• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Total Recall remake: good news/bad news

Temis the Vorta

Temis the Vorta

Fleet Admiral
Admiral
which do you want first?

Good news: Byran Cranston may be the villain.

Bad news: NO MARS! :klingon::klingon::klingon: Instead...

Instead, the script for the new film involves a battle between the nation-states Euromerica and New Shanghai.
Click to expand...
Bleh! :rommie: Sounds like something George Orwell would have dreamed up if he were reincarnated as a screenwriter for the SyFy channel.

Doug Quaid, played by Schwarzenegger in the original, is being portrayed this time around by Colin Farrell. In this story, Quaid is a New Shanghai factory worker who starts to think he's a spy but is not sure which side he's spying for.
Click to expand...

Which movie are they remaking? The Manchurian Candidate's already been done.
 
It's now a completely different movie with Total Recall's character names...


stupid Stupid..STUPID!!!
 
They should throw in Jennifer Garner as Miss Marple investigating Vilos Cohaagen's criminal empire with her kung fu skills. Also, lots of white guys playing various Japanese anime characters. Wonder Woman will make a guest appearance wearing a costume she stole from a transvestite hooker on Hollywood Boulevard. Is there anyone we haven't pissed off?
 
I have never seen Breaking Bad so I have no idea what Bryan Cranston would bring to the table (the only thing I've ever seen him do is play Buzz Aldrin in From the Earth to the Moon) but even I can see this is starting to sound like a giant pile of :censored: You can get away with a lot of absences from Total Recall but Mars is essential. So I don't see this ending well.

Even the TV series took place on Mars, didn't it? If it didn't, well, that's probably why it failed. :p
 
I don't see why they want to change it to " battle between the nation-states Euromerica and New Shanghai." If they want to go that way, each nation-state could have a colony on Mars and most of the action could take place there.
 
That's quite an odd decision. I mean, it would be about the same as making War of the Worlds without martians and tripods. Man, I wonder who dreams up these things.
 
Temis the Vorta said:
They should throw in Jennifer Garner as Miss Marple investigating Vilos Cohaagen's criminal empire with her kung fu skills.
Click to expand...

I forgot to mention in the other thread that Young Miss Marple now carries a .44 Magnum. When the case gets too complex, which in today's market is often, she shoots everybody and lets God sort it out. Case closed! :rolleyes:
 
All of those complaining about the absence of Mars might want to consider that the Red Planet doesn't actually appear in the original book on which the movie was based on. That's not to say that this movie will be any good but at least it looks like they're going back to the source material, rather than a pointless identikit remake of the Verhoeven classic.

Personally, I think the fact that Len Wiseman is behind the camera is the worst of all news but Farrell and Cranston are pretty reliable, IMHO.
 
Wouldnt mind seeing a better version of the film. Total recall wasnt a great film to begin with. So if its not on Mars that is ok.
 
Yeah, some of the reactions I'm seeing regarding the remake are pretty much revealing who is familiar with Dick's original story and who isn't.

They're doing a new adaptation of the Philip Dick story. They aren't doing a remake of the Arnie movie. In Dick's story, Quail (the original name of the hero - that's not a typo) never really goes to Mars.

Personally, I'm interested now in seeing this film. I wasn't interested in a film rehashing the overblown Verhoeven storyline. But a fresh take on the Dick original is fine by me.

Alex
 
Last edited:
Temis the Vorta said:
which do you want first?

Good news: Byran Cranston may be the villain.

Bad news: NO MARS! :klingon::klingon::klingon: Instead...

Instead, the script for the new film involves a battle between the nation-states Euromerica and New Shanghai.
Click to expand...
Bleh! :rommie: Sounds like something George Orwell would have dreamed up if he were reincarnated as a screenwriter for the SyFy channel.

Doug Quaid, played by Schwarzenegger in the original, is being portrayed this time around by Colin Farrell. In this story, Quaid is a New Shanghai factory worker who starts to think he's a spy but is not sure which side he's spying for.
Click to expand...
Which movie are they remaking? The Manchurian Candidate's already been done.
Click to expand...

(Sighs)

I guess I won't be "buying a ticket" for this one either.

Why even bother calling it "Total Recall"?

Stupid question. I know that. I just felt like asking it anyway.
 
I don't really see how Mars is essential to the story.

The actual meat of the story had fuck-all to do with the planet. It was about brainwashing, dreamscaping, and trying to figure out what's real and what isn't. Mars was just one of the possible "vacations" he had access to. Considering that it's very likely that he was going skitzo during the movie and that it was all fake... well, again, I don't really see how Mars is essential.

That said, Euromerica and New Shanghai just sounds stupid.
 
barnaclelapse said:
I guess I won't be "buying a ticket" for this one either.
Click to expand...

Maybe you can use the money you saved to buy the original novel, instead?

OK, I'll leave it be. And I'm not saying the new storyline is 100% faithful to Dick's novel, either - I don't think Euromerica or any of that is in there. But I am getting frustrated at the fact people are reacting with such anger (not so much here, but check out the comments on the link posted at the top) completely oblivious to the fact Dick's original book had no Mars locations in it either. So instead of sci-fi fans praising the fact that one of the masters of SF is having a (slightly more?) faithful adaptation of one of his best-known works, they're complaining about the fact there won't be any exploding robot cab drivers or women with three boobs.

And, really, is Euromerica and New Shanghai any more stupid that that baby in the stomach creature?

Doesn't help that even the SyFy network columnist whose column is cited above got his facts wrong, too.

Alex
 
23skidoo said:
But I am getting frustrated at the fact people are reacting with such anger (not so much here, but check out the comments on the link posted at the top) completely oblivious to the fact Dick's original book had no Mars locations in it either. So instead of sci-fi fans praising the fact that one of the masters of SF is having a (slightly more?) faithful adaptation of one of his best-known works, they're complaining about the fact there won't be any exploding robot cab drivers or women with three boobs
Click to expand...
People's reactions are actually very understandable considering that the new film project is labeled as a "remake of Total Recall" rather than a "new adaptation of "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale." The minute you use "Total Recall" you're automatically referencing the Arnie film -- and not the original source material. And if you're going to "remake Total Recall" it makes virtually no sense to exclude Mars. Hence you get the reactions you seem to find so frustrating.

It's like saying, "We're going to remake West Side Story but the action will take place in the Italian countryside." Maybe the remake is slightly more faithful to the source material (Romeo and Juliet) ... but then why call it a "remake of West Side Story" if your intent is to ignore what made the movie unique and memorable to begin with?
 
Maybe I'm missing the word "Mars" in "Total Recall." But I don't see how your example is at all related.

Total Recall was about a guy who was bored with his life, went to Total Recall (which is a company, not a planet, and which also happens to be what the actual story revolves around despite your bizarre clinging to Mars), and had a mental episode while they were implanting his "dream vacation." The dream vacation could have been anywhere. He just chose Mars because he had a fetish for it. The fact that his "dream girl" was already in the database even hints strongly that he's done it before, but had it wiped for whatever reason -- probably for the same reason he goes mental this time around, too. But, well, that's another discussion I guess.

The point is Mars != Total Recall. In any way, shape, or form beyond being one of the hundreds of options he had available to him.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top