LAB CLASSICS: TOTAL RECALL
— 30th anniversary —
This November we’re “getting our ass to Mars” as we are thrilled to announce the 4K 30th anniversary re-release, in association with Eye Filmmuseum, of Paul Verhoeven’s action-heavy science fiction masterpiece Total Recall. Loosely based on a short story by sci-fi staple Philip K. Dick and pairing Schwarzenegger, Verhoeven and visual effects master Rob Bottin (The Thing) at the height of their powers, Total Recall is an mind-bending rollercoaster and simply one of the best sci-fi classics ever made.
Paul Verhoeven on the new 4K restoration: “I’ve just seen the 4K presentation of my film and it’s absolutely wonderful what StudioCanal and the restoration team have done. There’s so much detail, it almost looks three dimensional. Bravo!”
In Paul Verhoeven’s wild sci-fi action movie Total Recall, Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a 21st-century construction worker who discovers that his entire memory of the past derives from a memory chip implanted in his brain. Schwarzenegger learns that he’s actually a secret agent who had become a threat to the government, so those in power planted the chip and invented a domestic lifestyle for him. Once he has realized his true identity, he travels to Mars to piece together the rest of his identity, as well as to find the man responsible for his implanted memory. Verhoeven has created a fast, furious action film with Total Recall, filled with impressive stunts and (literally) eye-popping visuals. Though the film bears only a passing resemblance to the Philip K. Dick short story it was based on (“We Can Remember It For You Wholesale”), the movie is an entertaining, if very violent, ride.
