Paul Verhoeven has made a name for himself as a director willing to go to the edge – and over it – in the pursuit of his cinematic vision. The results often veer into cartoon, and with the attachment of Arnold Schwarzenegger -- perhaps today’s most cartoonlike mainstream actor – there was a likely danger that Total Recall would be no more than a loud, oversized summer movie, to be forgotten when the leaves begin to turn red.   But Philip K. Dick’s ideas on the true nature of reality (in this case from his story “I Can Remember It For You Wholesale”) have elevated the film to a near-classic in the genre; although it does not reach the level of   Blade Runner, inspired by Dick’s “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” it has far more depth than most other genre films, lending several levels to its ruminations on what constitutes reality.  Artisan’s “Special Edition” DVD finally does justice to its ideas, and its anamorphic presentation easily trumps both the previous non-anamorphic 1998 DVD and 1991 laserdisc.   The physical package is the only negative.

Film Synopsis: Arnold Schwartzenegger is an Earthbound construction worker who keeps having dreams about Mars. A trip to a false memory transplant service for an imaginary trip to Mars goes terribly wrong and another personality surfaces. When his old self returns, he finds groups of his friends and several strangers seem to have orders to kill him. He finds records his other self left him that tell him to get to Mars to join up with the underground. The reality of the situation is constantly in question. Who is he? Which personality is correct? Which version of reality is true?

Technical

Video:	Widescreen 1.85:1 (Anamorphic)
Audio:	ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 [CC] ENGLISH: Stereo
Subtitles:	English, Spanish, French

This is the presentation that the film has been due since its 1991 release on laserdisc.   Red has always been the most problematic color for delivery mechanisms such as DVD, and reds – the dominant color of the film – here are solid, with no speckle or unsteadiness.  The picture is letterboxed at 1.85:1, appearing on a 16x9 widescreen monitor with no black bars.  Compared to the previous widescreen releases, the image shifts slightly to the right side, but all compositions appear correct.  The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound is near-demonstration quality, with a powerful subwoofer kick and a lot of 3D presence in the rear channels.

It is to the credit of the film – one of the last pre-CGI effects movies -- that weaknesses that would doom a lesser movie here aren’t noticeable, or at least do not jar the viewer out of the film.  There are illogical contrivances, scientific absurdities, and holes large enough to drive a mole vehicle through.   It was not before we watched the film with the commentary – an act that greatly distances a film by separating the visual from audio cues – that we saw several outrageous cases (later satirized in Austin Powers) of the villain holding a gun on the hero for long minutes as he (the villain) explains what he’s planning to do once the hero is out of the way.  In normal viewing, the film’s momentum hides these expository scenes from notice.

The DVD begins with a 30-second promo clip for Artisan Entertainment (sadly, this looks like a trend), which can be skipped if you’re fast on the Chapter Skip button. Menus are 3-D animated along the lines of The Abyss and Independence Day (see image list), and are logically laid out. The only negative is that the animation tends to run long; the opening menu, for instance, takes a full twenty-three seconds to play before options are unlocked, about ten seconds after our patience wore out – particularly after the opening promo.

Easter eggs have not been found, but are almost certainly present.  Contact us if you have any updates.

The biggest drawback is the inelegant special-edition packaging, which consists of a 5”-diameter-by-1/2’-thick round tin case, printed and embossed to look like Mars, which sits atop a flimsy cardboard box.  While it is possible that the entire setup can be placed on a shelf with other DVDs, it is unnecessarily wider than a standard single-disc DVD case (the tin is padded inside with red foam).  This strikes us as an idea that might have seemed “cool” on paper, but in execution is simply unwieldy.  The tin also contains the round DVD insert.

With the exception of the packaging, this is a must-get release for fans of the film.

Supplements

• Audio Commentary by actor Arnold Schwarzenegger and director Paul Verhoeven
• Made-for-DVD Documentary "Imagining Total Recall"
• "Mars: Fact or Fiction" featurette
• Rekall's VirtualVacations
• Visual special effects comparison chart
• ProductionInfo
• ProductionStills
• Concept art
• Cast/Crew Biographies
• Original Theatrical Trailer