We Can Remember It for Wholesale
Has the outrage begun yet? I doubt it. I'm a little early. The official trailer has just hit the Apple website. The TV spots haven't started yet. But it will happen. When it does I'm sure everyone my age will be annoyed.
"I can't believe they're remaking Total Recall!"
You're right, I can't believe they're remaking a movie that was adapted from a book. I guess since so many people don't read (especially science fiction), adaptations probably don't count as a remake.
So I guess, in a sense it is an outrage they're remaking Total Recall. I loved that movie. Schwarzenegger's movie came out 22 years ago and it's still easy to quote from the movie. There are plenty of scenes that everyone seems to remember. The fake head disassembling. The eyes bulging on the surface of Mars. Most importantly, it was probably the first time you ever saw a woman with three tits.
How can anyone want to remake something so loved by the people?
It's pretty simple actually. The movie is 22 years old. The latest generation of movie watchers watch this film and wonder what the hell we are smoking. To them, any film made before the year 2000 might as well be archived with the first efforts in film making. The same way we can watch the car chases in Bullit or the French Connection and yawn.
Our generation might have a soft spot for Arnold, but today's action movies are about realistic fighting, mind melting CGI effects and action stars who would rather say nothing than tag lines.
In fact, generational remakes are nothing new. It seems that every year, someone has a new take on A Christmas Carol or fantasy tales such as Cinderella. American filmmakers often remake foreign films. The Departed and The Ring are examples. Even Three Men and a Baby was a remake of a French film. John Carpenter's The Thing, Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven, Scarface, Invasion of the Body Snatchers and the Coen Brother's True Grit are all remakes that I don't want to live without. Google a list of remakes and try to argue that remakes are a bad thing.
Instead I view remakes as a high compliment. Who hasn't shared a buddy's story with their own words? Sometimes the retelling is done better than the first. Sometimes it's better than the actual event. Charlie Murphy telling a story is guaranteed better than the actual event.
As I stated earlier, Total Recall was an adaptation of a Philip K. Dick story called "We Can Remember It for Wholesale". PKD's stories are known for blending an unhealthy amount of skepticism and paranoia with science fiction concepts. Blade Runner, Screamers, Minority Report, Paycheck, A Scanner Darkly, Next, and The Adjustment Bureau are all film adaptations of his work. Some are successes, while others are failures. However, all of them have interesting concepts that make audiences want to like them. Total Recall is no exception.
And that's my (pre)objection to anyone who doesn't want the latest reincarnation of Total Recall to succeed. While Arnold's version will always be a great representation of the 80's action genre, perhaps this remake can be the paranoia filled tale that PKD fans enjoy.
Whatever happens, I'll always root for an excellent Science Fiction movie. Please don't be another Paycheck. Please.
1990 trailer
2012 teaser trailer (Sony is not sharing the full trailer just yet. Check it out at http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/totalrecall/ or click my Twitter link located on the right side of this blog.)
UPDATED...HERE'S THE OFFICIAL TRAILER
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