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GeekNights 20110519 - Total Recall

MrPeriodMrPeriod
edited May 2011 in GeekNights

Tonight, get your aaasss to maaahs with the 90s classic Total Recall. But first, a brave man who fights the tides of Internet comments, a brave man shooting the moon on some Middle Eastern foreign policy, and some manufactured outrage.

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Comments

  • RochelleRochelle
    This should be interesting. Third podcast I will hear doing a review of a movie I so lovingly adore with much nostalgia.
  • ErwinErwin
    Dave and Joel should have ibeing guests for this podcast!
  • KapitänTimKapitänTim
    USE THE REACTOR!
  • JasonJason
    Consider that a divorce.
  • WalkerWalker
    edited May 2011
    See you at the pahty, Richter!

    image
    Post edited by Walker on
  • AprecheApreche
    Lycia Naff
  • chaosof99chaosof99
    edited May 2011
    Screw you Benny!
    Post edited by chaosof99 on
  • Hitman HartHitman Hart
    I had never watched an Arnold movie until last year I picked up Commando on Blu Ray for dirt cheap. I really liked it, and when other Arnold movies went on sale, I picked them up. I have watched Running Man,Total Recall, and Last Action Hero(on Netflix streaming) so far and I have a few others for when the time is right. The only one I did not like was Total Recall. Last Action Hero was a really fun idea bogged down by the kid. Arnold's acting chops were simply not up to par for the movie, and his feats of incredible strength feel completely out of place unless you want to consider them proof that this is the Recall dream. My friend said something to the effect of "It's a movie that asks very interesting questions and has Arnold answer ever single one of them with a bullet," and I agree. From the admittedly limited amount I have seen of him, Arnold is best off playing a character that is something special. He does John Matrix the Commando well because he's supposed to be a super soldier who is better than anyone else, for example. Total Recall wants him to be an ordinary man, and he just does not look like one. The movie would have been better if it had been someone with a more normal build and hopefully a better actor. My first thought was Harrison Ford.
    My other big issue with the movie was the end. I am willing to accept science fiction going so far, but you do not establish that a character in the Martian atmosphere dies a horrible death because of the atmosphere, then have the two lead characters thrown out there and get to the edge of dying with their eyes bugging out and the whole thing and then have them be perfectly fine a moment later. That really ruined the movie for me. I feel that Minority Report did a similar story much, much better.
  • DaikunDaikun
    So, is this a Tuesday show or a Thursday show?

    It's listed on the Tuesday category, yet it was released today...
  • RymRym
    It's listed on the Tuesday category, yet it was released today...
    Oops. My mistake. To be corrected. Obviously it's a Thursday episode.
  • RymRym
    One thing I forgot to mention in the show. Why is everything on Mars made of glass? Particularly, trivially broken glass? Particularly, exterior walls?
  • zehaevazehaeva
    I feel that Minority Report did a similar story much, much better.
    Both Minority Report and Total Recall are based on novels/short stories by Philip K. Dick.

    Look him up.

    Other movies made from his great,and mind blowing, literary works; Blade Runner, A Scanner Darkly, Paycheck, and like 6 others that I can't recall.
  • Luke BurrageLuke Burrage
    Movies set in the past don't date because they are set in the past? What a load of bullshit. 80's medieval movies have completely different fashions than 90's or 60's or more recent movies set in the same period.
  • RymRym
    Movies set in the past don't date because they are set in the past?
    Some do, and some don't.

    If a movie is set in the past, and uses music/theme from that era, then it doesn't date (on account of that). For example, an 80s movie set in the 80s has 80s fashion and 80s music, but that fits the movie. An 80s movie that's set in the 70s, but has 80s music (or 70s music using, say, 80s synth) dates horribly. An 80s movie set in a generic time (not a period piece) , but which has 80s music, dates horribly.
  • Luke BurrageLuke Burrage
    If a movie is set in the past, and uses music/theme from that era, then it doesn't date (on account of that).
    Yes it does. 70's medieval takes on music and themes and sets and fashion are WAY different from current takes on those same things. There might be some exceptions, but from my movie watching, Scott's assertion in the podcast, and now your own, is almost completely unfounded. Theoretically you could be correct, but in reality movie making just doesn't work that way.
  • RymRym
    edited May 2011
    Theoretically you could be correct, but in reality movie making just doesn't work that way.
    Well, I'll qualify one step further. By and large, well executed movies tend to portray/use the tropes of their eras in a more timeless fashion and date better. An 80s movie set in the 90s and a 90s movie set in the 80s may both use 80s synth for the soundtrack. The former will be desperately dated. The latter will as well, unless it uses that soundtrack contextually to set the 80s mood and ground the piece. And 80s movie set in the 80s will likely date itself by using the 80s synth generally, and not contextually.

    The Lost Boys and Ferris Bueller's Day Off age well almost as period pieces. Terminator 2 ages well due to excellent use of effects and music that avoids many of the cliches of that era, while executed the cliches it doesn't avoid very well. I could show a kid today T2, and he probably couldn't tell me what decade it was from.

    Meanwhile, Total Recall reeks of the 80s, even though it was technically made in 1990.

    I agree that the previous post was a gross oversimplification.
    Post edited by Rym on
  • Josh BytesJosh Bytes
    In the scene with Sharon Stone and the Doctor from the memory lab. I always thought that when Arnold saw that the Doctor was sweating that it was meant to show to the audience that what Arnold was experiencing was real and not some memory implant.
  • Li_AkahiLi_Akahi
    Commando is the BEST Ah-nuld movie as it has the highest body count out of all of them. Seriously, he kills 90+ people in that movie, all while fighting for love.
  • VichusSmithVichusSmith
    edited May 2011
    The first Terminator is a horror movie, not an action movie.
    • nigh unkillable villain appears

    • that villain goes on a murderous spree

    • it takes place mostly in the dark

    • the villian really, really, really wants to kill a girl

    • in the end, we have the Adam & Eve survival, except that- 1984 SPOILERS! - the Adam in this case is the Eve's own son.



    Does Arnold get the nod for bringing Tanks into action movies, or should this honor go to Stallone?

    I think that there is definitely a lot of charm and attitude that Arnold has going for him that no actor could make up for in his place. Arnold IS Conan. This new guy is cool looking, but he doesn't bring what Arnold does when swinging that sword. This is why they're still chasing (or were until we discovered the secret Ahnuld spawn) Arnold as the Terminator for a 5th film.


    The best Arnold movie, if I had to watch just one forever, is True Lies.
    Post edited by VichusSmith on
  • HungryJoeHungryJoe
    edited May 2011
    Like most times when Scrym and Luke disagree, I'll have to agree with Luke about the movies. Just because a movie is a period piece doesn't mean that it's timeless or that it can't be recognized for being filmed in a particular era. Examples include Bonnie and Clyde, the Bible era movies of the 50s and 60s like The Ten Commandments and Ben Hur, Johnny Got His Gun, East of Eden, Gone With the Wind, Robin Hood, All Quiet on the Western Front, Anne of a Thousand Days, The Lion in Winter, Olivier's Henry V, A Man for All Seasons, Paths of Glory, Barry Lyndon, A Bridge Too Far, and Henry VIII. Compare those to movies and serials about the same eras filmed at different times, such as A River Runs Through It, Glory, The Tudors, Alexander the Great, Troy, Elizabeth, All Quiet on the Western Front (remake), The Razor's Edge, Saving Private Ryan, The Patriot, The Gladiator, The Last Temptation of Christ, Gallipoli, Branagh's Henry V, and The Passion. Do you seriously believe there are no differences in cinematography, music, production value, what storyline the director saw as important, realism, and so forth between movies like Gone With the Wind and Glory? Is it at all possible that Mammy and Prissy could be protrayed exacly the same way in a modern remake of Gone With The Wind? How about differences between Johnny Got His Gun, Paths of Glory, and Gallipoli? They were all about World War I, but I'm pretty sure that if you saw them, you'd have a very good idea about when they were made. They each had something specific to say about the war, but they were all heavily influenced by what people thought was important during the times they were filmed. Look at the differences in costume and wardrobe in the movie Anne of a Thousand Days and Elizabeth. Do you really mean to say that one of these movies doesn't look a little dated or that you can't tell that one is a little fresher than the other?

    There's just no way you can watch A Bridge Too Far and Saving Private Ryan and then tell me that one looks just like the other. Barry Lyndon and The Patriot? They both were about the same period, but they couldn't be more different, and both just scream that they were filmed during their respective time periods. Can you imagine The Patriot being made in the late 60s/early 70s? The same can be said for The Passion, Troy, and The Gladiator when you compare them to films like Ben Hur, Cleopatra, and The Ten Commandments.

    How about remakes? There was a BBC serial based on the book Brideshead Revisited in the early 80s. Recently, a movie came out based on the same book. They both were even filmed in the same locations. I defy you to honestly say that they both look the same just because they were both stories about the same period in time. The movie spent a lot of time developing themes concerning one character's homosexuality while the serial hardly makes mention of it, probably because homosexual themes were not something directors and actors could be as free exploring in the early 80s. On the other hand, the serial spent a lot more time than the movie did with the same character's alcoholism, probably because substance abuse was something people had lots to say about in the early 80s. Olivier's Henry V and Branagh's Henry V were both very different because both had very different things the directors and actors wanted to express. Also, costuming, sets, realism, and acting styles make these movies very much different.

    Scrym, have you even seen any of these movies, or do you spend too much time watching Naruto?

    Oh yeah, I also agree with VichusSmith that True Lies is the best Arnold movie, followed closely by Terminator 2, and Predator, but I'm a real sucker for spy and heist movies and True Lies, while being primarily a spy movies, has at least some of the base elements of a heist movie when Arnold enlists Tom Arnold's help in misusing government resources.
    Post edited by HungryJoe on
  • VichusSmithVichusSmith
    :) Naruto is my personal favorite period piece.
  • HungryJoeHungryJoe
    edited May 2011
    :) Naruto is my personal favorite period piece.
    Scrym takes Naruto just as seriously as everyone else takes Hamlet.
    Post edited by HungryJoe on
  • Zack PatateZack Patate
    :) Naruto is my personal favorite period piece.
    I'd say One Piece is a better period Piece. Would also work for all periods. All of them.
  • KapitänTimKapitänTim
    :) Naruto is my personal favorite period piece.
    I'd say One Piece is a better period Piece. Would also work for all periods. All of them.
    Its a period period joke.
  • HungryJoeHungryJoe
    edited May 2011
    :) Naruto is my personal favorite period piece.
    I'd say One Piece is a better period Piece. Would also work for all periods. All of them.
    Its a period period joke.
    That's what you would call a Merchant Ivory film that starred Mr. Period in which the Periodic Table was key to the plot.
    Post edited by HungryJoe on
  • VichusSmithVichusSmith
    Dammit, Zack! You're so right!
  • TheWhaleSharkTheWhaleShark
    No love for Last Action Hero?
  • HungryJoeHungryJoe
    edited May 2011
    No love for Last Action Hero?
    Someone here said the kid ruined a lot of that movie. I'm inclined to disagree at least a little bit with that statement. LAH was pretty good in my opinion, and doesn't deserve its bad rep. If for nothing else, the bit in the movie where they have a movie trailer for Hamlet done with Arnold and re-imagined as an action movie is just gold.

    Much love for LAH, but it's still not as good as True Lies.
    Post edited by HungryJoe on
  • RymRym
    Much love for LAH, but it's still not as good as True Lies.
    I pretty-much agree. True Lies was a solid action comedy and extremely well executed. LAH was fun, but was more of a parody piece, and falls slightly short.
    If for nothing else, the bit in the movie where they have a movie trailer for Hamlet done with Arnold and re-imagined as an action movie is just gold.
    One can't forget Stallone as The Terminator. I believe Ahnold says something like "Terminator 2 was his best role."
  • KapitänTimKapitänTim
    Terminator 2 was his best role
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