MOVIE PREVIEW

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Total Re-Recall

Topping off a summer of reboots, remakes, and reunions is Total Recall, a reimagining of the 1990 sci-fi thrilleritself loosely based on a short story by science fiction legend Philip K. Dick. The earlier film starred Arnold Schwarzenegger as Douglas Quaid, an unsatisfied, late 21st-century construction worker in search of adventure. He gets a memory implant of a vacation to Marsonly to accidentally uncover his true past as a rebel-hunter on the Red Planet. The powers that be, whom he double-crossed, pursue him throughout this fast-moving, casually violent film (punctuated by Ahnolds trademark Austrian-accented one-liners). In the new film, Quaid (played by Colin Farrell) goes into the memory clinic for a dose of excitement and comes out realizing hes really a superspy. This time, Quaid is caught not between two planets but between Earths future superpowers, Euromerica and New Shanghai, and their agents: his once-devoted wife (Kate Beckinsale) and a rebel fighter (Jessica Biel). Rather than emulate the originals campy tone, Total Recall redux aims for sleek action sequences and stunning dystopian scenery. In theaters August 3. Valerie Ross

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Sci-fis #1 Muse Philip K. Dicks reality-warped stories have inspired a dozen films. As with Dicks writing, though, the quality varies widely.

HIGHS

Minority ReportGuided by psychics, a police unit stops murders before they happenbut then the forces captain (Tom Cruise) is fingered as a future killer. This dark film splices big-budget action with meditations on free will.

Blade Runner Harrison Ford stars as a bounty hunter charged with disposing of fugitive androids. The film is often credited as the first sci-fi neo-noir, where latter-day Sam Spades pilot flying cars.

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