I'd also argue that, after ' RoboCop,' it is Paul Verhoeven's best sci-fi effort (I was not a fan of ' Starship Troopers' or ' Hollow Man'). Is he really Hauser, the one-time rebel leader of an uprising against the evil Mars dictator Cohaagen (Ronny Cox)? As Quaid/Hauser descends further and further into this Kaftka-esque nightmare, he will question his very identity, and the blurry line that divides reality and memory.Ī sizable box office hit during its initial 1990 theatrical release, 'Total Recall' is certainly Schwarzenegger's best film outside of the 'Terminator'įlicks. Things soon go haywire, as Quaid's dreams appear to be buried memories of a former life. He's having recurring dreams of Mars, so he goes in for some 'virtual vacation memories' via a hi-tech 'transplant' service. Strangely, Quaid has a series of luxuries seemingly at odds with his lowly station in life, including a beautiful wife (Sharon Stone) and a surprisingly swank apartment. Simple on the surface, yet rich with existential complexities, 'Recall' tells the tale of Douglas Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger), an everyman toiling away as a laborer in the year 2048.

Then there is 'Total Recall.' Perhaps Dick's most well-known tale after 'Blade Runner,' it also boasts one of his most intriguing conceits - and that's saying a lot. While the merits of such Dick-inspired films as ' A Scanner Darkly,' 'Paycheck' and 'Minority Report' may be debatable, just the fact that ' Blade Runner' exists at all should be enough to earn Dick his rightful place in the pantheon of cinematic sci-fi greats. Clarke, Ray Bradbury and Richard Matheson are likely familiar to most, Dick remains largely unknown to mainstream audiences, despite the fact that more of his works have been adapted into motion pictures than any of those other sci-fi greats. Dick's name doesn't come up nearly as it should. When history recalls its greatest sci-fi visionaries, Philip K.

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