Video
I first reviewed Total Recall on Blu-ray back in 2008 in the form of Optimum's (as they were then known) VC-1 encoded disc. At the time I was very enthusiastic about the image quality, largely because high-definition was still in its infancy and standards weren't what they are today. It was such a major step up from any of the previous DVDs that I gave it a very positive review, and while I stand by that opinion things have obviously moved on since 2008 – as has my understanding of what constitutes a good image – so it's not unreasonable to expect more from this release.
So how does this new effort stack up against the old one? Well those of you expecting a dramatic increase in the level of detail are going to be disappointed, because things are generally the same across both versions. However, the new edition definitely has the upper hand in most other areas. For one thing, grain isn’t as clumpy as the old release, so the viewing experience is more ‘cinematic’ than ever before. I performed some very quick, unscientific comparisons between the two and I now suspect that noise reduction was employed on the old release to remove some of the heavier grain, before the image was artificially sharpened to offset the effect. The newer release doesn’t exhibit any particularly obvious signs of this sort of tampering, and indeed the grain is actually heavier throughout (particularly in scenes that utilise rear-projection, such as the video walls in Quaid’s house).
Another major improvement – perhaps the major improvement come to think of it – is the colour rendition. As much of an improvement over the DVDs as the older Blu-ray was, this new version is yet another leap forward. Although not particularly egregious the colours and overall contrast of the old BD (and UK Special Edition DVD come to that) are incongruent with most other home releases of the film. At times the image is entirely too bright and at others the contrast is quite flat, resulting in some sickly flesh tones. Thankfully this release remedies that and the palette is now far more natural, while brightness and contrast have also been corrected. On VHS and (to a lesser extent) DVD the prominent Martian reds bled terribly, and while the older BD didn’t suffer from this problem the reds were actually more of an orange hue and were a little too vibrant. Thankfully they have now been restored to their original glory, just as Verhoeven intended (and anecdotal evidence suggests he had pretty strong opinions about the use of red in the film).
The image is pretty clean for the most part, with only the odd film artefact popping up now and again. If any noise reduction was applied it was done so judiciously and digital nasties like edge enhancement are nowhere to be seen. Actually, truth be told I did spot some minor banding in one or two scenes but other than that the compression is solid enough. Comparing it to the older disc also reveals slight differences in image geometry, but they’re nothing to get worked up about. Overall this is a respectable catalogue release that offers the best looking version of the film yet available on a home format. Sure the differences are subtle and I can see the general public shrugging their shoulders and wondering why we have yet another version of the film on Blu-ray, but enthusiasts will (hopefully) be appreciative.
Audio
Right, first thing's first. Some of you may remember that the soundtrack of the old HD DVD (remember those?) release of the film a pitch issue that the UK Blu-ray release corrected. (If you're interested I went into it in a lot of detail in my previous review.) I'd like to state for the record that this disc also retains the correct pitch, just in case anyone was wondering.
Now that's out of the way I can move on to the track itself. Like the previous release it's not a bad effort, if one that's unlikely to win over those more accustomed to modern soundtracks. For starters it sounds very much of its time, so expect slightly hollow dialogue, narrower dynamic range and a lack of fidelity compared to more recent films. With that said, dialogue is well-placed in the mix and always perfectly intelligible, except perhaps when Arnold's accent is at its thickest. It's a front-heavy affair, with most of the action limited to the left and right speakers during the first act, but there are some very neat stereo panning effects. Thankfully things open up as we move further into the film; you'll hear gunshots, breaking glass, screams and Jerry Goldsmith's score in the rears, but surround action is still limited when compared to a modern production. Bass is relatively punchy for a film of this age, with the numerous explosions, the arrival of the rocket ship on Mars, and even the humming of the machinery at Rekall all packing a decent wallop at the low end.
Once again I conducted some unscientific experiments and concluded that this new release has a slight edge over the old one in terms of fidelity and presence (particularly the LFE), but it’s not night and day. While it would have been nice if the feature had received a completely new remix I can’t really find too much to fault given the source (possibly Dolby Stereo SR or 6 Track Dolby Stereo). If nothing else it makes for a fairly ‘authentic’ early nineties listening experience.
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Total Recall - Ultimate Rekall Edition (UK) - July 16th
Pioneer BDP-LX91/09FD (multi-region), Pioneer BDP-LX91/09FD (Region B), and Oppo BDP-95 (multi-region)
Onkyo DV-HD805, Toshiba XE1
TV - Pioneer LX6090h 60" 9th Gen Kuro
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Total Recall - Ultimate Rekall Edition (UK) - July 16th
