Over the last three decades many movie enthusiasts have debated who's the #1 action movie star of all time. To me it's no contest. It's Arnold Schwarzenegger. In a landslide.
I mean look at some of the films he's been in: The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Predator, Commando, True Lies, Conan the Barbarian, The Running Man...and of course 1990's Total Recall, based on the Philip K. Dick short story "We can remember it for you wholesale."
Total Recall is arguably Arnie's best work. So when I discovered that Hollywood decided to remake one of the few good science fiction films involving Mars, I felt like the dude in Predator that Arnie threw a knife at and said "Stick around!" Imagine my further horror when I discovered that the film would take place solely on Earth. My eyes were ready to explode out of head ala Ronny Cox as Vilos Cohaagen in the original.
And now the trailer for the new film has arrived. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GljhR5rk5eY
I can't believe I'm saying this but it looks pretty good. The action looks fantastic and I love the city skylines which are very much in the mode of a Philip K. Dick science fiction story. Additionally, Colin Farrell in the lead role seems an appropriate substitute for Ah-nold. Farrell while not a gifted actor is certainly much more talented in that category than Schwarzenegger ever was. Farrell's moment in this trailer where he transforms from Doug Quaid to his alter-ego Hauser really impressed me. The word on the street is that you also won't hear a lot of the cheesy lines from the first film. (Although to be perfectly honest I love the cheesy dialogue from the original. "Consider that a divorce!" Classic.) And as good as Ronny Cox was as Vilos Cohaagen in the 1990 version, hiring Bryan Cranston as the lead protagonist was an inspired decision*. Plus Jessica Biel and Kate Beckinsale are pretty hot.
Without question this trailer has made me a believer. I will definitely be shelling out my money later this summer to see the remake. Don't get me wrong I love the original. But I don't consider it to be a sacred cow like Back to the Future.
Total Recall opens August 13th of this year.
*Another inspired choice is Bill Nighy as rebel leader Kuato. Wonder if he will be a mutant like in the first film?
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