TOTAL RECALL
RELEASED OUT NOW! 1990 | 18 | Blu-ray
Director Paul Verhoeven
Cast Arnold Schwarzenegger,
Rachel Ticotin, Sharon Stone, Michael Ironside Calling Total Recall “the thinking man’s action movie”, as co-writer Ronald Shusett does, is a bit much – you’re still likely to lose brain cells by watching it. But while expanding hugely on Philip K Dick’s original short story, it does retain its reality-questioning philosophical core.
Casting Schwarzenegger as the ordinary Joe who discovers a buried identity, takes a trip to Mars, and joins a mutant uprising undermines all attempts to question whether he’s really a secret agent. And Paul Verhoeven’s direction is typically crass: a hooker can’t just unveil three breasts, they must be groped in close-up. But Arnie’s likeability, the handsome production design and the strength of the central concept keep you hooked.
Extras This 4K restoration comes with a few new goodies. Audio of concept artist Ron Miller plays over a slideshow of work on an earlier draft, including fascinating designs for a Martian Sphinx (eight minutes). An effects piece (23 minutes) interviews the guys behind the miniatures and the X-ray sequence. “Total Excess” (59 minutes) is a film-by-film canter through production company Carolco’s output. “Open Your Mind” (21 minutes) sees three journos bore on about the score. A director/arnie commentary, period Making Of, and 2001 retrospective carry over from the DVD.