Could we build…
TOTAL RECALL?
From Mars colonies to memory implants, a look at the science behind this 1990 classic
WORDS ANDREW MAY
© Alamy / NASA
DID YOU KNOW?
Total Recallis based on a 1966 story by Philip K. Dick called We Can Remember It for You Wholesale
Remember the most interesting or exciting holiday you’ve ever had? Now that you’re back in the routine of everyday life, there’s still plenty of pleasure in simply conjuring up those memories. What if you could have all those memories without the expense of going on holiday in the first place? That’s the premise of Paul Verhoeven’s 1990 sci-fi blockbuster Total Recall. It’s set in the year 2084, when humans have a well-established colony on Mars. Protagonist Douglas Quaid, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, wants to go there, but he can’t afford the ticket price. What he can afford, though, is the memory of a trip to Mars, implanted in his brain by a company called Rekall that specialises in ‘virtual vacations’ of this type.