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Total Recall
Rated: 18 (Swearing, nudity, violence)
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sharon Stone, Rachel Ticotin, Ronny Cox, Michael Ironside
One such offering that really hit the nail on the head 10 years ago was Total Recall. As with, Alien, this was a collaboration between struggling screenwriters Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett. However, unlike the former which was released in 1979, TR would spend another decade in development hell. Based on a short story, We Can Remember it For You Wholesale (by Blade Runner creator Philip K Dick) the movie went through more directors than you can shake a stick at. At one point, Bruce Beresford and David Cronenberg were going to film it with either Richard Dreyfuss or Matthew Broderick in the lead. Shooting was going to take place in Australia but the complexity of the script meant a huge price tag. Fresh from his success on Twins, Arnold Schwarzenegger dusted the script down and lending his not inconsiderable muscle to the project, helped get it off the ground. Hand picking Dutch director Paul Verhoeven, they went off to Mexico for a few months and filmed arguably the greatest sci-fi offering of 1990. The Austrian oak plays Doug Quaid, a construction worker who decides to take a mental holiday courtesy of Rekall, a company that implants fantasies and memories to give you the illusion of actually being there. Let's face it, aside from a sunburn and a huge bill, all we have to remind ourselves of a fortnight away from it all are our memories and a few holiday snaps. The less said about that Kiss Me Quick hat the better. It soon transpires that maybe Quaid isn't a construction worker after all and perhaps his gorgeous wife isn't all she's cracked up to be. What follows is a rollercoaster ride that taxes both the mind and senses as Doug treks off to Mars in search of the truth. As with Arnie's 1984 offering The Terminator, this is more than just your average dose of Hollywood popcorn with ideas so clever, you can't help but question your own reality for days afterwards. The project had the best special effects money can buy and a script that had been honed to perfection. However, Schwarzenegger still had trouble mastering the fine art of acting. His limitations are something of a trade off for the critical viewer. Without him, there's a good chance the screenplay would still be collecting dust on a shelf somewhere so you have to cut him some slack. The supporting cast is pretty good. Ronny Cox - from Verhoeven's previous movie, Robocop, still makes one of the best bad guys around while B movie regular Michael Ironside (later to appear in Starship Troopers) adds a suitable degree of menace as his none-too bright henchman. Perhaps the most intriguing thing about it is Sharon Stone, two years before Verhoeven turned her into a mega star with Basic Instinct. Sexy, dangerous and with enough bad films behind her to lap up the script with confidence, she manages to shine, in spite of the stunning visuals and clunky sets. Stone also engages in one of the best cat fights ever seen in the movies as co-star Rachel Ticotin gets on her bad side while all hell breaks loose on the red planet. Aside from the direction and script, Rob Bottin should also take a bow as the whiz kid responsible for the jaw-dropping prosthetic effects. A pity about the fake Arnie head which is concealed under an exploding mask at the spaceport but the rest of the effects are literally eye-popping. When the movie made a packet at the box office, many people expected sequels galore but spin offs have been slow in arriving. Last year, a Canadian TV series set in 2070 broke the TR drought and now Star Trek veteran Jonathan Frakes is preparing a sequel which should see the light of day some time next year.
© 2000 Roger Crow
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