Parents' Guide to

Total Recall (1990)

By Jeffrey Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 17+

Brilliant but disturbing and violent Schwarzenegger sci-fi.

Movie R 1990 113 minutes
Total Recall (1990) Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 15+

Based on 7 parent reviews

concernedparentsMass
concernedparentsMass Parent of 11-year-old
September 8, 2022
age 17+

Not a PG-13

although some people, including the CSM reviewer may have missed it, Sharon Stone does show partial nudity in bed with Arnold. A very violent but thought provoking satire, before the director lost his way with some of his subsequent flicks..
Andrew and Cameron
Andrew and Cameron Parent of 2-year-old
August 22, 2022
age 14+

grown-up things

Lots of swearing, a little bit of nudity, loads of violence, not much drinking, some scariness and adult content.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
Too much violence
Too much swearing
See all 7 parent reviews

What's the Story?

In the future, Douglas Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger) keeps dreaming about Mars, even though he has never been there. He also dreams about a mysterious woman (Rachel Ticotin) he has never met, much to the concern of his wife (Sharon Stone). On a whim he visits a company that can implant the memories of a vacation, and chooses a "trip" to Mars. The process goes wrong, and perhaps unlocks something inside Quaid's brain. People begin chasing him, and he decides to travel to Mars to find out what's going on. He finds evidence of his previous identity, "Hauser," and some clues to what's really going on: It all ties into a plot to control the air supply on Mars. But how many layers does this mystery have, and how can Quaid tell what's real?

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (7):
Kids say (23):

Directed by Paul Verhoeven, Total Recall is a lowbrow/highbrow hybrid, which is sometimes successful and sometimes not. Taking a story by sci-fi cult legend Philip K. Dick (Blade Runner, Minority Report), Verhoeven starts out with some great ideas. The movie plays around with several, rather brilliant layers and themes of "reality" versus "illusion," including a fight scene in which the heroes make holograms of themselves to fool the bad guys.

However, Verhoeven's sensibility usually combines hysterical violence with his clever commentaries. While this sometimes works on its own, here he is forced to adapt it to Arnold Schwarzenegger's larger-than-life, testosterone brand of action. The result is bizarre, asking audiences to laugh and cheer at the meanest and most appalling situations (though this, too, could be part of the film's concept). Likewise, the story often stops while waiting for Arnold to beat the tar out of the latest batch of bad guys. But overall, the movie's imaginative effects and ideas win the day.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the movie's violence. Would you consider it over-the-top? What reactions do you have to this kind of violence and is it any different than seeing realistic violence?

  • Is Quaid a likeable hero? What makes him heroic? What does he do that's not so heroic?

  • What does this movie have to say about our future (or our present)? What concepts in it are realistic? Which are fantasy?

Movie Details

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