Total Recall 1990 vs Total Recall 2012
Total Recall
(1990 TriStar)
Directed by Paul Verhoeven
Screenplay by Ronal Shusett & Dan O’Bannon and Gary Goldman inspired by Philip K. Dick’s short story: We Can Remember It for You Wholesale
Music composed by Jerry Goldsmith
Rated R / 113 minutes
Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger (Quaid), Rachel Titcotin (Melina), Sharon Stone (Lori), Ronny Cox (Cohaagen), Michael Ironside (Richter), Marshall Bell (George/Kuato), Mel Johnson Jr. (Benny), Michael Champion (Helm), Roy Broksmith (Dr. Edgemar), Ray Baker (McClane).
Total Recall
(2012 Sony Pictures)
Directed by Len Wiseman
Music composed by Harry Gregson-Williams
Screenplay by Kurt Wimmer and Mark Bomback based on the Motion Picture Total Recall screenplay by Ronal Shusett & Dan O’Bannon and Gary Goldman.
Rated PG-13 / 121 minutes
Cast: Colan Farrell (Douglas Quaid / Hauser), Kate Beckinsale (Lori Quaid), Jessica Biel (Melina) Bryan Cranston (Cohaagen), Bokeem Woodbine (Harry), Bill Nighy (Matthias), John Cho (McClane), Will Yun Lee (Marek).
Double Vision is the column where we compare the remake of a film to the original. Philip K. Dick’s short story, We Can Remember it for you Wholesale inspired 1990’s Total Recall which in turn was the basis for the 2012 remake that starred Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel, Bryan Cranston, and Bill Nighy. With such a stellar cast, you would think that the 2012 effort would easily surpass the original, but for the most part–that is not the case.
Director Paul Verhoeven and screenwriters Ronald Shusett & Dan O’Bannon and Gary Goldman use Philip K. Dick’s story as a starting point and run all the way to Mars with it. Easily, Schwarzenegger’s best effort, and a stellar victory for Sharon Stone whose character’s hatred of the Red Planet is forever burned into my psyche. The two had a lust/hate chemistry that has never been matched. The violence and dark humor abounds as does the insane sexuality of Stone’s literally undercover agent, Lori. Without these touches and Quaid’s trip to Mars, the remake falls flat.
Rachel Ticotin also gives a very real performance as the woman who loves Quaid. Her fight with Stone is epic, although Lori’s demise is left to Quaid’s famous, “Consider that a divorce,” scene. Michael Ironside is hilarious as Lori’s cuckolded lover. Michael Champion shines as Helm, Ricter’s mordantly snide partner.
None of this is to say that the cast in the 2012 remake is inadequate, but it is a sterile version that also misses due to never going to Mars. Quaid’s obsession with Mars is the McGuffin that powers the first film. Without it there is a void that the new plot does not fully fill. The pending invasion of the colony is so buried in the action that there is no real suspense. Perhaps if the film-makers hadn’t based it on the script from the previous film it would not be as easy to find fault. Keeping the three breasted woman while not having the environment that produced her is an example of both the homage to the film and the error of using it in this context. There are also so many references to the 1990 film that it makes it difficult to see them as two different stories based on the same source.
Kate Beckinsale is a maniacally militant Lori, but lacks the passion of Stone’s version. She also replaces the character of Richter in the pursuit of Quaid and Melina, and that effectively eliminates Richter’s partner Helm thus reducing the black humor further. She is a practiced action star as well as an actress that commands the screen and her Lori tears through the film with a relentless furor. She is the perfect foil for Jessica Biel’s Melina. Biel’s Melina fights back with a fury to match Lori’s as she struggles both with Quaid’s indecision and the forces that are trying to destroy them both.
Brian Cranston and Bill Nighy are well cast, and the film is well produced. The cast is up to the challenge and there is no shortage of special effects or action, but the script is just not what it could have been. Given the popularity of the original film, a sequel would have been a better choice.
