After seeing the new Total Recall trailer again in theatres,
I figured it was about time I watched the original. The trailer for the remake
looks very interesting, and so I figured I might want to have the original to
compare it to when and if I catch that one in theatres. So after I got back
from viewing The Cabin In The Woods again in theatre, I threw it on to finish
up the night.
Total Recall is of course a 1990 sci-fi movie starring
Arnold Schwarzenegger (whose name is in the computers dictionary) and has some
pretty crazy elements to it. Arnold is living happily on earth, and his only
problems are some troubling dreams about mars. In the world of Total Recall, mars
was colonized, but is currently in a war for independence, with terrorists
fighting against the corporation who runs mars, restricting the air, and
generally being cruel to the immigrants, many of whom have mutated
inexplicably. Total Recall really has the sci-fi department covered on this
one.
The one thing that I have not been able to figure out from
the trailer for the remake is whether or not it will take place on mars as
well. Personally, I think that the story could be easily be made to work
without mars, and that might make for an interesting originality in the remake.
The major similarities as far as I can tell from the trailer is of course,
Rekall. Rekall is a company which sells memory implants, fake memories of
amazing vacations and experiences. In both versions, Quaid, are ordinary man
with the troubling dreams, decides to get a memory implant of traveling to mars
as a secret agent. There is only one problem. Before the memory can even begin
to be implanted, some apparently hidden or erased memories come to the surface,
with every indication that Quaid was in-fact a secret agent who had been very
important regarding some events on mars.
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| Why wontz you buyz my cookiez? (I don't know how to type Schwarzenegger's accent) |
At this point, the movie tends to balance two different
theories for the events that follow. On the one hand, perhaps Quiad was not who
he thought he was, and is instead a secret agent with a very important secret
hidden in his memories. On the other hand, perhaps his mind has simply taken
the secret agent memories that were in-fact implanted, and freeformed them into
some very crazy dreams. While I don’t think that Total Recall makes to much of
an effort to portray anything as other but the truth, perhaps the remake might
blur things a bit more.
One problem I have with Arnold Schwarzenegger is that for
some reason, I generally don’t take him seriously. Maybe it is , because he
became his own stereotype, or maybe it was his role in Kindergarten Cop , or
maybe it is just the faces he makes, particularly when lacking oxygen on mars.
For some reason, I really can’t take any of his movies to seriously, no matter
how hard I try. Total Recall, takes itself seriously most of the time, and then
there are other times things get a little hokey. Generally this drags down all
the serious moments with it. One good thing I am hoping from the remake, is it
takes itself a little more seriously.
That being said, I did enjoy some of Total Recall’s more
hokey moments. The mutant red light district of mars was particularly fun, and
for some reason gave me a very Star Wars meets Bladerunner vibe. Although,
things might have been too bright in those scenes. Generally the whole movie
lacked any dark and shadowy scenes. Also, for those of you concerned, I did
hear rumours that the three breasted mutant would make a return in the remake.
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| I had no problems with that game plan. |
Aside from Arnold, Totall Recall did have two other faces I recognized.
Sharon Stone of course, was pretty much perfect for her role, and it was a
shame she only made it about halfway through. The other face I recognized was
the dwarf prostitute. I watched a lot of Little People a couple years ago,
which is a reality T.V. show about her family. Wonder how she explains that
role to her kids. Other than that, the cast does as well as necessary in Total
Recall, with the only real standout possibly being that head agent, trying to
catch Quaid.
Now, I will admit that, about 25 minutes from the end, I
dozed off for about 10 minutes. Suddenly they are trying to turn on this
reactor, and I really have no idea why the taxi driver was driving that drill
towards Quaid and whoever. I’m guessing he flipped sides when I dozed off, but
I would really like to see them try and explain that. Also, the aliens. So
apparently there were aliens on mars, who built a reactor capable of melting
mars ice core (yes, yes, I know) and therefore produce an oxygen abundant
atmosphere. So, if this was true, where
the hell were the aliens? You’ve already given us mutants, and space travel,
and space colonization. Then you just dangle aliens in front of us and give us
nothing. Oh well, that probably would have been too much too handle anyway. The
Total Recall world is a pretty big and original sci-fi world, but it is crafted
rather quickly, with a lot of cool ideas and elements, just little explanation.
Then again, I’m probably expecting too much from a Schwarzenegger sci-fi action
movie.
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| This is on some special effects or wardrobe guys resume. |
Overall, Total Recall was not a disappointment,
but there is a reason it isn’t heralded as one of the greatest movies ever, nor
am I aware, has it built up a strong cult following. However, there were a lot
of cool ideas in there, and it is good to see someone take another swing at it
this summer. I think if I get the chance, I will definitely go and check out
the remake in theatres. In the meantime, you might want to brush up on the 1990
version first, or possibly just to refresh your memory. Then again, you might
just want to see the remake cold turkey, and judge it for itself, without,
well... I really wouldn’t say that Total Recall cast a daunting shadow, but it
was a decent sci-fi movie for the 90’s.
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