#140RVW
Did you know that they planned to make a sequel to this movie based on the story Minority Report? Can you imagine how awful that would be?
What’s more:
Ok, let’s get this out of the way; I know you remember this being great – it isn’t. That’s not to say that it’s bad – it’s not; well, maybe it is pretty bad. But in any event it isn’t great, and I suspect it’s better in your memory than in reality.
The story is great, of course. Based on legendary science fiction author Philip K. Dick’s short story, “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale”, the bones for a very good sci-fi film are there. It’s all there for you in the short story – just pick it up and don’t screw it up. Of course, it is a short story, so you’ll need to do some real work to make a feature out of it. Fortunately, you’re in good hands with Dan O’Bannon and Ron Shusett, writers of a little picture called “Alien”. These guys are old farm hands, and they know how to write science fiction for the screen. (Their original screen story was also worked on by Jon Povill & Gary Goldman.)
Dick’s story accounts for the central premise and essentially the first 15 minutes of the movie. SPOILER: The main character never gets out of the chair in the book. (Although it’s possible that he never leaves the chair in the film, either; an outcome not left in as much doubt as it should be.)
As soon as Ahnold storms out of Rekall, we’re off book. What follows is a very good sci-fi head trip in which we are forced to wonder what is reality and similar heavy themes. That’s the story, not the execution. The execution is a truly ugly, poorly acted, overly violent, badly designed mess. Don’t confuse the two – it’s perfectly acceptable to think this was a great idea for movie and a terrible movie. They aren’t mutually exclusive.
To over simplify, the only good decision the producers made was to make the movie in the first place. Everything after that was downhill; the selection of director, the casting, the production design, the effects studio – everything. (Of course, Ahnold was in the drivers seat for most of these decisions, having rescued the movie from development hell.)
Don’t reflexively argue because you thought it was great at the time – go rewatch it and tell me if it plays like you remember. Then watch the remake. Don’t misunderstand – it may have seemed great at the time when we hadn’t seen a lot of trippy mind-bending sci-fi. It may have even been great – or more accurately, the flaws may have been less important in the face of the unique story. But viewed objectively, it really is not a very good movie.
Additional thoughts written while watching:
- How seriously did they take the source material? They misspelled Philip K. Dick’s first name, if that’s any indication.
- Re-watching this I get why Sharon Stone became a star; she’s engaging. Awful, but engaging…
- They wanted Arnold to play Robocop but he was too large for the suit. They should have let him do that role and cast someone remotely believable as a spy for this…
- JohnnyCab – make this possible now, please.
- Ah, the 80’s, the only time Michael Ironside & Ronny Cox could be stars.
- I know it’s 1990, but couldn’t they do better effects than this? ILM was doing amazing work at this same time. The producers were just being cheap. I know that the CG is groundbreaking; it looks crappy but it was a time of transition – I’m not judging that – it would be unfair. But the practical effects are another matter. The miniatures are pretty good but the green screens are unbelievable, and the sets and Mexico City locations are dreadful. Every scene in this movie looks like it was shot in the same hallway. These would be poor sets on 1990’s television budgets.
- DP Jost Vacano went from being making Wolfgang Petersen’s German films to making truly ugly films for Verhoeven.
- They really had a type for the female leads in Arnold’s movies didn’t they? Rachel Ticotin in this one, Rae Dawn Chong in Commando, Maria Conchita Alonso in The Running Man.
- What the hell is with Verhoeven? The ultraviolence is so unbelievably over the top that slasher movies seem tame by comparison.
- It’s not just the violence, either. Each effect seems designed to trigger revulsion – it is truly gross…
- This is the cleanest, most well-lit brothel ever committed to film…
- The prosthetic work on the mutants is a whole new level of disgusting.
- Sweet merciful Zeus! What the hell is that prosthetic puppet thing in his chest?
- This may be the ugliest movie I’ve ever seen.
Poster:
Trailer:
Bechdel Test:
Fail
| Main Cast | Arnold Schwarzenegger Douglas Quaid/Hauser, Sharon Stone Lori, Michael Ironside Richter, Rachel Ticotin Melina |
| Rating | R |
| Release Date | Fri 01 Jun 1990 UTC |
| Director | Paul Verhoeven |
| Genres | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi |
| Plot | When a man goes for virtual vacation memories of the planet Mars, an unexpected and harrowing series of events forces him to go to the planet for real, or does he? |
| Poster |  |
| Runtime | 113 |
| Tagline | They stole his mind, now he wants it back. |
| Writers | Philip K. Dick (as Phillip K. Dick) (short story “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale”) (inspiration), Ronald Shusett (screen story) … |
| Year | 1990 |
