Blu-ray Review: Total Recall: Mind-Bending Edition

Posted By: Alexon: August 06, 2012In: DVD/Blu-Ray ReviewsNo Comments

Total Recall, based off the short story We Can Remember It For You Wholesale by Philip K. Dick, is one of the greatest all-around sci-fi movies to ever grace the big screen, in my humble opinion obviously. Directed by Paul Verhoeven (Robo Cop, Starship Troopers), the film stars stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sharon Stone, Michael Ironside and Rachel Ticotin in a film about a man who’s life is a lie, or so we are led to believe.

Set in 2084, Total Recall follows a lowly but jacked construction worker named Douglas Quaid, a guy who constantly dreams of Mars and an unknown woman that’s with him there. One day while headed to work, Quaid sees an ad for Rekall, a company that implants memories into your brain so that you don’t have to spend money on a vacation. Against the wishes of his wife, Quaid goes and to Rekall so that he can have a memory of going to Mars. When the procedure starts, everything goes wrong, or does it? Quaid has some sort of panic attack and wakes up only to find out that people are out to get him and that he was once a secret agent stationed on Mars. Is Quaid who he really thinks he is, has his memory actually been wiped or is this all part of Rekall’s magic?

What I love most about Total Recall is that after the initial thought that everything happening might actually be an implanted memory, you completely forget that thought is even a possibility until one point in the middle of the feature (which quickly evaporates) and then right at the end. It’s one massive mind f*ck that’ll drive you crazy the longer you think about it. This is probably one of the first quality movies that ever made you question the actual identity of the film’s protagonist and left you with that feeling that you had during Inception by the end of it. Oh, I love this movie.

In case you didn’t know, Total Recall was nominated for two Oscars and won the Special Achievement Academy Award for its crazy good special effects. When you look at it today and think “that film came out in 1990, 12 years ago?” you become even more impressed by the visuals. They created such an expansive and gritty world with all practical effects and models that gave it that realistic element that so many GDI driven features lack today. The most impressive area though is the use facial prosthetics and how they are used throughout the picture, like when Quaid pulls a tracker out of his nose.

Even if everyone’s acting comes off like late 80’s, early 90’s cheese, there is no denying that this is one of Arnold’s best performances. He has such a dominating presence and since he’s playing a guy that has, for lack of a better word, amnesia, he can easily pull off the confused look, it’s something 80’s action stars have mastered alongside their “you just messed with the wrong guy” look.

Lastly, much like Verhoeven’s film Starship Troopers, Total Recall is one of those movies that you can watch over and over and not be bored by it. It may have been a long time since I’ve seen the film but having known exactly what was going to happen I never found myself becoming bored or distracted (and that includes the dodgy third act that people always complain about). The plot is cool, the action is fun, and Arnold’s presence alone is enough to keep you invested in the feature.

If you haven’t seen Total Recall yet I have to ask you why? Is it because you don’t like Sci-Fi, women with three breasts, or is it because you don’t like good films? Unless you’ve bee in a coma or just don’t watch movies much, there is no quality excuse to not have seen this movie. It has Arnold in his prime, unreal effects for the time and a three breasted woman. Seriously, what more do you need? Do yourself a favor and see the original before you see the far inferior remake, otherwise you’re view of the story will be tainted forever.

You don’t even need the special features, the film itself is justification enough for you to purchase this Blu-ray but if you need more of a reason here is a review of rest of the contents.

The Disc:

The last time I saw Total Recall was on VHS over ten years ago so to me, the HD transfer from the original negative onto Blu-ray looks fantastic. Everything was sharp, saturated and vibrant which helped make the effects look even better. Audio was solid too. The Blu-ray comes with the following special features:

Interview with Director Paul Verhoeven (exclusive to release) – A 35 minute interview that sheds light on Paul’s feelings of the film and how he had to work hard to keep the film smart and mysterious while also being a full blown action spectacle. There is a point where he even comes clean about the issues with the third act
Restoration Comparison- a look at high-definition transfer from original film negative (exclusive to release) – A cool 5 minute featurette that take various scenes from the movie and uses a swip effect to show you what the movie looked like before it was transfered to HD and after. It’s amazing to see how big of a difference there is between the two versions.
“Models and Skeletons: The Special Effects Of Total Recall” featurette – A 23 minute featurette featuring interviews with Mark Stetson, the miniature effects co-supervisor, and Tim McGovern who worked on the CGI motion capture skeleton scene. Stetso was pretty boring to listen to and we never got to see much of the miniatures from their perspective. McGovern was more interesting as his bit was shorter and more to the point. He also talks about how a dog almostwent to the bathroom while shooting the scene.
Audio commentary with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Paul Verhoeven – An entertaining and informative track that helps clear certain things up.
“Imagining Total Recall”- documentary featuring behind-the-scenes interviews with the film’s stars and special effects specialists – A 30 minute doc that features older interviews with people from all fascent of production along with a lot of behind the scenes footage. It’s a nice comprehensive look at Total Recall and how the project came to be along with the various problems that the film encountered.
“Making of” featurette – An eight and a half minute old school featuette that features clips cut in between interviews with various cast and crew members.
Photo gallery
Trailer