Total Reality

Total Reality is not entirely bad. The idea was intriguing, the opening sequence was great, Missa Koprova is beautiful and appealing and David Bradley is a commanding physical actor and his acting is reasonable. Apart from these Total Reality is pretty poor and doesn't have things to recommend beyond what was mentioned above. The special effects do look as though they were rushed through, the way the film is shot is choppy and the setting suffers from a lack of authenticity and too many scenes where it is over-lit. The score is generic and overbearing, while the dialogue is cheesy and repetitive and the story obvious- to the point of guessing what's going to happen next and being correct every time- and mind-numbingly dull. The action shows Bradley trying very hard with what he has(the movie shows little of his physical acting) but one is always wishing that he had more inspired and lively choreography to work with. The characters and their situations are one cliché after another with nothing done to make them particularly memorable or interesting, while the direction is pedestrian and the rest of the acting shows the actors unable(or is it not willing?) to do anything with the writing or characters. In conclusion, there is far worse out there but Total Reality on the whole was pretty poor with a few redeeming merits. 4/10 Bethany Cox

David Bradley stars as Lt. Rand, a future soldier facing a death sentence is given a chance for freedom if he leads a group of commandos back to 1998 to prevent a group of rebel fighters from preventing the totalitarian government from ever happening. Bradley also has 40 hours to succeed or his device in his neck will explode, along the way Bradley questions his mission. David Bradley I always thought of as an awful actor, his works in American Ninja 3 and American Ninja 4 made Michael Dudikoff seem like a Shakespearan actor. However in one of his last films before his retirement (?) from films, he delivered one of his best performance to date in what is one of his very best. The movie's main flaw is simply that it tries to do too much, in that things are implied so much we often don't understand where the plot is coming from. The main story is handled fairly well but the subplots are often dropped or just barely skimmed over. Total Reality really does imply a lot more than it tells and it has some scenes off quiet effectiveness. The movie doesn't start off all that well, as it starts out just to run down time but in reality it's what sets up the motivation of Bradley's character and the movie despite ripping off Escape From New York, The Terminator, The Dirty Dozen and even Trancers the film still combines the elements well enough and comes up with its share of good ideas to make it work for Science Fiction fans. There are of course plot holes but what I found quite captivating about Total Reality, is how David Bradley's character questions his mission and indeed isn't all that inspired in his quest to save his government. In fact when he explains "When we die, they'll send someone to replace us." which gets a sad reply, Bradley's quip "Don't look at me, I just work here" is well handled. Indeed it's bizarre but it's David Bradley that makes the movie work the way it does. With someone like Olivier Gruner, the movie wouldn't have been nearly as interesting. It's somewhat sad Bradley went into obscurity because he really became not too shabby of an actor, at least on the basis of this performance. The ending is also unexpected and intriguing which earns the movie it's high marks and in the end Phillip J. Roth crafts his best work to date, which is no doubt due to David Bradley. Something I never ever thought i'd ever write ever.

* *1/2 out of 4-(Pretty Good)

It's another one of those low budget sci-fi films that go straight to video with David Bradley in. It's not that bad, really, sure it's a pretty standard plot, sure the effects don't look like they are real, but it's still a pretty much allright piece of entertainment. Also one thing about this movie, that Misa Koprova is beautiful! She should have had much more of a role in this, but then again that would have taken away screen time from David Bradley (star of Cyborg Cop) I bought this because he was in it, going into watching it having seen the 2 Cyborg cop films previously. How can he run straight down a straight corridor with a machine gun firing straight at him and not get hit? Because he's David Bradley! Why does he smash through a glass window when a pane that had already been smashed is right next to it, because he's David Bradley. Unfortunately he doesn't get to do much physical fighting but he still gets to do a bit(D-Von get the tables!). Anyway getting back to the point, if you like low budget DTV sci-fi affairs you'll probably be satisfied, it's on about the same level(and storyline) as Time Runner. Some parts of the film I think could have been shortened, there could have been more physical action, there could have been more shown of Misa Koprova :) and it could have done with a better ending with a twist perhaps, but other than that it's an okay piece of DTV entertainment.

Film-makers and movie-goers should see this film. It high-lights major problems with this genre. If we start with the use of studios and the penchant for special effects. This means that the sets are always, dark, and more than often that they are in derelict buildings. The models used are constructed by similar thinking people. The film itself is constructed on stereotypical binaries. The German accented villain - is unfortunate, it is built on I think a less than subliminated version of the Second World War. Brunettes, blondes, Germans, Jews, dirty faced children, clean children, war, peace, black, white. They are cliches.The dialogue could have been written on a beer mat. The acting was deplorable. Wooden. Why do people waste money on such a production? Yet there are so many like this.Given the same material and same budget I could have made a much better movie. I think Philip Roth should hang his head in shame. But as I said before. Watch it and study the formulaic, the stereotypes, the cliches --indeed this film should be put on the viewing list of film courses. A must to see.

This film is striking only in its banality and use of cliches. Sadly it was obvious throughout up until the ending. But don't be mistaken into thinking that it ended strongly. Only a little unexpectedly, though nothing worth watching the thing through for.

From the taciturn and wronged hero, to the Germanic baddy, to the expendable team, the characters were entirely wooden and obvious. The two FBI agents Smith and Wesson (geddit?) gave some hope of humour, but that came to nothing.

I am a big science fiction fan but it is hard to find any redeeming quality in this film. A turkey!