TOTAL RECALL: urgh!

There's just so much that's bad and sad about this Paul Verhoeven directed sci-fi blockbuster.

For starters, it's dated horribly, unless that is, the fashions and hairstyles of 1990 are enjoying a resurgence in popularity in the 23rd century or whenever exactly it is that the story is set.
Apparently we can colonise Mars and turn it into a tourist destination but we can't move beyond the mullet.
TOTAL RECALL is also an object lesson in how to lavish $65 million on a film and make it look like it cost $6500. Verhoeven's idea of the distant future (in addition to the mullet and shell suits) is shopping malls in underground parking garages and acres and acres of unpainted concrete - something you can see today in any self-respecting rundown big city centre.
And don't get me started on the acting. Schwarzenegger is atrocious but he's not alone. Michael Ironside, Ronny Cox and Rachel Ticotin all contribute generously to the sense of watching summer stock in the converted barn of a small mid western town.
The only bright spot is Sharon Stone. For the rest of the film keep your thumb firmly on the fast forward button.