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Total Recall is a sci-fi action movie released in 1990, which features Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sharon Stone, Rachel Ticotin, Ronny Cox, and Michael Ironside, and is directed by Paul Verhoeven. The film is based upon a short story by Phillip K. Dick entitled “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale.” Dick’s works have also inspired such science fiction films as Blade Runner (1982) and Screamers (1995). The screenplay was co-written, in part, by Dan O’Bannion and Ronald Shusett, who also collaborated to write Alien (1979).

Total Recall is the futuristic story of construction worker, Douglas Quaid (Schwarzenegger), who continually dreams of Mars and a mysterious brunette (Rachel Ticotin). Since a trip to Mars is out of the question because his wife, Lori (Stone), hates the planet and the Mars colony is under constant rebellion, he consults ReKall, a company that offers false memories at affordable prices.

Despite rumors of ReKall customers experiencing psychotic episodes and almost being lobotomized, Quaid purchases memories of a trip to Mars with the added option of being a secret agent on that trip. He answers questions so that ReKall can tailor the memory experience to his preferences and is sedated so that the implantation process can begin. However, a problem occurs in the procedure, as we see a near-psychotic Quaid strapped into the implant device, claiming that ReKall had blown his cover and that his name is NOT Quaid. The ReKall workers sedate Quaid while they try to figure out what’s going on.

The story reaches a fork at this point, as it can be interpreted in two ways:

1, Quaid WAS a secret agent from Mars who had been dumped on Earth with fake memories to keep him under control.

OR

2. Quaid is experiencing the ReKall vacation memories that he’d paid for, as the secret agent option was described in a way eerily similar to the plot of the film.

Quaid awakens in a cab with no memory of what has happened, and is dropped off at a subway station. From that point on, all Hell breaks loose. First, Quaid is almost killed by co-workers who claim he “blabbed about Mars”. Then he returns to his apartment and is attacked by his wife. After she is subdued, she claims that their marriage is a sham set up by Mars Intelligence and that most of what he remembers comes from memory implants. Unfortunately, she knows little else. (Quaid: “Who am I?” Lori: “Beats me. I just work here.”) As he is interrogating her, he notices a group of men heading up to the apartment, being lead by Richter (Ironside), who is apparently with Mars Intelligence. After a particularly bloody chase and gun battle, Quaid escapes on the subway.

Quaid then checks into a hotel and receives a strange call. That call is from a man claiming that they’re old buddies from Mars Intelligence and that he’s got a briefcase for him. (The man says he had been told that if Quaid disappeared, he was to find Quaid and return the briefcase) Inside the case, Quaid finds money, electronic devices, identification cards, and a video of a man who looks VERY familiar, except he calls himself Hauser instead of Quaid. (Hauser: “Whatever your name is, get ready for the big surprise. You are not you, you are me.” Quaid “No shit…”) Hauser then tells Quaid that he had been an agent for Mars Intelligence, handling all the dirty work for Vilos Cohaagen (Cox), the dictatorial head of the Mars colony. However, he had met someone who changed the way he thought about things, causing him to work against Cohaagen. (“Hauser: “Unfortunately, if you’re watching this, Cohaagen got to me first”) Hauser then tells Quaid that he needs to go to Mars, where he can help the resistance overthrow Cohaagen with all the knowledge that is somewhere in his brain.

I can’t go any further without seriously spoiling the plot, but I’ll say that this movie contains almost non-stop action and plot twists from when Quaid arrives on Mars until the end.

The movie as a whole gets a B for being an entertaining action movie, as opposed to some by “stars” Jean-Claude Van Damme and Steven Segal, as well as having an intriguing plot.

Video: This Special Edition DVD is shown in its original aspect ratio of about 1.85:1 and is enhanced for 16:9 televisions, which makes it an improvement over the non-enhanced DVD released in about 1997. The movie has very few noticeable scratches or grain, but the black tones of the film vary from scene to scene. In some scenes, they appear to be as dark as the widescreen bars, but they are closer to blue than black in others.

Sound: This release of the film contains a newly remastered 5.1 sound mix as well as the original 2.0 Dolby Digital tracks.

Subtitles: This film contains subtitles in English, French, and Spanish.

Extras: This Special Edition contains numerous extras, which I will break down by category.

Audio: There is a feature commentary supplied by star Arnold Schwarzenegger and director Paul Verhoeven.

Video clips: This DVD includes a 30 minute documentary entitled “Imagining Total Recall”, a 5 minute featurette entitled “Visions of Mars”, three comparisons of storyboarded scenes to actual footage, six minutes of advertising for the film (theatrical trailers, teasers, and TV spots), and a set of ReKall “Virtual Vacations.”

“Imagining Total Recall” is better than the typical documentary about a film, as the road to making Total Recall was rather complicated. For one thing, the script had been floating around Hollywood for around a decade before being used. Another would be the fact that the film had started into production with Patrick Swayze in the lead role, but was terminated when the independent studio making the film went bankrupt.

Video stills: There are two sets of photo galleries included. One is of storyboards and artist conceptions used to create the movie, the other is of backstage photographs.

Overall, I think that this Special Edition is very good, as it is far superior to the featureless version I bought in late 1998. The grade for the set would be a B+ or recommended, depending upon the ratings scale that is adopted.

Barring a huge negative response, the next reviews I’ll submit should be Army of Darkness (Anchor Bay’s standard edition and Director’s Cut), Phantasm: Special Edition, and Die Hard: 5 Star Collection.