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Total Recall
Plot Synopsis by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

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.

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Similar Works
Robocop  (1987, Paul Verhoeven)
The Terminator  (1984, James Cameron)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day  (1991, James Cameron)
The Hidden  (1987, Jack Sholder)
Face/Off  (1997, John Woo)
Open Your Eyes  (1997, Alejandro AmenĂ¡bar)
eXistenZ  (1999, David Cronenberg)
The Matrix Revolutions  (2003, Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski)
I, Robot  (2004, Alex Proyas)
The Island  (2005, Michael Bay)
Other Related Works
 Is followed by:    Total Recall 2070  (1999, Mario Azzopardi)
 Is featured in:    Sci-Fi Files: Living In the Future  (1997, Chris Lethbridge)
 Is related to:    The Deadly Ray From Mars  (1938, Ford I. Beebe, Robert F. Hill)
   Screamers  (1995, Christian Duguay)
   Paycheck  (2003, John Woo)
   The Gospel According to Philip K. Dick  (2000, Mark Steensland, Andy Massagli)
 Has been remade as:    Total Recall