Colin Farrell walking the street in Total Recall remakeImage via Columbia Pictures
Perhaps the last movie that needed to be Nolanized was Total Recall. The goofiness is inherent to what made that film such a hit with audiences and critics. Turning it into a self-serious meditation on the refugee crisis proved a fatal decision, and viewers noticed immediately. The Total Recall remake didn’t do very well at the box office, nor did it appeal to critics and audiences. It remains one of the least remembered big-budget Hollywood movies of the post-Nolan era, where every film had to be dark and grounded. Some, like Gareth Edwards‘ Godzilla, worked. Others — like Total Recall and Snow White and the Huntsman — not so much.
It’s possible that not everyone out there has actually seen Total Recall, which debuted in 2012 — the same year as Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises and only two years after Inception. The remake is now available to stream for free in the United States, so if you have the inclination, you can hop over to Tubi and check it out. But be warned: The film holds a 31% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the consensus reads, “While it boasts some impressive action sequences, Total Recall lacks the intricate plotting, wry humor, and fleshed out characters that made the original a sci-fi classic.” This rating was well below the “Certified Fresh” 81% of the original, directed by the clearly inimitable Paul Verhoeven and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger at his campy best.
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
You Think ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ Is a “Nothingburger”?
The 2012 remake, directed by Len Wiseman, was headlined by a grim Colin Farrell. He was joined in the cast by Kate Beckinsale and Jessica Biel. The movie grossed a little more than $210 million worldwide against a reported budget of $125 million, which wasn’t nearly enough for it to be called a hit. Here’s a fun fact: The Total Recall remake’s script was officially credited to two individuals, with three others getting a “story by” credit. The four writers of the 1990 version also received a credit for the source material, as did author Philip K. Dick, who wrote the short story that inspired these movies. You do the math. Farrell is set to return this month with Sugar, the best-kept-secret on Apple TV. Pair it with Total Recall on Tubi for free, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
