All 34 Arnold Schwarzenegger movies ranked from worst to best

Photo: Batman and Robin / Warner Bros. Studios, Image Courtesy Fathom Events Press (Batman 80th Anniversary)
Photo: Batman and Robin / Warner Bros. Studios, Image Courtesy Fathom Events Press (Batman 80th Anniversary) /
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10. Total Recall

Total Recall is one of the greatest science fiction movies ever made. How’s that for an introduction?! Probably less effective than it should be considering Arnold Schwarzenegger has been part of many of the greatest science fiction movies of all time, but still, it’s true.

Released in 1990, this classic features the Austrian Oak as a man named Douglas Quaid (if that even is his real name?) who signs up to receive an implanted memory of what life would be like on Mars. That’s the vivid world they live in in this movie, and even though Quaid has a tough time believing it’s possible, he soon finds out that it is very possible. Too possible.

What follows is a thrilling adventure as he begins to question what’s real and what isn’t, what’s memory and what’s fiction. There’s more to Mars than the memories he has would suggest, and it’s up to him to restore all of them so that he can differentiate between fantasy and reality, and stop the nefarious powers-that-be.

I love this movie. I love this movie so much, and Schwarzenegger doesn’t get enough credit for his performance in it. Yes, he’s in his element with his witty one-liners and action-packed showdowns, but he does a wonderful job of conveying the fear and uncertainty that Douglas Quaid feels as the walls close in on him in a world that doesn’t want him to become too self-aware. It’s a thriller of an experience in so many ways.