Total Recall - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Total Recall or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Total Recall

[violet]

Dean Norris (Tony) later had a small role as SWAT team leader in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), also starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

[nina]

According to director Paul Verhoeven in the film commentary, the famous "Get your ass to Mars" line was actually an afterthought to bridge the film's change of setting from Earth to Mars. Originally Verhoeven wanted to film a separate scene showing Quaid boarding the shuttle bound for Mars, but could not do so due to budget constraints. As a compromise, Verhoeven came up with the idea of having the laptop device repeat the part of Hauser's message with "Get your ass to Mars" in a loop as the film transitions from Earth to Mars.

[jessica]

The movie was filmed in 1989 and released in 1990.

[albert]

Patrick Swayze was signed to play Quaid when the movie began preproduction in Australia with Bruce Beresford as the director. However, early in preproduction, Dino De Laurentiis' company went bankrupt. After Arnold Schwarzenegger heard about this, he persuaded Carolco to buy the script for him.

[lynn]

In the featurette Imagining 'Total Recall' (2001), editor Frank J. Urioste said that most of the external shots of Mars almost didn't make it into the final cut of the movie, much to his dismay. The producers felt that those shots would be too expensive and would make the movie go over budget. Urioste then addressed his concerns about those shots to Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was able to convince the producers not to remove the external shots from the final cut.

[oscar]

The software that was intended to be used to fully computer-animate the X-ray sequences didn't work, so the animators had no choice but to do the animation by hand, using the live-action filmed sequences as reference.

[edgar]

Arnold Schwarzenegger was so impressed by how much dedication Sharon Stone had in training for her character role that he even referred to her as the "Female Terminator". She was inducted into the Stunt Woman Association as an honorary member.

[javier]

Russell Mulcahy had been in talks to direct before Sylvester Stallone called on him to do Rambo III (1988).

[kenneth]

Both the adaptation of the screenplay (written by Piers Anthony) and early drafts of the script had the main character's name as Douglas Quail. The original Philip K. Dick story has the name Quail as well. The film was being made during the administration of President George Bush, in which Dan Quayle as Vice President and it is presumed that this was the reason for the change.

[violet]

In the film, Quaid decides to have a memory implant of a vacation on Mars as a secret agent instead of as tourist, only to discover he is a secret agent. In Arnold Schwarzenegger's later film 1994's True Lies (1994), he plays Harry Tasker, a secret agent whose wife and daughter thinks he is a computer salesman.

[amber]

Michael Ironside, Marshall Bell and Dean Norris were also in Starship Troopers.

[miriam]

Though the location of the city in which Quaid lives and works is not revealed, the phone number featured in the Rekall ad he sees in the subway is 915-555-6386-21. Area code 915 suggests the movie is set somewhere in western Texas, possibly El Paso. This is later confirmed if you look carefully at one of Quaid's fake IDs that he pulls out of the suit case inside the old cement factory, which lists him as "James D. Brubaker" of "El Paso, TX".

[stephanie]

In Die Hard (1988), John McClane arrives at Nakatomi Tower and uses a computerized touchscreen to find his wife; When Quaid first arrives at the Rekall building, he uses a computerized touchscreen directory to find a Mr. McLane.

[ronnie]

When Quaid is going through the items in the silver suitcase, he picks up a stack of fake ID cards. The name on the first ID is Steve Lionetti, who was a production assistant for the movie.

[jesus]

When Quaid fights with Harry and his men after visiting Rekall, the sounds of bones being broken are actually celery being twisted and snapped.

[phyllis]

Although the film was given the 18 certificate in England and the MA15+ rating in Australia for it's graphic violence. The film was given the M rating in New Zealand. M means Suitable for Mature Audience 16 years and over which means anyone above the age of 16 can watch the movie. However, the graphic sequences of violence, blood and gore that occurs throughout the film was too strong for the M rating.

[miriam]

The concept of Quaid as a buff construction worker was suggested by Arnold Schwarzenegger himself. In the earlier drafts of the script, Quaid (originally named Quail) was described as an average-looking accountant type. Because of this detail, the original intended producer, Dino De Laurentiis, was adamant that Schwarzenegger not audition. It was only after Schwarzenegger convinced Mario Kassar to buy the script rights from De Laurentiis (whose production company went bankrupt) that later drafts changed Quaid's character into one more suitable for Schwarzenegger to play. Schwarzenegger said that he felt this helped the story, giving a much stronger contrast to it by making an otherwise powerful character vulnerable by having his mind stolen.

[ray]

The Spanish title for this movie is "Desafío Total", which means "Total Challenge" in English. It was also released under another Spanish title, "El Vengador del Futuro", which translates to "Future Avenger".

[riley]

Scripts for Total Recall (1990) had been kicking around Hollywood so long people thought the project was jinxed. Dino De Laurentiis owned the film rights and had tried to get the project off the ground twice in Rome and Australia. Originally it was less violent and more about the fantasy of taking a trip to Mars. Schwarzenegger was annoyed that De Laurentiis didn't offer it to him because he really wanted the part. Patrick Swayze and Richard Dreyfuss had been in the running to play Quaid but De Laurentiis ran into money troubles (not for the first time), so Schwarzenegger tried to persuade Carolco to bankroll the film and they bought it off him.