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Now In Theaters
76
(500) Days of Summer
60
9
17
All About Steve
37
Amelia
53
Astro Boy
66
Bandslam
45
Box, The
61
Capitalism: A Love Story
55
Christmas Carol, A
43
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
66
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
29
Collector, The
23
Couples Retreat
80
District 9
61
Extract
39
Fame
xx
Fantastic Mr. Fox
30
Final Destination, The
34
Fourth Kind, The
60
Funny People
32
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
27
Gamer
41
G-Force
39
Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, The
46
Halloween II
73
Hangover, The
78
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
55
I Can Do Bad All By Myself
66
Informant!, The
69
Inglourious Basterds
58
Invention of Lying, The
47
Jennifer's Body
66
Julie & Julia
34
Law Abiding Citizen
33
Love Happens
54
Men Who Stare At Goats, The
67
Michael Jackson's This Is It
51
My Sister's Keeper
42
Orphan
28
Pandorum
63
Perfect Getaway, A
86
Ponyo![]()
35
Post Grad
48
Proposal, The
30
Saw VI
53
Shorts
24
Sorority Row
83
Star Trek![]()
33
Stepfather, The
45
Surrogates
55
Taking Woodstock
47
Time Traveler's Wife
96
Toy Story/Toy Story 2 3D![]()
35
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
28
Ugly Truth, The
88
Up![]()
71
Where the Wild Things Are
67
Whip It
28
Whiteout
73
Zombieland
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Limited Releases
Now In Theaters
58
(Untitled)
96
35 Shots of Rum![]()
56
Adam
72
Adela
39
Adventures of Power
78
Afghan Star
61
After the Storm
66
Afterschool
xx
All the Best
58
American Casino
72
Amreeka
48
Antichrist
73
Araya
62
Art & Copy
55
As Seen Through These Eyes
76
Baader Meinhof Complex, The
86
Beaches of Agnes, The![]()
13
Beautiful Life, A
70
Beeswax
35
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
71
Big Fan
66
Black Dynamite
51
Blind Date
xx
Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly
76
Bliss
35
Blue Tooth Virgin, The
26
Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
57
Boys Are Back, The
45
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
81
Bright Star![]()
70
Bronson
45
Burning Plain, The
xx
Carriers
55
Casi Divas
57
Chelsea on the Rocks
62
Cloud 9
65
Coco Before Chanel
69
Cold Souls
59
Collapse
44
Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha
82
Cove, The![]()
75
Crude
82
Damned United, The![]()
67
Departures
xx
Dil Bole Hadippa
71
Disgrace
xx
Do Knot Disturb
70
Earth Days
24
Eating Out 3: All You Can Eat
85
Education, An![]()
55
Endgame
xx
Eulogy for a Vampire
xx
Everyone Else
xx
Fatal Promises
56
Fifty Dead Men Walking
62
Five Minutes of Heaven
74
Flame & Citron
49
Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
80
Food, Inc.
28
Free Style
xx
From Mexico with Love
50
Fuel
25
Gentlemen Broncos
50
Give Me Your Hand
58
Gogol Bordello Non-Stop
72
Good Hair
89
Goodbye Solo![]()
52
Grace
66
Harmony and Me
81
Headless Woman, The![]()
xx
Heretics, The
63
Horse Boy, The
73
House of the Devil, The
xx
How to Seduce Difficult Women
74
Humpday
94
Hurt Locker, The![]()
29
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
16
If One Thing Matters: A Film About Wolfgang Tillmans
75
In Search of Beethoven
83
In the Loop![]()
61
Intimate Enemies
42
Irene in Time
70
It Might Get Loud
46
Killing Kasztner
19
Labor Day
xx
Laila's Birthday
41
Little Ashes
41
Little Traitor, The
66
Liverpool
34
Looking for Palladin
80
Lorna's Silence
83
Maid, The![]()
xx
Ministers, The
59
More Than a Game
67
Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, The
34
Motherhood
62
My One and Only
xx
Mystery Team
48
New York, I Love You
73
Night and Day
66
No Impact Man
47
Ong Bak 2: The Beginning
34
Other Man, The
xx
Painter Sam Francis, The
54
Paper Heart
xx
Paradise
68
Paranormal Activity
68
Paris
44
Peter and Vandy
35
Play the Game
77
Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
xx
Pretty Ugly People
65
Providence Effect, The
76
Rembrandt's J'accuse
69
September Issue, The
79
Serious Man, A
40
Shrink
61
Skin
77
Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake, A
xx
Skiptracers
46
Splinterheads
39
St. Trinian's
89
Still Walking![]()
50
Stoning of Soraya M., The
55
Storm
65
Tetro
70
That Evening Sun
72
Thirst
xx
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D (re-release)
61
Trucker
xx
Turning Green
83
U2 3D![]()
66
Unmade Beds
66
Unmistaken Child
70
Visual Acoustics
55
Walt & El Grupo
67
Way We Get By, The
69
We Live in Public
64
Wedding Song, The
64
Where is Where?
xx
White on Rice
74
Woman in Berlin, A
69
World's Greatest Dad
70
Yes Men Fix the World
69
Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
xx
You, the Living
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Total Recall

Mixed or average reviews
Based on 17 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 10 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Suspense/Thriller
Written by:
Philip K. Dick (short story We Can Remember It For You Wholesale)
Ronald Shusett
Dan O'Bannon
Jon Povill
Directed by: Paul Verhoeven
Release Date:
Theatrical: June 1, 1990
DVD: September 8, 2001
Running Time: 113 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R
Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rachel Ticotin, Sharon Stone, Ronny Cox, Michael Ironside, Marshall Bell, Mel Johnson Jr., and Michael Champion
Doug Quaid (Schwarzenegger), a construction worker with a beautiful wife (Stone) and home in in the year 2084, decides to take a virtual vacation to Mars as a secret agent. When things go wrong during the aritificial memory implantation process, Quaid becomes reacts violently and must figure out if his life as Quaid or as the secret agent is his true life.
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Basic Instinct Black Book Hollow Man Robocop Showgirls Starship Troopers
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
One of the most complex and visually interesting science fiction movies in a long time.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
Starts out as mind-bending futuristic satire and then turns relentless -- it becomes a violent, postpunk version of an Indiana Jones cliff-hanger.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
A worthy entry in the dystopian cycle of SF movies launched by "Blade Runner" (including "The Terminator" and "Robocop"), this seems less derivative than most of its predecessors yet equally accomplished in its straight-ahead storytelling, with plenty of provocative satiric undertones and scenic details.
Read Full Review >Time Richard Corliss
Fast, witty, glamorous, with thrill piling on giggle atop gasp. [11 June 1990, p.85]
Los Angeles Times Michael Wilmington
If the movie sometimes seems overwhelmed by its budget and its legendary third-act problems, it's still entertainingly raw and brutal, full of whiplash pace and juicy exaggeration. [1 June 1990, Calendar, p.F-1]
Variety Staff (Not Credited)
The fierce and unrelenting pace, accompanied by a tongue-in-cheek strain of humor in the roughhouse screenplay, keeps the film moving like a juggernaut.
Read Full Review >Empire Kim Newman
Top-flight muscleman entertainment that is not afraid to have a brain or two in its head.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
A first-rate action movie, slickly done and with so many imaginative bonuses that, for a time, it feels like a classic in the making. It's not, but it's still solid and entertaining [1 June 1990]
USA Today Mike Clark
Both female roles are unexpectedly meaty, so much so that the film loses something once the far more lively Stone is dispatched. Hour one (more satirical) is better all around, though the falloff isn't fatal. [1 June 1990, Life, p.2D]
Chicago Tribune Johanna Steinmetz
From first to last frame, Total Recall is in your face. Its rather elegant little science-fiction story is as suffocated as the Martians are. The director has violated his own movie, going so far over the top he's still out there-weightless. [1 June 1990, Friday, p.C]
ReelViews James Berardinelli
An "intelligent" action film, because it presents the viewer with an opportunity to puzzle things out rather than sit mindlessly and watch people get blown to pieces.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Elvis Mitchell
Mr. Verhoeven is much better at drumming up this sort of artificial excitement than he is at knowing when to stop.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
The plot, based on a Phillip K. Dick story, is ingenious; and Arnold Schwarzenegger brings an effective blend of machismo and innocence to his role. Too bad director Paul Verhoeven lets brainless violence and tricky special effects swamp the cleverness of the tale itself. [22 June 1990, Arts, p.10]
TV Guide Staff (Non Credited)
Ugly, stupid, loud, offensive, and pointlessly violent--let's not mince words--this film should be called "Total Reject."
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
Actually, any fun you might encounter in Recall can be traced, most often, to director Verhoeven, who injects some of his "Robocop" camp into this mega-dumb project.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jay Scott
Guilty of gross mellerdrammer & innocent of sophistication... Guilty of being dumber than WWF wrestling & innocent of hypocrisy about its cartoon violence.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Rita Kempley
The overall effect is like wading through hospital waste. Verhoeven, who also directed the maliciously stylistic "Robocop," disappoints with this appalling onslaught of blood and boredom.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.8 (out of 10) based on 10 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Tom V. gave it a10:
An intricate and clever plot, with cinematography that will keep you riveted. Perhaps the most intelligent movie starring Schwarzenegger ever.
[Anonymous] gave it a7:
The plot and concept are brilliant. I could almost say that this was a proto-Matrix. The political themes also seem a bit relevant in today's context, and may forshadow future issues in space colonization, and maybe colonization altogether. Action's nice. Sadly, some effects, once oscar winning, haven't held up over time. If today's FX were available back then, and the disturbing, bio-freaky parts kept to a minimum, this film would be damn near perfect, and it would get a nine. It's a miracle that T2, Arnold's peak, still looks awesome today, FX and all.
Andrew M. gave it an 8:
I'm going to bump up the average rating of this a little... I saw this when it was first released, back when I was a teenager, and it was some of the greatest fun I ever had at the movies. Not to be taken too seriously, the film does do some mild sermoning, but it's true strengths and attractions lie in its (at the time) groundbreaking effects and the futuristic other-world atmosphere. Not to mention some of the star-trekish characters who pop-in now and again. It's possibly not as effective these days in light of the leaping bounds made with special effects, but 13-14 years ago this film was huge!!!
Pat C. gave it a 7:
Damn good plot construction and storytelling. Makes the relativity of memory continuum a simple and accessible science fiction device. Borrows heavily from a slew of Hollywood genre so as to be a totally original creation made from components we're already comfortable with. Went on to perennial reruns on cable, where creative story line and clear plot execution rule. As contemplation of the hazards of artificially manipulated thought process, Robocop & Blade Runner are much more substantial, but this lesser concoction has stood the test of time as a reliable lower-common-denominator marketing war horse. Little of substance, but this is how good films are put together. The most memorable moments are the scary-in-their-authenticity interactions of Cox & Ironside as CEO and subordinate loose cannon, best viewed off-cable in their unsanitized glory. In the end, the film is haunted by an underlying silliness. Like its women, it turns out to be both demure and sleazy, although it contains an eye-popping rendition of the hypothetical effects of space vacuum on the human body.
Yoon C. gave it a 3:
Sharon Stone is hot, the other woman is not. Schwarzenegger is yet again typically Schwarzenegger in what is Verhoeven's umpteenth moronic action film which a few critics have defended as a post-modernist self-subversive exercise. This strikes me as examinging one's own feces and thinking it has value because it's been played with. I leave this kind of appraisal to critics with the sensibilities of proctologists.
