Total Recall (1990): Full of Suspense!

Trailer:
here

Plot:
n 2084, Earthbound construction worker Douglas Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is having troubling dreams about Mars and a mysterious woman there.

 

His wife Lori (Sharon Stone) dismisses the dreams and discourages him from thinking about Mars, where the governor, Vilos Cohaagen (Ronny Cox), is fighting rebels while searching for a rumored alien artifact located in the mines. At Rekall, a company that provides memory implants of vacations, Quaid opts for a memory trip to Mars as a Secret Agent fantasy. However, during the procedure, before the memory is implanted, something goes wrong, and the story diverges between the question of what is real and what is hallucination. Apparently, Quaid starts revealing previously suppressed memories of actually being a Secret Agent. The company sedates him, wipes his memory of the visit, and sends him home. On the way home, Quaid is attacked by his friend Harry (Robert Costanzo) and some construction co-workers; he is forced to kill them, revealing elite fighting-skills.

 
He is then attacked in his apartment by Lori, who reveals that she was never his wife; their marriage was just a false memory implant, and Cohaagen sent her as an agent to monitor Quaid. He is then attacked and pursued by armed thugs led by Richter (Michael Ironside), Lori's real husband and Cohaagen's operative.

After evading his attackers, Quaid is given a suitcase containing money, gadgets, fake IDs, a disguise, and a video recording. The video is of Quaid himself, who identifies himself as "Hauser" and explains that he used to work for Cohaagen but learned about the artifact and underwent the memory wipe to protect himself. "Hauser" instructs Quaid to remove a tracking device located inside his skull before ordering him to go to Mars and check into the Hilton Hotel with a fake ID. Quaid makes his way to Mars and follows clues to Venusville, the colony's red-light district, primarily populated by people mutated as a result of poor radiation shielding. He meets Benny (Mel Johnson, Jr.), a taxi driver, and Melina (Rachel Ticotin), the woman from his dreams; but she spurns him, believing that Quaid is still working for Cohaagen.



Quaid later encounters Dr. Edgemar (Roy Brocksmith) and Lori, who claim Quaid has suffered a "schizoid embolism" and is trapped in a fantasy based on the implanted memories. Edgemar warns that Quaid is headed for lunacy and a lobotomy if he does not return to reality, then offers Quaid a pill that would waken him from the dream. Quaid puts the pill in his mouth, but after seeing Edgemar sweating in fear, he kills Edgemar and spits out the pill. Lori alerts Richter's forces, who burst into the room and capture Quaid, but Melina rescues him, with Quaid killing Lori in the process. The two race back to the Venusville bar and escape into the tunnels with Benny. Unable to locate Quaid, Cohaagen shuts down the ventilation to Venusville, slowly asphyxiating its citizens. Quaid, Melina, and Benny are taken to a resistance base; and Quaid is introduced to Kuato (Marshall Bell), a parasitic twin conjoined to his brother's stomach.

 

Kuato reads Quaid's mind and tells him that the alien artifact is a turbinium reactor that will create a breathable atmosphere for Mars when activated, eliminating Cohaagen's abusive monopoly on breathable air. Cohaagen's forces burst in and kill most of the resistance, including Kuato, who instructs Quaid to start the reactor. Benny reveals that he is also working for Cohaagen.

Quaid and Melina are taken to Cohaagen, who reveals the Quaid persona was a ploy by Hauser to infiltrate the mutants and lead Cohaagen to Kuato, thereby wiping out the resistance. Cohaagen orders Hauser's memory to be re-implanted in Quaid and Melina programmed as Hauser's obedient wife, but Quaid and Melina escape into the mines where the reactor is located. They work their way to the control room of the reactor, and Benny attacks them in an excavation machine. Quaid kills Benny, then confronts Richter and his men, killing them too.

Quaid reaches the reactor control room, where Cohaagen is waiting with a bomb. During the ensuing struggle, Cohaagen triggers the bomb, but Quaid throws it away, blowing out one of the walls of the control room and causing an explosive decompression. While reaching for the reactor controls, Quaid knocks out Cohaagen, which causes him to be sucked out onto the Martian surface, killing him. Quaid manages to activate the reactor before he and Melina are also pulled out. The reactor releases air into the Martian atmosphere, saving Quaid, Melina and the rest of Mars' population. As humans walk onto the surface of the planet in its new atmosphere, Quaid momentarily pauses to wonder whether he is dreaming before turning to kiss Melina.

Review:
So.. what do you think? Real or not real?

:smile:

the whole story is engaging. never mind the out dated futuristic gadgets that they are using but focus instead on the whole premise. cool, huh? it boggles one's mind to decipher the clues to identify whether it's real or not. i do have issues though.. the world is supposed to be sophisticated yet they didn't think to make a better, bulletproof dome at Mars. what with the rebel wars and whatnot, shouldn't Cohaagen thought to fortify the domes to protect his investment on Mars? very cheapskate la lorrr..

all in all, i love the story, it's a favourite! Sharon Stone is one kick ass lady here :D

Terminator Genisys: truly enjoyable, can't wait for the sequel!

Trailer:


Plot:
In 2029, Human Resistance leader John Connor (Jason Clarke) launches a massive final offensive against Skynet, an artificial general intelligence system seeking to eliminate the human race. Before the Resistance wins the offensive, Skynet activates a time machine and sends back a T-800 Terminator to 1984 to kill John's mother, Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke). John's right-hand man, Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney), volunteers to travel back in time to protect her. As Kyle floats in the machine's magnetic field, he witnesses John being attacked by another Resistance soldier (Matt Smith). He then has visions from his childhood about events in 2017.

Upon arrival in 1984, Skynet's T-800 is disabled by Sarah and the Guardian (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a reprogrammed T-800 sent to protect her when she was nine years old. Kyle arrives a short time later and is immediately attacked by a T-1000 (Lee Byung-hun). Sarah and the Guardian join Kyle and destroy the T-1000 using acid. Sarah and the Guardian reveal they have constructed a makeshift time machine similar to Skynet's, and that Sarah plans to travel to 1997 – the year Skynet becomes self-aware. Realizing the timeline has been altered, Kyle is convinced that the future has changed due to the warning he received in his childhood vision. He persuades Sarah to travel to 2017 instead to stop Skynet.

In 2017, Kyle and Sarah materialize in the middle of a busy San Francisco highway and are apprehended by city police. While being treated for injuries, Sarah and Kyle learn that Skynet is called "Genisys", a soon-to-be-unveiled global operating system that is being embraced by the public. John Connor appears and rescues Sarah and Kyle, but the Guardian appears and immediately shoots John, revealing that John is an advanced T-3000 Terminator. While Kyle was being sent back through time, a T-5000 (Smith), the physical embodiment of Skynet disguised as a member of the Resistance, attacked John and transformed him into a Terminator. John was tasked with ensuring Cyberdyne Systems' survival and traveled back in time to assist them with the development of Genisys.

Able to escape to a safe house, Sarah, Kyle, and the Guardian make final preparations to destroy Cyberdyne's Genisys mainframe. They head toward Cyberdyne's headquarters with the T-3000 in close pursuit. During an airborne chase, the Guardian divebombs into the T-3000's helicopter, causing it to crash. The T-3000 survives the crash and enters the Cyberdyne complex, where it advances the countdown from 13 hours to 15 minutes. Kyle, Sarah and the Guardian plant bombs at key points in the facility while holding off the T-3000.

In a final battle, the Guardian traps the T-3000 in the magnetic field of a prototype time machine. Both are destroyed, but just prior to the explosion, the T-3000 throws the remains of the Guardian into an experimental vat of mimetic polyalloy located nearby. Kyle and Sarah reach a bunker beneath the facility, and the explosion sets off the bombs, successfully preventing Genisys from coming online. The Guardian appears, upgraded with mimetic polyalloy components similar to that of the T-1000, and helps them find a way out of the debris.

The trio travels to Kyle's childhood home, where Kyle tells his younger self about Genisys and instructs him to repeat the warning in a mirror – critical insurance that the events lead to their arrival in 2017. Sarah, Kyle and the Guardian drive off into the country. A mid-credits scene reveals that the system core of Genisys was located in a protected subterranean chamber and has survived the explosion.

Review:

I much love the way the franchise was further developed, giving more chance for the storyline to evolve. like what Skynet's soldier whispered to John Connor, "do you think it will be this easy, don't you?". And tell you what, it is simply remarkable what the future holds right? imagine the possibilities!

Pops is funny

haha.. the twist. so the plot thickens, much enjoyably. I love the chemistry that Sarah has with Kyle, as well as her genuine affection for Pops, the Guardian. JC as Kyle is somewhat funny and macho.. I know that I have a rather active dislike for him after watching Divergent. in that film he was positively sadistic that I really hate him on sight. but somehow, this film managed to portray him as a really likable person.. gee, he was that good, ok.

the chemistry between the three is just right!

I have some issues though with John Connor's strategy to hunt his parents down. I mean, if it was me, I would just wait them out at Genisys' headquarters for surely they will come to the location to destroy Genisys. plus, for a very sophisticated industrial place, the security is so dismal. a helicopter crashed within the vicinity yet no peek from the police officers nor the security in charge? weird huh.

plus, I would like T-1000 to at least have a dialogue or two. it would have lent the actor, Lee Byung-hun some opportunity to diversify his acting chops. unlike having an emotional range of a teaspoon, so to speak.

moreover, this following pix just capture my mind blowing reaction. surely it will be so hard for Sarah to not only grab Pops' hand but also to keep holding Kyle and a bag of artillery as well. so kuat owh!

kuat giler tangan sarah connor

but EC does portray a strong female lead to a tee. she doesn't squirm or break down yet at times she does have her girlish moment. especially when Kyle is in concern, hahaha

for its entertainment value and clever reengineering of the storyline, I applaud this movie and will simply keep my eyes open for its sequel. truly! I mean, I couldn't miss their love story, couldn't I? :grin:

walking into sunset. huh..