Total Recall

Synopsis
Originally adapted by director Paul Verhoeven in 1990, author Philip K. Dick's classic sci-fi short story WE CAN REMEMBER IT FOR YOU WHOLESALE returns to the big screen in this remake starring Colin Farrell, Bryan Cranston, and Kate Beckinsale, and directed by UNDERWORLD's Len Wiseman. The planet has been decimated by nuclear war in the late 21st century, leaving only two nations -- the United Federation of Britain and the Colony. Douglas Quaid (Farrell) is a factory worker with a stable job and a loving wife (Beckinsale), but upon learning that a company named Rekall could grant him the memory of the ultimate espionage adventure, he decides that a virtual vacation is better than no vacation at all. But in the midst of having the new memories implanted, something goes haywire. Still strapped to the chair as the system breaks down, he's branded a spy as the authorities close in, and quickly flees for his life. Later, Quaid discovers that he has a secret identity, and he joins forces with rebel soldier Melina (Jessica Biel) on a mission to track down Matthias (Bill Nighy), the head of a fierce resistance movement that's been labeled a terrorist organization by the tyrannical Chancellor Cohaagen (Bryan Cranston). Cohaagen seeks to control the entire free world, and now the harder Quaid fights to defeat him, the clearer it becomes that his memory had been altered long before he walked into Rekall.

Reviews
"It adds elements from BLADE RUNNER and INCEPTION to the RECALL cosmos and takes off like a shot." (Los Angeles Times)

"[S]creenwriters Kurt Wimmer and Mark Bomback and production designer Patrick Tatopoulos have devised a fascinating futuristic world with impressively cohesive visual characteristics." (Hollywood Reporter)

3 stars out of 4 -- "The film does a detailed job of creating its cities, which in the federation is a towering futuristic marvel....TOTAL RECALL is well-crafted, high energy sci-fi." (Chicago Sun-Times)

"Like the novel, Mr. Cronenberg's screen adaptation is keyed to the off-kilter economics of a present-day Manhattan....Engrossing..." (Wall Street Journal)