tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post7736296950705385514..comments2024-03-29T04:57:26.162-04:00Comments on John Kenneth Muir's Reflections on Cult Movies and Classic TV: Mars on Film: Total Recall (1990)John Kenneth Muirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15629979615332893780noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-12522243569106850822015-10-05T10:06:23.966-04:002015-10-05T10:06:23.966-04:00And in the first go-round, I see you seem to miss ...And in the first go-round, I see you seem to miss one of the movie's (and the story's) big points. You 'are' who you believe you are. Change your mind and change yourself.<br /><br />This would follow from a 'truth' in which Quaid is actually a bad guy, who gets mindwiped and sent to Earth so that he can then infiltrate the Martian rebels. He becomes the good guy because what he believes has changed.raitonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-67474576378664319022015-10-02T19:20:38.531-04:002015-10-02T19:20:38.531-04:00Reading this review reminded me of a very interest...Reading this review reminded me of a very interesting (if not exactly new) article that I came across recently: http://screencrush.com/arnold-schwarzenegger-is-an-auteur/<br /><br />It's well worth a read for people who enjoy Schwarzenegger's work.<br /><br />Ratko H.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-71319900226488046292015-02-12T23:53:08.098-05:002015-02-12T23:53:08.098-05:00Great write up of my favorite of the Verhoeven sci...Great write up of my favorite of the Verhoeven sci fi trilogy. I really noticed how much red there is in the visuals during my last viewing of the film for the review on my blog. It is an over saturated red, especially the sky on Mars, not at all like what the real sky of Mars would look like. It is what someone would imagine the sky of Mars to look like (further evidence of the whole film being a dream maybe).<br /><br />Love the shout out to Goldsmith's amazing score. This is one of his best action scores period (and this is the same guy that gave us classics like "First Blood"). But his little hint with the dream motif is either a sly wink or a hint. Either way, Goldsmith was one of the greats.Roman J. Martelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09545497713474664555noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-66595726237183494772015-02-11T13:27:06.474-05:002015-02-11T13:27:06.474-05:00I disagree with the redistribution of resources th...I disagree with the redistribution of resources thing. The alien pyramid manufactures air. So what's really happening is that the system is going from scarcity to abundance, and has enough wit to let the audience figure out that the current regime, based in scarcity, cannot survive when there's abundance.raitonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-9672640147957442632015-01-13T18:18:15.127-05:002015-01-13T18:18:15.127-05:00Yes, that final scene and the pan up as Jerry Gold...Yes, that final scene and the pan up as Jerry Goldsmith's score transitions into the dream cue is why I have always leaned toward the implant/dream/vacation. It is interesting to not that "Basic Instinct" has a similar dual-competing tracking screenplay structure and again it Goldsmith's music as we fade the black that gives the answer.<br /><br />Man, I miss Verhoeven. His trilogy of "Robocop", Total Recall" and "Basic Instinct" is as good a threesome as any genre director. He made what Clarence from "True Romance" would call "movies with balls", the kind of big budget films you will never ever see again in today's sanitized PG 13 cinema. Just compare the acerbic, witty dialogue in "Total Recall" or "Robocop" to the competent but bland remakes.James J. Caterinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01457868136494514710noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-7605977875455019762015-01-13T15:22:31.553-05:002015-01-13T15:22:31.553-05:00An excellent scifi action film. I think it is unde...An excellent scifi action film. I think it is undervalued because everytime I see it, I think: "Man, this is so cool, how didn't I remember it from the last time?"<br /><br />-T.S.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-39897010618840157822015-01-13T12:09:07.381-05:002015-01-13T12:09:07.381-05:00I love how the film plays with your head in terms ...I love how the film plays with your head in terms of was it an implant or not? You analyzed it very well, and I agree with you, I lean towards that it was an implant, a dream. He gets everything he asks for, exactly the way he asks for it and exactly the way the salesman sells it to him. He saves the planet, the girl...and then then we see a blinding light flashing in the sky which suggests Quaid is waking up from the dream. <br /><br />But be it a dream or not, what matters is the message the film puts across, the fight vs. big corporations who seek to sell us even the air we breath, the water we drink...Franco Macabrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10994905312221715861noreply@blogger.com