video transcript

ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION) STORY: What's real and what's illusion? Should I trust my memories? Those are some of the questions Colin Farrell needs to answer in the new version of the 1990 sci-fi classic 'Total Recall'. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sharon Stone starred in the original movie of the same name. When he was first approached to star in the new version directed by Len Wiseman, he reacted with skepticism. "Total Recall" is an action thriller about reality and memory, inspired anew by the famous short story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" by Philip K. Dick. In the film, "Recall" is a company that promises to turn your dreams into real memories. For factory worker Douglas Quaid played by Farrell, even though he's got a beautiful wife (Kate Beckinsale) whom he loves, the mind-trip sounds like the perfect vacation from his frustrating life - real memories of life as a super-spy might be just what he needs. But when the procedure goes horribly wrong, Quaid becomes a hunted man. Finding himself on the run from the police - controlled by Chancellor Cohaagen (Bryan Cranston) - there is no one Quaid can trust, except possibly a rebel fighter (Jessica Biel) working for the head of the underground resistance (Bill Nighy). The line between fantasy and reality gets blurred and the fate of his world hangs in the balance as Quaid discovers his true identity, his true love, and his true fate. Commenting on the differences between Farrell and Schwarzenegger in the original movie, director Len Wiseman chose Farrell for his combination of vulnerable and tough. At the premiere in Berlin, Farrell told Reuters that he never felt pressure of remaking a classic. "I didn't feel the pressure with this. When I read the script it felt so remarkably different, even though a lot of the plot points are the same, some of the dialogue is the same. The tone of the film which is one of the most significant things a film can strike is the tone... and the tone of this film felt completely different. So I didn't feel any pressure to emulate Arnie or I didn't have any one-liners -- thank god," said Farrell. The film opens in cinemas on August 23.