Total Recall
4/16/20261 hr 16 min
Paul and Amy jack into Total Recall, the gonzo sci-fi that turned a memory implant into a full-blown identity crisis. From Arnold Schwarzenegger’s forceful push to bring it to life to Verhoeven's mind-bending twists, they unpack the film’s practical-effects spectacle, its biting satire of power and propaganda, and the question at the center of it all: is any of this real, or just the perfect vacation?
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsPaul Scheer· Host0:01
The year is 1990 Now this is the plan.
Speaker 2· Soundbite0:05
Get your ass to Mars, then go to the Hilton and flash that Brubeck ID at the desk. That's all there is to it. I'm counting on you, buddy. Don't let me down The film, Total Recall.
Amy Nicholson· Host0:18
[upbeat music] Hello everyone and welcome to Unspooled.
Paul Scheer· Host0:34
Unspooled. Yes, welcome to Unspooled. This is a podcast about good movies, critical hits, fan favorites, must-sees, and in case you missed 'ems.
Amy Nicholson· Host0:42
We have checked off the AFI Top 100, and now we are checking off movies from three major lists: the Letterboxd Top 250 Films with the Most Fans, the IMDb Top 250, and the New York Times 1,000 Essential Films.
Paul Scheer· Host0:56
And you know what? We also will be chasing our own curiosity as well. We've gotten into this wormhole of is this life that we're living real? We talked about The Truman Show, and that led us into a conversation about this Paul Verhoeven classic. So that's what brings us here today. I am Paul Scheer. I am an actor, writer, and director, and I have such a clear memory, Amy, of reading the Total Recall novelization, which I thought was the actual, uh, text