Total Recall | | Cast : | Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sharon Stone, Michael Ironside | | Director : | Paul Verhoeven | | Studio : | Lions Gate Home Entertainment | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby | | Released Date : | June 01, 1990 | | DVD Released Date : | March 18, 2003 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 06, 2005 | | Summary | All Time Classic Sci-Fi Action Film | Content
 | Although the film is 15 years old ... the subject matter is so contemporary it has all the ingredients to be a classic. First, it is about a colony of inhabitants on Mars, a planet which has been inhabited for at least 1/2 million years. Next, there is suspense, action and drama associated with a cover-up by an earth-based government agency which is tied to the secret identity of Douglas Quaid (Arnold Schwartzenegger). On the surface he is an ordinairy construction worker on earth ... yet his dreams and possible flash-backs of events and activities on Mars hint at something more deep and covert. Eventually he explores a fantasy vacation trip to Mars in a mind-altering program called Rekall ... to develop insight into his dreams. From this point forward the film explodes in a myriad of action-packed and creative directions ... all of which help unravel the implanted identity of Doug Quaid/Hauser. The film gains momentum and is nonstop action. It depicts Arnold Schwartzenegger as the super-charged hero who nearly single-handedly brings about justice ... on a distant planet. The casting in this film is superb: his earthly wife, Lori is played by Sharon Stone and his lover and partner on Mars, Melina, is played by Rachel Ticton. There is a cast of "Star-Trek"-like aliens that work in harmony with the earth colony to fight oppression. In the end Quaid discovers the suppressed technology which saves the climate of Mars for future generations. It is one outstanding film. Erika Borsos (erikab93)
|
| Rating | | | Date | June 07, 2005 | | Summary | Arnold Rules! | Content
| Definately one of the best Arnold movies you are going to find out there. A creative, imaginative, and well thought out movie that lives up to the standard it was brought into the film world. Great effects and acting with hot women are always a plus in movies. |
| Rating | | | Date | April 14, 2005 | | Summary | Another Good "Question Your Reality" Movie | Content
| Arnold Schwarzenegger is Douglas Quaid, a simple construction worker living in the future and dreaming of a more exciting life on the planet Mars. A place of civil unrest, the lower class citizens of the Mars colony are desperately fighting to survive as the corporate powers deny them of their most basic human needs. And, for some unknown reason, the violence of their battle depicted on the daily news causes Douglas to well up with desire to be in the heart of it. His mundane life is so unsatisfying, despite being married to Sharon Stone, that when Douglas sees a TV commercial for a service that provides people with virtual memories, he decides it's worth the risk of being lobotomized. Before we know it, Douglas is being strapped in to take a virtual vacation from his everyday life and into that of a daring spy named Hauser, traveling to the planet Mars on a dangerous mission. Little does he know just how much that decision will change his life forever, or will it just be going back to normal? Who is he, really, Douglas or Hauser? Is our hero really just strapped in a chair and taking a virtual vacation, or is he really just waking up from one? Are we really just the sum of our memories?
In that long, but often enjoyable vein of "question your reality" movies, "Total Recall" is a commanding tour de force! High on adrenaline and testosterone, as any good Schwarzenegger movie should be, "Total Recall" earns the rank of one of his best! The film is a perfect balance of merciless action and thought provoking commentary, with loads of effects and plenty of humor thrown in. Arnold is in top form as Quaid/Hauser, as are Sharon Stone and villains Ronny Cox and Michael Ironside, but no less impressive on this film are the Oscar winning special effects from the likes of Rob Bottin, Tim McGovern, Eric Brevig, and Alex Funke. The Special Edition DVD is chock full of cool extras, from featurettes and trailers to galleries and storyboard comparisons, and, most notably, commentary from Director Paul Vorhoeven and star Arnold Schwarzenegger and an in-depth documentary on the creation of the film. The science throughout "Total Recall," especially during the climactic ending, might lead some to eye rolling, but the film is so exciting and fun that the inaccuracies of its science most likely won't even cross your mind. Anyway, to quote MST3K's theme song, "Just repeat to yourself, `It's just a show,' you should really just relax...," or, as Ham Salad says in "Hardware Wars," "Take it easy, kid. It's only a movie." |
| Rating | | | Date | April 08, 2005 | | Summary | First Class, Basic, Simple, and Fun .. | Content
| If you know a film stars Arnold, you hardly go and see it ( in Cinema or on DVD) for intellectual enlightenment. As for comparing TOTAL RECALL and BLADE RUNNER... well, talk about Apples and Oranges; I like both, but for different reasons.
I saw the VHS version eons ago, and remember when the special edition DVD came out in the little "Mars Shaped" tin container. Almost as weird as the FRIGHT NIGHT VHS case shaped like a Coffin, but quite a nifty idea( However, Video rental Stores Hated it for display reasons).
From Years of watching the VHS version, I had a very distinct opinion about the film... I thought it was a straight action flick. Well, the first thing that the commentary does is to disabuse you of that idea. Verhoeven has very grand ideas about his film-making, and by any standards, this film is at the least, a multi-layered work.
Whilst I can appreciate the subtext, and "intertextual" elements of academic books, its not much fun if you just want to escape in a film. Thats why this film works superbly if someone does not actually TELL you that its not what you think it is ... as in the NAME OF THE ROSE ( both Book and film there are very layered).
For my money, if a film cannot entertain you, then its not what I want. Some films serve a different purpose, so if I watch a programme about the Psychoanalytic elements behind the death of Civilisations, I expect to work hard at understanding the work. Or Even a film ABOUT "Schrodingers Cat" ( that is not about how to train a wayward feline ) would be something I could halfway expect to be a work requiring some mental effort.
The R rated version of this film is right on the money, and provides great FX, and lots of fun. The M rated version is a waste of time in my view, and also has some very stupid edits, the sort of stuff that appears on the evening news, but has to be cut because of MPAA rules.
The most interesting part of the commentary occurs when we find out HOW Verhoeven gets to be the man in the mix.
If Arnold can be said to be anything, it would seem that deal broker is definitely part of his resume.
If the old adage in the making of movies is that 90% of your effort is put into finding work, then Arnold does this well... even if some say he cannot act :-).... At the Very least, one can say that he entertains. For my money, I think he can act, either that, or I just enjoy Arnolds' antics.
|
| Rating | | | Date | February 13, 2005 | | Summary | PKD + Verhoeven = mediocre... what a waste! | Content
| Like Verhoeven's other movies, this one will divide viewers right down the middle. If you are addicted to blood and guts, ultra-violence, non-stop action - and if you are not bothered by blatant nonsense (or can shrug it off or savour it as "irony") - this one's for you. If, on the other hand, you are a Philip K Dick fan, you will be horrified at what has been done to "We can remember it for you wholesale". For contrast, "Bladerunner" was a good movie made from a good PKD story, and "Minority Report" was an outstanding version of another good PKD story. (Wait a moment here - I'm being redundant. All PKD stories are good, except those that are brilliant).
Mind you, Arnold Schwarzenegger's undeniable "action-man" charisma goes a long way towards making the result watchable. Arnold is in his element with pulp, the less credible the better. But even he can't help looking like a freak, with his eyes bulging up like inflatable beachballs in the low pressure of Mars' atmosphere (yeah, right). Fortunately modern technology can repressurize an entire planet in 30 seconds... but that's Verhoeven's attitude to reality in a nutshell.
All in all, this is quite fun to watch if you can unscrew your cerebral cortex and park it in the fridge for the duration. It's only when you think how superb a movie could have been made from PKD's material that you want to sit down and weep. |
|
Picture 01 (20)
