Total Recall (1990)

Casting Arnold Schwarzenegger as an ordinary construction worker is like casting a tank as a bicycle, and Total Recall barely pretends otherwise. Paul Verhoeven also loves his shootouts a little too much, piling on so many falling extras that the action turns cartoonish. But the ideas are sharp. Is Quaid really a secret agent, or is he still strapped into a chair at Rekall, living out the vacation he paid for? Sharon Stone flips from sweet wife to full-on brawler in the blink of an eye. Michael Ironside chases Arnold with the grim focus of a man who’s been late to work his whole life. Johnny Cab, a robot taxi driver with a painted-on grin, is somehow the most memorable face on Mars. It made $261.3 million worldwide on a reported $48 million to $80 million. A 7.6 because the brain is smart even when the fists are dumb. $5.96 says you see an ad for a dream vacation this week and wonder, just for a second, if you’ve already been.

What works: The is-it-real-or-implanted question keeps the whole movie humming, and the Mars sets, Johnny Cab and Michael Ironside’s grim chase are a blast.

What doesn’t: Schwarzenegger is impossible to buy as an everyman, and the violence is so over the top that the action becomes a cartoon.

Who it’s for: Sci-fi fans who like a big dumb action movie with a sneaky smart question hiding inside it.