I really enjoyed 'Total Recall' in the theater and was one of the many that were disappointed when Image did not release a letterboxed transfer on disc. I picked up a copy of the new letterboxed remaster from Live Home Video and was looking forward to writing a rave review of the much anticipated disc. Unfortunately, I can't do that. As it turns out, there is not a lot to rave about.
First, the positive. Even though the older Image tranfer was actually quite good, this new THX certified transfer has made some improvements, mostly in the color. Colors are more saturated and appear more accurate. Contrast and brightness are very good, but very similar to the older disc. Some of the grain visible in the older transfer has been smoothed out, but it is by no means gone. Sharpness on the new transfer is only a tiny bit better. Audio is almost identical, certainly not enough difference for me to mention.
Now we get into what may turn out to be the most controversial 'aspect' of this new transfer. The framing. The new transfer has been matted to about 1.85:1 and in many of the special effects scenes there is, as one would expect, noticably more image area. The controversial part is the scenes without hard-mattes. The full-frame transfer has not only more image top and bottom, but a bit more on the sides as well. I did not A-B the whole film, but there are several scenes in the first reel where the image has been zoomed in slightly on the letterboxed transfer. This took me by surprise and, I must say, really takes the luster off this package. This sloppy framing combined with only a small overall improvement in picture quality puts this new disc in the 'disappointment' category, right next to the old disc.
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