"Total Recall" delivers an abundance of violence and gore, yet despite moments where the imagery feels excessive – such as Quaid’s, Melina’s, and Cohaagan's deaths by poisonous Martian air; the casualties among people caught up in shooting scenes; dismemberment; stabbings and impalements – the film is skillfully presented and consistently engaging due to Paul Verhoeven’s direction. The movie moves along at a good cli…

This film has a similarity to *Saw*, with its graphic depictions of violence... but surprisingly, the extreme gore actually works very well within the narrative, making for a highly enjoyable experience, even when it’s so obviously reminiscent of 1980s movies that it borders on being humorous. The excessive brutality is an integral element of this kind of film. It's one of the reasons people enjoy them... and it r…

This film might be my top pick alongside "Predator" (1987) when considering Arnold Schwarzenegger’s work. The story centers around him ("Quaid"), who gets a seemingly innocent memory implant of a Mars vacation he never actually took, and then his life rapidly begins to fall apart. Even his girlfriend, "Lori" (played by Sharon Stone), turns out to be trying to kill him, and he finds himself targeted from multiple dire…

Paul Verhoeven’s adaptation of a P. K. Dick story is just wild. Doug Quaid has these repeating dreams about going to Mars, and despite his friends telling him not to, he decides to get a memory implant for a Martian vacation. But during the procedure, he recalls that he's actually a secret agent battling the evil Mars boss Vilos Cohaagen. Things are about to become incredibly chaotic on an intergalactic scale. …

Paul Verhoeven’s _Total Recall_ remains something I enjoyed even though I likely watched it at an age when I shouldn't have, and it continues to be a film I appreciate. It delivers the practical effects, striking displays of violence and nudity, and thought-provoking science fiction elements that are typical of this kind of movie, but with unexpected plot developments beginning very early on and continuing until the …