Total Recall [DVD]

Great movie to just escape into.

A classic sci-fi, lots of action and fantasy. Schwarzenegger certainly knows how to organise a birthday party. I watched this in high definition and haven't been able to find my kitchen since, which is a plus in my book. 5 stars.

I bought this as to me this is an iconic film, to be fair, the perceived future tech etc showed how old this film is but I still loved it... I would maybe not get the UHD version though as although great showed up the limitations of the effects and scenery for that time.

Love the film but not the greatest 4k I've seen £3.49 off amazon so happy to add digital copy to my collection don't think I'll buy this one on physical

The media could not be loaded.  Arnie is Doug Quaid, a simple construction worker who is bored with his uneventful life and wishes to be more and to do something meaningful. He's fascinated with going to Mars and meeting the mysterious woman of his dreams (that would be Melina) despite the civil war brewing withing the colonies. His wife Lori (Sharon Stone, looking gorgeous) is appalled with all things Martian and quickly nixes that idea. The only way Quaid is going to come close to the red planet is if he takes a Rekall vacation, a company that literally offers you a 'dream' vacation memory implant. Quaid wishes to go as a secret agent and all seems well until they send him to sleep.As soon as he's unconscious Quaid seems to wake up in a rage, claiming his name is not Quaid but Hauser. And it's not just the dream going wrong since the Rekall technicians have not even implanted the dream yet. Blacking out again and waking up in a cab, Quaid has totally no recollection of anything that has happened and is confused to find his life turned upside down. His wife and colleagues are trying to kill him, dozens of armed henchmen are after him, he seems to have acquired lethal killing skills from nowhere and he apparently has some unfinished business back on Mars, despite the fact that he's never been there. Or has he?Once on Mars for real (or is it?) he finds himself involved with the beautiful Melina (Rachel Ticotin, even prettier than Sharon Stone), the underground resistance and battling their arch-nemesis Vilos Cohaagen, a bureaucrat who has the entire planet under his control. It seems that Hauser was Cohaagen's right hand man and left clues for the fabricated Quaid persona to topple Cohaagen's regime.Total Recall is certainly one of Arnie's and Verhoeven's most imaginative and creative movies. The Mars town of Venusville is basically Amsterdam's Red Light District with booze, drugs and sex everywhere, the violence is so ridiculously over-the-top that one cannot help but laugh at it (despite a lot of the gorier bits being censored by the evil MPAA), the vision of the future is incongruously bleak but colorful and fanciful yet primitive. The contrasts between Earth and Mars are similar to Western and Third World comparisons.The visual effects, if slightly dated, are simply amazing. Jerry Goldsmith's awesome score is, at once, atmospheric and action-packed. The set-pieces, especially Quaid's vision of the alien furnaces, are just ludicrously entertaining and the 'is it a dream or is it real' premise puts such a wonderfully surreal twist on the whole thing. Sci-Fi has never been so outrageous. What do you expect with mad genius Dutchman directing? And I do believe that it IS real.The Blu-ray looks absolutely gorgeous in 1.85:1 1080p and has brilliant DTS HD-MA sound. There are lots of extras included.

Brilliant Picture. Probably better than when I watched it in the cinema? Good film from its time. Glad I own it in 4K!

Finally a worthy Blu-ray transfer for the excellent film, Total Recall. Previously the US (import) edition had less noise reduction but muted colours; the UK edition had stronger colours and sharper contrast, but heavy-handed noise reduction that resulted in 'smearing' in various places - particularly in the outdoor Mars scenes towards the end of the film. By and large this transfer bests the best of both these previous transfers. On no-FX scenes the picture is very sharp, retains grain, and has nice colour. Some problematic softness and slight trails persist on FX shots where layers have been used in the original. However they come across nowhere near as bad as the previous UK release. It seems they trace back to the original processes and may be impossible to fix - without completely recreating them (like was done for the original Star Trek TV series).The sound is good, with clear dialogue and strong presence during action scenes - although the mix, by today's standards, is rather sparse in places so the action moments can rather blast out here and there.If you are buying this on the strength of the commentary with Verhoven and Schwarzenegger, think twice! I've only listened to a portion of it so far, but insightful it isn't! For the most part, it's Verhoven and Schwarzenegger telling you what's happening on the screen (e.g. Arnie, 'this is where I'm taking the bug out of my nose'). Still given Arnie's character it's amusing enough - in a rather surreal way - and there's some filming info throughout about how the film was actually made. The 'making of' seems reasonable, and looks like it was made around 1990. It has interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and so on. There's also a newer interview with the Director and various other bits and pieces.Be cautious if you are looking forward to the Digital Copy. I was - assuming it was going to be a standard iTunes affair. It's not. You have to (a) visit a website, (b) register (two screens not one), (c) download an installer programme, (d) find it won't install (on a Mac), (e) look at the leaflet to work out what else you can do, (f) try to get 'Flux Player' from the Mac App store, (g) find there's nothing there called 'Flux Player' then realise they meant the iTunes app store... (h) realise you probably have to go through the process on an iPad... etc. etc. etc. etc.Update 1: Finally got the download going without an iPad as the installer package works so long as I have iTunes open in the background. The file is 1.4 GB! Joy! Judging by the reviews of the 'Flux Player' App though, my troubles may not be over yet. People have had difficulties transferring the file between devices, we'll see... Why so complicated? What was wrong with the digital copy being on a DVD in the package, entering a code, then it transfers to your computer? Useless... Update 2: Gosh. Wish I'd read the other review about Flux Player Digital Copy woes. Similarly I've got the Digital Copy locked on my Mac and am unable to transfer it to anything else to view it! GARBAGE!!! Why they would have a system like this is beyond me. Given it's a Triple Play, surely if I only wanted to view it on my Mac I'd watch the DVD, no???Still, overall a worthwhile purchase on the strength of the picture, sound and extras - and, hopefully, if you can eventually get at the Digital Copy you're also paying for!

I liked the story and didn't find anything to dislike.