5 Best Philip K Dick Film Adaptations

3. Total Recall (1990)

Though We Can Remember it for You Wholesale just doesn't have the same ring it was the original title of the 1966 short story. Thus proving once again that PKD is the master of the short form (you'll find 3 adaptations of short stories in this list).

The story revolves around a man who wants to escape his boring day-to-day life so he decides to take a fake trip (a frip?) to Mars. Once the "memory" is implanted into his brain the fun begins. We learn that the protagonist Hauser/Quaid may or may not:

1. Have been to Mars.

2. Acted as a secret agent.

3. Be married to a deadly kickboxing version of Sharon Stone.

The movie is hugely campy and has a bit of a cult following.

The Good: The writers and the director Verhoeven really seem to understand and respect the theme of reality breaking down. The film is fun and clever. And did I mention campy? The best thing about the movie is that by the end you aren't really sure if you just witnessed a false implanted memory or if all of this actually happened in the movie's world. Or was the whole movie just an implant in my head? I just blew my own mind!

The Bad: Unless Schwarzenegger is swinging a battleaxe or trying to kill John Connor he is a horrible actor. He's just bad here and to boot the movie takes a dweeby little immigration clerk (from the story) and turns him into Conan. Half of the fun of the story is watching an everyman try to figure out just what the hell is going on!

Written word to film differences: Quite a bit. But the big one is the ending. If the 2012 version (with Colin Farrell) ends like the story it might move that version to #1 on my list.