TOTAL RECALL remake?

OHMSS69

I saw a trailer for the remake of 1990's Total Recall. this one stars Colin Farrell in the Arnold role, Kate Beckingsale as the bitch Sharon Stone role, and Jessica Biel as the "good girl".
I must say, I don't think I will spend the 8-10 dollars for a ticket.
I can't believe that it has been more than two decades since the original.
I liked the original, (thought Predator is Arnold's best film) it was smart, and very good. Kinda over the top with violence but an enjoyable film.

So Colin Farrel has gone to doing remakes, he recently did a remake of Fright Night (it sucked) and Hollywood continues to do stupid remakes, comic book bunk and whine about the lack of good material.

Anyone plan on seeing this or are you planning on staying away?

BondWillReturn

I liked the original, but I must say: the remake looks pretty cool as well. Originally, I was against it, but then I just figured it's not really a remake, just a retelling of the story originated by Philip Dick's We Can Remember It For You Wholesale.

And Farrell has been doing remakes and adaptations since forever: Daredevil, Miami Vice, S.W.A.T,

Virage

It's not a remake, it has a technicall term. It's sorta like True Grit and Casino Royal in two films with the Same name, based on the same book but take different approches in how they adapt the book.

JWESTBROOK

Re-imagining I believe is the term.

DarthDimi

BondWillReturn said:
I just figured it's not really a remake, just a retelling of the story originated by Philip Dick's We Can Remember It For You Wholesale.

Which is why I'm all the more mad that they call it Total Recall again. Is this film even set on Mars? I mean, Verhoeven's film shouldn't be remade, it's good enough as it is. A re-imagining of Dick's story is a good idea though but then at least change the title. I suppose the title has a lot of advertising potential. ;-) That always does it, doesn't it?

QsAssistant

I haven't seen a trailer yet but when I first heard about it I wasn't happy. I'll try to reserve judgement until I see the trailer.

BondWillReturn said:
And Farrell has been doing remakes and adaptations since forever: Daredevil

:-O What?! Daredevil's a remake? When did the first film come out???

SharkBait

Okay. This looks like a total rip-off. Scenes lifted directly from the original movie. They just gave it a new cgi - makeover. Do they even go to Mars? I think they will. The scenes in this trailer were all lifted from the original. I have read some of Philip K. Dick's books. Not sure if I read 'We Can Remember It For You Wholesale', but I think this is not an adaptation from that book, but a scene by scene (although with flashy cgi and slow-motion) remake of the movie that took some inspiration from Dick's book.

I wonder how Robocop will turn out. Another Verhoeven film receiving a remake.

thelivingroyale

I loved the original so I'm not sure about this one.

SharkBait said:
I wonder how Robocop will turn out. Another Verhoeven film receiving a remake.

ROBOCOP IS BEING REMADE?!?!?!

SharkBait

thelivingroyale said:
I loved the original so I'm not sure about this one.

SharkBait said:
I wonder how Robocop will turn out. Another Verhoeven film receiving a remake.

ROBOCOP IS BEING REMADE?!?!?!

Yup.

http://www.beyondhollywood.com/category/robocop-4-2010-movie/

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/RoboCop-Remake-Finds-Distribution-29806.html

http://www.rte.ie/ten/2012/0311/robocop.html

It was originally supposed to come out in 2010 before the whole MGM mess and it was once supposed to be directed by Darren Aronofsky.

Baltimore_007

I saw the original Recall on it's original release over 20 years ago, and Verhoeven has the ability to make some really nasty, messy, but entertaining movies from what I've seen. But why another damn remake?, Is it really necessary, that's what they're doing now it seems week in week out, instead of leaving some fine pieces of cinema alone they have to go and make some more damn remakes, it's getting a bit out of hand sometimes I strongly feel. The original was bloody comic book action with Schwarzenegger and I don't think whatever they do they'll be able to top what we first saw. And they're going to try again with another Verhoeven masterpiece in Robocop and remake that ?, the 2nd and 3rd were awful, but the original was an epic piece of film, and now they want to mess around with that, I almost feel so angry now I've lost the power of rational thought, best to stop there, but not really pleased about this

BondWillReturn

QsAssistant said:
I haven't seen a trailer yet but when I first heard about it I wasn't happy. I'll try to reserve judgement until I see the trailer.

BondWillReturn said:
And Farrell has been doing remakes and adaptations since forever: Daredevil

:-O What?! Daredevil's a remake? When did the first film come out???

Key word there was 'adaptations', Daredevil was based on a comic book.

Virage

JWESTBROOK said:
Re-imagining I believe is the term.

No- no- No theres a term for this kind of EXACT thing. If i can find last months empire i'll be able to tell you.

QsAssistant

BondWillReturn said:

QsAssistant said:
I haven't seen a trailer yet but when I first heard about it I wasn't happy. I'll try to reserve judgement until I see the trailer.

BondWillReturn said:
And Farrell has been doing remakes and adaptations since forever: Daredevil

:-O What?! Daredevil's a remake? When did the first film come out???

Key word there was 'adaptations', Daredevil was based on a comic book.

Ah, and right you are. My fault.

fire_and_ice

Films that did well at the box office are often cynically remade or reimagined, Just to make money off the back of interest from the public. Originality certainly for mainstream movie's seems to have dried up, it would make more sense to me to remake a film that had good idea's that were made into poor movie's. Paycheck a movie based on a Phillip k. Dick story comes to mind.

QsAssistant

fire_and_ice said:
Films that did well at the box office are often cynically remade or reimagined, Just to make money off the back of interest from the public. Originality certainly for mainstream movie's seems to have dried up, it would make more sense to me to remake a film that had good idea's that were made into poor movie's.

This. I've always thought this.

RogueAgent

I have to say i really enjoyed the original and have found it hard to understand why they need to do a remake? Not seen the trailor yet? Perhaps it may change mind?

Bounine

Saw the remake of Total Recall last night and I must say I enjoyed it. Better than I expected but I found myself a little bored in the last half an hour, my attention drifting due to the excessive action. I can remember enjoying the original too but I'd need to watch it again to decide whether I think it's better than the new version.

Whose seen the new version? Anyone notice that Farell was reading Fleming's 'The Spy Who Loved Me' as he commuted to the United Federation of Britain near the beginning of the film. Loved this! :) I immediately recognised the book what with the excellent cover design by Richie Fahey. Incidentally the Fahey covers are the only contemporary Bond books that are well designed. I love the whole set.

0BradyM0Bondfanatic7

How was this film? I am curious as to what everyone thought.

QBranch

As a huge fan of the 1990 film, I can't see myself liking this new one more. I watched the trailer at the cinemas, and from what I saw, the dialogue is too similar to the former. Of course I shouldn't judge it before I've actually seen it- but at the moment I'm not expecting it to be as great as anticipated. However, I do like the notion of it

Spoiler:

not being set on Mars.

Guess I'll wait and see how it turns out.

boldfinger

I found it very much ok, not the epitome of originality, but enjoyable for sure.

I agree with @Bounine that the last half hour is a bit hard to follow, but it doesn´t matter too much, the story in this film stands clearly back behind the action and the fantastic settings.

I don´t love Kate Beckinsale as much as Jessica Biel, who is really loveable in this one, but the former is no less than gorgeous at kicking Colin Farrell´s ass.

That the cityscapes are so magnificent is both an asset and a problem, because it´s difficult to simultaneously take in the cityscapes and the massive action. A bit more establishing of the mood wouldn´t have hurt, but then we´re dealing with a Len Wiseman film, so let´s not be too demanding. Perhaps I should just watch the film again ;-).

I wouldn´t say that the 1990 film is better (mind you I´m no Ahnuld worshipper), but in the first half hour of this remake everything seems somehow familiar, bringing to mind many other films, from the 1990 film to Blade Runner to Star Wars.

It´s an expensive B-movie, and as such it works nicely.

And, yeah, owning almost all of the Fahey-artwork paperbacks, of course I instantly noticed the book. I just wasn´t sure which one it was, TSHLM or FYEO. I think it was the latter, @Bounine. :-B

CraigMooreOHMSS

I used my press pass to get into the Premiere Screening in Dublin, and I must say I found it rather enjoyable. I find it hard to call it a remake as there is an entirely new setup with only a handful of nods to the original. Farrell really elevates the film too I think, he hasn't got the physical presence that Arnie has (for obvious reasons), but the guy has some very good acting skill. Biel was underused, Beckinsale was overused (not that I'm complaining) and I was disappointed with the lack of screentime Bryan Cranston had - him being the villain was a major draw for me but he wasn't used very well.

I liked the whole look of the film, and the action scenes were very good, especially the elevator chase. Wiseman, to his credit, knows how to construct an action scene.

Going into it with a relaxed mind with lowered expectations helps the film a lot, as it is essentially a B-grade science fiction flick with heavy reliance on action.

P.S. I thought it was FYEO that was featured, but then again I only caught a quick glimpse.

DarthDimi

I believe it was TSWLM.

I like the film for its visuals but the story left me somewhat underwhelmed. I don't think the story is a particular step-up from the Verhoeven film.

boldfinger

DarthDimi said:
I believe it was TSWLM.

I believe it had Fleming´s name in yellow and not pink on it, so it must be FYEO.

DarthDimi said:
I don't think the story is a particular step-up from the Verhoeven film.

That should be expectable when Wiseman remakes Verhoeven ;-).

Bounine

"Going into it with a relaxed mind with lowered expectations helps the film a lot, as it is essentially a B-grade science fiction flick with heavy reliance on action."

Yeah, that helped me too. I should probably do this with Skyfall too.

As for the Bond book, I saw Fleming's name and before that recognised it as a Fahey cover design Bond book but wasn't certain of which book it was. I looked it up on the internet and read two different reviews of Total Recall that said Farell reads TSWLM. I guess they could be wrong but that's why I said it was TSWLM in my previous post.

Baltimore_007

I haven't seen this latest movie release, although may go along as I did enjoy the Verhoeven original from 1990, but whatever they have put together, I feel it won't be as good a watch as the original one, they should never have re-attempted another release of this movie I truly feel

boldfinger

boldfinger said:

DarthDimi said:
I believe it was TSWLM.
I believe it had Fleming´s name in yellow and not pink on it, so it must be FYEO.

I was wrong. It was TSHLM.

DarthDimi

boldfinger said:

boldfinger said:

DarthDimi said:
I believe it was TSWLM.
I believe it had Fleming´s name in yellow and not pink on it, so it must be FYEO.
I was wrong. It was TSHLM.

Don't tell me you went for a second viewing to make sure. ;-)

thelivingroyale

Well I saw it today, and even though it wasn't bad, it doesn't top the original and there was no need for it to be made.

5/10 because the original exists.

boldfinger

DarthDimi said:
Don't tell me you went for a second viewing to make sure. ;-)

I hoped noone would notice :\"> .
No, it didn´t get that bad, but it became a guilty pleasure, and believe it or not, I enjoyed it even better the second time. Perhaps I was too much thinking about some other things the first time around, or it was because I knew what to expect this time and could concentrate on enjoying the enjoyable elements. For instance the self-ironic joke right at the very beginning, when the company logo of Original Films is shown ;-).

doubleoego

I had a good time watching this. Very enjoyable scifi and Bekinsale and Biel are hot. The hand to hand combat was pretty good and what made the experience better was seeing the new SF trailer.

QsAssistant

Honestly... I liked it better than the original *ducks for cover*

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