My wife and I watched the old Total Recall last night. It was on Netflix instant. I first saw this movie on a date with my high school girlfriend and I haven’t seen it again for years.
When I first saw it, I thought it was all happening in his head. After watching it again, 20 some odd years later, I still think that.
I know there are some fellow Sci-Fi fans on here.
So what do you think?
Classic Arnold 80s/early 90s.
I really enjoyed the movie when it came out.
Can’t really quite compare it to the original story though, very different theme.
My gist is the movie set up a lot of stuff to set doubt in his head that it was real, But it was real.
That seems to be a key point, everyone trying to convince him he is crazy and it is an implant, but it is real.
Too many scenes and actions that are not part of his memories going on.
Saw this again a few years ago while weathered in one night overseas with some buddies.
One said there is a book or missing scenes that explain some of the doubt stuff, like the Mars chick being on a video in Recall are because she was a minor model or actress, etc. But that the cut of the film left it more ambiguous. The stuff that made it not ambiguous, that clarified it was real got cut because it also involved or was tied to the aliens getting pissed and exterminating us.
I can see people making an argument that it is not real because that stuff got cut. But again, they implant his memories, and there was a bunch of stuff happening not part of his memories. Even the scene where the Recall guy tries to talk him down it shows the guy really was not part of an implant and scared.
The original story I think the guy really was an assassin, but never truly went to mars that was part of the implant, but that the aliens really had contacted him on Earth and the government had to stop trying to kill him so the aliens did not get PO’d. Can’t remember for sure, have not read in ages.
Anyways,
Real is my vote.
Oh, and a side note-
if you start talking about a another movie and that the guy was not really blind during it-
That was the whole point-
he really was blind the whole time.
The drop of sweat tells it all.
When the psychiatrist or whatever he is starts trying to talk Ahnold into believing it’s all in his head and that he’ll be lobotomized if he doesn’t give in, it looks for a minute like Ahnold is going to cave.
Then a drop of sweat rolls down the psychiatrist’s temple like he’s feeling stress (no need if it’s all a dream and the psychiatrist is a disinterested observer). Ahnold notices the drop of sweat, and realizes it’s a ploy. He blows the guy’s head off.
My reasoning about it being in his mind was the scene right before they put him under. They were cycling through stuff related to aliens and the one the stopped on was a picture of the alien terbidium reactor and right before the put him under the young guy says “Blue skies on Mars, well that is a new one” or something to that effect. If it were real, how would Recall have known about the secret alien technology and what it would do when turned on?
I read another point online that the final scene has them fade to white as opposed to fade to black. That is normally a movie trope for the end of a dream sequence.
But if it is just a dream, and he was having doubts, why couldn’t his mind have added that detail like all of the other details?
All I know is we need some more three tit mutant strippers! Hollywood are you listening???
Haha, so I walk in the house last night and my brother was watching it on Netflix . I have never seen it in 1080p but I must say, it looked like an entirely new movie.
Still one of the all time greats.
Man… the old 90’s TR…
I remember when I was a kid I saw the part where he picks the tracker out of his nose like the biggest booger ever. I thought it was awesome. 
Having seen the original again recently… I’m still 50/50 over it being real or not.
Off the top of my head, the way I guessed at it was, original 90’s film was real, new remake was in his head.
But the makers do a pretty good in both keeping you guessing.
Never thought he was anything other than a secret agent. Then and now.
Man, four is the new three. I want four tits.