June 6, 1990 -- The movie ``Total Recall,'' starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, is a film about a man robbed of his memory and the men trying to kill him because of what he might be able to remember.

Although it is terribly violent and contains rough language, hence the ``R'' rating, it is not a mindless action film like ``Running Man.'' This movie has surprising depth to it and some very interesting plot twists.

In a future society Schwarzenegger has a recurring nightmare about an adventure he has on Mars and he develops a fixation on Mars. He decides to take advantage of a new service which implants someone else's memory of their vacation to Mars in his own mind.

In the middle of the memory implant process it is discovered that he has hidden memories of Mars in his mind and his life is threatened by what is locked in his blocked-out memories.

In a bizarre message to himself, he finds he must return to Mars to find out who he really is, what he knows and how to resolve the conflict with those who are trying to kill him. At times, he is not sure if he is really going to Mars or if he is simply living through an artificial memory implant experience. What will happen if he finds out he doesn't like who he really is?

Intriguing philosophical questions arise from his quest for his true identity and memory. Are any of us any more than the sum of our past and our memories? In Total Recall, the answer is ``yes.''

This is a very interesting film and is also successful as a headlong roller-coaster ride of a pure action film. The only drawback is the explicit and oftentimes gratuitous violence in the film. For example one poor fellow has a metal spike driven into his head. Several other people are shot and the bullet holes in their foreheads are shown by lingering camera shots. This does not seem like a suitable film for children. Maybe they'll clean this thing up someday for network television. But for adults who like some gore, it is O.K.

On a scale of one to 10, this film rates an eight.

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