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    Total Recall

    Reviewed by
    adamwatchesmovies@

    The 90's total recall is part ultra-violent Schwarzenegger action flick, part mind-bending sci-fi and totally entertaining. It's the kind of movie you think is just a straight up action flick until a crucial moment about midway that will blow your mind. It’s deceptively smart.

    Douglas Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger) dreams of vacationing on Mars. Instead of an expensive vacation to the now-colonized world, he opts for a new futuristic vacation: "Rekall", services will implant memories into your brain, simulating vacations or even fantasies into the client's mind. Once at Rekall, he finds himself swept up in a world of space travel, mutants, global conspiracies, sleazy women and danger at every turn.

    “Total Recall” may have been released in 1990, but it’s a thoroughly satisfying 80’s-style action flick. You get excellent one-liners,  Spoiler alert - click to reveal textmy favorite of which is between Quaid and a mutant who tells our hero "You've got some nerve showing your face around here!" There aren’t just one or two memorable quotes from this movie. Nearly every major scene has an unforgettable bit of dialogue. While you’re re-watching it to memorize the best moments, you’ll be treated to a plot that’s much more than mindless action. You can watch the movie multiple times, and always find something new. It makes the ending (Which can be interpreted in two ways) much more interesting than your standard sci-fi action flick.

    It's nearly two hours but never feels slow, thanks to the many gunfights, explosions, and chases. The special effects are also excellent. While there are a couple of blue-screen effects that aren't seamless (and if you're watching the movie on Blu-ray you'll cringe a little) but everything else is convincing because they were made using physical props. You have elaborate makeup, meticulously crafted miniatures, convincing matte paintings, elaborate sets, a slew of squibs as people get blown away, even some very impressive animatronics whose lips synch very well to the dialogue they're given. The fact that you’ll be wondering “how did they do that? ” adds to the re-watch value.

    Paul Verhoeven consistently delivers when it comes to sci-fi action flicks (see "Robocop" and "Starship Troopers") The man manages to squeeze in some good moments of dark humor and satire in his film, which helps counterbalance the slaughterhouse-worthy combat. He even manages to get some pretty decent performances from his actors (though he's a little wooden at the beginning, even Arnold manages to do a pretty convincing job) The characters are intelligent and well defined. You get a feel for who these characters are. The story borrows so loosely from the original material it's pretty much it's own thing but there's so much twisting and turning and the quick pace means you won't be upset.

    Yes, for some people it's going to be too violent and if you get too distracted by the three-breasted mutant lady, that you don’t notice the psychological subtext in the film, it will just be an over-the-top action movie. Even purely on that level it works. Some bits haven't aged well and some of the performances are a bit silly but it's one of the better Schwarzenegger movies, you’re missing out if you haven’t seen it yet. “Total Recall” is an exciting film to watch alone or to discuss endlessly with friends. (On Blu-ray, June 14, 2013)

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    adamwatchesmovies@  10.6.2016 age: 26-35 2,867 reviews

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