Total Recall - your interpretation? (spoiler alert!)

Patrick Mirza · 09-23-2001, 09:33 AM

So what do you think? Was Quaid strapped in the Rekall chair the whole time, or was he really Houser undercover?

The one factor that clinches the fact that it is all part of his imagination is that "Melina"'s face is shown on the screen right before Quaid passes out. If she is a program, then so is everything else.

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Jim_K · 09-23-2001, 09:54 AM

The one great thing about Total Recall is the ambiguous ending. Very open to interpretation & I believe either way you go with it is up to the viewer.

My personal view is Quaid is strapped to the Recall chair in the end living out his personal fantasies. This makes for a much richer & deeper sci-fi film to me.

IMHO - Without this ending (and the fabulous score) Total Recall would be just another over the top action/one-liner cheesefest. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Jim

Michael Reuben · 09-23-2001, 10:10 AM

Quote:

The one factor that clinches the fact that it is all part of his imagination is that "Melina"'s face is shown on the screen right before Quaid passes out. If she is a program, then so is everything else.

But Quaid has already seen her face in his dream at the beginning of the film. At Rekall the same face appears on the monitor -- and not just from Quaid's point of view (which would keep everything ambiguous) but in other shots that appear to be "objective". I've never been sure what to make of that, other than as a sly joke by the filmmakers ("hey, this whole thing is a fabrication").

M.

Brett_B · 09-23-2001, 11:46 AM

Personally, I think it was Houser undercover. The reason I think this is from the film's original teaser trailer (saw it dozens of times - film projectionist).

quote:
Your mind.

It is the center of your life.

It is everything you hear.

Everything you see.

Everything you feel.

It is everything you are.

How would you know if someone stole your mind.[/quote]

Just from the general debate suggests, "How would you know..."

Brett B.

[Edited last by Brett_B on September 23, 2001 at 10:47 AM]

george kaplan · 09-23-2001, 12:11 PM

For all you know, right now you're strapped in a chair somewhere fantasizing this whole life.

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Jeremy Illingworth · 09-23-2001, 12:12 PM

I was probably 16 the first time I saw it in the theater and I always thought that the events were 'real'. If they had kept is centered around Arnold and not had shots of things he couldn't have possibly seen (Ricter and Kohagen in an office on Mars) then it might go either way.

jeremy

Patrick Sun · 09-23-2001, 01:33 PM

I'm in the "it was a dream" camp (from when he gets strapped in the seat).

stephen la · 09-23-2001, 01:43 PM

it all take splace in recall.
bedt clue is one of the lab guys when loading his program..he reads the disk..or tape.. and says..."blue skies on Mars?, thats a new one"
and we all know what happens at the end.. most people didnt even catch this line.. which would in a way make it useless if it was just a coincidense..

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JustinT · 09-23-2001, 01:51 PM

The one thing that makes me think that it is real (Howser is really undercover) is that Arnold kills Sharon Stone (his wife). If this was done in a dream, then Arnold's entire life would be altered, he wouldn't ever be able to return to his home, etc. Sharon Stone would still be alive in the real world, and if he ever ran into her again, reality would contradict his memory. I just don't see how a company like recall would be able to stay in business if their "vacations" changed peoples lives this much.

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andrew markworthy · 09-23-2001, 02:27 PM

He's strapped in his chair the whole time. Several things give it away, including:

(a) the 'blue skies on Mars' line
(b) the fact that the Arnie character is told that he is having an abnormal psychotic reaction (if you think about it, the ending is far from nice - when the Arnie character wakes up, he's going to be psychotic)
and
(c) the director is on record as saying that it's intended to be a dream, with events getting more and more improbable.

Michael Reuben · 09-23-2001, 03:38 PM

Quote:

quote:

(c) the director is on record as saying that it's intended to be a dream, with events getting more and more improbable.

In the documentary on the new DVD, Verhoeven says that it was deliberately left open ("even at the very end, there is no decision made"). He then goes on to add that casting Arnold in the lead tended to tip the balance toward reality, because of audience expectations. (The documentary doesn't have chapter stops, but the discussion starts at about 23:45.)

M.

[Edited last by Michael Reuben on September 23, 2001 at 02:38 PM]