total recall, dream or real?

[the_ultimate_evil]

i recently watched total recall and was surprised to find out that the whole film is meant to be a dream according to the director

In the end Verhoeven states quite clearly in the special edition DVD commentary that Quaid is indeed on the table at Rekall living out a fantasy. He points out that the imagery on the screen at Rekall show the alien machine, the girl of his dreams that he asked for and a blue sky over Mars. Verhoven points this out as Quaid is going to sleep. When Quaid\Hauser is confronted by his wife & the Rekall spokesman, Verhoven is quick to point out that the spokesman goes on to detail the entire second half of the movie. Verhoven also says that the movie fades to white instead of the normal fade-to-black due to the fact that Quaid is lobotomized by the Rekall doctors at that point. Of course, Quaid himself notes that he dreamt about Melina before ever going to Rekall, which is true: in the first scene of the movie he has a dream in which he is climbing on the surface of the planet in a protective space suit, the glass helmet of which later breaks, turning his dream into a nightmare. He is climbing with a companion, but it is not Lori, whom he wakes up next to, but Melina.

personally i always thought what happened to quaid was real hence the whole scene with the guy sweating due to nerves. the fact thats its all a dream and he basically dies in the end kinda cheapens the film. so what do you think

 

[shapeshifter]

philip k dick wrote the book. all of his books have the distortion of reality. you never know what is real and what is not at the end. blade runner was like that. minority report was too. the movies tend to have more solid endings just so john q movieschlub won't whine

 

[Golgo-13]

One of my favorite movies of all time. I love the way the movie can be interpreted as being either his recall dream, or actually happened. I personally like to think it actually happened myself but that's just me.

If he indeed was still at Recall, then the doctor he shot in the head when the Dr. and Sharon Stone tried to get him to take the pill, actually did happen, which was one of the funniest scenes in th movie for me!

 

[black_dust]

I watched it again the other week, the commentry is hella hard to listen to
"Jarrhh! now i will run dum here and kill tis guuy!" and the director is french or something. He said it was a dream but he left it kinda open for us to decided, i always stuck with real

 

[Mr. Socko]

Is this the movie with Arnold Schwarzenneger at the airport dressed as a woman?

 

[SoulManX]

Is this the movie with Arnold Schwarzenneger at the airport dressed as a woman?

Yes it is

 

[turtlefocker]

Never listend to the commentary but I have always ALWAYS felt the movie was a dream, since the first time I saw it. I kind of wished it had of ended with a quik shot of him waking up and them saying "how was your trip?"

 

[AhabTheArab]

i love 3 breasted women... they frequently enter my dreams as well...

 

[OptimusCannabis]

Total Recall is one of my all-time favorite movies and I am a little disappointed a sequel was never made. As for it being a dream... did Quaid/Hauser only dream it was a dream amidst his involvement in something greater or is this a dream right now? Am I Quaid? NO!!! NOT AGAIN!!!

"I AM NOT QUAID!"

 

[jimmylace]

I like to think that it was real for quaid...more fun that way, although the more obvious interpretation is that it is a dream, as it is described by the doctors....go as a secret agent etc

then again, if he really was a secret agent whose memory was erased, then it would stand to reason that hed go nuts and end up labotomised.

equally, the whole...youre really a secret agent, weve screwed up could easily be part of the dream.

good movie in its day. definately dated. although I think it should be a rule that no arnold movie is ever remade.

 

[amazingfantasy15]

I was always under the impression it was the memory implant. However, it also begs the question what happens when he wakes up? These are sold as real "vacations/memories", how do you reconcile what you did in your "vacation" with reality? He killed his wife, got with someone else, gave Mars a real enviroment.... Do you try to recreate the "vacation" in reality?

 

[DorkyFresh]

Paul Verhoeven said that he purposefully made it indistinguishable whether it's a dream or if it's real, but i like to imagine that it's a dream. they showed him a picture of the underground reactor before they tried to implant the memories. hell, the salesman even told him everything he was going to do on Mars..."I don't wanna spoil it for you, Doug, but rest assured, by the time the trip is over, you get the girl, kill the bad guys, and save the entire planet. Now you tell me...isn't that worth a measly 300 credits?"

to me, watching the movie in the mindset that it's all a dream makes more sense given the impossible stuff that could happen (eyes popping out, etc). Verhoeven even commented that watching the movie from the point of view that he's dreaming would mean the fade to white at the end represents Doug getting lobotomized....but i personally like to think he was just waking up from a trippy @$$ dream.


edit: about the sweat on the side of that guys' head...that could've just been part of Quaid's imagination. i read somewhere that the way the Rekall machine works is that it doesn't really IMPLANT memories so much as it helps the brain form imaginary/fake memories based on how the individual's mind works. so, for instance, if Quaid was dreaming out the mission then him seeing the sweat on the guy's head could've just been Quaid's mind giving him a reason to stay in the illusion. after all, the salesman told Quaid that he literally would not be able to tell the difference between reality and "rekality".

 

[Bat Attack]

I like to think it wasn't a dream. Great movie though.



Also, I don't like it when movies have an ending where it turns out the whole film was just a dream.

 

[amazingfantasy15]

Yeah, but it's set up from go that this might be a dream, it's not really a twist that would be out of left field.

 

[Bat Attack]

Yeah, but it's set up from go that this might be a dream, it's not really a twist that would be out of left field.

Thats true.

 

[DorkyFresh]

I like to think it wasn't a dream. Great movie though.



Also, I don't like it when movies have an ending where it turns out the whole film was just a dream.

i normally don't like when movies turn out to be just a person's dream either unless it's done cleverly, ala Total Recall or Fight Club. i don't like people use dreams as a form of deus ex machina.

 

[:eek:]

Total Recall arrives as a 3-disc 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack and Digital 4K Ultra HD 12/8 - Horror News | HNN

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Also... Holy Cow the posers on the previous pages.

"Director is some French guy..."

Yes... Paul "Robocop, Basic Instinct, Total Recall, Starship Troopers, Showgirls" Verhoeven is... Just some French guy.

...

...

...

Plus he's Dutch.

The selfawareness qotient on the Hype back then was... Staggering.

 

[OutOfBoose]

I like it ambiguous. There are enough arguments for pro and against. Maybe, despite comments by Verhoeven, the movie endured so much over the years because there is no definitive answer when you watch it. The most realistic and immersive simulation or a conspiracy with insanely high stakes?

 

[GREEN =w= DAY]

One of my all time favorite Arnie movies!

I kinda like that it’s left ambiguous at the end as to whether it was a dream or real. Kinda like American Psycho. It’s open for interpretation

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

I'm the same way. I love that they leave it ambiguous. Dream or Real? The only right answer is that...we don't know. And that's great!