OFF: Starship Troopers and a connection to the Tick

[M Holmes]

Andy Gilham writes:

> (Btw, _Total Recall_ is an easy film to read, but it seems many people miss
> it - sf fans are the worst, because they harp on about the bogus science at
> the end, without realising the bogus science is itself a big clue!  The key
> scene is the one where Quaid is told that in his dream "you're going to get
> the girl, kill the bad guys, and save the planet".  Which of course is
> exactly what happens.  In his dream.  If there's a subtext, it's about
> preferring escapist fantasy to dealing with mundane reality.

The problem is that in the film the unreality is so innacurate
scientifically that it's posted in neon lights. If you dismiss the whole
film as unreal then that's somewhat unsatisfying, particularly if it's
so unreal as to suspend disbelief.

Much of Dick's writing in this area conflated various realities in ways
which made the joins quite seamless. He could thus ask questions about
the nature of realities and identity while disorientating the reader in
such a way that they were forced to experience the question. IMHO the
only part of the film which came close to this disorientation, the sense
of deja vu, was that point where Quaid was confronted on Mars by the guy
who'd come into his dream to help him. Of course in true Hollywood
fashion, such a cerebral question was rejoined by machinegun gore
because the erstwhile psychological lifeguard was sweating. From this
point onwards the film departed from anything recognisable as one of
Dick's stories. If they'd instead made it difficult or impossible to
distinguish the real from the unreal and perhaps layered it further, a
very much more interesting film could have been made. Unfortunately this
is generally accepted only in highbrow spy thrillers and arty farty
continental films.

IMHO the best film based on Dick wasn't based on Dick at all, it was The
Game starring Michael Douglas. It was admittedly unbelievable in parts,
but the continual twist of reality in the film was exactly what should
have been attempted in Total Recall.

FoFP






  "The joke's
> on you." :)  (Christ, I'm straining for these on-topic references!)
>
> -Andy
>
> --
> mailto:Andy.Gilham at btinternet.com; http://www.btinternet.com/~andy.gilham
>