recommended

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

In one of his last movies released as of this writing, lesser-known action hero David Bradley teamed with sci-fi aficionado Philip Roth to create an ultimately disappointing time travel adventure. TOTAL REALITY is highlighted by occasional flair in the effects and drama departments, but this far from compensates for its bland characters and mediocre action content.The story: A soldier from the future (Bradley) leads a team of convicts in a suicide mission to 1998 to stop a deadly separatist (Thomas Kretschmann) from changing history.The movie begins and ends with a bang, showcasing some exciting CG-driven space scenes with graphics that are pretty impressive for a low-budget film from the mid-90s. However, this seems to demonstrate where the majority of the budget has gone: while the contemporary-set scenes do well, the sets for spaceship interiors and the like are far from convincing. I also don't buy the placement of the dramatic scenes: there are a couple of genuinely well-acted exchanges late in the movie, but they arrive too late to generate much interest in the largely mundane personas, and would have been better placed earlier in the production. David Bradley gives one of the better performances of his career and Thomas Kretschmann is the closest thing the film has to genuine dramatic clout, but for the most part, they are not doing or saying much of genuine interest.Action-wise, shootouts are the name of the game, but to be honest, there definitely aren't enough adrenaline scenes for a movie like this. David the martial artist gets one fight scene, but otherwise, he and the remaining cast engage in a handful of slow-motioned unexciting gunfights wherein taking cover is completely optional. There really is not much in the way of excitement with this one.Almost twenty years after the release of TOTAL REALITY, I'm still disappointed that David Bradley's film career ended, but if this is what directly precluded it, I cannot blame whoever made the final decision. No one ought use this film to introduce themselves to either the actor or the director, and would do well to avoid it in general.

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)

don't buy this film for comedy value like I did, I didnt find it one bit funny, but so f****** miserable and lame it's unbelievable. I gave it to a friend for christmas which was pretty funny (on my side) I recently heard that he watched it and told me what an a**ehole I am!There is nothing more frustrating than watching an over-lit, over dramatic, poorly scored scene in which the camera is sat there on a tripod and doesn't move... the film work is truely pathetic, and I can only say DONT WATCH THIS MOVIE!!!!!!!!!!!

This is a strong recommendation to anyone who reads this review who has never seen the film Total Reality, don't waste your time and money renting this poor excuse for a film. This is, without peer, the single worst movie that I have ever seen in my life. I had nightmares of this movie ever since I saw it. The acting was terrible, and any amateur film maker could make a more decent film. The film blatently rips off far superior sci-fi films, such as TimeCop or Total Recall (where the title seems to have been derived from). I'm sorry, but I just think that there is more entertainment value in watching the side of a cardboard box for two hours. If you already have seen this movie, I feel sorry for you for going through what I did.