Spoiler Alert: This post is about the 2012 version of the film Total Recall, and may contain spoilers if you’ve not already seen it and wish to do so in the future!
We’re always looking for the Tube in films and TV programmes (remember Sherlock from earlier this year?) and this weekend we were watching the 2012 remake of the classic 1990 film “Total Recall”, when we spotted something rather familiar and we’re going to remember it for you, wholesale.
Set at the end of the 21st century in a “United Federation of Britain”, there is a lot of implied London imagery and even shots of The Elizabeth Tower and The BT Tower to fully sell this to you. However, at one point well into the film, our ‘hero’, Douglas Quaid (played in the remake by Colin Farrell), ends up in a very American looking subway station.
Get ready for a surprise! Open your mind and look really hard at the signage above the platform and you can see the yellow on black London Underground “Way out” signs and direction signage with a Victoria Line coloured strip at the top! Now you’d be forgiven for missing this the first time, as it’s only briefly on screen but in the next shot your Tube alarms should be sounding very loudly!
Yes, it doesn’t take two weeks to spot that is a “London Underground” “Tell us what you think” poster on the ticket booth! Quaid boards (the door opened, he got in) the subway car – which we’ll come to in a moment – and to cement the London Underground for you again the poster appears in the carriage.
As the “futuristic” subway car (with added lighting – New Tube for London anyone?) arrives at its destination, there’s an LU roundel on the wall…
…and if you missed it earlier, one on the train. We hope they enjoyed the ride!
So apart from the actual train itself (fair enough, the film was made in Canada), someone seems to have gone to a good effort to dress the set as the London Underground as was probably in their brief!
Spotted any other Tube related imagery on film or television? Let us know… See you at the party!