Total Recall: A Timeless Sci-Fi Thriller
An ordinary construction worker seeks a thrill by opting for a virtual vacation to Mars, only to discover he might actually be a secret agent. “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale,” Philip K. Dick’s short story, revolves around a man in the 21st century yearning for a Martian adventure. He visits a company that implants false memories, but soon uncovers that he may have already been to the red planet as a special agent on a clandestine mission.
Dick’s story is straightforward: the man is indeed an agent who visited Mars. However, in Verhoeven’s adaptation, both the audience and the protagonist are left questioning reality. Is everything unfolding real, or is the character’s mind simply fracturing into paranoid delusions? In the early 90s, computer-generated special effects seemed to promise a new era of limitless imagination for Hollywood. Sadly, technology couldn’t compensate for the lack of creativity in most directors.
Verhoeven’s visionary approach, however, shines through. The crimson Martian landscapes, the transformation of a hefty woman into Schwarzenegger, and the subterranean city teeming with bizarre inhabitants remain strikingly fresh. These visuals perfectly complement the hallucinatory nature of the plot, and two decades haven’t diminished their impact.