Seems a bit odd that everything the asian dude mentions at rekall happened throughout the movie. Not only was he a spy with secret bank accounts, encoded messages, intelligence operative but he was also working for both sides which is pretty out there but exactly the experience he was talking about putting into him....
And out of nowhere the guards find him immediately after he takes the secret agent compound.
Don't forget the last thing they show is him looking at the Rekall sign. I think it was supposed to be like the top spinning at the end of Inception. We were supposed to have the little question that it may all be a dream.
"Welcome to the internet, everyone knows everything, and no one likes anything"
Don't forget the last thing they show is him looking at the Rekall sign. I think it was supposed to be like the top spinning at the end of Inception. We were supposed to have the little question that it may all be a dream.
Yep
shareI think if that were true, it would be stupid. I'm pretty sure that everything we see, except for the part we know is a dream, is real. There really is nothing to indicate that it isn't. The Rekall sign at the end makes sense because they had shown earlier that they were advertising it, so what's another ad? Not out of place at all and it certainly didn't mean that everything that happened wasn't real.
We ain't hunting him, he's hunting us.
Go watch the original, it's much more ambiguous.
sharethe original is GOD!!!!
what a movie that was, its still not dated... except the 90's hair do
this one is dated before it even began...
An Idea is the most resilient parasite - Inception
"Hahaha! You think this is really me? It is!" -machine gun-
sharePeople that overstate the original are so gay! It had mostly B actors in it except Sharon Stone who was young and hadn't established herself yet plus was killed off quickly. Arnold can't act or even speak really and the special effects are so *beep* DATED! I hate so much when people exaggerate.
I wish there was only one rohonnag parasite - Johnny Rod Jr.
I hate so much when people say lame things are "so gay".
shareIt's kind of absurd, isn't it? An Arnold Schwarzenegger movie getting cred for being ambiguous or more layered. What is the (movie) world coming to...
sharehaha :)
shareAnd the year before this we had the Conan remake. Are we sure Arnold isn't secretly financing these to make himself look better?
shareI think you have missed the point of the director showing the Rekall ad at the end. It's supposed to be thought-provoking for the audience: was this all a dream? Or was it real?
As you said, it may feel stupid if this indeed was all a Rekall experience; but then, there really is nothing to indicate that it isn't. I think such uncertainty is what makes this movie interesting. :)
I believe there is another important question that is being asked: If all of it is a dream, does it matter? I noticed a few important scenes that bring this up:
-When the Rekall guy tells Quaid about the subjectiveness of reality.
-When Harry tries to convince Quaid that it is a dream, and to me it looks like Quaid does not want to believe it and rejects the thought of returning back to his old life.
-When in the end Quaid notices the missing tattoo, I think he questions the reality of it all but in the end he does not care because this is who he is now (think back to Matthias' speech).
To me, this is the most interesting point in the movie.
When he wakes up in the ambulance at the end you also hear the Asian Rekall guys voice, it was all a dream ;)
shareIt could be explained that he was simply remembering these comments whilst he was unconscious in the ambulance, and it was not just the Rekall guy's voice but also his friend Harry's voice.
shareTrue, but I'll admit; I was a bit confused when he did a double-take at the sign. I didn't know what they were suggesting at the time but after reading these boards, perhaps they were hinting at a dream?? I originally just thought he was in awe considering it began his "old, new-to-him" life.
share[deleted]
"I think if that were true, it would be stupid".
You're correct. I don't know what movie the OP was watching. If it was his Rekall fantasy, then the movie would be shown only from his thoughts and perspective. There are many scenes where he isn't even around. Like when his make believe wife is talking on her hand phone to the boss, and then she smacks the kid with the phone in the throat to get him to tell her where Hauser is. Those scenes would be nonexistent if it was all a Rekall ride.
End of story.
Maybe the peace tattoo wasn't really a traditional tattoo but rather a temporary catalyst for her to inject the chemicals (notice it's exactly where she put the needle). With the car chase scene, maybe the helicopter didn't have as good a fix on them at the end when they descended. Maybe the pilot backed off a bit when he knew that they were being swarmed by cops.
We ain't hunting him, he's hunting us.
[deleted]
does it matter that it was a dream? This remake is basically the movie 20 years ago except more fx and less mars
shareI was thinking that everything was part of his fantasy until I gave it some more thought. By the end of his supposed fantasy he would have doubts about his wife, discontent with his government, and believe that Rekall is unhealthy. It's not a good business model to include all of these things unless his own imagination generated the ideas, and the Rekall place just lets his believe his fantasy. If the Rekall place has any control over the fantasy then they certainly wouldn't allow these things to take place in the dream. That's not good fun; it's a nightmare. Who would be happy with their experience if you are left doubting your marriage and believing you may have suffered irreparable brain damage?
sharethat was my thought as well,
but I guess that is why his colleague think it is a bad decision to try it. I mean, the rekall place is looking like an opium den, and I guess opium has that same ironic marketing thing going - that it *beep* the customer up.. I guess this is the danger of Rekall, the after effects. haven't you ever woken up from a dream, feeling that you'd rather go back into the dream than spending another pointless day at work? I guess it is the same thing, but even more conscious and realistic, so there is certainly an addictive effect and quite depressing to wake up from that dream into a world torn apart by warfare, living in a colony..
in my thoughts, and how I interpret their presentation of it, rekall would be comparable to a drug-trip, where you find the "reality" quite boring and gloomy afterwards, and that is the danger of it.
Not sure who I'm commenting to, but Rekall or Recall will be reality one day. We're all living very monotonous lives which is largely why we escape to the movies and suspend disbelief.
The notion that it was all a dream really to me makes this movie much more enjoyable otherwise taken at face value I thought it was very mediocre. When I watched Vanilla Sky, I kept questioning why I was watching it but it's one of those movies where you really need to watch it in its entirety to truly appreciate it.
Point is, there is no right or wrong conclusion to this movie; whether you believed it to be a complete fabrication or it really happened as it was portrayed. There is no signs to verify or contradict either conclusion.
agreed. The ambiguity is what makes the story special. We can't know if what happened is a dream or not, and in it ultimately doesn't matter because the whole point is that we can't know.
shareI guess the thing that made me think that it wasn't a fabrication is that we don't only see things from Hauser's perspective. If it was his dream, then we would only see the things that he experienced, from the first person. From the very first time that they showed scenes after he visited recall, that he wasn't a part of, I had to conclude that it was actually happening. After he gave that palm phone to that kid on the street, and his wife and the chancellor (Beckinsale and Cranston, respectively) were there to question him and give validity to his being a spy, then it was clear, to me at least, that this movie was taking the premise that he actually was spy. That's just my interpretation though, could be completely off base.
share[deleted]
Reason it wasn't all a "dream": Stupid Wiseman shows us in the very first scene, Quaid/Hauser and Melinda escaping. He gets caught. That's when he wakes up, memory wiped, thinking the whole thing is just a reoccurring dream. How can that be possible if he is having these dreams before Rekall? If he would have woken up in the first scene and not had that dream, there's an argument to be had. But because he did, and we see it, speculation to the contrary is moot.
share*Melina.
About the rest of your post... WTF are you trying to say?
---
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http://soundcloud.com/tigermaster/
*typo
I'm not sure where you're confused. It's not a "dream" because of what is shown to the audience prior to him going to Rekall.
except the memory is formed in quaids own head so if the imagery of a female spy is allready in his head ofcourse that is going to be what the implanted memorys is going to make her look like. IMO
I originally thought definately in his head first time I watched it, but after rewatch Im not SO certain, although the original is definately all in Arnies head. "That's a new one, Blue Sky on Mars" And Verhoven said it was apparently, everythng fromm the camera raise when arnie is in the implant chair.
Who replaced John Mclane with an out and out *beep*
[TheatreNachos on Fri Feb 1 2013 15:28:09
Reason it wasn't all a "dream": Stupid Wiseman shows us in the very first scene, Quaid/Hauser and Melinda escaping. He gets caught. That's when he wakes up, memory wiped, thinking the whole thing is just a reoccurring dream. How can that be possible if he is having these dreams before Rekall? If he would have woken up in the first scene and not had that dream, there's an argument to be had. But because he did, and we see it, speculation to the contrary is moot.]
What? I read that 4 times. It doesn't make sense.
Basically he's saying "Pre-Rekall Quaid had an issue with a reoccuring dream, this hints that there's something more to Quaid that we(and himself) don't know. The events post-Rekall validate this dream and the thought that post-Rekall was real. If Rekall and post-Rekall was all a dream, he would never have had these dreams in the first place, as post-Rekall events come to shed light on the fact that they are truly glimpses at a previous life."
That's what I understand from what he said, I don't know if I agree with it, but I think I interpreted that accurately. One could argue, though, that the events post-Rekall were simply spiraling off of the one dream Quaid kept having. You could also see early in the movie Quaid was struggling with his purpose in life, and felt his place in a factory was beneath his "destiny", or at least beneath his ambitions. It seems the perfect mix for a story like post-Rekall to unravel from.
Before you answer either way, though, I think you need to ask yourself this: would an otherwise normal person start having these persistent, vivid, haunting dreams out of nowhere? I'm inclined to say no, which implies there was truly a previous life, and that everything at Rekall and post-Rekall was real; despite minor hitches like the tattoo on his inner arm(which could be a water-based marking for all we know).
Since "moot" means, "arguable," I guess you agree that it is possible that apposing arguments could be valid.
shareI think the original movie depicted this a LOT better. Basically they hint that it was a dream, but that Quad's mind was also playing tricks and that it corrupted the experience that Rekall had programmed. Like his issues with his wife initially had part to do with it. Basically he has a lobotomy at the end. The initial Rekall scenes, the part where Harry (and in the original movie the Recall guy) tries to talk him "back" were all done much better. I think the original movie was better in every way.
The 90s were the best in action movies. This was far inferior to the original Total Recall. Next I'll have to compare the original vs the new Red Dawn.
That's not good fun; it's a nightmare. Who would be happy with their experience if you are left doubting your marriage and believing you may have suffered irreparable brain damage?
For example, how could he have a memory of Beckinsale's character interrogating that kid about the implanted phone, when he wasn't there to witness it?
No, no. Not a memory; a fantasy. Rekall doesn't work with memories. x)
I'm the grim reaper, lardass, and you're my next customer.
The ending is clearly a stupid gag to make us question if it all is real or not. By stupid I mean it's not worth spending time thinking about since the movie doesn't hold up to such scrutiny (unlike a movie like Inception).
There is one merit to it all though. It shows him not caring anymore if it is real or not. It's real enough, kind like how Cypher felt in The Matrix.
unlike a movie like Inception