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THE WONDROUSLY WEIRD WORLD OF PHILIP K. DICK: Arnold Schwarzenegger in a far more complex and sympathetic role than the original Terminator had allowed him. Dick’s unique vision, augmented with remarkable F/X and elaborate action, created a more commercial project than that edgy author could ever have dreamed of. Courtesy: Carolco/Tri-Star.
CREDITS
Carolco Pictures; Paul Verhoeven, dir.; Philip K. Dick, story; Ronald Shusett, Dan O’Bannon, Jon Povill, Gary Goldman, scr.; Shusett, Buzz Feitshans, Andrew G. Vajna, pro.; Jerry Goldsmith, mus.; Jost Vacano, cin.; Carlos Puente, Frank J. Urioste, ed.; William Sandell, prod. design; José Rodríguez Granada, James E. Tocci, art dir.; Erica Edell Phillips, costumes; Ron Cobb, conceptual artist; Rob Bottin/The Bottin Effects Crew, F/X; Eric Brevig, B. J. Rack, visual effects; 113 min.; Color; 1.85:1.
Arnold Schwarzenegger (Douglas Quaid/Hauser); Rachel Ticotin (Melina); Sharon Stone (Lori); Ronny Cox (Cohaagen); Michael Ironside (Richter); Marshall Bell (George/Kuato); Mel Johnson Jr. (Benny); Michael Champion (Helm); Roy Brocksmith (Dr. Edgemar); Ray Baker (McClane); Rosemary Dunsmore (Dr. Lull); David Knell (Ernie); Alexia Robinson (Tiffany); Dean Norris (Tony); Debbie Lee Carrington (Thumbelina); Robert Picardo (“Johnnycab,” voice only).
MOST MEMORABLE LINE
If I am not me, then who the hell am I?
DOUG QUAID TO HAUSER
BACKGROUND
The success of their Alien screenplay convinced Ronald Shusett and Dan O’Bannon to expand on the Philip K. Dick short story “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale,” originally published in 1966. This project had floundered for years. Studio bosses believed that, in the wake of the old-fashioned space-fantasy fun of Star Wars, such a thematically complicated piece would prove too obscure for a wide audience, particularly after the critical and commercial failure of Dune (1984). Mega-producer Dino De Laurentiis temporarily came on board. He wanted to cast Richard Dreyfuss, in the hopes that this film would serve as an unofficial follow-up to Close Encounters (1977). Bruce Beresford was briefly mentioned as a potential director. Then came David Cronenberg, who hoped to make Total Recall a more modest, artful, “serious” film, starring William Hurt, with a script that was scrupulously faithful to Dick’s vision. When ending that relationship, Shusett stated: “No, no, we want to do Raiders of the Lost Ark Go to Mars.”
When the rights to the piece opened up once more, Schwarzenegger negotiated a deal whereby Carolco Pictures would develop the work as a vehicle for his muscleman screen image. A fan of RoboCop, who at one point had been considered for that film’s lead, Schwarzenegger, though not listed in the credits as a producer, controlled almost every element of the embryo project, and he insisted that Verhoeven direct the film. The team then hired special effects wizard Rob Bottin and other key members of his RoboCop team. For the forty-third script go-around, Gary Goldman came on board to create the third act that would wrap up all the diverse narratives, both those implicit in Dick’s classic and others added along the way.
Frightful dreams about adventures on Mars with a beautiful mystery woman, Melina, haunt Doug Quaid, a construction worker living in 2084. When Doug attempts to convince his gorgeous, seemingly loyal wife, Lori, that they ought to vacation on that colonized planet, she argues against it, suggesting Saturn as a more appealing destination. Then Doug spots an advertisement for ReKall, a company that has developed technology to implant memories within a person’s mind, allowing one the satisfaction of having experienced events that never happened. Doug opts for the Mars trip, with himself cast as a secret agent. During the implantation process, something goes terribly awry. As it turns out, Doug is not Doug but someone named “Hauser,” who actually did serve as a government assassin on the Red Planet. The false memories Doug wishes to enjoy are actual memories of his alter ego, making a successful memory implant impossible. Special forces are dispatched to capture Doug, or Hauser, or whoever he may be. His only hope: travel to Mars and live out his wildest fantasies—perhaps for the second time.
THE FILM
If RoboCop had pushed all the buttons as to the issue of violence in a mainstream sci-fi film, Total Recall in comparison makes that previous work of Verhoeven resemble Spielberg’s E.T. The final cut (originally rated X until several shots were deleted or altered) contained grotesque F/X, intensely rough language, abundant nudity and sexual material, radical left political views, a demanding ideology, and graphic violence on a level previously unseen in a major studio project. At the time of release, the investors were concerned as to whether they would recoup their then-hefty $65+ million outlay. When Total Recall returned close to $270 million at the box office, Hollywood realized that Blade Runner had not been an anomaly: disturbing dystopian future films, characterized by intense violence, clearly could now succeed. This was the “new normal,” the public flocking to a movie that would have been written off as offensive to middlebrow sensibilities less than a decade earlier. Total Recall laid the foundation for such future classics as V for Vendetta (2005), altering the shape of sci-fi.
THEME
Far ahead of his time, Dick dared address such issues as the questionable morality of mega-corporations, our society’s ruthless exploitation of the working class and the underclass by raw capitalists, and the subjectivity of all existence, from an individual’s personality to the surrounding cosmos. His ability to collapse metaphysics and theology into a singular vision crystallized the long-standing yin and yang interests in science and spirituality that have defined this genre from its outset. Also, Dick was among the first to explore now widely accepted ideas such as alternate history and paranoid schizophrenia as the only “normal” reaction to an entirely insane world.
TRIVIA
The day-after-tomorrow underground subway system did not have to be built because Mexico’s existing underground almost perfectly suited the filmmakers’ needs. Only the TV monitors were added for an even more futuristic look—one that has, from our own perspective, become a part of daily urban travel. Though the creative team chose miniatures over computer-generated effects due to the still primitive appearance of CGI, a mere two years later, the CGI look had advanced so radically that F/X experts embraced it. Total Recall, then, was one of the final films shot in the endearing miniature style.