sharon Stone
(Left to right) Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ronny Cox (both pictured in 2019), and Sharon Stone (2017)

The Earth-based cast also features Ray Baker as Rekall salesman Bob McClane,[8] Robert Costanzo as Harry, and Alexia Robinson as Tiffany.[9] Robert Picardo provides the voice and visual likeness of Johnnycab, an automated taxi driver.[10]

The Martian cast includes Lycia Naff as Mary, a mutant three-breasted prostitute,[11] Marc Alaimo as Everett, Dean Norris as Tony, Debbie Lee Carrington as Thumbelina, Sasha Rionda as Mutant Child, Mickey Jones as Burly Miner, and Priscilla Allen as "fat lady".[9]

Production

Early development

The development of Total Recall began in 1974, when producer Ronald Shusett purchased the adaptation rights to science-fiction writer Philip K. Dick's 1966 short story "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" for $1,000.[12][13][3][14] Shusett had read the 23-page story by the then-little-known pulp fiction writer in an April 1966 edition of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.[12] It depicts a meek clerk on Earth named Quail who visits Rekal Incorporated to receive a memory implant of being a secret agent on Mars. However, the process uncovers his true identity as a Martian secret agent whose death will bring about an alien invasion.[15][16]

Renaming it Total Recall—and changing Quail to Quaid to avoid referencing then-vice president Dan Quayle—Shusett worked with Dan O'Bannon to write the script. O'Bannon exhausted the existing material quickly and the short story's abrupt ending meant he could only write thirty pages, effectively only the first act, and an original second and third act were needed; he suggested sending Quaid to Mars.[15] Shusett and O'Bannon disagreed over the third act, the former wanting something more dramatic. O'Bannon's ending revealed the handprint on the alien machine as Quaid's, who is a synthetic replicate of the original, and placing his hand on it grants him total memory recall. O'Bannon described the filmed ending as "lame".[17][18] Dick read the script prior to his death in 1982 and, according to O'Bannon, liked it. The author had wanted to expand "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" into a novella but had struggled to conceive a satisfactory ending of his own.[19] Although studios deemed Shusett and O'Bannon's script an ambitious and brilliant idea, it was essentially considered unfilmable, in part because of the extensive special effects and high budget that would be required.[13][14][14][13]

The pair moved on to collaborating on the script for the science-fiction horror film Alien (1979), the success of which earned Shusett a development deal at Walt Disney Studios. He pursued the Total Recall project at the studio, initially budgeted at $20 million, but the idea did not progress because issues with the third act could not be resolved. The project was sold to Dino De Laurentiis's De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG) in 1982.[17][13][14][16][14][20][21]

Development under De Laurentiis Entertainment Group

A 2009 photograph of Dino De Laurentiis
A 2009 photograph of producer Dino De Laurentiis.

De Laurentiis considered Richard Rush, Lewis Teague, Russell Mulcahy, and Fred Schepisi to direct the film, before choosing David Cronenberg in 1984.[17][21] Cronenberg was unfamiliar with Dick's work but was interested in the script. Even so, issues remained with the third act and Cronenberg spent the next year writing twelve separate drafts.[17] In his script, Quaid's true identity is Chairman Mandrell, the dictator of Earth who, following a failed assassination attempt on his life, is convinced by Mars Administrator Cohaagen to confront the organization that suppressed his memory. Cohaagen later reveals that Quaid is an inconsequential government worker chosen to play the role of Mandrell to facilitate Cohaagen usurping control of the Earth. Quaid defeats Cohaagen and assumes the identity of Mandrell.[22] Cronenberg was also responsible for the mutant characters including Kuato (originally called Quato), and further developed an idea by Shusett about mutant animals, known as Ganzibulls, in the Martian sewers; Cronenberg made them mutant camels.[23]

He found himself at odds with Shusett regarding the tone, as Shusett and De Laurentiis did not want it to be as serious as the science fiction film Blade Runner (1982)—an adaptation of Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968).[24] Shusett described Cronenberg's work as bringing the film back to Dick's original short story, whereas they wanted an adventure closer to "Raiders of the Lost Ark go to Mars".[16][13] Cronenberg did not want to make that film and chose to quit the project. He was also frustrated by his disagreements with Shusett and De Laurentiis, and the casting of Richard Dreyfuss in the lead role.[24] Dreyfuss had requested further rewrites to have Quaid reflect the everyman persona he had established in his previous films, rather than the action-focus of the Shusett/O'Bannon story. Cronenberg had also wanted to cast William Hurt as the lead instead, and focus more on the concepts of memory and identity.[25][13] Christopher Reeve and Jeff Bridges were also considered for Quaid.[14][26][13][16] De Laurentiis had wanted to reduce the budget by eliminating Mars entirely, but Shusett and O'Bannon dissented.[21] De Laurentiis threatened to sue Cronenberg for quitting but was placated by Cronenberg agreeing to work with him on a different film.[24] A few years later, De Laurentiis offered Cronenberg the opportunity to make Total Recall as he had wanted, but the latter was not interested and did not want to argue with Shusett again.[24]

Issues with finalizing the script and the high budget continued to stall the project for the next few years.[21][13] In 1987, De Laurentiis again considered hiring Richard Rush as director, but De Laurentiis disliked the finale featuring a breathable atmosphere on Mars while Rush supported the idea. De Laurentiis accepted he was wrong after hiring director Bruce Beresford, who also supported the ending.[27] Around this time, writer Gary Goldman was offered an opportunity to refine the script, but he turned it down to focus on his own project, called Warrior, that he was working on alongside director Paul Verhoeven at Warner Bros. Pictures.[27] Beresford began preparations for a version of Total Recall described by Shusett as less gritty and more "Spielbergian" in tone, and Patrick Swayze was cast as Quaid. Set construction was underway in Australia when DEG filed for bankruptcy in 1988.[16][27][28] Approximately 80 crew were fired and the sets had to be destroyed.[27] By this point, the project had already accrued $8 million in pre-production costs, and $6 million in turnaround costs—a process allowing other studios to purchase the idea.[19][29][20]

Development under Carolco Pictures

A 2016 photograph of Paul Verhoeven
Director Paul Verhoeven (pictured in 2016). He wanted the script rewritten to make it possible for the events of Total Recall to be a dream or reality.

Arnold Schwarzenegger became aware of Total Recall in the mid-1980s, either during filming of Commando (1985) or Raw Deal (1986).[30][13] He liked the script and agreed to pursue it alongside producer Joel Silver while filming Predator (1987), but the project remained unrealized due to its prohibitive budget and because De Laurentiis did not think Schwarzenegger was right for the lead role.[16][14] Following DEG's bankruptcy, Schwarzenegger convinced Andrew G. Vajna and Mario Kassar, co-owners of the independent film studio Carolco Pictures, with whom he had made Red Heat (1988), to purchase the rights for $3 million, including pre-production costs.[31] Schwarzenegger wanted to star in the film, pending rewrites to his satisfaction, and his fame and international appeal justified the studio investing the necessary budget.[29][16][30] Carolco completed its acquisition of the majority of DEG's business and assets in April 1989.[32] Schwarzenegger was given substantial influence over the project: he retained Shusett as a screenwriter and co-producer alongside producer Buzz Feitshans, and oversaw script revisions, casting decisions, and set construction.[33][31][34][35] He described himself as effectively an executive producer without the responsibility, but he involved himself heavily because he wanted the project to work.[33] He received a $10–$11 million salary, plus 15% of the film's profits.[36][37][a]

Schwarzenegger hired Verhoeven as the director after being impressed by his science-fiction film RoboCop (1987), for which Schwarzenegger had been considered in the lead role.[31][30] Verhoeven had previously been courted by Shusett to direct the film based on his work on Soldier of Orange (1977), but Verhoeven declined then because he did not like science fiction.[31] Verhoeven accepted Schwarzenegger's offer after he read the Mars hotel scene where Dr. Edgemar attempts to convince Quaid he is still on Earth.[31] The director had wanted to avoid special effects-heavy films after RoboCop and said that he did not realize how much effects work would be involved.[30] Verhoeven requested Goldman be brought in to help with rewrites, as well as some core personnel from RoboCop including cinematographer Jost Vacano, production designer William Sandell, and special effects artist Rob Bottin.[38][39] By this point, approximately thirty drafts had been completed, credited to a combination of Shusett and either O'Bannon, Jon Povill, or Steven Pressfield, among others. Verhoeven read each one and highlighted those he wanted Goldman to reference.[39]

Goldman had little knowledge of Dick's work but tried to respect the source material and work of previous screenwriters.[40] He considered the second half of the film a concession to traditional Hollywood narratives and so retained most of the structure from Beresford's shooting script. Because the creative team wanted to commence soon, Goldman believed he did not have the freedom to make substantial changes to the script and focused on refining the existing content and making the scientific aspects more realistic. Verhoeven and Schwarzenegger agreed that everything after Dr. Edgemar's visit to Quaid on Mars was not working.[41][39] Verhoeven wanted a significant change, to indicate that Edgemar could be telling the truth and Quaid is actually having a mental breakdown on Earth. Goldman rewrote the script to make it possible for the film to be viewed as both reality and fantasy.[42] He also made Hauser an ally to Cohaagen, clearly defining Quaid and Hauser as separate identities.[43] Goldman believed that making Hauser evil would better justify Quaid not returning to his original personality. It would also explain why Hauser becomes Quaid: to conceal his intentions from the psychic mutants. Goldman made the Benny character a villain, because he believed African Americans were typically typecast as good characters and the reveal would be surprising.[44]

The script also had to be revised to match Schwarzenegger's action-hero public image, although Goldman tried to make it less comical than some of the actor's previous films.[41] The meek clerk Quaid became a muscle-bound construction worker, and fight scenes were re-written to include more feats of strength and less martial arts and running.[16][33] Second unit director and stunt coordinator Vic Armstrong, among other stunt people who had worked with Schwarzenegger on Conan the Barbarian (1982) and Red Sonja (1985), said that they knew what he could physically do without looking silly.[45] Schwarzenegger also wanted more creative methods to dispatch Quaid's foes because he had been criticized for an over-reliance on guns to kill people in films like Commando.[46] After Goldman's first rewrite, he discussed it with Verhoeven, Schwarzenegger, Shusett, Vajna, and Kassar. Schwarzenegger and Shusett believed the climax lacked emotion, which was an intentional choice by Verhoeven, who did not take the Martian rebel plot very seriously and prioritized the intellectual aspects of the narrative. To appease Schwarzenegger, Goldman conceived of Cohaagen shutting off the oxygen to the mutants in Venusville.[41] After nearly sixteen years in development, seven directors, four co-writers, and forty script drafts, Total Recall went into production.[47][48][13]

Cast and characters

A photograph of Michael Ironside
A black-and-white photograph of Roy Brocksmith
(Left to right) Michael Ironside (pictured in 2009) who portrayed Richter and Roy Brocksmith (date unknown) who played Rekall employee Dr. Edgemar

Verhoeven chose Michael Ironside to portray Cohaagen's henchman Richter. Ironside had previously auditioned for the lead in RoboCop and Verhoeven had also offered him the role of antagonist Clarence Boddicker, which he turned down because he did not want to portray another "psychopath" character following his role in Extreme Prejudice (1987). Ironside said he considered Richter more of a "sociopath", who had personal ambitions and covets Cohaagen's position.[46][49][3] Turning down a role on RoboCop and a separate film had created the impression that Ironside was difficult to work with, and so he had to complete an audition before being offered the role. In it, he portrayed someone having an emotional breakdown leading to him lying on the floor crying as Verhoeven moved in for a closeup shot.[3][50] Schwarzenegger believed Ironside's physical presence made him a credible threat to his portrayal of Quaid.[46] The female leads, Rachel Ticotin and Sharon Stone, were chosen in part for their athleticism, which was needed for the physically demanding roles.[13] Stone said that her physically formidable character resulted in the cast and crew treating her like she was "one of the guys", and that Ironside "was the one guy who never forgot I was a woman. When I was thrown down, he would help me up."[51]

Verhoeven's daughters were responsible for casting Benny, picking Mel Johnson Jr.'s screen test for the available options. He recounted having just finished filming a "horrible" black exploitation film when he read the Total Recall script and, after seeing Benny described as a "black jivester", he threw the script across the room. Nonetheless, he eventually read it through and decided to audition because he believed the character was more fully realized, saying "this guy is cold and calculating and the strong was intriguing."[10][7][52] Cox had previously worked with Verhoeven on RoboCop and traded on the actor's history of playing good-natured characters to make his villainous turn more impactful. Describing his portrayal, Cox said that he did not employ method acting but did try to understand how the character would feel and think and how he would react to situations and that would determine his performance. The character's hairstyle came about after Cox's hair was slicked-back in order to make a face mold for special effects purposes. Cox knew it was the right look and convinced Verhoeven to reshoot two days of Cox's scenes with the new style.[10][53] When Marshall Bell auditioned for the role, the script did not explain the relationship between George and Kuato and he was confused as to why George had so few lines. Although voice actors were considered for Kuato, Verhoeven decided to use Bell.[5] Verhoeven based the appearance and physicality of Brocksmith's Dr. Edgemar on the central scientist character portrayed by Paul Newman in Alfred Hitchcock's 1966 thriller Torn Curtain. He wanted an actor who looked "naive and strange and a bit weird."[54]

Filming

Mexico City Metro

Principal photography began filming between May and April 1989.[55][26] Filmed almost entirely in sequence—a rare feat—the production took place over twenty weeks.[10][7][34][56] The initial budget for Total Recall was reported as $30 million,[20] but the final budget is reported as being between $48 million and $80 million.[35][57][58][59][b] Aside from train station scenes shot at the Mexico City Metro, Total Recall was filmed at Estudios Churubusco in Mexico City, Mexico.[51][60][61][5] About 43 cast and up to 500 crew members worked on the production on forty-five sets across ten soundstages.[62][18]

Shusett and Goldman were present on set, providing additional rewrites where necessary; Goldman estimated the script was changed "less than one percent".[63] Verhoeven sometimes required up to twenty takes of scenes, but remained faithful to the script and discouraged improvisation. Even so, some scenes such as Benny's death lacked sufficient detail and in these cases dialogue was mostly improvised.[63][7][28] Although Verhoeven had been adamant he did not want a second unit director—having fired three of them on RoboCop—Armstrong ended up filming 1,200 different setups and all of the fight scenes; Verhoeven was happy with his work. Armstrong's first scene was filming Schwarzenegger drilling cement.[56]

Filming was beset by injuries and illness. Almost everyone involved suffered from dust inhalation on set, food poisoning and gastroenteritis from the local Mexican cuisine, except for Shusett and Schwarzenegger, who had his food brought from the United States after a negative experience while filming Predator in Mexico.[18][28] The illness compounded the difficulties Lycia Naff had filming her scenes as the three-breasted prostitute. She said she felt like crying because even though the breasts were artificial, she felt exposed in front of the cast and crew.[11] Schwarzenegger cut his wrist while smashing a train window after an explosive designed to pre-detonate the glass failed. His injuries were patched up and concealed by his jacket. He also suffered other minor cuts and broken fingers.[51][28]

Estudios Churubusco in Mexico City

Ironside cracked his sternum and separated two ribs after running into Michael Champion who was holding an Uzi during their pursuit of Quaid and Melina in a Martian hotel. Filming had to be paused while he recovered, as Richter was involved in most of the remaining scenes. After three weeks a producer asked that he return to filming but they could not obtain insurance unless Ironside performed fifty pushups. Despite the doctor's advice he attempted the feat and reinjured himself; after thirty pushups the doctor said it was sufficient. Ironside's first scene on his return involved him fighting Schwarzenegger on an elevator, but he struggled to lift his arm. The doctor had Oakland Raiders quarterback Jim Plunkett drop off a brace built for his own injury which held Ironside's chest in a stable position, although it made breathing difficult. Ironside filmed his scene over the remainder of the day, only being hit once accidentally by Schwarzenegger, who was cautious of his condition.[3] A separate fight between Stone and Ticotin was arranged to normally feature one of the actresses and one stuntperson because padding could not be concealed under their outfits. Verhoeven wanted the actresses to perform the fight stunts themselves but Armstrong insisted on using a stuntperson.[56]

Schwarzenegger was known for his pranks on the set, such as arranging styrofoam snowball fights and water pistol battles during dinners and booking parties as rewards to the crew for the six-day working weeks and practical stunts.[7][28][34] Even so, Ironside recounted how Schwarzenegger helped him stay in regular contact with his ill sister using the personal phone in his trailer, at a time before widespread use of mobile phones or internet access. Ironside later learned Schwarzenegger was regularly calling his sister to check on her.[3]

Music

The score was orchestrated by Jerry Goldsmith. The producers intended to have him record the score in Munich because the pay for musicians there was lower, but the players were unfamiliar with Goldsmith's style and the resulting score was disappointing. Instead, Goldsmith was given the funding necessary to record the score in London with the National Philharmonic Orchestra, who were more fitting to Goldsmith's musical intentions with brass and string instruments combined with electronics sounds. The recording was put on hiatus for three months so Verhoeven could have time to edit the special effects, during which Goldsmith recorded the score for Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990), before returning to finish his work on Total Recall. Goldsmith also performed the commercial jingles and elevator music heard in the film, and composer Bruno Louchouarn provided additional pieces heard on Mars.[64]

Special effects and design

Main article: Special effects of Total Recall

The development of the film's special effects was led by Dream Quest Images with Eric Brevig serving as the visual effects supervisor, Alex Funke as the special effects photographer, Thomas L. Fisher as special effects supervisor, production designer William Sandell.[65][66][62][67] and effects producer Mary Siceloff.[38] Rob Bottin, who previously worked with Verhoeven on RoboCop, provided the character visual effects.[5][3] Concept artist Ron Cobb and illustrator Ron Miller contributed to designs for technology, vehicles, and locations.[21][68][69] Additional effects were provided by Stetson Visual Services, Metrolight Studios,[66] and Industrial Light & Magic.[35]

Total Recall features over 100 visual effects, including miniatures and bluescreen effects.[38] The film was made at the onset of computer-generated imagery (CGI) which was not a suitable option for photorealistic or textured imagery and, while it was used sparingly, almost all of the special effects were done practically.[67] Total Recall features thirty-five sets across eight of Estudios Churubusco's soundstages.[65] The sets were expansive and connected by tunnels so long that they continued outside of the stage, making it was possible to drive between them on film.[10][50][49]

Expansive locations, including Martian exteriors, were created using miniature sets produced by Stetson in Los Angeles, and supervised by Mark Stetson and Robert Spurlock.[70] The sets were large, with the alien reactor being among the largest and most complex sets ever constructed in cinema, and the largest set built for the film. It had to be built vertically to fit on Dream Quest's stage. Even so, it was limited by the 25 ft high ceilings.[71][72][71] The Martian mountain set was also substantial, measuring 14ft tall and 46ft in diameter, with only the frontside constructed, allowing special effects to be operated from behind.[73][74]

Release

Context

See also: 1990 in film

Fifty films were scheduled for release during the summer theater season of 1990 (May 18–September 3), six of which were predicted to dominate the box office: Another 48 Hrs., Back to the Future Part III, Days of Thunder, Die Hard 2, RoboCop 2, and Total Recall. Apart from Die Hard 2, the films were all scheduled for release by the end of June to ensure a long theatrical run during the peak time of the year, and other releases were scheduled to avoid opening against them.[75] National polling in April that year showed audiences were most interested in Another 48 Hrs. and Die Hard 2.[75] The year was predicted to surpass the record $5 billion box office of 1989, with more films than ever expected to surpass $100 million box offices. At the same time, the importance of domestic box office grosses was decreasing as studios increasingly earned profits from home media releases, television rights, and markets outside of the United States and Canada. These growing markets were, in turn, inflating film production costs as stars commanded higher salaries to compensate for their international appeal, with Total Recall, Die Hard 2, and Days of Thunder among the most expensive films being released. Average salaries for male leads had also increased to between $7–$11 million.[75]

Initially scheduled for release on June 15, Total Recall's post-production schedule was rushed to move the film's release forward two weeks to avoid competition, particularly from Dick Tracy due to its cast of popular stars. Editor Frank J. Urioste worked overtime to complete Total Recall's 113-minute cut early.[76][63][35] This meant there was no time to test screen the film, which Verhoeven and Goldman believed worked against the finished product, including its third act.[63][35] The film also had to be trimmed to remove violent content and gore, including a longer version of Benny's death to avoid an X rating, which would have restricted attendance to audience members over the age of 17. Total Recall ultimately received an R rating, allowing younger people to see it when accompanied by an adult.[18][77]

Marketing

The initial trailer for Total Recall, made by distributor Tristar Pictures, disappointed Schwarzenegger and tested poorly with audiences. It lacked any of the film's action scenes or special effects and presented the film in a vague, dramatic way. Schwarzenegger believed it "cheapened" the film, saying "it looks like a $20 million movie in this trailer ... it's like a $50 million movie." He contacted Peter Guber, the head of Tristar's owner Sony Pictures Studios, who contracted a different company, Cimmaron/Bacon/O'Brien, to produce a new trailer focusing on the action and special effects; it fared much better with audiences and attracted praise from industry professionals such as Joel Silver.[28]

Box office

In the U.S. and Canada, Total Recall was released on June 1, 1990, in 2,060 theaters. The film earned $25.5 million—an average of $12,395 per theater—and finished as the number one film of the weekend, ahead of Back to the Future Part III ($10.3 million) in its second weekend and Bird on a Wire ($6.3 million) in its third. This figure gave it the highest opening weekend gross of the year to date, narrowly beating Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' $25.4 million, and making it one of the ten highest-grossing three-day opening weekends ever.[78][28][79][80][81] The film fell to number two in its second weekend with an additional gross of $15 million (a decline of forty-one percent), behind the debut of Another 48 Hrs. ($19.5 million), and to the number three position in its third week with an additional gross of $10.2 million, behind Another 48 Hrs. ($10.7 million) and the debut of Dick Tracy ($22.5 million).[82][83]

By mid-July, the film had earned over $100 million and was classified as a success.[84] During the remainder of its sixteen-weekend theatrical run, Total Recall never regained the number one position, leaving the top-ten highest-grossing films by the end of July.[85] Total Recall earned an approximate total box office gross of $119.4 million.[c] This figure made it the second-highest-grossing film of the summer, behind the surprise success of Ghost, and the seventh-highest-grossing film of the year behind The Hunt for Red October ($120.1 million), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ($135.3 million), Pretty Woman ($178.4 million), Dances with Wolves ($184.2 million), Ghost ($217.6 million), and Home Alone ($285.8 million).[86][16][87][88]

Figures are unavailable for all theatrical releases outside of the U.S. and Canada, but the film is estimated to have earned a further $142 million, giving it a cumulative worldwide gross of $261.4 million,[d] making it the fifth-highest-grossing film of the year, behind Dances with Wolves ($424.2 million), Pretty Woman ($432.6 million), Home Alone ($476.7 million), and Ghost ($517.6 million).[89][28][16][35] Taking into account production fees, interest, residual payments, and other costs, Total Recall is estimated to have returned $36 million in profit to the studio.[90][e]

Reception

Critical response

On its initial release, Total Recall received mixed reviews from professional critics, who generally praised the production values and Schwarzenegger's performance, but criticized the violent content.[35][91][92] Conversely, audience polls by CinemaScore reported moviegoers gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.[93]

Wilmington described it as a "better than average sci-fi premise" that did not know when it was becoming excessive.[94] Kempley praised the special effects but thought it was undermined by its meek ending and lacking as a science fiction film.[95] Variety's review wrote that the story was good, bolstered by a solid pace and sense of humor.[96] Travers and Wilmington found the concept of overwriting memories and identity to be a genuinely horrifying,[97][98] but Travers believed the film's third act abandoned any logic or artistic ambition. He continued that, while The Terminator (1984) would "haunt our dreams", Total Recall was a transitory summer blockbuster, describing the films as the difference between "myth-making and merchandising", respectively.[98] Ebert wrote that it was one of "the most complex and visually interesting science fiction movies in a long time."[99] Rosenbaum called it a "worthy entry in the dystopian" genre initiated by Blade Runner that avoided being derivative of its predecessors.[100] Wilmington found Total Recall was at its best when it was at its most excessive and satirizing conventions of the genre, but was lacking in terms of narrative structure, humor, and romance.[97] Steinmetz believed the otherwise elegant story was "suffocated" by the film's excess of "karate chops [and] knife slashes," particularly after the narrative shifts to Mars.[101] Siskel said that by the film's end, he was no longer concerned with issues of Quaid's identity, as the film became too mechanical and he was dismayed that a "potentially strong film lost its way."[102] Kempley wrote that the film tries to "confound us with its Kafkaism but is merely an overproduced, underpowered catalog for mayhem."[95] Maslin, Ebert, and Wilmington agreed that the film's best scene was the confrontation between Quaid and Rekall's Dr. Edgemar on Mars, in which the former learns everything he has experienced is potentially a dream.[94][99][97]

Many reviewers compared Total Recall to Verhoeven's previous work on RoboCop.[103][97][104] Howe said that any fun parts of Total Recall were the result of Verhoeven inserting some "RoboCop camp into this mega dumb project".[103] Maslin lamented that while RoboCop was a critique of mid-1980s action films, Total Recall lacked the same satiric content. She considered the film a step backward for Verhoeven after RoboCop, lacking the same "impudence and incandescence".[97] Glieberman said that Verhoeven excelled at satirizing "end-of-the-millennium entropy", describing Total Recall as a "more ballistic version of RoboCop" that mingles corporate villains with street-level criminals. Even so, he said that it was more uneven than RoboCop, describing it as a "reckless orgy of pop nihilism and state of the art slasher carnage ... like a post-punk version of an Indiana Jones-cliffhanger."[104] Kempley compared it unfavorably with the Sylvester Stallone action film Cobra (1986), saying it was disappointing in its overuse of violence and abandonment of cynicism and creativity for machoism and misogyny.[95]

Vincent Canby described Total Recall as part of an influx of action-adventure films depicting "extreme violence" and numerous deaths, counting seventy-four kills in the film and over two-hundred in Die Hard 2. He was critical that Total Recall depicted the deaths as comical.[105] Gene Siskel wrote that the plot gradually becomes a "violent, stunningly foul-mouthed enterprise", and Rita Kempley criticized the film for reveling in death and using "violence as a solution to everything".[102][95] Michael Wilmington believed the film would be too "brutal or coarse-tempered" for some audiences, as it was "too obsessed with violence."[97] Maslin criticized the "astronomical" number of deaths and the film's focus on "gruesome shootouts and sleazy Martian hangouts".[94] Wilmington noted that the violence and mutants never seemed to be depicted out of "sadism or callousness".[97]

Regarding Schwarzenegger's performance, Roger Ebert praised the actor for playing against type by allowing his character to be confused, vulnerable, and sympathetic. He believed his performance helped the film succeed, as the role of a man out of touch with reality made Total Recall more than an "action, violence, and special effects extravaganza".[99] Wilmington compared him to Rutger Hauer in Blade Runner, saying Schwarzenegger is "attractively vulnerable".[97] Maslin described Schwarzenegger's determination in creating a "patently synthetic yet surprisingly affable leading man".[94] Owen Glieberman said Schwarzenegger was at "his deadpan best", providing a "likable" central character with an "intense almost anguished edge".[104] Desson Howe considered it as among Schwarzenegger's "finest work", and Peter Travers called it the actor's most "provocative role" since The Terminator.[103][98] Even so, Travers said that though Verhoeven tries to connect the audience with Quaid's fears about his identity, the actor's "superman presence" and comic one-liners prevent the film from eliciting any real emotion. He also believed that despite the actor's "charm, humor, and boundless energy" he was incapable of connecting romantically with Stone's or Ticotin's characters.[98] Wilmington also believed that the one-liners did not fit the character or situation, and was critical that the script often forgot to emphasize Quaid's dual identity, with characters who knew him as Hauser, referring to him as Quaid.[97] Johanna Steinmetz said that Schwarzenegger's role was beyond his capability as an actor, forcing him to compensate with physical feats.[101] Rita Kempley described his performance as "unusually oafish ... a cross between Frankenstein's monster, a hockey puck, and Colonel Klink". She concluded that he was a "cartoon whose objective is to make violence fun".[95]

Glieberman praised Bottin as a "mad genius of the perverse" for his "extravagantly deranged creations", including the three-breasted prostitute and the mutants that gave Total Recall many of its unique visuals. Maslin described his work as "sometimes clever, sometimes gutwrecking special effects". Travers also liked Bottin's work, and Jost Vacano's cinematography.[98][104][94][66] Janet Maslin and Kempley were critical of the treatment of women in the film, who they perceived as "hybrid hooker-commandos" and "basically whores".[94][95] Maslin noted that the three-breasted prostitute is the film's idea of a "witty mutation".[94] Wilmington wrote that Ticotin "registers less strongly than Stone's ambiguous, blonde slut-wife".[97]

Accolades

At the 1991 Academy Awards, Total Recall won the award for Best Visual Effects (Eric Brevig, Rob Bottin, Tim McGovern, and Alex Funke). The film received a further two nominations: Best Sound (Nelson Stoll, Michael J. Kohut, Carlos Delarios, and Aaron Rochin) and Best Sound Effects Editing (Stephen Hunter Flick).[10][106] At the 44th British Academy Film Awards, the film received one nomination, for Best Special Visual Effects (losing to the comedy film Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989)).[107] At the 17th Saturn Awards, Total Recall was named Best Science Fiction Film.[108] It was also nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation (losing to fantasy romance film Edward Scissorhands).[109]

Post-release

Home media

Total Recall was released on VHS and LaserDisc on November 1, 1990; it was rushed out to take advantage of the Christmas season.[110][111][112][113] It was priced at $24.99, a relatively low figure compared to standard prices closer to $90, because audience research had shown a willingness to purchase the film due to its rewatchability. Although retailers normally avoided selling films with violent or sexual content, they were willing to stock Total Recall.[113] It was predicted to perform well as a purchase and rental.[110][111][112] It became one of the best selling titles of the year, in which purchases outperformed rentals for the first time. It was also one of the top rentals, trading the number one position back and forth with Pretty Woman.[114][115]

The film was first released on DVD in 2000. IGN criticized the initial release for poor image quality. It was followed by a special edition version in 2001 that included a commentary track with Verhoeven and Schwarzenegger and a documentary about the film's production, including its release and subsequent reaction.[116][117] A special Total Recall: Mind-Bending Edition Blu-ray was released in 2012 featuring a high-definition restoration from the original negative. This version included a new interview with Verhoeven and a comparison of the restored footage against the original.[118][119][4] For its 30th anniversary in 2021, the film was remastered as a 4K resolution Ultra HD Blu-ray (including a digital copy) based on a digital scan from the original 35mm film negatives under Verhoeven's supervision.[11] As well as content from the 2012 Blu-ray, this release introduced a 60-minute documentary about the success and failure of Carolco Pictures, and retrospectives on the film score, special effects, and production.[4] A separate 5-disc collectors edition was released with a double-sided poster, art cards, essays about the film and the score on compact disc (CD).[120]

Goldsmith's score was first released on CD in 1990 with 10 tracks. A deluxe edition was released in 2000 with 27 tracks.[121] Coinciding with the 30th anniversary, Quartet Records released the remastered soundtrack on a 2-CD and limited edition 3-Vinyl record set. The anniversary edition included the score plus alternates and source music, restored by Goldsmith's long-time sound mixer Bruce Botnick.[122]

Other media

A novelization of the film, written by Piers Anthony and based on the script and Dick's original novel, was released in 1990; it retains the original character name of Douglas Quail.[123] That same year, an action-platformer video game, Total Recall, was released for the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, and Nintendo Entertainment System, and Amiga, and Atari ST computers. A ZX Spectrum version was planned but cancelled once it was realized it could not be completed in time for the Christmas 1990 release date.[124] A comic book adaptation of the film was also released in 1990 by DC Comics.[125] A 2011 four-issue miniseries comic book was released by Dynamite Entertainment. Written by Vince Moore with art by Cezar Rezak, the series' narrative continues on from the end of the film, depicting Quaid dealing with a Mars still in chaos following Cohaagen's death.[126][127][128]

Themes and analysis

Themes

The main theme of Total Recall is the question of whether or not Quaid's experiences are real or a dream induced by his failed Rekall memory implantation. Despite the film's deviations from Dick's original story, both focus on this theme.[16] Verhoeven explicitly wanted both possibilities to be viable, although his personal preference is that Quaid's experiences are a dream. He explained "it's a dream, which is disturbing to the audience because they don't want that, of course. They want an adventure story, they don't want a fake adventure story. So they are on [Schwarzenegger's] side trying to believe that it's all true, while [Dr. Edgemar] is trying to tell him that it's not true."[42] Quaid chooses to believe in his reality and kills Dr. Edgemar.[42] Lori confirming that the Quaid persona is effectively a dream breaks down the barrier between reality and fantasy, leaving Quaid and the audience unable to definitively determine the reality of what they are experiencing.[129]

It is left up to the audience to determine what is real, and because of Schwarzenegger's public image as a superhuman action hero, the possibility remains that Quaid's adventures on Mars are real. Verhoeven said that re-watching the film can induce more doubt in the audience, particularly when the Rekall manager, Bob McClane, effectively outlines everything that will happen to Quaid after the memory implantation. During the same scene, Melina is shown on the Rekall screen before Quaid has met her.[130] At the film's end Quaid still questions if everything is a dream, and Melina suggests that he kiss her before he wakes up. Jason P. Vest said that by not including herself in Quaid's possible delusion, Melina both suggests and denies she is a creation of Quaid's fantasy.[131] Ironside stated that he believed the film is an analogue for manipulating reality for the common people through news and the media at the behest of those in power.[50] Bek Aliev wrote that this theme remains relevant in the age of social media, where the line between a person's average life and more curated online life becomes blurred.[132]

Another theme of Total Recall is the meaning of identity in a world where memories are commodities that can be erased or fabricated completely.[133] Vest contrasted this with Blade Runner in which memory is presented as a precious and vital component of the human experience, while in Total Recall memories can be easily removed, replaced, or revised and these changes are generally embraced. When Quaid learns that he is really Hauser, he affirms to himself "I am Quaid" and rejects the Hauser personality.[134]

David Hughes wrote that Quaid is not an altered version of Hauser but a completely separate personality with his own memories and morality. He contrasted Quaid with Blade Runner's replicants—artificial humans—except that it is Quaid's mind that is artificial. Quaid is forced to choose between returning to his original but antagonistic persona or remaining as the artificial but benevolent construct of Quaid. Hughes considered this an interesting moral choice and true to Dick's work.[43] Quaid is offered a chance at a better life by being restored to Hauser's higher social status, but will lose himself in the process.[44] Goldman considered Quaid's refusal to be the authentic choice because he did not believe someone would willingly and permanently give up their identity.[135] Noah Berlatsky wrote that as an everyday worker who desires grand adventures, Quaid is an audience stand-in. He considered the hologram projector that creates a duplicate image of Quaid to be akin to the audience viewing themselves through the phantom personality that is Quaid.[1]

The film presents a politically, morally, and visually unattractive future in which the Earth's locations are covered in brutalist, concrete architecture. Verhoeven specifically chose to use this style because he believed it suggested a cruel society indifferent to the suffering of the Martian colonists as long as terbinium ore mining continues. Mars is represented ubiquitously with various red hues, invoking associations with blood, danger, and a hellish domain.[136][137] The in-film Propaganda networks show reality being altered in real-time, as they brand the resistance as terrorists and describe the indiscriminate slaughter of them as restoring order with minimal use of force.[138]

Analysis

According to Jason P Vest, a Professor of English at the University of Guam, most political assessments of the film considered it left-wing for its anti-corporation and revolutionary message but Vest perceived a more conservative subtext in which the "white protagonist saves a society of the less well-off who cannot save themselves".[139] Vest identified Total Recall as one of many films produced throughout the 1980s—such as Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) and Predator—that were fronted by white male characters who "employ violence to preserve American righteousness, liberty, autonomy, and reinforce an idealistic American image of combating unnecessary bureaucracy, fascists, communists, and foreign and domestic threats". Schwarzenegger was a conservative and supported U.S. president Ronald Reagan which Vest opined made him "an unusual choice to portray the protagonist who liberates Mars from Cohaagen's dictatorship".[140]

Writing for SyFy, Stephanie Williams compared the privatization of air to the privatization of water sources in the real world by companies whose core incentive is to increase profits, as in the Flint water crisis. The mutants on Mars are the result of early colonists exposed to a toxic atmosphere because of cheap domes, and their offspring still serve Cohaagen, meaning the authorities have escaped any responsibility for their involvement. In the end, Cohaagen suffocates in a toxic atmosphere that he could have changed at any time.[141]

Linda Mizejewski, a Professor of Women's Studies at the Ohio State University, suggests that the name "Cohaagen" is supposed to sound Afrikaans and this, along with the character's links to the mining industry, is part of an analogy between Apartheid-era South Africa, in which there was a highly-prosperous mining industry, and sharply-defined class divisions, akin to those in the film between the mining executives and the ordinary, oppressed Martians.[142] Likewise, Aliev considered the relationship between the lower classes on Mars and the government to be analogous to real world colonial and post-colonial social structures, such as Apartheid. The technology that undermines the existing power structure is a metaphor for decolonization and championing the voices of the oppressed.[132] Vest believed Total Recall did not offer a positive representation of minorities, as Benny, the only important African American character, collaborates with Cohaagen and helps assassinate the Martian freedom fighter Kuato. Vest believed that his repeated references to having multiple children "reinforced stereotypes of African American men as irresponsible and promiscuous", and that "his alliance with Cohaagen presents the character as untrustworthy, selfish, and corrupt".[143]

Vest also identified sexist and misogynistic elements in the film. Many female characters in the film are presented as prostitutes or mutants, which he believed suggested that "femininity is a source of moral or physical deformity" in the film. Many female characters are violently killed throughout the film, such as Lori, who is dispatched while Schwarzenegger quips that she should "consider that a divorce". However, while Melina is sometimes reliant on Quaid to save her, both she and Lori are portrayed as effective fighters and Melina is essential to saving Quaid's life at the end.[144]

Legacy

Critical reassessment

Total Recall has been listed as among the best science-fiction films ever made by publications including IGN, Paste, Rotten Tomatoes, and Time Out.[145][146][147][148] Rotten Tomatoes also named it one of the 300 essential films to watch.[149] On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 83% approval rating from the aggregated reviews of 75 critics, with an average score of 7.4/10. The consensus reads, "Under Paul Verhoeven's frenetic direction, Total Recall is a fast-paced rush of violence, gore, and humor that never slacks."[150] The film has a score of 57 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 15 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[151] It is also listed in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.[152]

Shusett and Goldman have said they did not like aspects of the finished film: Goldman believed the film was too long and failed to make the audience care about the mutants, and he disliked the excessive swearing, violence, and deaths. He also felt the special effect of Schwarzenegger's and Ticotin's swelling heads went on too long. Shusett concurred, saying that he, Verhoeven, and Goldman regretted the rushed post-production cycle to beat Dick Tracy to theaters and the lack of test screenings to gain feedback. Goldman believed that the third act would have been re-edited to be "tighter".[63] Cronenberg said he was unimpressed by the film, blaming Schwarzenegger who he believed was not the right actor to play a shy and timid character.[22]

In a 2012 retrospective, Matt Singer said that although it contained anachronistic aspects such as outdated technology, Total Recall remained relevant, particularly in its themes of the oppressed fighting back against their oppressors, which he compared to the 2011 Occupy Wall Street movement.[153] Discussing the film in 2016, Tom Breihan described it as one of the best 1980s-style action films.[154] In 2020, The Guardian's Scott Tobias wrote that with hindsight Total Recall formed the middle of Verhoeven's unofficial science fiction action film trilogy about authoritarian governance, between RoboCop and Starship Troopers (1997).[138] Tobias and Singer considered the film to be one of Schwarzenegger's most entertaining and Quaid one of his best roles.[153][155][138]

Writing for Inverse, Ryan Britt said that Total Recall, not Blade Runner, was the best adaptation of Dick's work, despite its deviations from the source material. He argued that Blade Runner presented a stylish and cool future, whereas Total Recall presents an "ugly, banal, and grimy" future. Similarly, he believed Quaid's upbeat, amoral anti-hero protagonist was closer to Dick's traditional protagonists.[156] Even so, Bek Aliev wrote that "its weirdness and appreciation of dumb-fun" meant that it would probably never be as highly considered as films such as Blade Runner or 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).[132]

Cultural influence

The score for Total Recall is considered among the best work of composer Jerry Goldsmith (pictured in 2003).

Total Recall became one of the most expensive films ever made in its time, and one of the last big-budget films to use almost entirely practical special effects.[50][96][137] It is also seen as among the films responsible for a significant rise in the costs of film production because of the high salaries studios like Carolco paid to stars with international appeal such as Schwarzenegger, Stallone, and Mel Gibson, recouping their investment by selling their films to the rapidly growing film markets outside of the U.S. and Canada.[37][157] A 2020 article by Syfy also credited Total Recall as one of three action films, along with Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and True Lies (1994), that revived Schwarzenegger's career after a series of less successful action films such as Predator, The Running Man (1987), and Red Heat.[91][158] It also helped redefine Stone from a model to a legitimate film star.[159] Goldsmith's score for the film is considered to be among his finest work and, in his own words, one of his "greatest scores".[160][161]

The three-breasted prostitute is considered an iconic character from the film.[11][7] Quaid's line, "consider that a divorce", after killing Lori, is also considered to be among Schwarzenegger's most iconic one-line quips.[154][138][132] Total Recall's influence can be seen in films such as The Matrix (1999), in which the main character is convinced to consume a pill to return to reality, and The 6th Day (2000), also starring Schwarzenegger.[153][154][137][132]

Two lawsuits followed the film's release. John J. Goncz, a prop maker, sued for $3 million because he believed his credit was removed from the film because he refused permission for Carolco to merchandise a survival knife he made for the film. A separate suit, also for $3 million, was brought by the Southern California Consortium, who said Total Recall used animated sequences they had created for scientific videos about planets orbiting the sun. The outcomes of these lawsuits are unknown.[35]

Sequel and adaptations

Main articles: Total Recall 2070, Minority Report (film), and Total Recall (2012 film)

Total Recall's success led to development of a sequel. Goldman had optioned another of Dick's works, the 1956 novella The Minority Report, intending to direct it himself. Unable to make progress on that project, he and Shusett worked together on adapting The Minority Report into a Total Recall sequel in 1993, depicting Quaid as the head of an organization that uses mutants with precognition abilities to predict and stop crimes before they happen.[162][16][35] Carolco struggled to secure either funding or Schwarzenegger's interest and the studio fell into bankruptcy in early 1997 before it could move forward.[163][164][162] The television rights to Total Recall were bought by DFL Entertainment for $1.2 million to develop the television series Total Recall 2070 (1999).[59][165][166] The show, set entirely on Earth, was not based on the film and was described by author David Hughes as closer to a Blade Runner adaptation.[59][167] In the interim, Shusett and Goldman had removed the Total Recall elements from their script to develop it as a stand-alone film, eventually becoming Minority Report (2002).[16][162]

The film rights to Total Recall were bought by Dimension Films for $3.15 million at Carolco's bankruptcy auction.[59][165][166] The studio began development of a sequel, intending to bring back the principal cast, but not Verhoeven. Matt Cirulnick developed a script, but Shusett's original contract guaranteed him first draft rights to a sequel and he, based on an earlier agreement, was obliged to work with Goldman.[163][164][162][168][166] The pair's story continued from the end of Total Recall with Mars now an independent planet. The rebels explore Quaid's mind for Hauser's memories of a mind-control project. It featured several twists, including Quaid waking up at Rekall on Earth, and other hints that he is living within a dream.[168][169][170] Schwarzenegger became actively involved by 1998, but believed their idea was overly complicated.[171][164] Cirulnick wrote another draft, revealing that Hauser and Quaid are both fabricated personalities, and depicting the destruction of Mars to save Earth from a bomb placed in the Sun. This draft was well received by the studio, but he was asked to rewrite it to lower the budget.[162] Development eventually ceased as the studio was unable to secure a deal with Schwarzenegger, and a series of failed films had harmed them financially.[172][162]

The rights to Total Recall were eventually purchased by Columbia Pictures and a remake was announced in 2009.[173] Released in 2012, the film, also called Total Recall, starred Colin Farrell, Bryan Cranston, Kate Beckinsale, and Jessica Biel. Its plot follows elements of the 1990 film but omits Mars entirely, taking place on a mostly uninhabitable Earth.[174][175] The film failed to replicate the financial or critical success of the original.[176][177][178][92]

References

Notes

  1. ^ Arnold Schwarzenegger's estimated $10–$11 million salary, minus his share of film profits, is equivalent to $23.3 million–$25.7 million in 2023
  2. ^ The estimated budget of $48–$80 million is equivalent to $112 million–$187 million in 2023
  3. ^ The United States and Canada box office of $119.4 million is equivalent to $278 million in 2023
  4. ^ The worldwide 1990 box office of $261.4 million is equivalent to $610 million in 2023
  5. ^ Carolco Pictures is estimated to have earned $36 million in profit from the theatrical box office, equivalent to $84 million in 2023

Sources

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