Editing Total Recall (1990 film) (section)

===Cultural influence===
''Total Recall'' became one of the most expensive films ever made in its time, and one of the last big-budget films to use almost entirely practical special effects.<ref name="BFIORal"/><ref name="ReviewVariety"/><ref name="LATimesRetro"/> It is also seen as among the films responsible for a significant rise in the costs of film production because of the high salaries studios like Carolco paid to stars with international appeal such as Schwarzenegger, Stallone, and [[Mel Gibson]], recouping their investment by selling their films to the rapidly growing film markets outside of the U.S. and Canada.<ref name="10TR12T2"/><ref name="NYTImesJune251990"/> Alongside the boost to Schwarzenegger's career, ''Total Recall'' also redefined Stone from a model to a legitimate film star.<ref name="ringer june2020"/><ref name="LATimesPremiere"/><ref name="ETSTone"/>

A 2020 ''SyFy'' article credited ''Total Recall'' as one of three action films, along with ''Terminator 2'' and ''True Lies'' (1994), that revived Schwarzenegger's career after a series of less successful action films such as ''[[The Running Man (1987 film)|The Running Man]]'' (1987), and ''Red Heat''.<ref name="LATimesJune51990"/><ref name="SYFYCareer"/> Schwarzenegger recounted coming across the film on television that year, and believing it still held up, saying: "that is really great filmmaking{{nbsp}}... when you can, after 30 years, watch a movie and it still feels the same."<ref name="ringer june2020"/> Schwarzenegger also named his 2012 [[memoir]] ''Total Recall''.<ref name="Memoir"/>

In 2020, ''[[The Guardian]]'' wrote that, with hindsight, ''Total Recall'' formed the middle of Verhoeven's unofficial science fiction action film trilogy about authoritarian governance, following ''RoboCop'' and preceding ''[[Starship Troopers (film)|Starship Troopers]]'' (1997).<ref name="TheGuardianREtro"/> Quaid's line, "consider that a divorce", after killing Lori, is considered one of Schwarzenegger's most iconic [[One-line joke|one-line quips]] from his filmography,<ref name="CBRTotal"/><ref name="AVClubRetro"/><ref name="TheGuardianREtro"/> and the three-breasted prostitute, portrayed by Lycia Naff, is regarded as an iconic character in cinematic history.<ref name="SyFyCast2"/><ref name="VultureCast"/> Although she eventually came to terms with the role, Naff was initially embarrassed by her appearance in ''Total Recall'' and avoided interviews or fan interactions, saying "I decided not to answer every letter from every prisoner in the world who was writing to me{{nbsp}}..."<ref name="EmpireDutch"/>

''Total Recall'' influenced films such as ''The Matrix'', ''[[The 6th Day]]'' (2000), also starring Schwarzenegger, as well as other media such as ''[[Rick and Morty]]'', ''[[South Park]]'', and ''[[The Expanse (TV series)|The Expanse]]''.{{efn|Attributed to multiple references:<ref name="CBRTotal"/><ref name="LATimesRetro"/><ref name="RetroVulture"/><ref name="AVClubRetro"/><ref name="CultRickandM"/><ref name="CultSouthPark"/><ref name="CultExpanse"/>}} It has been referenced in politics when, during his 2020 address to the [[Austrian World Summit]] climate conference about the urgency of their 2050 climate neutrality goal, Dutch politician and [[European Commissioner for Climate Action]], [[Frans Timmermans]], said, "it's been 30 years since ''Total Recall'' and ''Kindergarten Cop'' — I mean these things go so fast{{nbsp}}... we have to act now and we can."<ref name="Politico"/>