Paul and Arnie are a match made in heaven

Rating: 8/10 (30 May 2010)

It has been a while since I read the short story by Philip K. Dick(one of my favorite authors of the genre) and that, coupled with the fact that I'm not entirely certain if I actually did read it, or I merely got memories implanted of doing so, means that I'm afraid I cannot make many comparisons between the two. I will say that this captures the essence pretty nicely(without being confusing), and it is an immensely entertaining ride. It's a typical Schwarzenegger flick, only smart(not so much that you can't follow it). Verhoeven nearly always delivers plenty of extreme, brutal violence(with that said, this isn't downright grotesque, as was the case with RoboCop, in spite of the cast members they have in common), a ton of awesome, exciting and fun action(shoot-outs, fights and chases), a solid serving of sex(at times including nudity, though not often in this; Stone is a fox), and *excellent* FX(seriously, stunning work, well done, Bottin, as you always do). Oh, and lest we forget, *biting* satire. And this is no exception. The designs are very cool, and the villains are pitch perfect. This has a fast pace, and there isn't a boring second to be found. It's intense, but not overpowering. The plot is marvelous and works out well, and the ambiguity is pure gold. You can tell that Shusett and O'Bannon, the two people who wrote Alien, were part of the team who did the script for this. The dialog has real shining moments, and the one-liners are memorable. While the acting varies a tad, it is mostly good. In addition to what I've already mentioned, there is frequent strong language in this. The DVD comes with a promotional(and not terribly informational) 7 minute behind-the-scenes featurette, a theatrical trailer and a teaser. I recommend this to any fan of the people who made it happen, especially the director and the star. 8/10