Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rachel Ticotin, Sharon
Stone, Ronny Cox
Directed by Paul Verhoeven
In the 21st
Century, Douglas Quaid is a lowly construction worker who repeatedly
has dreams of Mars, which Earth has inhabited through domed cities.
He wants to go there, but his loving wife objects. He learns of a
company called Rekall, who implant memories of trips to wherever you
want to go, and include an option to be whatever you want when you
"go there". Quaid opts to implant a secret agent who travels to Mars.
During the implementation, something goes wrong as it has been
discovered that his memories have already been blocked and there is
more to Quaid than meets the eye. Now everyone is out to get him and
he becomes embroiled in a nefarious plot that ultimately ends up with
him going to Mars as a secret agent. But is it real or part of the
memory implant?
Based on
the Philip K. Dick story "We Can Remember it for You Wholesale", this
is pulp science fiction at it's best. Director Verhoeven (ROBOCOP,
STARSHIP TROOPERS) takes things far over the top, and creates a
violent but fun and crazy action/adventure which is entertaining and
intruiging throughout. There are a lot of twists and turns, but never
a bad step taken. It's not as ponderous and deep as the other Dick
adaptation, BLADE RUNNER, but this wasn't going for that level. This
is strictly for entertainment, going for action and thrills, and on
that level this film delivers repeatedly.
Back to
Qwipster's Movie Reviews
<