17-Minutes Were Cut From The Total Recall Remake
The release of the Total Recall remake by director Len Wiseman has troubled many and excited a few. The new version is grounded; literally, it takes place on Earth and not Mars, in a gritty reality, wherein as the 1990 version was more on the side of exploring cartoon-like violence. Wiseman hopes to deliver a film that both camps can enjoy and pay respect to the Dick short story.
In a new interview, Wiseman talks about his cut of the film versus the final studio cut by Sony. The original cut of the new Total Recall was two hours and 20 minutes but Wiseman managed to cut that down to two hours and six minutes for his director’s cut. The final cut of the new Total Recall will be one hour and 49 minutes. So what did those 17 minutes explore and why was it left on the cutting room floor? Wiseman elaborates…
I’m fascinated by the dilemma of the fantasy vs. reality and the kind of chess game that is played. There are scenes where it really comes into question about questioning his whole reality: I love that game, that’s why I did this movie. So there’s a lot more of that, so it often can feel like, ‘Is it repeated?’ I personally don’t feel like it is, I feel like it’s really diving in and really just chewing on it for a while, so I’m fascinated by that.
The final cut of the new Total Recall we’ll see in theaters will likely be more straight to the point than Wiseman had hoped. It seems like he wanted to make it more ambiguous and open-ended. Most likely, we’ll get to see Wiseman’s director’s cut whenever Total Recall will be released on Blu-ray and DVD.
Total Recall will hit theaters on August 3rd.
