Total Recall 2070 (TV Series) Machine Dreams: Part 1 (1999) User Reviews

Interesting

[enroth · 7/10 · 21 September 2006]

The story is based in the same world as "Total Recall" starring Schwarzenager, but the cinematography and style borrow much more from Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner". Moody and atmospheric, the visual style alternately recalls the smooth yellows and browns of Gattaca, and the stark contrast of film noir. The script is vague, stylized, and occasionally hard to follow; in short, everything that you find in a classic Philip K. Dick story. The soundtrack is moody and atmospheric, and certainly a cut above the average sci-fi film.

To be clear: this is not an action film in the way the original Total Recall was. There are no exciting chase scenes, and gunfights are rudimentary at best. This movie is a revenge mystery in the tradition of film noir and Blade Runner. Most of the movie is dialog and character interaction.

If you're looking for an action adventure, you probably won't like this movie. But if you want a new interpretation of PKD's world, done in a style very similar to his own, this movie fits the bill. Personally, I enjoyed this much more than the original Total Recall.

Having admired the first Total Recall, with Arnold, I thought I'd take a chance with this one, pretty good idea

[inkblot11 · 7/10 · 5 March 2015]

In the not too distant future, David (Michael Easton) is a dedicated employee for Citizens Protection, an updated moniker for police officer. There is, amazingly, not that much crime, mostly white collar stuff. Our Dave is also very happily married to Olivia (Cynthia Preston), a social worker. But, alas, one fateful day, David and is Russian partner are called to a chaotic scene at Total Recall Corporation. This is the outfit, you might know, that offers "mind vacations" to various wonderful destinations, like Aruba, for a rather hefty price. Encountering androids with weapons, something that is forbidden, David's partner is killed with a laser gun. Its a horror show. Scooping up an actual pistol from the early twentieth century, David guns down other androids who are trying to kidnap a Recall doctor. but, some andies get away. Back at CP headquarters, Dave mourns his lost partner and angrily explains the situation to his superiors. No one knows how the androids got armed. After a few days, David gets a new partner, odd Ian (Karl Pruner). Ian is aware that David believes it is too soon for him to be partnered with someone else. So, this odd officer treads lightly. Soon, his intelligence is obvious, helping David considerably. Two problems face them. One, they must prevent another android attack, and two, they must find the clairvoyant son of a couple who was brainwashed at Recall. Could these two events be connected? Yes! As a fervent admirer of Philip K. Dick, who wrote the tales of Total Recall, Do Androids Dream, and Minority Report, all of which have elements here, this new film is welcome. In fact, it was the pilot episode of a new Canadian series that ran for some 22 episodes in the late 90's. Therefore, it does appear less dazzling than an actual movie but more on par with other small screen ventures. Nevertheless, it has some great effects and concepts. It also has some fairly racy love scenes so viewer beware! The cast is quite nice, with Easton making a handsome leading man while Preston, Pruner, and the rest back him up nicely. If you are an admirer of PKD or science fiction, you will welcome the chance to stroll down this film avenue once more.

Another Homage to Philip K. Dick...

[arion1 · 10/10 · 26 February 2005]

This was an unusual video homage to the writing of Philip K. Dick. What made this pilot (and the subsequent series) unusual was that the world pictured was actually a combination of both Total Recall (taken from the story, "We Remember For You, Wholesale") and Bladerunner (from the book, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep"). This unusual fusion gives the viewer a cop show, with a science-fiction edge which is remarkably sharp.

The story is that of David Hume (Michael Easton), a tired officer of the CPB (citizen's Protection Bureau) who walks a daily tightrope between the duty he owes the people and the cryptic Assessor's Office, which enforces the law on the megalithic corporations whose power dwarfs the government. When Hume's partner Nick Blanchard (Thomas Kretschmann) is killed by rogue androids, he finds himself at odds with everyone. Things only get worse when the department assigns him a new partner, Ian Farve (Karl Pruner), whom Hume sees as naive and hopelessly new to the job. The only bright spot is Hume's lovely wife, Olivia (Cynthia Preston), who is there for him, but she has a few skeletons in her closet, too.

Like Philip K. Dick's own writing, themes of empathy and reality are emphasized throughout the film, while the yawning canyons of skyscrapers and flying cars are offered as a technological counterpoint. The film also mimics one of the central themes in Dick's stories; an existentialist view of the world: do we see things as they really are? Can you, for example, spot the androids in the shots of the streets of Hume's city? The series which followed this movie continued the same style, but its ultimate failure in the ratings was not through poor story quality. The series had, by far, the best writing I've yet seen. What doomed it, I think, was probably the largest irony in the Science Fiction genre. SF stories on TV usually spend too much time on the technological end and not enough on the people themselves. Any one of the Star Trek shows from Next Generation on is a perfect case in point! Total Recall 2070, by contrast, spent too much of its time telling the stories of the people at the CPB; it was too human, and in Philip K. Dick's world of lifelike androids, that is indeed a bitter irony!

Very well-performed with a complex, intelligent plot.

[Sian-7 · 8/10 · 6 July 2000]

A movie with subtle, nuanced performances and a complex, intelligent plot - this was far-removed from the mind-numbing "action-adventure" flick suggested by the promotional material and was a delightful surprise! I expect that even those not fond of the Sci-Fi genre will find something to like in here: the main characters are dimensional, far more intellectual than tough, & they exhibit an unexpected gentleness that makes them easy to care about (the performances of Karl Pruner and Matthew Bennett are particularly riveting). The plot has many layers and features enough intrigue to keep you guessing through most of the film (though, as it was also the pilot for the television series, there are a number of questions left deliberately unanswered). There is also action enough for those to whom that is important and an amazing array of brilliant special effects! It requires the viewer to pay attention, but the viewer is well-rewarded for the effort: it's a good film to see!

PK Dick would've been pleased

[heraclitean · 9/10 · 23 October 2005]

Of course, one would have to be familiar with science fiction writer Philip K. Dick to appreciate this series premier, which has absolutely nothing to do with an Arnold Schwarzenneger movie. "Total Recall: 2070" was Showtime's noble experiment in sci-fi noir. If one has actually read Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" and "We Can Build It For You Wholesale" then one has a basis for appreciating what this series was attempting to do. If not, probably not.

Those reviewers savvy enough to make the connection have written excellent reviews and I second their comments. There is a hard-bitten existentialism at the heart of this series which deals with issues of artificial life/intelligence, a corporate/government dominance reminiscent of "1984", and strained human relations in an environment where being human is by no means what it used to be.

Why the 22 episodes of this series have not been released is beyond me.

Dark, atmospheric, intelligent series.

[fromwithin · 9/10 · 16 December 2002]

This is far more Blade Runner than Total Recall. It bears very little relation to its namesake Arnie film. However, I would say that it is also far superior. It has to be said that David Hume, the main character, is a bit on the stereotypical side for this type of affair. However, this weakness is more than made up for by Karl Pruner's portrayal of his partner Farve. The series as a whole has a great suspenseful ongoing story with many twists and clever sub-plots, while fitting in good independent stories to each episode. I was expecting cheesy TV sci-fi, but instead found an original, engrossing series that is by far the best thing I've seen in quite some time.

Silly, and campy sci-fi TV series...

[bullions27 · 17 December 2000]

Don't mistake this with Verhoeven's masterpiece. In fact other than minor references to the orignal movie and Rekall taking center stage now as the primary nemesis, the two worlds are like two worlds. It's a different setting, different mood and none the better with the lackluster performances and horrid writing given. I found Arnold's one-liners even more spectacular than this. The first time I saw this, the plot didn't flow. Some of the scenes were tacked on, with very lame dialogue. The characters were more or less what you are already accustomed to, nothing new. An overconfident and suave cop, his clueless Terminator like partner, the corrupt businessmen, blah blah. In the end 2070 is a boring series trying to make money off of the name only Arnold can bear.

better than that

[pep000 · 8/10 · 18 November 2005]

paladin was off the mark here. i have the entire series on DVD and have watched about half so far, and overall the show is quite good sci-fi. it's basically a cop show with a strong phillip k. dick/ridley scott blade runner influence (well, that's putting it lightly- it more or less copies them exactly!), and it tackles similar ethical issues of identity, genetics, memory, and the role of individual choice in a highly invasive scientific future.

it's a shame the entire series isn't available commercially, because it's quite good. the characters are really stock, and ironically it's only the android character who so far shows signs of growth and change (guess that's in keeping with blade runner).

anyway, the designers did a fantastic job with this show, and there have been a few really well-written episodes, as well as a few duds too.

the 'machine dreams' DVD is actually the first two episodes of the series. i liked those, but as the series has progressed there have been stronger episodes and an overarching subplot that's getting interesting.

Very impressive for a TV movie/pilot.

[lemon_magic · 8/10 · 2 September 2013]

Don't get me wrong, in spite of the title reference, this made-for-TV movie isn't in the same league as its epic Arnie-starring namesake. How could it be? These are TV actors on a TV budget working within the constraints of the small screen. In that regard, the series creators weren't doing themselves any favors, IMO. I knew within 10 seconds of the opening credits that this was a video product, not a cinema product. And the ending made it clear that this was actually setup as a pilot for future episodes. (It turns out that there was indeed a series which I missed completely - I didn't pay much attention to any TV except Mystery Science 3000 in the 90s).

Still, if you disregard the "Total Recall" aspect of the story (it owes more to "Blade Runner/Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" anyway) and just enjoy this as an unusually philosophical and metaphysical science fiction based cop show, you'll find a lot to enjoy. Yes, most of the actors are playing stock characters in a stock way (including the supposed hero) and I knew the partner was an android within 5 seconds after he was introduced.(I'm also sure this giveaway was a deliberate move on the part of the series creators).

But each scene, shot and setup was art-directed to a fare-thee-well (great use of texture and color), the director knew how to keep things moving, the CGI was (to me) very well done and nicely integrated into the scenes without drawing too much attention to itself, and the plot driving the story (and the central mystery behind ReKall's action and motives) had some juice and interest to it.

This was good enough that if I have a chance to track down more episodes of the series I might do so, just to see how the partnership between the human/android cop team progresses.

Horrid nightmare

[jtpaladin · 7 July 2002]

What the heck were the writers of this junk thinking? How could they possibly think any of this boring, mind-numbing trash could possibly entertain? Why would anyone with a shred of self-respect act in this moronic film?

Obviously, the creators of "2070" were merely trying to capitalize on the name and success of "Total Recall". But they didn't have the budget or the talent of the original crew to do anything of any value.

I beseech all video stores to take every copy of this horrid schlock off the shelves and send it straight into the dumpster. That's right, don't even sell it to people as a "used film". Even better, destroy it before throwing it into the dumpster. This way there'll be no chance that a copy of this film could somehow end up in some poor sap's VCR and ruining his evening.

Recall This

[tedg · 9 November 2000]

I clumsily rented this thinking it was the Phil Dick classic. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

There's absolutely nothing interesting to be said about this film. But there might be something interesting in asking why producers think that cheesy stuff will be sweetened if it is wrapped in SciFi trappings. My own opinion is that this can be called the Star Trek effect.

Science Fiction comes in a few strongly differentiated flavors. One of those, quite distinct from the others, takes one simple idea and extrapolates it into an abstract world to explore `what if.' For instance, a story might explore what if a completely egalitarian society existed? The placing in the `future' is just a way of getting distance from common expectations. Star Trek was very much in this tradition. Their simple morality plays depended on a minimalization of the details of the future world. That is to say that the success of the story depended on the sets being fakey, the acting juvenile, the effects mindbogglingly stupid.

Many fans (not me actually) fondly adopted the approach. Since then, producers have blindly assumed that relaxing standards on the production is okay as long as SciFi is the style. Not so, and definitely not so in this case, where the story is the merest skeleton for moving photons.