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generalSpoilers

Total Recall (1990) - Practical FX GOAT!

Okay guys, I just re-watched Total Recall (the OG, obviously) and man, it still holds up! I'm a sucker for practical effects and this movie is overflowing with them. We're talking Schwarzenegger at his peak, a wild plot about memory implants and Mars, and enough explosions to make Michael Bay blush. Seriously, the scene where Quaid pulls that tracking device out of his nose? Pure gold. GROSS, but gold. No CGI crap back then, just good ol' fashioned latex and creativity. I know, I know, the whole movie is kinda confusing. Is he really on Mars? Is it all in his head? Frankly, I don't care! The action sequences are top-notch. The mutant rebels are some of the coolest looking 'bad guys' ever committed to film. Richter (Michael Ironside) is a perfect villain, full of menacing one-liners like "Consider that a divorce!" and Sharon Stone is smokin' hot and believably evil as Lori. The three-breasted prostitute? Totally unnecessary, but hey, it's Verhoeven. What can you do? And the stunt work! The zero-gravity fight scene is awesome. The whole sequence with the taxi cab is just fantastic. You can tell they actually built a lot of that stuff and put real people in danger. So many great moments, like when Quaid uses that poor guy as a human shield from the drilling machine...dark but funny. I honestly think some modern action movies can learn a thing or two from how they did things back then. Anyway, just felt like showering some love on a stone-cold classic. What are your favorite moments? Any other practical FX junkies out there who appreciate this film as much as I do? Let me know!

mikecinema
16 days ago
6 comments
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