If you’re a fan of watching older classics, then Netflix remains one of the best streaming services as it’s constantly adding the hits of yesteryear. That remains true today (Friday, April 4) as the streamer has added the classic 1990 Arnie action movie Total Recall to its UK library.
Total Recall is undoubtedly one of Arnie’s best movies, enough so that he eventually named his biography after it (also probably because it’s an apt name for a biography). It was directed by RoboCop and Starship Troopers maker Paul Verhoeven, based on a story by famous sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick.
The movie is set in a future in which humans have colonized Mars, and it follows a man (Arnie) who goes to a company that implants fake memories as entertainment however realises before going through with it that he’s a secret agent who had his memories removed. Cue a series of chases across Earth and Mars as Arnie runs from his former agents and “friends” who were actually sleeper agents, in a quest that leads him to meet rebels fighting against a tyrannical Mars regime and the leader they’re fighting against.
The Governator’s charm is out in full force, but the movie has a lot more to love. It won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects for its extensive use of practical effects (and was also nominated for two sound-related Oscars) and collected plenty more accolades from sci-fi festivals.
In fact, Total Recall was so popular that it was adapted into a Canadian TV series, a video game and a remake starring Colin Farrell… and a sequel that you may not have known about. You wouldn’t have known because it came out 12 years later, under a very different title due to movie studio drama, which meant the makers turned it into a standalone project during pre-production.
This almost-sequel is none other than the 2002 Steven Spielberg movie Minority Report, starring Tom Cruise in one of his most distinctive action roles. In fact, originally Arnie himself was meant to take the role that Cruise eventually played, which certainly would have been a different film! Minority Report itself was well-received and netted a few Oscar nominations.
Total Recall is still remembered fondly for its ambiguous ending, memorable visuals and Arnie’s performance, with the poorly-received remake doing little to hamper its legacy. Incidentally, the remake lead Colin Farrell also acted in Minority Report, as an agent investigating the main events.
Despite his status as an iconic movie star, Netflix has not a single classic Arnie film. Instead, it has his recent TV show FUBAR, one action film in the tedious Terminator: Dark Fate and a documentary about him simply called Arnold.
Prime Video has plenty more, including the first few Terminator movies, End of Days, Last Action Hero, Aftermath and in fact Total Recall too, as well as fantastic neo-noir The Long Goodbye, which he doesn’t star in, but was his second on-screen roles. Other movies of his are on various other services, but many aren’t on any.
If you live in the US, you can find Total Recall on Paramount Plus or MGM Plus.