Leave it be!
Seriously this rebooting of old movies has got to stop. The Arnie version is perfect the way it is. The TV series was dull and boring and it sounds like the reboot is just as dull and boring. Plus will there be Jonny Cab?
Total Recall rehash – exit Martians, enter Jessica Biel
Those film fans among you who were sitting in darkened rooms, trembling at the prospect of Hollywood's re-imagining of Paul Verhoeven's 1990 sci-fi romp Total Recall, should rest assured that things look promising for the latest interpretation of Philip K Dick's We Can Remember It for You Wholesale. First up, Arnold …
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Monday 30th May 2011 08:35 GMT T J
Not a reboot as far as I can tell?
If they are calling it 'Total Recall' then I guess they are rebooting the title. But otherwise this looks like an attempt to actually re-tell the book, which is all anyone should care about.
The Arny film was an utter, utter, steaming abortion. Not even a PKD plot could save it.
So let's see what they come up with.
When you tell a PKD story 'straight', or an approximation of straight, you get a good result.
Screamers was brilliant despite being very low budget, Minority Report survived having Tom Cruise in it, and we all know about Blade Runner.
Now if they want to get real, they should tackle 'The Three Stigmata Of Palmer Eldritch'.
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Friday 27th May 2011 09:24 GMT The Fuzzy Wotnot
OK but...
I welcome this one this open arms, especially if Mr Nighy is along for the ride, but please stop using the word "re-imagining".
Happily skipping along the sentances, reading the article then you hit "re-imagining" and it's as if a giant bee as flown into your mouth and your choking while being stung!!
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Friday 27th May 2011 09:27 GMT DF118
It will be difficult to beat Verhoeven's
It's the only movie I can think of where not a single frame is wasted. There is always something happening, and for that reason alone (never mind all the others) it is easily one of the best sci-fi action movies ever made.
Now, compare and contrast with the Twilight franchise...
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Friday 27th May 2011 09:30 GMT Neil Barnes
And only last week...
We had a perfectly good list of science fiction films that haven't been made yet.
What is it that makes Hollywood think the best way to make a film is to find a film already released, cut its head off, pee down the hole, stir well, and glue the head back on backwards to make some sort of shambling imbecilic monster? Does no-one in the 'creative industries' actually have any imagination?
Bah.
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Friday 27th May 2011 12:37 GMT Alien8n
Book version
Agreed, when I saw they were making a film of the story I thought "great!" until I actually saw the film. That's not to say it was total hash, but I felt the original ending of seeing the USA turning into a totalitarian state and the main character's attempts to join the good fight would be a much better ending than "seeing the future causes end of the world". Although the book would probably have been seen as too close to a documentary than science fiction nowadays...
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Friday 27th May 2011 09:47 GMT Marvin the Martian
Quaid? Quail! Please come back, all is forgiven!
I think that's what's actually happening, that harkening. IIRC, there's the memories of Mars in PKD but no actual Mars trip --- and as I read it this movie will stick to that instead of what the 90s movie did.
The proof of the pudding will be in the name of the lead --- Quail (as per PKD) or Quaid (as per Verhoeven).
/"It will be difficult to beat Verhoeven" and there may be laws against it; but I think it's worth a try, he definitely deserves it for Showgirls. Years ago he said he'd like to film the life of Jesus; that I would definitely want to watch -- it'll probably become a facistoid movie like Starship Troopers; I'm sure the church will hate it even more than The Life of Brian! Let's go slaugter some holy cows!
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Friday 27th May 2011 09:44 GMT Ian Yates
Naively hopeful
True, the original film (despite its late 80s graphics) was a reasonably good adaptation of Dick's attempt to confuse the concepts of memory and reality.
The re-imagining, apart from highlighting that Hollywood has no more imagination, has plenty of leeway to play with the same concepts and make something good.
Should be interesting to keep an eye on.
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Friday 27th May 2011 09:46 GMT Smallbrainfield
So in essence, it sounds less of a remake and more like an enitrely
different film in all but name, with a vague nod to the original concept. Why call it Total Recall? It's irksome to fans of the original story and the film and means nothing to the kids they're expecting to pay to watch it.
Is it in 3d?
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Friday 27th May 2011 11:54 GMT Putonghua73
Lars Von Trier
I might have been interested in the concept if Lars Von Trier was directing (or Alejandro Amenabar). Verhoeven's effort for pure pace, style and verve was almost perfect. I remember going to see Total Recall in my late teens and my expectations were low (a bit like the Matrix, many, many years later). So I was completely blown away by the frenetic pace, action, sheer violence (the body count in the early stages is staggering - but often gets missed), interwined with the plot.
Agree with the majority of the comments, that there are plenty of Sci-Fi films that could be made (Neuromancer demands to be done right - without overblown Lawnmower Man style effects - although I don't think any version will come close to the stylistic, downbeat feel of Bladerunner re: drizzling rain, skyscrapers with images of Japanese women 'geisha' make-up, and the throbbing crowds), so am perplexed but not surprised at yet another re-working. Especially when there is no need.
It's been a long time since I've shown any interest in Hollywood. That doesn't look like it's about to change.
Neuromancer or Snow Crash - without Keanu Reeves. That's all.
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Friday 27th May 2011 14:16 GMT David Kelly 2
Original Stinker
I thought the original Total Recall movie was a Mind F***ing waste.
Thats supposed to be a joke as it seemed to me anytime they thought need of filling space with dialog they would say "mind f***". Only movie to have ever offended me with language, and only because it was never appropriate and always gratuitous. Wasn't the language that offended but the script.
OTOH I got a chuckle from some of their futuristic kitchenware. The Mrs serves Arnold breakfast pouring the drink from a white thermal carafe out of a late 1980's Black & Decker Thermal Carafe Coffee Maker. I still have two of the things, still working.
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Biting the hand that feeds IT
