Serious Sci-Fi # 9

Many of you may be detecting a trend here, this next Sci-Fi film is yet another film directed by Paul Verhoeven. Now, I am by no means this guys defender, I just feel his films are more directed to non sci-fi types. Total Recall is one such movie, this flick is more of an action movie that a newbie can understand and follow easily.

Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as just your average construction worker with ripping muscles and Sharon Stone for a wife. I see some ears perked up at the mention of Mrs. Stone and I can only tell you this movie does have some girl on girl cat-fight for all you guys. But I digress class, this movie takes place in the future where Humans have colonized Mars and are currently in a struggle with its inhabitants. The current Martians being human mutants and freaks due to mining in inhospitable conditions.

Our protagonist is constantly dreaming of a past life on Mars and feels trapped by his life as a construction worker. He dreams of going to Mars but his wife will not have any of that. This flick has some cool future tech on display such as a large X-Ray body scanning device and cool Holographic projector wristwatch. The film had many practical effects back then and they were pulled off nicely. Most notably the “Two weeks” segment, trust me newbies this is a must see. On to the flick that basically becomes a spy flick with Arnold playing kinda of a weakly fellow until he Recalls his real life.

 The action comes quickly as our hero begins to run from hit-men and finds an unlikely hero in a recording to himself. I wont spoil this flick because some folks haven’t gotten around to seeing this, but classic Arnold action with plenty of fights, shootings and all around chaos. The film plays with the viewer with many plot twists and turns but very minimal tech talk so your weird friend will get it.

I will add that this film is really fun to watch especially for first timers, some tech on display is still not here, like the Holographic tennis instructor and the self painting nails for the women out there. The tech is believable and one can only hope Holograms become a real reality not confined to Government labs and large institutions. Once again this flick is pure Arnold cause once the action starts it a roller-coaster to the end.

 Many out there even today question the ending of this film, its a topic in some circles and a film such as this once again proves that the sci-fi film can be just as powerful as any drama out there. Well class that ends this discussion on Total recall and I left many story elements out up to and including that crazy 3 nippled lady! So get your ass to Mars, but seriously my next post dives into Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. End of line.