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Total Recall

TOTAL RECALL

With Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel, Bokeem Woodbine, Bryan Cranston, Bill Nighy, John Cho

Written by Kurt Wimmer, Mark Bomback (based on the Dan O'Bannon, Ronald Shusett screenplay inspired by the Philip K. Dick short story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale")

Directed by Len Wiseman

I loved the Shwarzenegger starring original movie version of the Philip K. Dick adaptation by O'Bannon and Shusett, directed by Dutch helmer Paul Verhoeven (whose no-holds-barred approach displayed in RoboCop translated well into a futuristic Mars-bound location). This older version was actually on satellite a week or so before I watched this new rendition and I'm glad I caught it, to compare notes as it were.

Here the character of Quaid is played by Colin Farrell, his wife by Underworld hottie (and the director's wife) Kate Beckinsale.

In stead of the Mars location of the Verhoeven / Schwarzenegger version, the action takes place on a barely inhabitable earth, but there is a gigantic elevator system known as The Fall, which connects workers between the UFB (United Federation of Britain) and The Colony, straight through the earth's core.

A man known as Matthias has been trying to integrate the Colony into the UFB.

Doug Quaid works on a robot assembly line and feels there should be more to life. His recurring dream of a woman he'd never met (the sumptuous Biel) and a confrontation with security forces gnawing at him. So he goes to Rekall, a company that supplies you with artificial, but vivid memory implants for an alternate but realistic experience. However, a screw-up dumps him in the middle of a resistance movement and the entire security force after him. It comes to the fore that he may be someone other than he'd thought. The conundrum comes in whether this new dangerous experience is happening for real, or in his head while at Rekall.

This deadly chase with countless dangers has armies of robots on his trail, as well as the woman he thought was his wife. Unable to tell fantasy from reality, Quaid is having one hell of a day, that may in fact also have an impact on the entire planet.

The director of the original Underworld movies executes an exciting, large scale action-packed futuristic adventure, but regardless of all the big budget special FX, it just falls short of being really impressive or displaying a unique character like the 1990 version.

Extra features include a look at The Fall's giganic lift design, a gag real, and how the Science-Fiction in the film compares to the real world possibilities, from robots and holograms to hover cars and memory implants (hosted by theoretical physicist Michio Kaku).

3 / B
- Paul Blom

0 1 2 3 4 5 6
- A - B - C


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Total Recall



never let a review decide for you, but for those who need a rating, see the Flamedrop scale below
6 - Volcanic
5 - Blistering
4 - Hot
3 - Smolder
2 - Room Temperature
1 - Fizzled
0 - Extinguished

A: Multi-Viewing Potential

B: Could Enjoy A 2nd Look

C: Once Should Suffice



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