Total Recall Review

hello worldwide web I'm Berger said oh yeah personality best hair and welcome back to today's review is Total Recall the 1990 film with Arnold Schwarzenegger of course loosely based on the philip k dick short story we can remember it for you wholesale Total Recall is about a boring man living a boring life in a boring City on boring earth with his boring wife but with a lack of time or money to go on the great adventure that he wants to he decides to just buy the memories of said adventure problem is these memories may or may not have been erased from him in the first place which lines up mostly with the original story except this is a Schwarzenegger movie so we actually go to Mars and kick all the asses we don't just spend the whole time on earth and spend half our time communicating telepathically before remembering but also over nine years old we saved the earth from tiny aliens the point is Schwarzenegger Stars has Douglas Quaid a man whose desire to see Mars one day is interrupted by the revelation that he actually already was there and there's this huge secret agent double agent triple agent quadruple agent conspiracy that's twisting two plot into a balloon animal or maybe it isn't that's the thing about Total Recall there's a lot of ambiguity with what exactly is going on so let's take a look at Total Recall and see if we might actually be able to figure it out for once sorry opens up on Mars as Arnold walks along its red dunes along with a lady many [ __ ] trips over his space shoe laces [Music] but it was all just a dream which is actually how the original short story started out as well except without the babe or the death thing just like yeah Maz I like it it's read like the original writing though this is a recurring dream by Douglas played by Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife Lori played by Sharon Stone finds the idea of Mars incredibly annoying done here is obsessive about it though possibly spurred by the news about societal unrest on the red planet of their space magic iam or mines and the crew leadership of Co Hagan who controls the planets air supply Lori thinks what Doug needs is a distraction what about Saturn interestingly his wife from the original movie actually suggested the bottom of the ocean she really did not want him leaving Earth by the way all the fun he can have literally anywhere else in the solar system doesn't scratch his itch to go to Mars but on his way to work a commercial promises it might have what he needs not actually going to the Red Planet but buying the memories of a five-star vacation there through recall of course when he brings us up to his co-worker Harry played by Robert Costanzo it has some advice for him and all he was trying to do was remember his account passwords and security questions so neither Lauri nor Harry want Doug to even think about Mars but this hardly stops him from visiting recall and meeting the receptionist who if my reading skills are accurate was a topless blonde who painted her boobs various colors in the original story he or she just lets soak through to see Bob McClane play by Ray Baker Doug has an appointment after all and MacLean has just the vacation package for him if outer space is your thing I think you would be much happier with one of our saturn cruises everybody raves about him now I'm not interested in Saturn now worry Doug nobody in the 90s was so Mars it is with only a few questions first of all they assured him that the memories will seem as real as any other memory of his and also the fatalities at recall are at an all-time low making it much safer than traditional space travel nowadays traveling with recall is safer and getting on a rocket check out those statistics besides a real holiday the pain in the butt okay that graph just confuses me it doesn't actually look like recall became any safer as time goes on just space travel became ridiculously more dangerous why is that the salesmen naturally won't stop trying to upsell Duggan after he turns down Saturn or longer memories he brings up something that only recall can provide the so-called ego trip where he can remember his vacation as someone else entirely why go to Mars as a tourist when you can go as a playboy or a famous jock or secret-agent how much is that pretty steep pays not as good as you think and you're bored housewife will end up going off in [ __ ] a used car salesman another minor difference from the original stories and ego trips weren't some new thing it was common for people to come to recall and ask for Emory's as alternate personas and secret agent was already a common request the important thing is no matter what he jumps at the idea of remembering an awesome adventure to save moss as a deep undercover agent and they interact to preparing his memory implant I'll be asking you some questions start so we can fine tune the Eco program you answer honestly you'll enjoy yourself a whole lot more your sexual orientation does this mean anything to you the questions allow him to construct the girl of his dreams with a pretty damn high level of accuracy as he slowly slips under the influence of their sleeping aid they strap the man in for the memories of a lifetime does obviously the point in the film where [ __ ] goes incredibly wrong Idon't change from the original story after being sedated that wasn't thrashing around screaming everyone that they blew his cover it was barely whispering it past the Schwarzenegger difference he also says his name is not Quaid I mean it wasn't in the book it was Quayle but the two names are a new angle this time around the only way they can manage to calm him down is by jamming his leg with enough tranquilizer to leave the Hulk in a coma now that this is at all concerning to McClane he's just acting out the secret agent portion of his ego trip I'm afraid that's not possible why not because we haven't implanted it yet oh my god with some weird [ __ ] about princesses and hedgehogs and all of a sudden II went berserk seems the man wished to be secret agent on Mars is based on the fact that he was indeed a secret agent on Mars and someone erased his memories so they figure erases memories of this and wash their hands of the man I'm gonna destroy his file and refund his money and if anybody comes asking we never even heard of Douglas Quaid another difference from the original in a short story they only refunded half his money I guess that's kind of working like emergency rooms where you go there wait two hours don't get seen leave out of frustration and then you receive a 300 dollar bill in the mail in case you're sick of me droning on and on about the differences between the short story in this movie don't worry they divert drastically from this point on he wakes in a Johnny cab taking him home from recall with no recollection as to what the hell happened and the robot voice by Robert Picardo isn't helping him any how did that get in this taxi the door opened you got him it's kind of implied by the question at least say which leg went in the car first the cab brings him safely to his apartment but for some weird reason Harry is waiting for him talking about this trip to Mars he took in his visit to recall none of which Doug remembers so he thinks the guy's is pulling his leg come on I'll buy you a drink listen I won't drink [ __ ] hell here he's dead serious when he wants to get some shots so despite Doug's protests Harry insists he should have listened to him I'm the only one who has Doug mixed up with someone else's Doug himself then he tries to kill him without taking into account he's arnold schwarzenegger evenin jingle all the way when it's supposed to be generic dad number 48 he still beat the crap out of an entire room of samus with no one left to share a drink with Doug hurries home to his wife talking about how Harry went crazy and people are talking about him having been to Mars but he can't remember and everyone is out to get him Lori obviously doesn't think much of these claims though you're having paranoid delusions this pollution possibly the existence of blood doesn't mean that Harry's dead just that there's blood on your hands maybe one of the skinless villains from Hellraiser showed up for a game of pattycake whatever it is he goes to wash it off while Lori talks about calling the police Doug obviously doesn't want that but by the time he leaves the bathroom he is under fire a little scuffle in the darkness and we soon find out from whom Laurie still doesn't really prove the secret-agent [ __ ] I mean he's not the first husband to ever make his wife wanna punch him in the dick however when he finally gets the upper hand she tells him it's true that his memory was erased our marriage is just a memory implants think I'm stupid and our wedding was implanted by the agency for another implant goddamn man's got more implants and Cheetos so he has no idea what his real life was but he knows now that it's not this Laurie was just an agency plan to keep an eye on him and make sure he remembered nothing never say that she didn't enjoy her work and she asks if she could keep him for a little over time but we see this is just to allow the rest of the agency goons to get here in time to deal with him so one quick punch to the face later and he's on the move this means we don't learn anything new when the agency reaches the apartment outside from the fact that Richter here played by Michael Ironside is the actual husband of Laurie but thanks to a handy-dandy tracking device they have no problem keeping the chase going especially considering Quaid is dumb enough to carry a gun through a massive x-ray at a security checkpoint [Music] so she said this was the first major motion picture to utilize CGI for effects shots and they only used it for the x-ray machine everything else was miniatures puppets and other kinds of traditional effects utilizing a random civilian as a bullet sponge quite eventually makes it to a subway car and actually managed to escape its pursuers this isn't good news well because Richter let him get away and also because he was trying to kill him the whole way something his boss cohaagen played by Ronny Cox doesn't want and feels is completely unnecessary Laurie says he can't remember jack [ __ ] that's now in an hour he could have Total Recall listen to me Richter this isn't one of those movies with instant to sex he can't just rent the flick and find out the truth cohaagen says no matter what they must take Quaid alive now that Richter cares static static something oh we're losing you sir and gaining a beat on Quaid so it's off to kill him however someone else has managed to contact Quaid first if you want to live don't hang up listen to me very closely the warranty on your vehicle is about to expire but I've got a great opportunity now dad I'm sick this [ __ ] the mystery man on the phone left Quaid know that he's got a tracking device installed but he can't get it out right now cuz it's in his skull so yeah don't worry wrapping a wet towel around your head will match the signal far better than your wet meaty head ever could then the caller instructs him to retrieve a case from the phone booth before he disappears into thin air it's easy enough to retrieve he only has to assault one old lady and then walk calmly away of until richter spots him then he has to catch a cab before it's too late I'm not familiar with that address oh it's just down no [ __ ] way fortunately though these self driving taxis just so happen to be equipped with joysticks just in case the passenger feels the need to rip Johnny off his stump and have an action scene this allows him to leave some skid marks and escaped into the night once again the fare is 18 credits please sue me [ __ ] I wanted to have robot taxis would deal with unpaid fares not the same as regular taxis now that he's all alone Doug digs through the suitcase to find out what it's all about it's got some monopoly money there is ID cards sci-fi metal tool equipment a spy watch with something way cooler than a calculator even a walkie talkie a hologram then of course is a video message to Doug from Doug since he used to be an agent on Mars but along the way he found a hard-ass babe and also learned something something fighting for the wrong side gotta help out the rebels promise this recording is a contingency plan which means if he's seeing it things didn't go all that well and his memory was white and here comes the hot pot old buddy now it is all up to you great don't worry man your real names Schwarzenegger you'll be fine first things first though he's got to get the tracking device out of his head just so happens the handy dandy tool in the case is decide to go grab his nose and dig that sumbitch out [Music] damn we're in trouble if nose Velvets are starting to load up with monnet balls now that his head is 510 grains lighter that any hotels dug to get to Mars and go to the Hilton with a specific ID on the double thus discarding his old tracking device he's off unfortunately not fast enough to get rid of everything so Richter knows well he's heading to Mars which means he's on the first shuttle over but can't seem to locate Douglas Quaid anywhere just your average assortment of tourists enjoying a vacation to Mars with nothing out of the ordinary whatsoever okay so how long do you plan to stay on Mars two weeks have you brought any fruits or vegetables onto the planet wait ah the woman is an imposter which makes me wonder how he got this far where they're only able to say two weeks unless it just recently started glitching out I guess so the [ __ ] hits the fan and by that of course I mean it's revealed that the woman is in fact not a woman but a suit being worn by arnold schwarzenegger also her head explodes then Berkeley shoots out one of the windows resulting in depressurization the kind you usually associate with spaceships despite that not even being entirely accurate Krauss such an event would go on Mars or in space for that matter whatever the case they can only stop it by sealing the area with emergency shutters which Douglass manages to quickly slip past again evading his pursuers just our luck they built the entire security system out of Christmas tree lights having managed to slip away Doug makes it to the Hilton and signs in with the ID in question seems there was something left there under his name a flyer for a strip club with a note to ask for Molina written in Doug's own handwriting so it's off to Venus Ville to the last resort taking the cab owned by Benny played by Mel Johnson jr. another action scene breaks up but it's not one involving Doug this kind of [ __ ] is just what happens on the Red Planet first time on Mars yes well actually no well sort of well just find out he never actually got caught and got his memory erased it just got really shit-faced one night either way doesn't take long to reach Venus ville 1/2 red-light district the other half psychic mutants with questionable accuracy birthday what is it yeah that's my zodiac sign kid fortunately he doesn't need a psychic to find the last resort and asked the bartender to see Molina unfortunately she seems to be busy at the moment Mary here she's free not free honey but out available this isn't particularly plot relevant but I just know that out of all the things people will complain about if I skip over the triple titty is pretty high on the list eventually after pressing the issue for long enough pub manages to get that special alone time with Melina played by Rachel to captain not the happy sexy type but the aggressive interrogation type she's not happy that mr. Hauser lifts all a sudden and hasn't contacted her in months to which he responds that he kind of forgot because he forgot pretty much everything thanks to go Hagen erasing his memories and all that promise he mentions having a boring life on earth with a wife and that's the last straw you two-timing and easy I could don't forget out of her sight right now so so much for that lead all I can do is go back to his hotel room until a mystery knock on the door turns out to be none other than dr. Edgemar from recall played by Roy Brock Smith according to him he's not really here but then again neither is Doug well we at recall you're strapped into an implant chair and I'm monitoring you from the psycho probe console I've also invited my cousin over and he's been using a Sharpie to draw dicks all over your face the story goes that this was his ego trip but something [ __ ] up and his brain decided to just start making [ __ ] up based around the memory tapes of war being implanted the bad part however is that they can't wake him up from the outside so dr. Edgemar was inserted into the vacation as an emergency measure to try to get him out willingly to help convince him that this is the right decision they even bring in his wife tried to get him killed earlier in the ego trip but just ignore that little detail for now dr. Edgemar can bring Doug back to the real world with the tried and true hand it into red pill Doug still is having trouble accepting all this though and wonders what might happen if he just kills him instead the walls of reality will come crashing down one minute you'll be the savior of the rebel cause and the next thing you know you'll be Co Hagen's bosom buddy but in the end back on earth you'll be lobotomised I mean yeah but wouldn't have to go to work tomorrow is all I'm saying so given the choice Doug takes the red pill then remembers we still got like 45 minutes of movie left and administers the lead pill spitting out the red pill seconds later the walls come crashing down around him it turns out the agency has tracked him down probably because as we all know Laurie is working for them after all [Music] I don't know just say it if I were looking at a fantasy adventure I don't think I would involve my balls being crushed nearly as often with Quaid under their control they begin to drag him off up until Molina shows up and murders the [ __ ] out of the goons spare Laurie who she ends up in hand-to-hand combat with almost being killed by the woman until equate comes to and saves the day we're married consider that a divorce now YouTube we'll just call that limited marriage with that Doug escapes with Molina right before Richter shows up to find out his wife is [ __ ] dead so he wants very much to kill the [ __ ] out of Doug but he can't open fire because the dome is right there and we know what happened last time he shot the glass fortunately for Doug Betty is still waiting at his beck and call and provides a good old-fashioned car chase the bullets are flying and the mining vehicles are making things more than little squirrelly but he's able to get the two of them back to the last resort fast enough that he can slip behind a secret door leaving Richter to ask around to find out what happened where are they Richter it's not exactly what's meant by the term the process of elimination he figures Quaid's gotta be nearby so just kill the [ __ ] out of everybody until they either hand him over or he dies in the chaos anyway problem is mr. Koh Hagen doesn't agree with this strategy not fighting and full-out they've got quite they're protecting them perfect get out of sector G now don't think do it I wouldn't accuse the guy of running around screaming and shooting at every one of thinking too much as they escape Doug Molina and Benny managed to make it past the shutters before Venus villa is locked down and cohaagen promptly cuts off the supply of air not that it matters much to our group of Heroes that past Venus Ville in the secret tunnels where we find the resistance is located Melina thinks that they can trust Quaid now otherwise why would Co Hagen try to kill him but what about Benny over here hey don't worry about me man I'm on your side [Music] turns out he's been hiding some pretty damn awesome and electronics all movie alright let him through upon getting through George played by Marshall Bell tells Doug that their leader quato wants to speak with him and find out just what it is he knows sure Doug can remember [ __ ] but cuantos a mutant and therefore psychic so such trivial details are of no concern the fact that Quattro is a weird Siamese BeerBelly though that's kind of [ __ ] up open your stop comparing me to a rotisserie chicken Davian equates deleted memories there's a secret massive alien structure on Mars a reactor of some kind now that we have too much time to get the details as before long the agency shows up and begins killing everyone thus doug molina Kuato and benny must run for their lives but it turns out benny was working for cohaagen all along and is just really lucky that Doug not only picked his cab out of all the others but also all those bullets and drills didn't tell him on the way here the story is that Benny's working for Co Hagan because the man pays well and all Kuato manages to get out as the Doug has to turn the reactor on right before his psychic brains are decorating the tiles with Doug and Molina captured they are brought before Co Hagan for the real surprise Doug was also working for a co Hagan all along the fact is Houser volunteered to become Doug Quaid was the only way to fool the psychics Oh get your story straight if you needed my memory wipe to get past the psychics how the hell was Benny able to get past the psychics with his memory perfectly intact and never mind that detail ko Hagan says that his Quaid persona was originally his idea the only way they could get to Quatro and crush the resistance once and for all Quaid still doesn't believe him but a little message from Douglas Hauser confirming this story proves to be far more convincing problem is it's also punctured with a note about how now Quaid is going to be erased so that how they can be put back into his brain at yours amigo and thanks for not getting yourself killed hey maybe we meet now dreams okay this segues into a Schwarzenegger on Elm Street style slasher movie I can get behind that now they just plan to drag them up for memory erasure and reimplantation what's milena still doing there oh [ __ ] it they can trace her memories too while they're at it and make her into a nice obedient wife for Hauser oh yeah but there was also that small detail about leaving Venus ville with no air don't do anything but they won't last an hours sir [ __ ] them a good lesson to the others don't you just love bad guys who simply adore being evil of course only a fool thinks that reinforced steel restraints are even remotely capable of preventing schwarzenegger from breaking free chillin the [ __ ] out of the Mindwipe agents and saving milena in the nick of time of course this means Co Hagan has to come up with a new plan kill him god damn damn I know I'm kind of worried quit breaking out in killing agents was actually part of the plan still and there's even more to it's just around the bend where's Quaid he's wasting no time trying to save Mars heading to that alien reactor accept all they find is a stone wall where the tunnel should be however when Benny shows up in a giant drill to kill them not only do they kill Benny first but the drill just so happened to reveal the tunnel to the reactor the agency is right on his tail though so utilizing that handy-dandy holographic projector he and Molina stealthily mowed down dozens of armed men before duggan richter make it to the elevator and duke it out [Music] see at the party riester oh how could you kill that man Arnold he was completely unarmed there's one last twist before the finale seems Co Hagan was also up there waiting for Doug according to him the reason the aliens never turned on the reactors because it'll cause all the space magic iam on the planet to blow the [ __ ] up destroying Maas however when discarding the bomb Co Hagan plan to destroy the reactor it blows up and opens a tunnel to the outside with no atmosphere which means some good old-fashioned depressurization at least for Co Hagan the first to get falling out and start choking and ballooning on the surface of Mars oh well can't get much worse anyway said Doug quickly activates the reactor despite the warnings shortly before he and Malina are also flung outside of course in Total Recall Mars has a core of ice rather than the molten iron it's far more likely to have in reality but [ __ ] it the ice can be made into steam which wouldn't help too much but it's a big alien director so something-something fission oxygen and clouds and mixing you know boom the whole damn planet is covered in an atmosphere so fast the Jets of air should have ripped Dougie milena apart but [ __ ] for now happy ending cohaagen is dead Venus Ville is alive and Doug managed to save the world and get the girl what if this is a dream well then kiss me quick before you wake up [Music] shorts gonna get you to slow I got to keep these clips short if I went I'd avoid catching the eye or the Content ID but anyway that was Total Recall and it's a [ __ ] masterpiece and a lot of it has to do with the fact that the movie honestly doesn't explain too much to you by the end he saves the world engage the girl or does he was it really all just a dream he could have saved Mars or it could have been an ego trip gone bad and now he's lobotomize or maybe when exactly the way it was supposed to and he's back on earth working construction the fact is though they don't need to explain this to make the movie feel satisfying the twists are also very well done they are telegraphed early enough in the movie if you're paying attention but still manage to surprise and hold some weight possibly because even when the twists happen we are left wondering just how much is real and how much isn't even when he learned that Houser made Quaid to get quato for Co Hagan there's still the fact that he got the holographic projector watch in the suitcase early on and that was instrumental not in getting quato but in sticking it to co Hagan and saving Mars also visually this movie holds up extremely well several of the miniature shots do look like miniatures but most of them are presented well enough that it doesn't feel too fake future earth feels distinctly like Earth but not like modern times Mars is similar to future Earth but still distinctly its own setting even on blu-ray the classic special effects still hold up and really make me wish Hollywood didn't rely on CGI for absolutely everything these days overall Total Recall is yet another movie that has a reputation for being badass because it is simply badass you're not going to find oscar-winning monologues here but the subject matter of real and fake memories and the implications of not knowing reality from an implanted fantasy lend themselves to deeper thinking than you might imagine and having that as a central theme to a badass science fiction action extravaganza starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and his prime how can this not come in at five disturbing deaths by a depressurization out of five oh yeah there are a couple of small problems here and there but in other news the Sun has spots thank you all for watching high Madiga shadow and remember if you can [Music] [Music] Sacco

Channel: Decker Shado

Views: 180,728

Keywords: Decker Shado, Total Recall, Arnold Schwarzenegger, review (media genre), movie review, review, science fiction, action, we can remember it for your wholesale

Id: hfmHXWKR7PU

Length: 27min 51sec (1671 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 20 2017