Total
Recall (****)
review by Jon
Waterman
For some reason, Douglas Quaid has always been fascinated
by the planet Mars. He has dreams about it and he really wants
to take a vacation there, even though it’s commonly known
to be the cesspool of the universe. His wife has no interest
in going to a place like that, and so Quaid is essentially
stuck. That is, until he decides to take a virtual vacation.
Rekall, Inc. promises to deliver a memory into his brain that
will create a completely realistic vacation. Quaid chooses
to add a little excitement with his package by inserting a
secret agent angle into the trip. Before he’s able to
get strapped down into the machine, something goes wrong and
he has to fight his way out of Rekall. People are out to kill
him and so now he’s off to Mars to find out why and also
to find out who he really is.
The beauty of this film isn’t that you don’t know
what’s real and what’s not; if it’s part
of the implanted memory or if Quaid actually happens to be
a secret agent, but rather that it’s so fun that it doesn’t
matter. Even so, the writers Ronald Shusett & Dan O’Bannon
and Gary Goldman do a great job of keeping the ambiguity flowing
throughout. It’d be very easy to assume that it’s
all just part of the planned vacation that Quaid set up for
himself if it weren’t for the fact that there are several
scenes in the movie that don’t directly follow our hero.
If it were really all in his head, that wouldn’t be part
of the fantasy. We wouldn’t see anything that he couldn’t
see and personally “remember.” They also do well
to avoid overrunning the dialogue with time references or stupid
little quips about reality/fiction. It would be easy to throw
stupid little lines like that in there pretending to be clever,
but they make it more intelligent by keeping all mentions limited
to conversations that directly affected the plot. And the plot
is very solid, keeping the twists and turns coming without
seeming over the top or forced.
The special effects are also very solid. Rob Bottin and his
crew have created some of the most memorable SFX moments in
modern film history. Amongst the instant classics sure to impress
adults and adolescent boys alike are the bulging eyes, the
human X-Ray airport security system, and Quaid’s woman
costume with the talking exploding head. You’re watching
sci-fi action movie gold, my friend.
Everything just seems to work in this adaptation of Philip
K. Dick’s short story “We Can Remember It for You
Wholesale.” If I had one complaint, and I do, it would
be that the cinematography is lacking depth and atmosphere.
Sure there’s a nice contrast between the abundance of
red in the Mars backgrounds and locations and the sterile futuristic
environments found everywhere else. However, the movie is simply
way too light. I think the story lends itself to working with
shadows, especially since Quaid (as well as the audience) is
left in the dark the whole time. We shouldn’t be able
to see absolutely every single corner of each set at all times.
Despite that one little minor hitch, “Total Recall” turns
out to be a total blast. It can be hard to find a truly immersive,
enjoyable science fiction movie that delivers an original worthwhile,
unpredictable story. Even if the story doesn’t grab you
for whatever reason, the action element of it will win a lot
of people over. The acting may not be the best, but honestly
everything else, especially the special effects make up for
it and make this one to remember.
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