Arnie was injured twice during the making of this movie. He cut his hand badly while smashing a train window, and broke a finger during a rehearsal of the hotel room fight scene.

The Cuato model was handled by about 15 puppeteers, each controlling a different part of his face and hands.

Total Recall was based on a 1966 short story from pulp-fiction writer Philip K. Dick called "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale". He also wrote other mind bending novels on which futuristic films like 'Minority Report', 'Blade Runner', 'Impostor', 'Screamers' and 'Paycheck' were based.

Most of the movie was shot in Mexico because it was believed labour costs to build the sets would be cheaper there, but it turned out that the cost of importing required materials from the US negated this benefit.