Total Recall (1990) [LV68901-WS]
The Equipment
LG Infinia 55LW5600 - Display
Pioneer Elite CLD 99 - LaserDisc
Pioneer SC-1223 - Receiver
Klipsch RC-3 II - Center
Klipsch RS-35 - Rears
Deftech Promonitor 1000 - Fronts
Sony SA-WM40 - 2xSubs
The Movie
"What about the guy you lobotomized? Did he get a refund?".... Man, I remember sneaking into the theater to see this back in 1990. This was back in the hey day of Arnold Schwarzenegger and was added to a long list of favorite movies of the time. Predator, Running Man, True Lies, T2, Commando......the list goes on, but this review is about Total Recall.
If you were to try and explain this movie to someone who has never seen it, it may come off as a little confusing. Basically it is about an individual named Douglas Quaid (Schwarzenegger) who has recurring dreams of going to Mars in an effort to explore the red planet. Lucky for him there is new technology being exploited by a company called Rekall Inc where your are "implanted" with the adventure of your dreams......but you never leave Earth. Billed as safer and more economical, it's ends up being neither in the end. The implant for Quaid goes wrong and fantasy collides with reality as he travels virtually on his "vacation". This one truly is non stop action until the end (which I won't give away here).
The film was released in theaters on 6/1/90 and this particular LaserDisc release was 11/23/94. The movie was based on a short story by Philip K. Dick entitled "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale". There was also a remake released in 2012 starring Colin Farrell, but I won't talk about that, well, ever.
This release of Total Recall is a one disc/two sided release with 21 chapter stops. Those being the following:
Disc 1/Side 1
1. Main Titles
2. Opening Scene: Mars
3. Doug Wakes Up
4. Breakfast With The Quaids
5. Doug Goes To Work
6. Total Recall Vacations
7. Doug Goes Home To The Wife
8. The Chase
9. Doug Gets His Instructions
10. Doug On Mars
11. The Last Resort
Disc 1/Side 2
12. Doug And Melinda Meet Again
13. Doug Gets A Visit From Total Recall
14. The Elevator Fight
15. Doug And Melinda Get Away
16. Doug Meets Kuoto
17. Cohaagen's Office
18. The Reactor
19. Doug Hits The Switch
20. After The Storm
21. Credits
The Ratings
The Video
Published by Carolco Home Video, the film is filled with very red and blue toned colors. Red can be the most difficult color to reproduce on screen, but, they do a decent job displaying the red planet in all its glory. The rest of the color pallet pops off the screen pretty well and the black are decent enough. Overall a very nice presentation. The film is shown in the widescreen/letterbox ratio of 1.85:1. This is the original aspect ration of the film when shown in theaters. This disc also clocks in at 113 minutes, which is also the same as the theatrical run.
8/10
The Audio
Dolby Surround is what Total Recall brings to your speakers. There's plenty of dialog to go along with the special effects....all of which is heard legibly. Nice mix for what it is, which will let you enjoy the movie to the best of it's ability. Very good.
8/10
Summary
I may be biased, but this movie is hugely nostalgia for me and I absolutely love it. If I were giving scores based on the entertainment value alone, it would get a 10/10 all day from me, but there more facets to the review than that. Like I stated earlier, this was released during Arnold's hey day where he could pretty much do no wrong. Oh, how I miss those days and his fantastic movies. Patrick Swayze was originally signed up to play Douglas Quaid and I don't think this would have been nearly as good film if he did. Dino De Laurentiis went bankrupt at the last minute prior to filming and the film was thought to be lost forever. Arnold convinced Carolco to pick up the tab, feature him and the rest is history. Here's to a great movie and a future filled with Johnny Cabs!
Overall: 8/10
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