Total Recall (2012) - Page 6

Go into the DVD Extras on the movie Imposter. There is a shorter version of the movie originally intended to be broadcast as one of three PKD stories in an anthology movie. The story it is based on (PKD title: The Imposter) is actually a short novel by today's standards, and more importantly it is a straight translation of the original material to the screen, word-for-word, and scene-by-scene. It is instructive because you can easily see the stylistic differences between the printed word and the movie/video version. Then rewatch the full length movie and notice how additional layers of story were incorporated into the plot.

In a film such as Minority Report, one can easily see the bones of the short novel within the script. But some of the very best action sequences such as the external building elevator and the "groundcar factory" were added material.

Another example of an ALMOST literal translation of the written word onto the screen is the 1982 John Carpenter version of The Thing. People criticize it for the differences between it and the 1951 original film The Thing From Another World, which is campy fun but much inferior. But they fail to realize that the 1982 version is an almost exact translation of the 1939 John W. Campbell short novel Who Goes There?. The Carpenter version has no scenes that do not exist in the original, yet contains entire conversations where the dialogue is word-for-word identical to the printed version. The 1982 film should be recognized as the first ever example of what we today call a "reboot".

I saw the original at a late night showing during it's theatrical release, and for the time, had a believable horror feel to it - at least for us drunken college kids.

I liked CF in the remake but, Chris Sarandon was pretty awesome in this role. Kind of a Frank Langella thing, only better. His height also helps him here as a taller vampire works better than the shorter, stocky, CF, imo.

All of the rants I've seen, or made, involve remakes that were originally R, scrubbed down to fit a PG-13 world. Or those that have "adult" themes that are castrated for a wider audience.

One of my favorite movies this year was The Avengers, and it was properly rated PG-13.


BTW, I own the 3D BD version of Fright Night, and like it just fine. I also liked the original.

Just checked for a BD version of the original.
Was going to order it at Amazon, until I looked at the price...$180.

That's what happens when only 3000 copies are made. If you wanted it at more like 30 bucks, you needed to jump on it QUICKLY.

Yes, I believe i mentioned both Imposter and Minority Report earlier in this thread (if I didn't, it must have been on another forum). What I liked about Imposter was that it was fairly faithful to the short story, just with the added second act. Minority Report was a deviation from the short story in that they changed the whole premise of the story. In the original, each pre-cog sees things a different way, and that knowledge of the possible futures allows Anderton to make his own choices. That element would have made the film more exciting, as opposed to the basic "two saw it one way, the third saw it another" tactic they used instead.

I'm ok with added material, obviously the short stories don't have enough plot to stretch to two hours. But most of these movies change the overall theme of the stories.

Dang....

Since we are talking about this re-make of TR (and with untold others coming down the pike), I give you these nominees for your consideration:
http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-movies-that-actually-deserve-remake/

That's your opinion but I think there was a lot of ambiguity in The Dark Knight Rises. Recall our discussion of this issue in The Dark Knight Rises thread. I won't reprise it here, though, in deference to those who think the discussion should involve the Total Recall remake.

I saw this film in the theater and was surprisingly well entertained. It's not great art but then neither was Verhoeven's 1990 original. Colin Farrell was just fine and the supporting cast was stellar. I particularly enjoyed seeing Bryan Cranston in his Breaking Bad Heisenberg persona. 7 Stars out of 10.

Really really bad movie.

Aha, I just known it! So I didn't waste my money on this movie.

Watched the Extended Cut on the BD tonite and enjoyed it, although it is obvious this cut has some stuff that is superfluous to the story.
If I ever watch it again, I'll go with the Theatrical.

At any hoot, the video is EXCELLENT.....TONS of detail and good black levels.
Alot to like with the AV.

CF is very good, as is the 2 hotties.

My big complaint with this movie is Mr. Wiseman shows he has become infected with Abrams Lens Flare Syndrome.
Unfortunately, he probably won't be the last Director to become a victim of ALFS.

The movie is nothing ground-breaking, but is worth a watch IMO.
If for no other reason than to see these dark hair and dark eyed beauties strut their stuff.

When I saw it in the theater, the hover-car chase stood out, as well as the elevator shaft machine. How does this look at home on your tv? Thinking about this. Not 3D, but it had some cool futuristic stuff and action.

The CGI in this movie is top-knotch, as well as the PQ of the 2D BD.

Also, loved the Blade Runner look to the city.

I saw the Total Recall remake in the theater, primarily because I like Colin Farrell a lot. I think he is generally underrated. I enjoyed the film, 7 Stars out of 10, but didn't like it enough to buy the BD. Lens flare doesn't bother me much, even at its J.J. Abrams worst, so I really didn't notice it in Total Recall. I have to confess, apostasy though it may be, that I rather like seeing lens flair in some films. I thought Abrams used it effectively in Super 8's mind blowing train crash scene.

This movie starts with alot of ALFS.
So much so, the wife asked "what the he!! is that?"
She thought it was some kind of significant SFX relating to the story.

My beef is it is a Director induced ego jesture, designed to draw attention to the guy BEHIND THE CAMERA, not something to enhance the story or further the movie experience of the audience.

BTW, I agree about CF....he is a fine actor.
Very good performance here and in the recent Fright Night re-make.

Which is still creating havoc as I write this.

Sounds like a good rental. I don't really have a problem with ALFS. Normally, my mind is so dumbed down to be able to enjoy the movie I forget that there is a flare BUT NO LIGHT to make the flare.

Hopefully, BB will have the BD available sometime in the next week as I am off for 11 days over the holidays.

That happens quite a bit in this movie.

Sounds like perfect timing for a jaunt down to Vegas......

so this is worth a bd rental from redbox?

Holy batsh*t..is what I said when the picture 1st came on with CL close up it was stunning and crisp. The dvd (not rental) I got was better than some BD's and that's no joke. Direction and cinematography is so gorgeous it's too bad I fell asleep about half dozen times and had to start over and still it was kind of a dud. CL and KB esp had their A game on as the bitchy adversary but that was about the best thing you can extract from this weak script.

Plus you can't create miracles when there's not much to begin with. I never really cared for the original with Arnold anyways thought it was one of his weak films. But if you want master reference demo material to show off your goods this is it.

Wonkavators.

This was pretty decent. I liked it. The art style and tone was in the vein of Blade Runner and Minority Report. The original is a showcase for some the best conventional effects and I think this might be a showcase for the modern effects styles.

I'm no Colin fan but he was good in this and it's possibly my favorite role of his along with Miami Vice, which isn't saying much. He just isn't a scifi action hero in my mind and comes across as Dark Paul Rudd in most of his roles. Which is to say I like Paul Rudd but you can't take off his shoes and drop him Nakatomi Towers for a Die Hard remake.

I would have liked to have seen more fleshing out of the Colony. At least enough to care they were getting invaded. In the original they did a great job of this and I held my breath while they were suffocated. Character development is a dying art I feel. It only takes a few minutes to make people care.

Kate did a good job and was the best character in the movie second to the effects. Jessica didn't make me care for her or her relationship, possibly the script is to blame. All in all I wish I saw this in the theater and would have not regretted the price.

Rented this last night and agree with alot of what you say here. I thought it a fun rental - good enough story to really be able to kick back and enjoy the AV.

Having recently viewed the original I found myself periodically comparing them. It would go for a while with the Bladerunner tone and I would sort of forget it was a Recall remake and then a scene would happen that was more directly tied to the first one. Seemed like, more often than not, it would not have the funny line or the Arnold charisma and would suffer in comparison. But when it was flowing on it's own seemed the strongest to me. Without the Mars angle, and a couple of tweaks, this could have been a stand alone movie - and I think better off.

I liked CF in the Frightnight remake and thought he came across fairly menacing and superior there. Here, it was a bit of a meh to me compared to Arnold. It was hard to picture him as a super spy in his former memory. He came across as a normalish guy even as he mowed down a room of soldiers. Still passable though. JB is a really good athlete, and physical specimen, but when she is acting from the neck up is hit and miss. KATE on the other hand, really made the movie with her intensity and screen presence.

The only nitpick I have with KATE is I prefer her hair a little shorter, and more off her face, and hope this is addressed before her next movie...

Sheesh, kinda picky ain't we?

I'll tell her tonite when she comes home from work to go to the hair stylist...

I didn't care much for this version. It was too much action obscuring the story. Too much watering things down to get a PG-13 story (apparently 3 boobs don't matter). A-List actors who take you out of the movie (there's so and so playing ... ). The future will unlikely to be that grandiose. Think third world or very spartan as we continue to pay attention to dwindling resources. This is kind of a "CG artists gone wild" edition. Factory with too big an apartment. I might like to see the "director's cut" to see if it fixes things a bit but really just not that interested. Plus, as reported over on the BD software section the TrueHD stream drifted out of sync over time (fixable by quickly cycling through the other audio streams).

Caught it last night.

This is like mixing Blade Runner, Fifth Element and the original, Since it was directed by Len Wiseman, Kate was in most o the movie, not a bad thing. JB has a supporting role. Even id DVD format, the PQ was terrific. As for the story, it is what it is, I had fun for about 2 hours. May put this on my buy list.

One annoying aspect - those stupid flash, a la Star Trek and Super 8. Anyone else find it annoying?

Your opinion of Total Recall is similar to mine, although lens flair doesn't really annoy me. I liked it wen I saw it in the theater in August, 7 Stars out of 10, and posted about it here in early December. When I read your post, though, for a minute I couldn't remember whether I had even seen the film. Make of that what you will.

Unfortunately, Wiseman (and others in Hollywood) has become infected with ALFS.

On 2nd thought, the lens flair is way too annoying for me to own. Already got Star Trek with a much better story, though no Kate.

I ended up re-watching the original and then True Lies but the latter was an old DVD with rather poor PQ.

The rumor is this year TL and TA will get released on BD.