Movie Review: Total Recall

Paul Verhoeven’s Total Recall was and remains a revolution in science fiction filmmaking, both technically and substantively. Indeed, Verhoeven’s 1990 classic was even given a modern face-lift with the recent re-make of the film, with Colin Farrell stepping in for Arnold Schwarzenegger. Ultimately, it is the manner in which questions of identity and reality are filtered through futuristic vehicles of uncertainty that makes Total Recall a classic.

When Quaid first perceives himself as “Hauser,” the viewer is faced with a question of who to believe: is Quaid the actual Hasuer or is Hauser himself a kind of virtual reality projection stemming from Rekall’s service. It is within this uncertain context that the viewer is forced to experience Total Recall, which garners much of its dramatic tension from this oscillation between reality and perception. At various times in the film, the viewer asks him or herself whether it is possible that he or she is watching little more than an augmented reality projection or whether it is possible that the film itself amounts to something in between a virtual reality and reality itself. Indeed, the viewer cannot resolve these matters for him or herself, just as Hauser/Quaid cannot.

Through portraying the Schwarzenegger character’s struggles to not only come to terms with his own identity, but to also determine how he will position himself in the new world order in which he finds himself, the film challenges the viewer to consider the same considerations in his or her own life. In so doing, the film amounts to a commentary on the nature of science fiction storytelling in the modern age as a vehicle for illuminating identity. As Schwarzenegger’s character makes his way closer to the truth, so too does the viewer and, in so doing, the viewer considers where he or she stands in this brave new world and whether the benefits of inventions like Rekall are far outweighed by their risks.

Bibliography

Verhoeven, Paul, dir. Total Recall. 1990; USA: TriStar Pictures.