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Techtite's DVD Reviews! |
----------------- Feel free to contribute. As always, review submissions are accepted! ------------------ Best Total Recall line: "I haven't lost my mind. Cohaagen stole it!" --Douglas Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger), to former lover, Melina (Rachel Ticotin). ------------- Sidebar :: ------------- No sidebar comments for this article at this time. |
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Total Recall
Click picture to order this DVD A Techtite ReviewThe Film : I must admit, when I first heard the premise to Total Recall, I was a bit hesitant to see it. A guy goes to Mars to find out if his true life is a dream, or if his dreams were his real life that he'd forgotten...or something to that effect. Regardless, this is actually a much better action film than just that, and putting Schwarzenegger in the lead role only makes it better. This film also stars Sharon Stone, whose impressive performance would lead director Verhoeven to put her in his next film, Basic Instinct. Top this all off with a screenplay based on a short story by Philip K. Dick (of "Blade Runner" fame), add a lot of gritty (and often even grisly) action sequences, and what's not there, to draw the viewer in completely? The story is set in the not-too-distant future, when a man named Douglas Quaid (Schwarzenegger) constantly has dreams of Mars. He finds the need to visit there, yet wife Lori (Stone) says it's not a good idea, and prefers him to stay on Earth. Looking at a commercial for "Rekall" --a method of implanting the memory of a vacation, without really having to go there-- Quaid thinks he's found the best compromise. However, is having his memory tampered with, really a good idea? The problems arise when his trip to Rekall reveals a darker secret; his memory has already been altered. Quaid comes home to find his best friends turn out to be agents, who were there to make sure his memory erasure was permanent. Now that it isn't, they want to eliminate the evidence, before Quaid can find out who he really is, and where he must go, to get it back! This film --based on "We Can Remember it For You, Wholesale" by Philip K. Dick-- continues not unlike the classic line by Tweedle-Dee to Alice, in Through the Looking Glass; "Are you the dreamer, or merely part of someone else's dream?" Quaid's alleged enemies claim he is having a paranoid delusion based on a failed implant at Rekall. Others tell him that he really was a great double agent, named Howser, who must bring his enemies to justice. Is this former double-agent life real, or just the subconscious fantasies of a bored husband with dreams of being something better? This is a mystery left unanswered right to the very end, though by then, you pretty much have a good idea which "life" of Howser's/Quaid's is the real one. Look for subtle clues, and the smashingly good finale's answers are clear. Best of all in this film is the high-tech gadgetry of the future. As inspired as any 1950's view of the future ever was, there are nail polishers that change an office assistant's nail polish with merely a touch, holographic "windows" that switch from a view of the "outside" to the news with the mere click of a remote control, and, of course, there's the "Mars Today" version of USA Today, seen in a Martian street corner. Other gadgetry is similarly amusing to see, though I'll let you see them for yourself. Of course, with Schwarzenegger at top form, this film is a brutal action flick to the hilt. Some may even say it was a little too violent, including graphic shots of people suffocating on the surface of Mars, picks rammed into necks, and axes rammed into torsos, to name just a few scenes. There's also the mutants, whose bodies were contaminated by cheap domes that did not keep out harmful radiation on Mars. While some such mutants are not too bad, others are a bit uneasy to look at. Regardless, for any fan of action-films starring Schwarzenegger, this is one of his best. The DVD : The biggest amusement is the DVD case for this special edition; a round metallic case resembling the planet Mars. I don't know how many DVD cases will house this DVD nicely, though it's still an amusing idea. More amusing are the added bonus features. Commentary is by both Paul Verhoeven and Arnold Schwarzenegger. This is in addition to the production notes, conceptual art gallery, storyboard comparisons, photo gallery, and cast & crew information. There are also the typical collections of original film trailers and TV commercials for Recall. Best of all are the documentaries. A roughly five minute featurette, titled "Visions of Mars," chronicles the concepts for an actual expedition to Mars itself. "Imagining Total Recall" is a more elaborate, nearly half-hour look behind the scenes of the film. Best of all, though, is an ingenious collection of clips called "Rekall Virtual Vacations," where you can enjoy a repeating video of the Dunes of Mars, the "Mountain Expedition on Planet Lumina 3," and a tranquil Earth Beach. These are amusing computer enhanced "TV vacations" that were an inspired addition to the DVD. In short, this is perhaps one of the best films in Schwarzenegger's career. Now in a special collector's tin, there's even less reason not to buy it. It may be a bit too graphic for some, though to action fans it may be just what they're looking for.
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