Evolution Of Special Effects: Total Recall and Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
Total Recall
Total Recall is a 1990 science fiction film, based on the 1966 short story, Remember It For You Wholesale by Philip K Dick (author of the novel that Blade Runner was based on). The film was hailed as a special effects masterpiece of its time. Total Recall took years to become a reality, from lack of interest in production companies, to nightmares in the script writing, and it was finally Arnold Schwarzenegger who took control of the project, and who brought on Robocop director Paul Verhoeven that really brought the film from concept into reality. With Paul Verhoeven as director, he brought on some of the crew that he worked with on Robocop, they worked off a script written by Ronald Shusett, Dan O'Bannon, and Gary Goldman; though also ideas from the David Cronenberg script were kept as well, though he wasn't given credit for his work. The film was produced by Carolco Pictures, and distributed through Tri-Mark Pictures. Total Recall went on to be a huge box office success, being made on a budget of $50-60 million and ended up grossing $261.3 million in the box office.
Total Recall starred action hero star Arnold Schwarzenegger as the leading role of Douglas Quaid/Carl Hauser, Sharon Stone starred as his wife Lori Quaid. Throughout the film Quaid/Hauser is being pursued by a group of soldier/police led by Richter (played by Michael Ironside). Along the way Quaid/Hauser meets up with former and now current love interest Melina (played by Rachel Ticotin), and they are helped by a cab driver named Benny (Mel Johnson Jr.). The film is well cast, and with stars like Schwarzenegger who was a rising action hero star at the time, and Sharon Stone who was considered one of the sexiest and most desirable women in Hollywood at the time, the film had the star power to be a success. But it what really helped the film was its state of the art special effects, many of which are still impressive looking today. With Total Recall, and then the following year's Terminator 2 Arnold Schwarzenegger was in two of the biggest special effects action sci-fi movies of the time, and both films helped to break ground and push the boundaries of special effects that would go through a major evolution in the coming decade. So with a great cast with a couple big stars, and some state of the art effects, the last element that was needed was the story. The story is about a man who is bored in his life of a construction worker, and who keeps dreaming about Mars. So he hears about this company called Rekall, that sells vacations, that you take in your mind, they basically sell memories that are implanted into your head. He decides to take a Rekall vacation to Mars, and he chooses the package that makes him a secret agent in his mind, and in the package he saves the world and gets the girl. Then what the film does really well is it leaves to the interpretation of the viewer the question of whether or not any of the events are real, or if they are the implanted memories, and I feel like in that effect this is a very effective film, that begs the viewer to question what is reality. The film is a philosophical science fiction film, which is the type of thing that Philip K. Dick is good at, because the philosophical questions were key to Blade Runner as well.
Today there is definitely a dated look to Total Recall, the dismal grey look of the future that we seemed to have at the time of what the future might look like. The film was almost entirely shot in Mexico City, and in the Mexico City metro system, and the film has this industrial looking futuristic look to it. The effects were really well done, and remember that much of it was still practical effects, with a mix of newer computer effects, but at this point most of the make-up work was still done through traditional effects, as were the effects of the mutants. I think that the practical effect work in this film looked really amazing. Some of the digital effects looked really good, while others are definitely dated looking by today's standards, but for the time period were pretty groundbreaking. However, where this film loses me are the areas where it goes from being a sci-fi film to a straight up action film. This film has been criticized for its outrageously high body count. So many people die in this film without a second thought, without emotion, and without a care in the world, so many people are killed by our hero that one can only assume that the man is a sociopath with no regard for human life other than that which serves his own interests. That is something I have always hated about action films, the fact that human lives are so meaningless, as action heroes will kill dozens of people without a second thought or remorse, and they are painted as good, and serving the greater good. To me this distracts from the story, it is one thing when a monster kills life, or a killer in a horror movie does, but when the "good guy" is killing innocent people without remorse, that bothers me. I think to me, that puts horror films at slight moral superiority over action films, in horror films the one taking innocent lives without remorse is the "bad guy" or "monster", and often when one of the "good guys" kill someone innocent then they feel this sense of guilt and shock from it. So to me I can't help but to view most action heroes as sociopaths that somehow think that their "mission" or whatever is more important than the lives of people, kind of the same narcissistic view that major corporations have, that their profits mean more than the lives of humans. So this film, along with Verhoeven's film Robocop puts very little value in the lives of people, as long as the hero is successful in his mission. Due to the excessive violence of this film it was originally awarded an X rating, and had to be toned down greatly to get the hard R rating that the final theatrical cut of the film was given.
Yes, Total Recall is a great sci-fi classic, and it pushed many grounds in the rehlm of special effects, had a great story, and some excellent actors. The film is excessively violent with a high kill count and little care for human life, but overall it is a great sci-fi action film, and one that I feel like is a must see.
Total Recall starred action hero star Arnold Schwarzenegger as the leading role of Douglas Quaid/Carl Hauser, Sharon Stone starred as his wife Lori Quaid. Throughout the film Quaid/Hauser is being pursued by a group of soldier/police led by Richter (played by Michael Ironside). Along the way Quaid/Hauser meets up with former and now current love interest Melina (played by Rachel Ticotin), and they are helped by a cab driver named Benny (Mel Johnson Jr.). The film is well cast, and with stars like Schwarzenegger who was a rising action hero star at the time, and Sharon Stone who was considered one of the sexiest and most desirable women in Hollywood at the time, the film had the star power to be a success. But it what really helped the film was its state of the art special effects, many of which are still impressive looking today. With Total Recall, and then the following year's Terminator 2 Arnold Schwarzenegger was in two of the biggest special effects action sci-fi movies of the time, and both films helped to break ground and push the boundaries of special effects that would go through a major evolution in the coming decade. So with a great cast with a couple big stars, and some state of the art effects, the last element that was needed was the story. The story is about a man who is bored in his life of a construction worker, and who keeps dreaming about Mars. So he hears about this company called Rekall, that sells vacations, that you take in your mind, they basically sell memories that are implanted into your head. He decides to take a Rekall vacation to Mars, and he chooses the package that makes him a secret agent in his mind, and in the package he saves the world and gets the girl. Then what the film does really well is it leaves to the interpretation of the viewer the question of whether or not any of the events are real, or if they are the implanted memories, and I feel like in that effect this is a very effective film, that begs the viewer to question what is reality. The film is a philosophical science fiction film, which is the type of thing that Philip K. Dick is good at, because the philosophical questions were key to Blade Runner as well.
Today there is definitely a dated look to Total Recall, the dismal grey look of the future that we seemed to have at the time of what the future might look like. The film was almost entirely shot in Mexico City, and in the Mexico City metro system, and the film has this industrial looking futuristic look to it. The effects were really well done, and remember that much of it was still practical effects, with a mix of newer computer effects, but at this point most of the make-up work was still done through traditional effects, as were the effects of the mutants. I think that the practical effect work in this film looked really amazing. Some of the digital effects looked really good, while others are definitely dated looking by today's standards, but for the time period were pretty groundbreaking. However, where this film loses me are the areas where it goes from being a sci-fi film to a straight up action film. This film has been criticized for its outrageously high body count. So many people die in this film without a second thought, without emotion, and without a care in the world, so many people are killed by our hero that one can only assume that the man is a sociopath with no regard for human life other than that which serves his own interests. That is something I have always hated about action films, the fact that human lives are so meaningless, as action heroes will kill dozens of people without a second thought or remorse, and they are painted as good, and serving the greater good. To me this distracts from the story, it is one thing when a monster kills life, or a killer in a horror movie does, but when the "good guy" is killing innocent people without remorse, that bothers me. I think to me, that puts horror films at slight moral superiority over action films, in horror films the one taking innocent lives without remorse is the "bad guy" or "monster", and often when one of the "good guys" kill someone innocent then they feel this sense of guilt and shock from it. So to me I can't help but to view most action heroes as sociopaths that somehow think that their "mission" or whatever is more important than the lives of people, kind of the same narcissistic view that major corporations have, that their profits mean more than the lives of humans. So this film, along with Verhoeven's film Robocop puts very little value in the lives of people, as long as the hero is successful in his mission. Due to the excessive violence of this film it was originally awarded an X rating, and had to be toned down greatly to get the hard R rating that the final theatrical cut of the film was given.
Yes, Total Recall is a great sci-fi classic, and it pushed many grounds in the rehlm of special effects, had a great story, and some excellent actors. The film is excessively violent with a high kill count and little care for human life, but overall it is a great sci-fi action film, and one that I feel like is a must see.
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, released in 2017, might be one of the most visually beautiful special effects films ever put on film. The film is from French film director Luc Besson, the same director that brought us The Fifth Element. The film is based on the French comic book series Valerian and Laureline by Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mezieres. Mezieres was brought on to work on The Fifth Element, where he was said to have asked Besson: "Why are you doing this shitty film? Why you don't do Valerian?" At the time though Bessen thought that doing Valerian wasn't possible with the technology available, and it wasn't until he saw what James Cameron did with Avatar, that he realized that Valerian could be possible, because now the only limitation was our imagination (though many filmmakers might argue that the biggest limitation is budget, because even though the technology exists, it doesn't come cheap). Valerian was both directed and written by Luc Besson, and was produced by his wife, Virginie Besson-Silla, alongside several production companies including Besson's EuropaCorp. The film was distributed by EuropaCorp, with Lionsgate doing the UK release and STX Entertainment doing the US release.
The breathtaking special effects which carry this film, and according to most critics are the best part of this film do come at a price. This film is the most expensive French film of all-time, costing an estimated $209 million US or 197 million Euros. However the film only brought in $225.9 million (US dollars) in the box office, making the film a box office bomb. The film failed to capture US audiences, which as its biggest financial downfall, where as in other markets the film did really well, especially in China. The problem with Besson's sentiment that with current technology we are only limited by our imagination, is that that imagination costs money, and at $209 million dollar price tag, that must mean that A LOT of people want to see the product of your imagination. Valerian might be one of the most visually impressive and beautiful films that I have ever seen, the size and the scope of it all is simply breathtaking, and sadly the reason that we don't see many films this visually epic and breathtaking is due to the sheer price tag of it. There were multiple special effects teams working on different aspects of this film, and the budget kept climbing, but if you are going to spend all of that money you need to be assured that people are going to want to see it. From vague trailers that only seemed to focus on the special effects and imagery to the feel of the characters themselves and the actual story, the film was destined to be a box office bomb.
The breathtaking special effects which carry this film, and according to most critics are the best part of this film do come at a price. This film is the most expensive French film of all-time, costing an estimated $209 million US or 197 million Euros. However the film only brought in $225.9 million (US dollars) in the box office, making the film a box office bomb. The film failed to capture US audiences, which as its biggest financial downfall, where as in other markets the film did really well, especially in China. The problem with Besson's sentiment that with current technology we are only limited by our imagination, is that that imagination costs money, and at $209 million dollar price tag, that must mean that A LOT of people want to see the product of your imagination. Valerian might be one of the most visually impressive and beautiful films that I have ever seen, the size and the scope of it all is simply breathtaking, and sadly the reason that we don't see many films this visually epic and breathtaking is due to the sheer price tag of it. There were multiple special effects teams working on different aspects of this film, and the budget kept climbing, but if you are going to spend all of that money you need to be assured that people are going to want to see it. From vague trailers that only seemed to focus on the special effects and imagery to the feel of the characters themselves and the actual story, the film was destined to be a box office bomb.
I really do regret not seeing this film in the theater, I could just imagine how this would look on the big screen, I feel like it would be one of the most breathtaking films to ever be seen in a theater. However a film is more than visuals and needs a solid cast and story to back it up. Valerian starred Dane DeHaan as Valerian (who is a soldier/special agent for the United Human Federation), Cara Delevingne as Laureline (a soldier/special agent for the United Human Federation), Clive Owen as Arun Fillitt (Valerian and Laureline's commander), Ethan Hawke as Jolly The Pimp, Rihanna as Bubble a shapeshifting Glamopod, Herbie Hancock as the Defence Minister, John Goodman as Igon Siruss a Kodar'Khan pirate captain, Elizabeth Debicki as Emperor Haban Limai, Sasha Luss as Princess Liho-Minaa, and Alain Chabat as Bob The Pirate.
I struggle with liking Dane DeHaan as Valerian in this film, I haven't read the comics, so maybe he plays the role perfectly, but as a character I find him just to egotistical, and self-righteous. I do really enjoy Cara Delevingne as Laureline though, she is the more fun character, though she is also quite serious when her role needs her to. From watching the special features and the behind the scenes, I really appreciate her as a person, she seems to bring so much fun to the set and to the character, and she seems to get all of the other actors on set to have much more fun, and that makes me happy to see. Honestly it looks like this film was a lot of fun to make, and it seems like Luc Besson was honestly living his dream in this film, and I love that. I think it is sad that the film didn't do better in the box office, because I really do appreciate this film, and I love that the film has a strong leading female such as Cara Delevingne cast in the film, her character balances out the things I don't like about the character of Valerian, he sometimes comes off as a too serious military type character, and maybe he played that role perfectly, he doesn't understand romance, and is almost a stereotypical "male" character, where as Lauraline brings a humanity to the couple, and teaches him how to have actual emotions and that it is okay to show those emotions as well as the fact that sometimes it is okay to break the rules if it means doing the right thing. So there is this great character growth seen in Valerian, as his stronger female counterpart teaches him how to be a better person. In the comics they are shown as being a couple throughout, but in this film it seems to take a step back, and shows them as partners who obviously have a romantic thing going, but aren't actually a "couple" in the beginning of the film. I think that would have worked well to establish a background character development of these two heroes as they would go on to have further adventures in future films (which sadly we will never see due to the failure of this film, but one could only hope I suppose).
I don't think US audiences were ready for this film, and sadly because of that a future of films based on the Valerian characters will probably never happen. I can understand why this film did better in Asian and European markets, the style of the film is more suited to those markets that appreciate high science fiction with mind-blowing visuals. US audiences had little to no familiarity with the comics that the film was based on, and even the trailers didn't seem to do enough to sell US audiences on the story, or why they should care about it, it takes more than visuals to sell tickets to a film in the US, whereas the visuals alone might bring in audiences in other markets. But if you actually get into the story the film has a great sci-fi adventure story, with some great characters, and amazing sets and action. I honestly feel like this film deserves much better than it has received by critics. I honestly think this film is worth watching, and should be a must see of anyone who enjoys high-science fiction action adventure films.
I don't think US audiences were ready for this film, and sadly because of that a future of films based on the Valerian characters will probably never happen. I can understand why this film did better in Asian and European markets, the style of the film is more suited to those markets that appreciate high science fiction with mind-blowing visuals. US audiences had little to no familiarity with the comics that the film was based on, and even the trailers didn't seem to do enough to sell US audiences on the story, or why they should care about it, it takes more than visuals to sell tickets to a film in the US, whereas the visuals alone might bring in audiences in other markets. But if you actually get into the story the film has a great sci-fi adventure story, with some great characters, and amazing sets and action. I honestly feel like this film deserves much better than it has received by critics. I honestly think this film is worth watching, and should be a must see of anyone who enjoys high-science fiction action adventure films.
So how do these two films work together as a double feature, other than being not too far from each other on the shelf? Well, the special effects first of all are a great tie in. Total Recall was one of the most groundbreaking special effects features of its time in 1990, then we fast forward to 2017, and we see special effects in a film that far exceed anything that could even be in the wildest dreams of special effects artists in 1990, not even films like the Star Wars franchise can touch the amazing special effects of Valerian, even Cameron's Avatar was far surpassed by the visual effects work in Valerian. The other thing that these films both have is the body count by the action hero characters. In Total Recall we saw hundreds of bodies piling up with no remorse, and honestly that isn't far off from the nonchalant way that we see our action hero Valerian taking out people in this film. In the beginning they are assigned to help a team in the assignment that starts the film, and not even a thought or emotion is spared as the entire team is killed off while completing the assignment. I get that soldiers are heartless, but this is unnerving to watch, as they just seem to be having fun as all of their team is being killed off, never is a word or even a single thought given to the deaths. Then throughout the film you see the heroes killing alien species without a second thought to the morality of the whole deal, does murder come with no consequences in this distant future setting? Or is it just that action heroes are allowed to kill whoever they want, with no remorse? We see this in Schwarzenegger's character in Total Recall, and you see it too in this playful couple in Valerian. I am troubled by this concept of meaningless death. Why did Valerian kill the pimp, why does he shoot the fishing alien? Both are great films, but there is something seriously wrong with murder happy action heroes, and I don't know why that is such a common action hero trope, it is like we glorify sociopaths in films. Overall though both are must see films, and it is fascinating and amazing to see how far special effects have come, and how still there are similarities in action hero characters.
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