Total Recall’s Bulging Eyes Scene Is Scientifically Accurate

It turns out Total Recall’s depiction of decompression on the human body, complete with bulging eyes, isn’t too far off the mark. Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven made his Hollywood debut with sci-fi classic RoboCop in 1987. In addition to featuring gory action it was loaded with great performances, an intelligent screenplay, an iconic score and is filled with themes like humanity vs technology. Verhoeven found himself a hot property following its success and opted out of a sequel in favor of teaming with Arnold Schwarzenegger for Total Recall.

Total Recall is based on the Philip K. Dick story We Can Remember It For You Wholesale, and the project went through something of a lengthy development cycle. David Cronenberg (The Fly) was originally attached as director, while actors Patrick Swayze and Richard Dreyfuss circled the lead. Once Schwarzenegger was cast the Doug Quaid character was made less of a meek everyman and instead became a construction worker who discovers he was once a badass spy on Mars. The film again featured Verhoeven’s talent for extravagant bloodshed, combined with interesting themes and solid performances. Total Recall was an enormous hit upon release in 1990, but plans for a sequel – which would have been based on Dick’s Minority Report – never came together.

Paul Verhoeven would instead go on to project like Showgirls and Starship Troopers. Like RoboCop, Total Recall also received a lackluster remake in 2012 which starred Colin Farrell and Kate Beckinsale. Total Recall was something of a showcase for practical special effects and still features some impressive, non-CGI sequences of carnage. The film also vividly depicts the effects of decompression on the human body in two key scenes; Quaid’s opening dream of Mars and the finale.

While Total Recall’s depiction of the effects of explosive decompression certainly looks pretty cartoonish, it turns out it’s not to far from the truth. While some movies have depicted decompression as causing bodies to explode – such as James Bond adventure License To Kill – Total Recall’s depiction features character’s eyes bugging out and their bodies swelling. According to darylscience.com, this is somewhat close to what would happen. Mars’ atmospheric pressure would cause a human body’s internal pressure to come out which would force a person’s insides, eyes included, outside and leave a real mess.

There would be no swelling like a balloon and exploding since the body has holes to release that pressure. Obviously, Total Recall exaggerates for dramatic – and comic – effect, but its closer to the truth than it might appear. The way Quaid and Melina walk off their eyes almost popping out is a tad suspect though.

About The Author

Padraig Cotter
(3484 Articles Published)

It’s pronounced Paw-rick, not Pad-raig. Now that’s out of the way, a brief introduction. Padraig has been writing about film online since 2012, when a friend asked if he’d like to contribute the occasional review or feature to their site.

A part-time hobby soon blossomed into a career when he discovered he really loved writing about movies, TV and video games – he even (arguably) had a little bit of talent for it. He has written words for Den of Geek, Collider, The Irish Times and Screen Rant over the years, and can discuss anything from the MCU – where Hawkeye is clearly the best character – to the most obscure cult b-movie gem, and his hot takes often require heat resistant gloves to handle.

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He’s super modern too, so his favorite movies include Jaws, Die Hard, The Thing, Ghostbusters and Batman. He can be found as i_Padds on Twitter making bad puns.

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