Though, to be fair, that's like being mad at your SO for cheating you on in a dream.
Meanwhile, Quaid's the one fantasizing about gunning her down with a cool one-liner...
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Total Recall: Was Quaid’s experience real or the Recall?
- Thread starter natjjohn
- Start date
Though, to be fair, that's like being mad at your SO for cheating you on in a dream.
Meanwhile, Quaid's the one fantasizing about gunning her down with a cool one-liner...
Pretty certain it was meant to be interpreted as a recall experience, even though it's ambiguous on purpose. I've never for a second thought otherwise.
That said, I do like this a lot.
That said, I do like this a lot.
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But wasn't he part of the coverup to hide the reactors? They knew it would generate an atmosphere.
Something of a coincidence that he just happened to secretly have been involved with a plan to thwart technology that would have resulted in the outcome to the Recall scenario
I think there is a bit of a misunderstanding in this thread about how intentionally ambiguous endings are supposed to be treated. If an author/director goes in that direction, what they want is to provoke discussion with people going back and forth with their interpretations. I'm fairly sure the intent is not for people to just say 'it's ambiguous' and leave it at that.
Lol, I suppose I'd never thought about it enough. I thought the coincidences were just intentionally done as funny little nods to itself rather than them trying to paint the entire movie as just in his imagination. I just always assumed what happened happened, and it was all just a cluster fuck and side effect of his initial procedure which made him forget his real life.
Edit: All I do know is that the remake was just pointless and shit and changed huge elements of the story cos they obviously were too weird for the execs (aliens! Mars?! Pfft), and they removed any charm the original had, replacing it with plain ass boring modern film making.
Edit: All I do know is that the remake was just pointless and shit and changed huge elements of the story cos they obviously were too weird for the execs (aliens! Mars?! Pfft), and they removed any charm the original had, replacing it with plain ass boring modern film making.
Hey hey now I just assumed we were ignoring the remake here !
Except in the book if you check, the secret agent memories turn out to have already existed in his mind,
Yeah, but in that short story everything they try to implant into his mind is already actually true.
The person you quoted has the dumbest reasoning I've ever seen. "You see the perspectives of the villains so it's shitty film making." What a dumb fucking narrow view of how a movie *should* be filmed, not to mention hilariously inconsistent with the fact that TONS of movies show the perspectives of EVERYONE. You'll only ever find the villain's perspective lacking in horror movies because that's the point.
Also it seems Verhoeven intended the events of the movie to have dual realities where you can accept it as real or a dream and still be right. I really enjoy that because it gives people the option to believe whatever the hell they want. Lord knows some people get so fucking hung up if something doesn't happen exactly the way they want it to. This at least gives them reassurance.
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Counterpoint: Quaid's memory was wiped, and at one point Cohaagen actually says the title: he could have total recall.
The title actually refers to recovering from a memory wipe. The company is called Rekall, not Total Recall.
Everything in this movie is designed to ensure you don't know if it's real or not. And nicely done.
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It's not coincidental. There were leaks, rumors about the alien technology hidden in the mines. They already had come to the conclusion that it was designed to create an atmosphere; Quaid and Cohaagen were still arguing about it when he pushed the button. And at Recall, they specifically said they'd incorporated those rumors about alien artifacts into the scenario.
So again, this doesn't prove that it's fake, because everything in the fake Recall scenario is based on reality. Very little in the film can be used as evidence one way or the other.
IMO, the best evidence that it's fake is the weakest part of the story (if it's real): the shoddy explanation for Hauser being set up as Quaid. We are never given an explanation of how he was supposed to go back to Mars and infiltrate the rebels. The whole Rekall thing, if it were real, is just an accident. There doesn't seem to have been a real plan for that.
Sharon stone whispering "get your ass to mars" every night while he sleeps.
I dream about all kinds of events that don't necessarily involve me or my presence.
Team recall.
Team recall.
Back on Earth, he was lobotomized.
It was Rekall. The whole movie was predicted near the beginning and again by Dr. Edgemarr (sp?).
The only part that hints at it being real is when the doctor says she hasn't implanted him with the ego trip yet and Arnold is out cold, but that's probably just part of the ego trip. It's a bit fishy that Arnold is out of it, or so it appears. Maybe he was just heavily sedated/dazed but still conscious.
Either way, the beginning part where they're talking about the ego trip Arnold is getting implanted with, they all refer to several key moments in the movie and Edgemarr further mentions more stuff.
Also, Paul Verhoeven himself said he thought and intended the movie to be interpreted as his ego trip.
It's not real. It's Rekall.
Ps. Arnold could have imagined the sweat, or maybe the doc just feels pressure considering he has a man's life in his hands. The sweat doesn't confirm it's real at all.
It was Rekall. The whole movie was predicted near the beginning and again by Dr. Edgemarr (sp?).
The only part that hints at it being real is when the doctor says she hasn't implanted him with the ego trip yet and Arnold is out cold, but that's probably just part of the ego trip. It's a bit fishy that Arnold is out of it, or so it appears. Maybe he was just heavily sedated/dazed but still conscious.
Either way, the beginning part where they're talking about the ego trip Arnold is getting implanted with, they all refer to several key moments in the movie and Edgemarr further mentions more stuff.
Also, Paul Verhoeven himself said he thought and intended the movie to be interpreted as his ego trip.
It's not real. It's Rekall.
Ps. Arnold could have imagined the sweat, or maybe the doc just feels pressure considering he has a man's life in his hands. The sweat doesn't confirm it's real at all.
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LOL. That seems like a flimsy plan; he'd have to stop sleeping with her. Maybe they left the sexy brunette in his head to help out.
This was my take. It was recall but irl brain is fried or he thinks it's real and won't accept actual reality, either way he's fucked
The films scriptwriter contradicted him iirc so it is ambiguous
It's a looker and it a good popcorn flick. But doesn't have the magic of the original.
The remake was AWFUL. Lacks everything that made the original appealing
This. Like, what are the chances of all that happening to him, and happening just after he signs up for that kind of adventure.
That he's recalled is the most plausible read on the movie. The coincidences that you have to line up for it to be real are crazy.
Like, his program was meant to be about him being a spy etc, but most conclusively, it's meant to be about blue sky on Mars.
I know Verhoven's movies don't hint at any depth, and all work perfectly well superficially, but Total Recall isn't just superficial. The doc who shows up near the end is telling the whole truth.
It's a recall experience from the moment he gets in the chair.
Like, his program was meant to be about him being a spy etc, but most conclusively, it's meant to be about blue sky on Mars.
I know Verhoven's movies don't hint at any depth, and all work perfectly well superficially, but Total Recall isn't just superficial. The doc who shows up near the end is telling the whole truth.
It's a recall experience from the moment he gets in the chair.
I must be strapped to the chair because I literally thought of this question while i was in bed last night and thought I'd post a topic about it in the morning. (I'm actually not kidding about this).
I go back and forth. My head canon for real is the very purposeful reaction shots from his wife and his co-worker at the construction site that are more malicious than "oh Quaid, you're so silly". I also then think about how there's scenes completely from the antogonists point of view that Quaid wouldn't have memory of if you wanted to present it as a dream from a filmmaking perspective. Then again, I'm well aware you'd still have to stick to typical filmmaking conventions in a blockbuster like this.
Honestly, upon rewatching the movie the other day, the biggest thing that jumped to my brain was, if it's real, they better start planing trees on Mars because the planet currently has no way to replenish the atmosphere they're breathing.
I go back and forth. My head canon for real is the very purposeful reaction shots from his wife and his co-worker at the construction site that are more malicious than "oh Quaid, you're so silly". I also then think about how there's scenes completely from the antogonists point of view that Quaid wouldn't have memory of if you wanted to present it as a dream from a filmmaking perspective. Then again, I'm well aware you'd still have to stick to typical filmmaking conventions in a blockbuster like this.
Honestly, upon rewatching the movie the other day, the biggest thing that jumped to my brain was, if it's real, they better start planing trees on Mars because the planet currently has no way to replenish the atmosphere they're breathing.
I'm with team real, but I think the transition happened in a different place. I believe all the Earth stuff was Rekall, but as soon as he goes to Mars it becomes real and there actually was a Howser/Quaid memory wipe. Rekall removed the wipe, and the movie becomes real once he leaves Earth, but the whole breaking out of Rekall, and fighting with his wife in their apartment wasn't real.
Totally real. We, as the audience, get to see all the villains surrounding Arnie before he even goes to Recall acting all villainous.
I am a firm believer that the experience is real. Even with the blue sky on mars, saving the entire planet, and the sleazy and demure girl who exactly fits his preference, that one bead of sweat in the hotel room just doesn't make any sense.
why would a hologram be nervous? why would they not film that in a climate controlled room where sweat wasn't possible? It doesn't add up for the same reasons why Quaid rejects the offer.
Also the self realization at the end, wouldn't a Rekall experience just end at that point? Your brain can't tell the difference or your money back. Quaid even thinking that should be money back (if it wasn't real).
However, in the remake, that movie is Entirely fabricated by Rekall. There is no bead of sweat moment and the recall stamp placed on Quaid seems to not be present. I know in the extended alternate ending this is completely revealed to the audience, but its still hinted at throughout the story and I believe that it is true regardless of the full reveal being cut.
So in short:
Total Recall (1990 aka the awesome one) - Not a Rekall Experience
Total Recall (Remake... not so good) - Rekall Experience
why would a hologram be nervous? why would they not film that in a climate controlled room where sweat wasn't possible? It doesn't add up for the same reasons why Quaid rejects the offer.
Also the self realization at the end, wouldn't a Rekall experience just end at that point? Your brain can't tell the difference or your money back. Quaid even thinking that should be money back (if it wasn't real).
However, in the remake, that movie is Entirely fabricated by Rekall. There is no bead of sweat moment and the recall stamp placed on Quaid seems to not be present. I know in the extended alternate ending this is completely revealed to the audience, but its still hinted at throughout the story and I believe that it is true regardless of the full reveal being cut.
So in short:
Total Recall (1990 aka the awesome one) - Not a Rekall Experience
Total Recall (Remake... not so good) - Rekall Experience
Douglas Quaid : Bullshit.
Dr. Edgemar : What's bullshit Mr. Quaid? Afraid to admit that you're having a schizo paranoid episode, or are you really an invincible secret agent from Mars, who is in the middle of an interplanetary conspiracy to make him think that he's a lowly construction worker?!
Dr. Edgemar : What's bullshit Mr. Quaid? Afraid to admit that you're having a schizo paranoid episode, or are you really an invincible secret agent from Mars, who is in the middle of an interplanetary conspiracy to make him think that he's a lowly construction worker?!
A funny thing, Space Adventure Cobra has almost the exact same initial setup with the hero, an average Joe type guy going in for a recall-like memory implant. He asks for a space adventure implant based on dreams he'd had were he was a badass space hero. The result is very similar, except it basically reboots his wiped memories. I'm pretty sure Space Adventure Cobra predated Total Recall, too.
But on topic, it was all real. How did Quaid have memories of things that happened when he was knocked out or not around?
But on topic, it was all real. How did Quaid have memories of things that happened when he was knocked out or not around?