History Trivia / TotalRecall1990

** Creator/DavidCronenberg was set to direct and did almost a year of work on the project before he left due to disagreements with the producers. He wrote a few drafts of the script, which were apparently even closer to Philip K. Dick's works than the final version, and introduced Kuato and the Martian mutants in the story as per his famous penchant for BodyHorror. Cronenberg also wanted to cast Creator/WilliamHurt as the lead, and was displeased by the producers' decision to reimagine the lead for an action star such as Schwarzenegger. Ironically, even although he left the project, he would direct later a very similar and even more MindScrew-heavy film in ''Film/ExistenZ'', and would also later direct William Hurt in ''Film/AHistoryofViolence''.

** Creator/DavidCronenberg was set to direct and did almost a year of work on the project before he left due to disagreements with the producers. He wrote a few drafts of the script, which were apparently even closer to Philip K. Dick's works than the final version, and introduced Kuato and the Martian mutants in the story as per his famous penchant for BodyHorror. Cronenberg also wanted to cast Creator/WilliamHurt as the lead, and was displeased by the producers' decision to reimagine the lead for an action star such as Schwarzenegger. Ironically, even although he left the project, he would direct later a very similar and even more MindScrew-heavy film in ''Film/ExistenZ''.

* TroubledProduction: The Mexico City shoot was considered a nightmare for most of the cast and crew. Many cast and crew members got sick at one point from contaminated water (the only major members of the production who didn't get sick were Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger, who had remembered being sick during the Mexico shoot of ''Film/{{Predator}}'' and took special precautions, and producer Ronald Shusett, who would give himself B12 shots each day to avoid illness) and the air was so polluted that Schwarzenegger recalled having trouble breathing on most days.

* MissingEpisode: To this day, the original X-rated cut of the film has never been made publicly available, officially or not, leaving the exact contents of it a mystery. Thus, it holds the dubious distinction of being the only Creator/PaulVerhoeven film to never be released uncut in any capacity (previous films were either released unedited or had their uncut versions included on home media).

* MissingEpisode: To this day, the original X-rated cut of the film has never been included on any home media release and has never been leaked to the public, leaving the exact contents of it a mystery.

** Even after production on the movie wrapped up, the film faced difficulties in actually getting released: like Verhoeven's previous film, ''Film/{{RoboCop|1987}}'', the film was initially given an X rating by the MPAA, one of the last films to be given such a distinction before the introduction of the NC-17 rating later that year. Because an X rating would've heavily limited the degree to which it could've been shown in theaters (thanks to the heavy stigma attached to it), the film had to be re-edited considerably in order to secure a more financially secure R rating, trimming down certain scenes and including alternate camera angles for others. Unlike ''[=RoboCop=]'', however, the X-rated cut has never been included on any home video release after the fact.

** Creator/DavidCronenberg was set to direct and did almost a year of work on the project before he left due to disagreements with the producers. He wrote a few drafts of the script, which were apparently even closer to Philip K. Dick's works than the final version, and introduced Kuato and the Martian mutants in the story as per his famous penchant for BodyHorror. Cronenberg also wanted to cast Creator/WilliamHurt as the lead, and was displeased by the producers' decision to reimagine the lead for an action star such as Schwarzenegger. (Ironically, even although he left the project, he would direct later a very similar film in ''Film/ExistenZ''.)

* CompletelyDifferentTitle: Apparently translating the title was difficult, leading to things such as ''Voyage au centre de la mémoire'' in French-speaking Canada("Journey to the Center of the Memory"), ''O Vingador do Futuro'' in Brazil and ''El vengador del futuro'' in Latin America ("The Avenger of the Future"), ''Desafio Total'' in Portugal and Spain ("Total Challenge"), ''Atto di forza'' in Italy ("Act of (Brute) Force"), ''Running in Hell'' and ''Hero of the Universe'' in China... And all of those are completely different from the original short story's, ''We Can Remember It For You Wholesale''. That's why in Romania, where foreign movies are subtitled not dubbed, they didn't even bother with a translation: the movie and the remake were both marketed as ''Total Recall''.

* CompletelyDifferentTitle: Apparently translating the title was difficult, leading to things such as ''Voyage au centre de la mémoire'' in France ("Journey to the Center of the Memory"), ''O Vingador do Futuro'' in Brazil and ''El vengador del futuro'' in Latin America ("The Avenger of the Future"), ''Desafio Total'' in Portugal and Spain ("Total Challenge"), ''Atto di forza'' in Italy ("Act of (Brute) Force"), ''Running in Hell'' and ''Hero of the Universe'' in China... And all of those are completely different from the original short story's, ''We Can Remember It For You Wholesale''. That's why in Romania, where foreign movies are subtitled not dubbed, they didn't even bother with a translation: the movie and the remake were both marketed as ''Total Recall''.

** Creator/KurtwoodSmith turned down the role of Richter, as he felt it was too similar to his role in ''Film/RoboCop1987''. So did Robert Davi, who played a [[TheDragon similar role]] in Arnold's earlier flop ''Film/RawDeal''
** According to Lycia Naff, the original plan for Mary was four breasts, but once it was deemed FanDisservice ("too bovine, like a cow ready to be milked"), they settled on the famous three breasts.

* CompletelyDifferentTitle: Apparently translating the title was difficult, leading to things such as ''Voyage au centre de la mémoire'' in France ("Journey to the Center of the Memory"), ''O Vingador do Futuro'' in Brazil and ''El vengador del futuro'' in Latin America ("The Avenger of the Future"), ''Desafio Total'' in Portugal and Spain ("Total Challenge"), ''Atto di forza'' in Italy ("Act of (Brute) Force"), ''Running in Hell'' and ''Hero of the Universe'' in China... And all of those are completely different from the original short story's, ''We Can Remember It For You Wholesale''. That's why in Romania, where foreign movies are subtitled not dubbed, they didn't even bother with a translation. The movie was marketed as ''Total Recall''. Same for the sequel.

* HostilityOnTheSet: Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger and Creator/SharonStone allegedly didn't get along.

* ScienceMarchesOn (Geology): Mars having an ice core turned out to be partially true.

* UncreditedRole: It is not known who provided the voice of Kuato and the actor who provided the voice is not credited in the end credits.

** Creator/DavidCronenberg was set to direct and even wrote a few drafts of the script before Creator/PaulVerhoeven took over. Cronenberg stated that he wanted to cast Creator/WilliamHurt as the lead, and was displeased by the producers' decision to reimagine the lead for an action star such as Schwarzenegger. Cronenberg did almost a year of work on the project, which was apparently much closer to the original Philip K. Dick story than the final film version. Would it surprise you to learn that Cronenberg was the one who introduced the [[BodyHorror Martian mutants]] to the script?

* DyeingForYourArt: To get in shape for the movie, Creator/SharonStone pumped iron and learned UsefulNotes/Taekwondo.

** Creator/DavidCronenberg was set to direct and even wrote a few drafts of the script before Creator/PaulVerhoeven took over. Cronenberg stated that he wanted to cast Creator/WilliamHurt as the lead, and was displeased by the producers' decision to reimagine the lead for an action star such as Schwarzenegger.

* FlipFlopOfGod: Creator/PaulVerhoeven on whether the events of the film were real or all in Quaid's mind. In the commentary, Schwarzenegger leans more to it actually happening, whereas Verhoeven leans more towards it being the ego-trip.

* ActorInspiredElement: The concept of Quaid being a physically-buffed construction worker was suggested by Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger himself.

** Creator/KurtwoodSmith turned down the role of Richter, as he felt it was too similar to his role in ''Film/RoboCop1987''. So did Robert Davi, who played a [[TheDragon similar role]] in Arnold's earlier flop ''Film/RawDeal''

* DyeingForYourArt: To get in shape for the movie, Creator/SharonStone pumped iron and learned Tae Kwon Do.

* RealLife/MeanCharacterNiceActor: Richter's actor Creator/MichaelIronside. Schwarzenegger noticed that Ironside was constantly on the phone between takes. When he broached the subject with Ironside, he was told the he was phoning his sister and that she was currently suffering from cancer. [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Arnold immediately brought Michael to his trailer and they had an hour-long 3-way conversation with Ironside's sister about what exercises she should do and what kinds of foods she should be eating. Ironside has never forgotten Schwarzenegger's kindness and neither has his sister]].

* CaliforniaDoubling: Mexico City
* CompletelyDifferentTitle: Apparently translating the title was difficult, leading to things such as ''Voyage au centre de la mémoire'' ("Journey to the Center of the memory"), ''O Vingador do Futuro'' (The Avenger of the Future), ''Desafio Total'' (Total Challenge), ''Atto di forza'' ("Act of (brute) force")... And all of those are completely different from the original short story's, ''We Can Remember It For You Wholesale''.
** That's why in Romania, where foreign movies are subtitled not dubbed, they didn't even bother with a translation. The movie was marketed as ''Total Recall''. Same for the sequel.
** The Chinese titles include ''Running in Hell'' and ''Hero of the Universe''.

* ProductionPosse: The movie features at least seven actors who appeared in other English language Verhoeven films, including Creator/MichaelIronside, Creator/SharonStone, Creator/RonnyCox and Creator/DeanNorris. Just for good measure, it is scored by Creator/JerryGoldsmith, who also composed the music for ''Film/BasicInstinct'' and ''Film/HollowMan''.

* TechnologyMarchesOn: Although the film is set in 2084, an advertisement is seen for Fuji Film despite the fact that by the early 2000s, analog photography has been made all-but-obsolete by digital photography.

** Creator/CynthiaRothrock was considered for Lori. According to Rothrock, she found out years later that she didn't receive the part predominantly because some of her would-be costars were concerned by the prospect of being outshone by a female martial artist.

** That's why in Romania, where foreign movies are subtitled not dubbed, they didn't even bother with a translation. The movie was marketed as Total Recall. Same for the sequel.

* MeanCharacterNiceActor: Richter's actor Creator/MichaelIronside. Schwarzenegger noticed that Ironside was constantly on the phone between takes. When he broached the subject with Ironside, he was told the he was phoning his sister and that she was currently suffering from cancer. [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Arnold immediately brought Michael to his trailer and they had an hour-long 3-way conversation with Ironside's sister about what exercises she should do and what kinds of foods she should be eating. Ironside has never forgotten Schwarzenegger's kindness and neither has his sister]].

** The late ChristopherReeve of {{Superman}} fame was reportedly attached to play Quaid at one point.

** Creator/KurtwoodSmith turned down the role of Richter, as he felt it was too similar to his role in ''Film/RoboCop1987''.

* StillbornFranchise: There was also a sequel in the works briefly, before Creator/CarolCo Pictures went out of business. The rights went to Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox who eventually turned it into ''Film/MinorityReport''.