"I can keep going on and on and on about this highly entertaining sci-fi actioner, the type moviegoers like to call a "thinking man's action movie." There's a great deal more happening in Paul Verhoeven's Total Recall, and I can spend hours picking the whole thing apart. In Quaid's fantasy for creating purpose out of the mundane, he is the ultimate working-class hero, defeating those who profit from the lives and material labor of others. He wields his power to suppress the lower class by controlling the basic essentials for a decent life, like oxygen, all of which is represented by the mutants of Mars, a lovely David Cronenberg contribution. Investigating its origins reveals the manipulation of a major corporation by the wealthy elitist Cohaagen (Ronny Cox). Arguably, the visit to Rekall, a company that implants fake memories, accidentally makes him conscious of this illusion. Quaid is a regular Joe suddenly growing apathetic at the monotony in his bourgeoisie existence, possibly feeling it's all just an illusion. Most fascinating are a class struggle theme and secret desires for a meaningful life cleverly underscoring the violent mayhem moving the plot. "Aside from the nostalgic fondness, the script by Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett, the same pair that penned another sci-fi classic in Alien, also landed with some highly intriguing concepts. An excerpt from my recent review of the movie:
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