Total Recall (2012)

Jon Starr

Jon Starr

Veteran
The trailer for the remake "Total Recall" is finally up:

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/totalrecall/

Honestly, I'm very disappointed. I know, it's a remake and I shouldn't have expected any more. However, while I did love the original, I felt like an update to it would have done it some good. Watching the trailer makes me lose hope though.

The original was fun, sometimes silly, but exciting. Arnold gave it some flair.

I hate Colin Farell and he doesn't have any screen presence IMO. Same with Jessica Beil. They just feel like B-movie actors to me. Kate Beckinsale, may make it work. Also, it now just feels like it's all about the 'flair' of sci-fi, without the substance. It has flying cars, and floating cities, and crazy buildings that make you go wow for a second, but then it dies quickly. There's nothing going for it. Just feels like a hack action movie ripping off a classic.

What about all the mutants too? What about Mars? I haven't seen the movie in a while, but wasn't the air that was being fed to the colonies a big story?
 
Don't really agree with the hate for Farell- he can be really solid when given the right material. Biel is pretty awful though for sure.
 
Yeah, I liked the teaser for the trailer...but the actual trailer is very generic looking. Never been a fan of Len Weisman either. I'm guessing they are staying away from Mars since apparently it's the kiss of movie death these days. Even removing 'of Mars' from the John Carter title didn't spare it from the curse. Another pointless remake.
 
But why is Mars such a 'curse'?

IMO if Mars had anything to do with the downfall of John Carter or Mars needs moms, it's because they're trying to approach Mars through a "little green men" approach, which I think shouldn't be associated with Mars anymore. We've set foot on Mars and we know there aren't little green men walking around in cities. Mars aside, couldn't these movies have flopped because one idea wasn't very good and the other was just outdated?

Mars, for me at least, is a vaste baren wasteland of mystery and intrigue. There may be other forms of life on mars, there may be water, heck there could be other interesting things we haven't discovered yet on mars. They could push the "extinct civilization" angle as well. It has a very alien but also wild west feel to it. It would have been a perfect backdrop for many movies, including the new Total Recall if we used Mars in this context.
 
I like the look of this movie. It's sort of a different spin on the original short story. The same but different. I'm also glad they took Mars out of the equation. This movie might do a bit better if it does not keep the same "Total Recall" title (IMO).
 
Jon Starr said:
But why is Mars such a 'curse'?

IMO if Mars had anything to do with the downfall of John Carter or Mars needs moms, it's because they're trying to approach Mars through a "little green men" approach, which I think shouldn't be associated with Mars anymore. We've set foot on Mars and we know there aren't little green men walking around in cities. Mars aside, couldn't these movies have flopped because one idea wasn't very good and the other was just outdated?

Mars, for me at least, is a vaste baren wasteland of mystery and intrigue. There may be other forms of life on mars, there may be water, heck there could be other interesting things we haven't discovered yet on mars. They could push the "extinct civilization" angle as well. It has a very alien but also wild west feel to it. It would have been a perfect backdrop for many movies, including the new Total Recall if we used Mars in this context.
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Not my opinion about the Mars curse, just a studio superstition the suits cling to because they actually don't know anything about what makes a hit movie beyond movie stars, special effects and recycled, pre-packaged goods.
 
I have a horrible feeling that this is going to turn out to be another giant CGI wank-fest ( like "Sucker Punch" ), where style overwhelms storytelling to the point where I don't care about anyone or anything in the movie.

I wish studios would go back to the original Philip K. Dick source material, which is always a thousand times better than these huge budget / lame-ass monstrosities.

PDF of the Original PKD Short Story
 
Just watched the trailer 10min ago. I think it looked INCREDIBLE. I'm really interested in the film now, while before I was indifferent since I loved the original as a kid. Len Wiseman seems to have come into his own on this one. The art direction and costumes seem to rival those of Blade Runner. The camera moves are quite inventive and the action set pieces look really exciting. I wonder if this was shot on Alexa. The colors really work for me (was disappointed by the color grades on Dragon Tattoo and Haywire).

I can't wait to watch this movie. My expectations are now very high. But that's their fault. Now they have to deliver. If they surpass everyone's primed expectations, this could be a modern sci fi action classic. Just like the original....
 
Jon Starr said:
But why is Mars such a 'curse'?

IMO if Mars had anything to do with the downfall of John Carter or Mars needs moms, it's because they're trying to approach Mars through a "little green men" approach, which I think shouldn't be associated with Mars anymore. We've set foot on Mars and we know there aren't little green men walking around in cities. Mars aside, couldn't these movies have flopped because one idea wasn't very good and the other was just outdated?
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John. Don't you know that the little green martians have all retreated to vast subterranean cities after the climate of our now barren red neighbor went wonky and became insufficient for supporting life? They're down there planning to invade Earth. They want our air. Just as Arnold says in Total Recall, "give dees peephole aeyer!!!!!"

Mars, for me at least, is a vaste baren wasteland of mystery and intrigue. There may be other forms of life on mars, there may be water, heck there could be other interesting things we haven't discovered yet on mars. They could push the "extinct civilization" angle as well. It has a very alien but also wild west feel to it. It would have been a perfect backdrop for many movies, including the new Total Recall if we used Mars in this context.
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In all seriousness, I've also thought this of Mars as well in terms of a fictional setting. Total Recall's ending even opens up the notion that sci-fi movies could tell stories about a post terraformed Mars that has an Earth-like climate. Hell, just film it on Earth and say it is a fully terraformed Mars of the future. Just like Battlestar Galactica and Stargate did by shooting all their alien planet locations in the woods of Canada. Maybe in this future, Earth is a crap heap and is unlivable, making Mars prime real estate. All the rich people would want to go there and live. Boom, instant conflict of social, economic, and political classes clashing in a sci-fi environment.

It is silly that something like Mars Needs Moms failing is blamed on Mars. Yeah, let's blame a planet for this movie failing. It could have been a lame Adam Sandler comedy called Venus Needs Our Viagra, and failed but then they'd blame the planet Venus for the movie being no good.


Also, Total Deus Ex Syndicate Recall Revolution!!!!!!!

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Nektonic said:
It is silly that something like Mars Needs Moms failing is blamed on Mars. Yeah, let's blame a planet for this movie failing. It could have been a lame Adam Sandler comedy called Venus Needs Our Viagra, and failed but then they'd blame the planet Venus for the movie being no good.
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It's interesting, I've heard about how blame gets shoved around on big hollywood film sets. A DP who's worked on bigger shows said that if a department get's a budget, they better use every single dime. Because if they don't and the movie flops, fingers will be pointed at that department for contributing to the failure of the film. Thus you have rooms/trucks full of unused equipment for lighting, ect. just so all the budget is used up.

I'm not surprised they'll try to blame it on a planet, I just hate it. If there is a concept that needs finger pointing, perhaps it's more the aliens, and less the planet.

Nonetheless, it's all completely ridiculous. They just like to point fingers.

Personally I feel Mars needs more spotlight. I love the planet and feel we need more exploration, and a manned mission.
 
TheDingo said:
I wish studios would go back to the original Philip K. Dick source material, which is always a thousand times better than these huge budget / lame-ass monstrosities.

PDF of the Original PKD Short Story
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SPOILER?

So we have Earth's invasion by millions of telepathic helpless alien field mice prevented because a 9 year old showed them kindness and mercy. I can see *that* working in a movie. Having read the source, I'd say the Arnie movie was better :-) The mice had never seen such humane traits exhibited by any sentient organism, yet this is the same guy that went on to assassinate the political leader with a magic invisible destroying rod. Presumably it was for some greater good :-)
 
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mentatDUKE said:
I wonder if this was shot on Alexa. The colors really work for me (was disappointed by the color grades on Dragon Tattoo and Haywire).
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It was shot mainly on the Red Epic with anamorphic lenses. As you can see from the trailer, the shots look gorgeous, the best stuff I have seen shot on Epic so far i think...

N
 
ASG said:
Having read the source, I'd say the Arnie movie was better :-)
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The Arnie movie was fun, campy, bad space opera. About the only scene that I thought had any merit was the fight between Arnie and Sharon Stone, the rest was just silly.

I would take PKD over the movie any day. ( even Blade Runner only used about 2 percent of what was in the novel, and invented a completely different world compared to the one that PKD had originally written )
 
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