Editing Total Recall (1990 film) (section)

==Reception==
===Critical response===
[[File:Arnold Schwarzenegger 1991 (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|left|alt=A photograph of Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1991|[[Arnold Schwarzenegger]] in 1991. The actor playing against his action hero persona in portraying a sympathetic and vulnerable character was generally well received, although some found the role to be beyond his acting abilities.]]
On its release, ''Total Recall'' received mixed reviews from critics, who generally praised the production values and Schwarzenegger's performance, but criticized the violent content.<ref name="AFIBio"/><ref name="LATimesJune51990"/><ref name="ScreenRantReviews"/> Audience polls by [[CinemaScore]] reported moviegoers gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an {{nowrap|A+ to F}} scale.<ref name="CinemaScore"/>

The narrative polarized reviewers; some praised it as an above-average, complex, and visually interesting science fiction film that successfully blends humor with satirization of the genre's tropes,{{efn|Attributed to multiple references:<ref name="ReviewVariety"/><ref name="ReviewLATimes"/><ref name="ReviewNYTimes"/><ref name="ReviewRogerEbert"/>}} while others found it lacked humor, romance, or a strong narrative structure.<ref name="ReviewNYTimes"/><ref name="ReviewChicagoTribune2"/> [[Gene Siskel]] and [[Peter Travers]] believed the latter half of the film, after Quaid reaches Mars, to be where ''Total Recall'' became "mechanical", abandoning logic and artistic ambition for excessive action and violence.{{efn|Attributed to multiple references:<ref name="ReviewNYTimes"/><ref name="ReviewChicagoTribune2"/><ref name="ReviewChicagoTribune"/><ref name="ReviewWAPOKempley"/><ref name="ReviewRollingStone"/>}} Travers described it as a transitory blockbuster in contrast to ''[[The Terminator]]'' (1984) (also starring Schwarzenegger), which he said would "haunt our dreams".<ref name="ReviewRollingStone"/> Several reviewers agreed that the hotel confrontation between Quaid and Rekall's Dr. Edgemar on Mars, in which the former learns everything he has experienced is potentially a dream, was the best scene,<ref name="ReviewLATimes"/><ref name="ReviewNYTimes"/><ref name="ReviewRogerEbert"/> and found the concept of overwriting memories and identity to be a genuinely horrifying concept.<ref name="ReviewLATimes"/><ref name="ReviewRollingStone"/> [[Jonathan Rosenbaum]] called it a "worthy entry in the dystopian" genre initiated by ''Blade Runner'' that avoided being derivative of its predecessors.<ref name="ReviewChicagoReader"/>

The film was often compared to Verhoeven's previous work on ''RoboCop'', with some reviews remarking that ''Total Recall'' lacked the same "impudence and incandescence" or satirization of 1980s action films as the earlier film.<ref name="ReviewLATimes"/><ref name="ReviewWAPOHowe"/><ref name="ReviewEW"/> Some said the film was only fun when Verhoeven inserted moments of ''RoboCop''{{'}}s [[Camp (style)|camp style]].<ref name="ReviewWAPOHowe"/><ref name="ReviewEW"/> ''[[The Washington Post]]''{{'}}s review compared it unfavorably with the [[Sylvester Stallone]] action film ''[[Cobra (1986 film)|Cobra]]'' (1986), saying it was disappointing in its overuse of violence and abandonment of cynicism and creativity for machoism and misogyny.<ref name="ReviewWAPOKempley"/> Several reviews focused on the excessive violence, with [[Vincent Canby]] describing it as part of an influx of action-adventure films featuring numerous deaths, counting seventy-four kills in the film and over two hundred in ''Die Hard 2''.<ref name="ReviewNYTimes"/><ref name="NYTimesCanbyViolence"/> Some were concerned by the dismissive and sometimes comical depiction of the deaths, and the general reliance on violence as a solution to all problems posed.{{efn|Attributed to multiple references:<ref name="ReviewLATimes"/><ref name="ReviewNYTimes"/><ref name="ReviewChicagoTribune"/><ref name="ReviewWAPOKempley"/><ref name="NYTimesCanbyViolence"/>}} Even so, the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''{{'}}s review said the violence never seemed to be deliberately sadistic or callous.<ref name="ReviewLATimes"/> Despite this criticism, Bottin's practical effects were roundly praised, particularly the three-breasted prostitute and mutants that provided many of the film's standout visuals, despite their sometimes perverse or macabre nature.{{efn|Attributed to multiple references:<ref name="ASCHistory"/><ref name="ReviewNYTimes"/><ref name="ReviewRollingStone"/><ref name="ReviewEW"/>}}

Reviews praised Schwarzenegger for playing against his public action hero image by portraying a confused, vulnerable, and sympathetic character, with [[Roger Ebert]] considering him vital to the film's success.{{efn|Attributed to multiple references:<ref name="ReviewLATimes"/><ref name="ReviewNYTimes"/><ref name="ReviewRogerEbert"/><ref name="ReviewEW"/>}} [[Desson Howe]] and Travers described it as Schwarzenegger's finest and most interesting work since ''The Terminator''.<ref name="ReviewRollingStone"/><ref name="ReviewWAPOHowe"/> Even so, others believed the actor's "superman presence" and comic [[One-line joke|one-liners]] were out of place and undermined attempts to make the audience emotionally connect with Quaid's genuine fears about his identity. [[Janet Maslin]] wrote that this was further harmed by the narrative failing to emphasize his dual identities.<ref name="ReviewLATimes"/><ref name="ReviewRollingStone"/> Some reviews considered the role to be beyond Schwarzenegger's acting abilities, describing him as "unusually oafish{{nbsp}}... a cross between [[Frankenstein's monster]], a hockey puck, and [[Colonel Klink]]", incapable of generating a romantic connection with Stone's or Ticotin's characters.<ref name="ReviewChicagoTribune2"/><ref name="ReviewWAPOKempley"/><ref name="ReviewRollingStone"/> Some female reviewers were critical of the film's treatment of women, who they perceived as "hybrid hooker-commandos" and "basically whores", writing that the three-breasted prostitute is the film's idea of a "witty mutation" while Ticotin "registers less strongly than Stone's ambiguous, blonde slut-wife".<ref name="ReviewLATimes"/><ref name="ReviewNYTimes"/><ref name="ReviewWAPOKempley"/>

===Accolades===
At the [[63rd Academy Awards]] in 1991, ''Total Recall'' won the award for [[Academy Award for Best Visual Effects|Best Visual Effects]] ([[Eric Brevig]], [[Rob Bottin]], [[Tim McGovern]], and [[Alex Funke]]). The film received a further two nominations: [[Academy Award for Best Sound|Best Sound]] ([[Nelson Stoll]], [[Michael J. Kohut]], [[Carlos Delarios]], and [[Aaron Rochin]]) and [[Academy Award for Best Sound Editing|Best Sound Effects Editing]] ([[Stephen Hunter Flick]]).<ref name="SyFyat30"/><ref name="Oscars1991"/> At the [[44th British Academy Film Awards]], the film received one nomination, for [[BAFTA Award for Best Special Visual Effects|Best Special Visual Effects]] (losing to the comedy film ''[[Honey, I Shrunk the Kids]]'' (1989)).<ref name="BAFTA"/> At the [[17th Saturn Awards]], ''Total Recall'' was named [[Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film|Best Science Fiction Film]].<ref name="SaturnAward"/> It was also nominated for a [[Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation]] (losing to fantasy romance film ''[[Edward Scissorhands]]'').<ref name="HugoAaward"/>