It's important to note that Dan Quayle was a bit of a running joke in US politics at that point. He had a reputation as being not very bright due to a mistake spelling 'potato' - he spelled it 'potatoe'. At the time it turned into a joke of, "George Bush better stay well or else we'll be trusting the nuclear football to an imbecile." You did not want to invoke his name.
As I...recall...that was the spelling on the card and I guess it's an old way to spell it or something. He still should have known but it's not as dumb as it looks. Dumb but not as dumb.
Ah, the good old days, when there wasn't a very vocal portion of the American populace entirely ok with and even happy about an imbecile having the nuclear football.
If you go by the "it was all just in his head" interpretation of the film, it's explained why the experience may have been traumatic within the film. The doctor explains Quaid was using the Recall memories as a template and filling in the gaps himself and outside of their ability to control. The real experience was likely meant to be far less extreme and less damaging to the "canon" (for lack of a better word) of the client's life. Quaid had seen violence on Mars in the news before the procedure; it stands to reason his mind would construct violent scenarios . Quaid's wife was not supportive of his desire to go to Mars; it stands to reason he would resent her and see her as an antagonist. If you let your mind fill in the gaps, "The d__k went into the a__." could either be about sex or a bird taking flight. It depends on your state of mind. Also, if he was being lobotomized, I'd imagine the brain would reflect that trauma since he was essentially being killed. Jacob's Ladder style. Anyway, good review as always. Look forward to the next.
It would also explain the pill scene; why take such a unneeded risk? Cade may have very well have fallen for it. All that to do what? Gain the girl's trust? He already got it
Its off to Tartarus for you to be tormented by 80s rockstar looking steve coogan lookalikes. how could you mix up ironside after his oscar level performance in highlander 2 with a hack like jeremy irons.
Not loyal, but it's heart was in the right place. I'd be harsher on it but... 1. It's classic era Arnie. 2. I am a male who was born in the eighties. This stuff? Catnip. I want "Don't disturb my friend... he's dead tired" on my tombstone.
Pff. I'm a girl and this is one of my favourite silly action movies ever. It's just so...fun. And so EIGHTIES, despite the year it actually came out in. The Mars scenes kind of have the grunge and lived-in-ness of Blade Runner but cheesier. And so many fun lines!
6:20 That really DOES reflect correct physics. Mars's atmosphere is so attenuated, it's roughly one hundredth as dense as earth's. When you've got an atmosphere in a contained dome that is equivalent to one earth atmosphere and then you break it, exposing the internal atmosphere to one a hundred times lighter, you would absoloutely get a massively violent decompression.
well, it wouldn't be putting people perpendicular to the floor, the suction isn't that extreme even in space, that's gust Hollywood, but yes mars' atmosphere would not help much when it comes to decompression.
@@cjcolehour2778 Correct. Decompression is not that dramatic. There's a scene in the tv show The Expanse that depicts decompression much more realistically and it basically just shows the air escaping an airlock into space almost immediately. No suction effect on any people or objects.
People generally seem to think Mars is way more Earth-like than it actually is. Possibly because of all the futurist ideas about terraforming Mars. In reality Mars is very small with low gravity, no magnetic field and an atmosphere that is about as close to being a vacuum from an Earth perspective that even space suits would still need to be pressurized similar to how they would be on the Moon. Even the common depiction in fiction of powerful dust storms on Mars is greatly exaggerated. There's wind alright but it's nowhere near strong enough to be comparable to a storm on Earth.
In addition to the whole "was it real or Recall?" for the film as a whole, there's a secondary one with Melina's brainwashing - did Quaid stop the process in time, or was she turned into his perfect woman? When he asks if she's okay and she asks "what do you think?" is she indicating that she's fine, or is she genuinely wanting a cue for who he wants her to be?
The thing about the "it was all an illusion by Rekall" interpretation is that it supposes the sweaty guy's warning was true, meaning Quaid wouldn't wake up and go back to his normal life but that he'd be effectively lobotomized by the embolism he suffered. That's why the movie fades to white instead of black. That's Quaid's mind being fried.
One of my favorite things about these reviews is the myriad of different excuses you give your fans for why they might not have enough money to donate to your Patreon. Great review as always!
“Brainless adaptation”? But this movie is BRILLIANT! The film’s clever use of having the main character never know whether what he experiences are a product of his environment or his inner soul puts it above and beyond most action flicks! Hell, the rampant cheesiness of the whole picture can be explained and rationalized when you think that they’re just pre-programmed events fabricated by the lucrative novelty product of a corporation.
Except that the events aren't preprogrammed so much because his implantation went off the rails, so if the experience wasn't real, then he's been effectively lobotomised by their machinery and that fade to white at the end might as well have been brain death.
I share your reasoning for believing that the film is real and not in Quaid's head: surely the Recall experience of being a secret agent would be a simple indulgent fantasy, how people imagine the job would be, as opposed to this harsh, complicated double-agent plot? I also wondered if the line "You think this is the real Quaid? It is!" was meant to be an indication.
My reasoning for believing it's all real is because it shows events where he is not there, or unconscious during. Like when the machine goes haywire because he already has a secret agent, and he had to be knocked out for.
I'm sure they changed the name due to then Vice-President Dan Quayle, who had a less than stellar reputation - that is to say, people considered him an idiot.
No, you're actually wrong in this case. Mars' atmosphere has less than 1% the density of Earth's. Useful for aerobraking and pretty sunsets, but not much else. Very close to that of a vacuum.
Well, I don't know if it'd have quite the effect that it had in the movie, but the explosive rapid decompression in The Martian is probably about right.
James Austin Yes, the movie is horribly inaccurate. However, my criticism was merely that the aspect that he was pointing out wasn't one of the reasons that it is. My point is merely that the choked flow of escaping air would be the same. In terms of pressure, >0.01atm and 0atm are essentially the same. If there were a breach, air would rush out and people would die of asphyxia very quickly. They would not swell up, but they would experience the boiling of their bodily liquids. So, it has its inaccuracies.
@@ibol13l3 The bodily liquids wouldn't boil either, there is ample pressure from the skin. There would be a very gentle breeze as the air flows out, and if the reservoir of air under the dome is big enough compared to the aperture, you might have days before the pressure drops to a point where you lose consciousness. If the pressure drops suddenly, you'd stay conscious long enough to experience yourself asphyxiating.
@@davidwuhrer6704 You still have to consider the effect of oxygen loss. Even if atmospheric pressure wouldn't instantly go from 1-0 with a breach, or if there was a large supply of breathable air in the dome to rush past you for days, you'd still have a large amount of force applied to pushing the air out of your lungs and a increased effort required to inflate them. You'd also probably be panicking. No, you wouldn't asphyxiate instantly - or explosively - but there's no reason you wouldn't pass out.
@@luciesimpson6437 That "large amount of force" would be less than a mild breeze. It is at most one atmosphere of pressure. Eventually you would pas out, of course. But that would take the aforementioned days.
Oh so my art teacher was wrong. She said that the book was more cerebral, and had a subplot where the alien device would cause the sun to go supernova if it wasn't activated within a certain time. They can't figure it out until Arnie realizes that it would have to be something really simple and noticed the alien hand-print. She thought it was the original, but it was the novelization. Thanks Wikipedia.
isn't the air preasure on mars lower, so wouldn't there be some decompression if a seal or window is broken? you don't need a vaccum to be sucked out only a large enough diffence in air preasure, so that scene might have physiced (i love that term) more than you think.
Mars has an atmosphere around 0.6% that of Earths so it definitely would create a force if the colonies presumably regular Earth pressure atmosphere was exposed to it. It is actually one of the faults in the otherwise striving for accuracy "The Martian", which relies on a storm on mars to cause the initial disaster that kicks off the story of the film, in reality the "storms" on mars are extremely weak to the point that a regular cooling breeze on a nice summers day on Earth is far more powerful.
Ironically, "The Martian" (at least the film, haven't read the book) tries to have its atmospheric density both ways, and magically reinstates it for the grand finale, where there's so little air that the supersonic acceleration of the escape rocket can be deflected by a simple sheet across its open top. The dialogue even explicitly calls this out, expecting that most people won't remember how horribly dangerous the windstorms are supposed to be there.
This movie and The Princess Bride are both on my mental list of movies to watch lying on the couch at home when (genuinely) taking sick leave from work.
Uhm the Dom, i love your Outro a lot. Your idea with the different reasons, why someone didn't become a patreon is one of of the best things in your videos for me. Thanks for your work and your very good humor ;)
The film's composer, Jerry Goldsmith, confirmed that interpretation. He once pointed out that during the fade to white, you can hear the "Dream" theme.
Another possible reason for the change in main character name could have been the fact that Dan Quayle, of misspelling potato fame, was Vice President either at release or during the production.
Oh it gets worse than potato. There's some choice quotes from Quayle... "Republicans understand the importance of bondage between a mother and child." "It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it" "I love California. I practically grew up in Phoenix" "It's time for the human race to enter the solar system" I also thought he was the one who suggested that "Human being and fish can coexist" but that was was G.W. Bush
My theory on the character name change is that the vice president of the US at the time was Dan Quayle and the filmmakers didn't want people trying to draw some sort of connection between the two. As for the movie itself, I've always thought that while the specifics of the plot are fairly far removed from the source material that overall it has the feel of being a Philip K. Dick work more than any of the many other films he inspired.
I thought that all of the "unpleasant" parts of the Recall could be explained by the "malfunction" that would kill him and that at the end, his brain was accidentally wiped O_O
The ending is like Schrodinger's Cat, it was an implanted memory and a real-life event Quaid experienced, as both are true and both are false... It is up to you, the viewer to decide which is why I love this film. It doesn't spell it out and leads to repeated viewings... Unlike that awful remake.
I agree. The original is by far more enjoyable (and better) than the later remake. Watching the original movie as a 15 year old when it was first released, it didn't occur to me until about five years later of the possibility that the remaining plot after Quaid's visit to Rekall could have been an implanted memory, or it could have been real. One scene that has always stayed with me is the one where the young mutant girl runs up to Quaid and says that she can predict his birthday. The part of her character's face that isn't disfigured is lovely. I've always thought I'd like to have seen her and her mother play a slightly larger role in the movie, perhaps in assisting Quaid in some way.
+Punkster -- How is it even slightly ambiguous? There's that entire scene between Richter and Cohaagen that Quaid could not possibly be aware of. Quaid would _know_ it was a false memory if he could remember a conversation he couldn't possibly have been there to hear. And if Quaid _doesn't_ remember it, then its not a false memory. The very fact he even wonders about it is proof it's all real.
Grizabeebles Well, the fact that we are still debating it, nearly 30 years later means it IS _slightly_ ambiguous. However, I agree, that is a problem with the film, for sure. If we are really nitpicking, I could say that sentence you just used to start your response is debatably redundant, as something either is or isn't ambiguous but I get what you were trying to go for, you were making a point, same with the film-makers, they were making a movie first and foremost, which is why I choose to see that part you mentioned with Richter and Cohagen as mere exposition for the audience or maybe they just didn't realise that at the time, that it gave you a definitive answer. I still believe that they wanted the film to be seen as ambiguous. It is a small flaw in an otherwise well thought out tale... Well, for a movie it is. My point though was not to tell you or anyone else what to believe it to be but to say how I saw it and that it is enjoyed either way if you rewatch it. I have done so, many a time (although not for years), in doing so, I had come to the conclusion that it is intended to be both real and an implanted memory. No one is suggesting that you have to agree with me. In fact, it is better when you don't, it is part of its lasting appeal, for me. For all I know, maybe the filmmakers have revealed how the intended it to be but I do not care to hear about it, I like it just as it is. It is one of those times where the question is more interesting to me, than the answer. Thanks for the response.
+Punkster -- Don't worry. I'm not trying to start the usual fight over this. As Dom said, the cheesy 80's escapism lends to the air of fantasy and Arnie's opinion on the matter is well known. Way back when I bought the "Limited Edition" DVD and one of the commentary tracks has either the director or the producer lamenting they couldn't find a good way of re-cutting or removing that exposition scene that didn't leave the "triple-agent named Howser" reveal reduced to a pure deus ex machina. As far as trade-off go, I think they came down on the right side of things too. Cheers.
There is a novelization of the movie (yes a book adapted from a movie that was inspired by a short story wrap your head around that) and the book reveals that.....you know what? Does it matter?
I was in my early 20's when this came out and watching Sharon Stone kick Arnie's ass brought about feelings I'm still not entirely comfortable admitting to.
It seems like they really liked casting Arnold in adaptations of books where the main character was nothing like Arnold. The Running Man springs to mind, the book character was a pale, scrawny guy with health problems.
Coco Puff Less so in golden age science fiction. Asimov and Dick often wrote about average people, Heinlein did it a bit. Mind you, not all of them are scrawny per see, but think, say of the kind of guy you'd see as a private in Band of Brothers - not a huge, muscular person, just someone who might meet in the office.
Mars has an atmosphere 1/100th the density of Earths. There would be a 14 pound per square inch differential pressure between the building and air outside.
Could you please do a Lost in Adaptation episode on any of the following: -How to Train your Dragon -Holes -Hoot -Alex Rider I would really really appreciate it.
I'm not sure if it is a Disney movie or not, seeing as so many things are owned by Disney these days it could be. It's a live action movie about a boy named Roy who lives in Florida and is trying to save the Burrowing Owls' habitat from destruction. I have no idea whether it's any good though since I've only ever read the book.
I personally didn't like the book all that much either. I just thought it would be interesting to see how the movie compares and what The Dom's take on it would be.
I've never fully bought the idea that it was all in his head either. Not just because no one would pay for an existential nightmare filled with horrific imagery, but all of the stuff in the movie that happened without Quaid in the room. Right after Quaid sits down for the procedure he flips out and runs out of the room. The doctor questions the nurse and the nurse says something like "But I haven't given him the injection yet!" _after_ he's already left the room (It's been a while since I've seen the movie.). There's also at least one whole conversation between the villain and his henchmen with Quaid no where in sight.
I am SO GLAD you brought up his wife. No one ever does when talking about this film for some reason. I think the director (?) came out and said at some point that yes it was all a fantasy put in by Recall and the flash of light at the end is him being lobotomized, but I just don't buy it. What kind of customer would be happy with a product that made him fight and kill his wife?
I assume the idea is that his brain reacted badly to the process and maybe mixed in his own secret resentment of his wife (who is a big meanie pants and won't let him go on a jolly to war-torn Mars or whatever) and scrambled it up into 'she tries to kill me a couple of times so I murderise her'? (I don't buy it, though, but I presume it's something like that, rather than 'yeah, we figure our clients probably all want to murderise their wives so we include that but also we lobotomised him because... um..?')
Well you'll have to forgive me because I don't remember where I read that he'd confirmed it was a dream in his opinion and I'm too lazy to go digging for it just now. But I think the idea was that it HAD gone wrong, he HAD reacted badly to it, and that's why he was getting lobotomized. But yeah for serious, I don't care how much a person resents their spouse, they still have to go home to them after the fact, so it's beyond fucked up to give them murder memories of them as an option.
For sure, but I assume (or at least... I hope) that the 'murdering your wife' and 'head nearly asplode' parts are because of his brain reacting badly? (A bit like in the Better than Life episode of Red Dwarf, where the main characters play a virtual reality game where all their fantasies are played out, except Rimmer's so full of self-loathing that his mind starts to screw things up for him - he gets off with his dream woman who turns into a horrible nag and by the end of the day they have half a dozen screaming kids, and so on.) I don't *think* those parts were meant to be in the implanted memories. (Again, I hope.)
The novelization included a line where it's revealed Hauser really did ultimately turn, but really had no choice except to go through plan, hoping it would work out. At least that's what Quaid believes, even after seeing the video. I prefer the movie, full on asshole Hauser.
It wasn't just that. When Quaid fell into the pit at the start of the story that actually happened. He stumbled across the machine and another machine that implanted a chip more like the one the IP gave him in "Wholesale". (Piers Anthony put as much of Phillips' ideas as he could into the novelization.) Through that he learned that the machine was created by giant ant aliens part of a circle of spacefarers trying to see who was worthy in joining them in escaping the encroaching end of the universe (foreshadowed in news reports of what happened to those who failed) and Hauser knew he had to keep that info away from Cohaagen. That's why he went along with his highly convoluted scheme...because he was part of another highly convoluted scheme.
man... this movie! It had such excellent direction which absolutely made use of juuuuust the right angles to support "this was all in his head" theories
I really like the ambiguity and the writing of Quaid’s wife as a betrayer in the fantasy makes sense in the context that he established and alternate love interest beforehand.
I always saw the killing of Quade's wife and the dream before he goes to recall as proof that it is really not a memory. As you pointed out how would he explain to his wife that he has a seemingly real memory of killing her only to come home and find out she is still alive.
Common misconception but Schwarzenegger wasn't cast for the role so much as he commanded his production company, Carolco, to buy the script so he could be in it and was even the one to have say on picking the director. However, Verhoeven adding the ambiguity of real or not real was true to Philip K. Dick's common themes of where does reality begin and end and who/what/where is real.
I wouldn't call Total Recall "brainless." Yes, it gets a lot of the science wrong, and has a heavy focus on over-the-top action, but it touches on a lot of thought-provoking ideas about reality vs. imagination, even if it doesn't delve deep into discussing those ideas.
honestly one thing I've always been told about this version. That writers what to make the story self aware in that they take a somewhat simple plot and throw as many tropes and references in as possible and just make a fun movie. Sort of like what they did with Kingsman and A Cabin in The Woods for their respective genres.
On the topic of a Total Recall sequel, there were plans back in 1992 to make a Minority Report film adaptation that would have tied in to Total Recall with the precogs being psychic mutants from Mars.
I just found this channel/series, and I already love it. Could you do one on Howl's Moving Castle? I would love to see a comparison between Howl's portrayal in the book and Ghibli movie.
Can't wait to see you tackle the boringass remake, which for some reason chose to follow the original movie yet completely removed Mars from the story??
uknownada I nearly passed out from boredom watching it. The references they made to the original film (3 boobs prostitute, the fat lady disguise) just made me angry. Why make me remember I could be watching a better film?!
There is also no mutants in that version of the story, so the 3-boobed lady makes no sense unless she went to get that done at the back street plastic surgeon for her hooker business, in which case I'd rather watch that story.
I genuinely don’t understand how the story can be anything but real. The point of Recall is to implant memories people think are REAL. if you remember an adventure where you save an entire planet and give it a natural breathable atmosphere, but then suddenly that planet does NOT have a breathable atmosphere, wouldn’t that be a huge rip off that your memory was fake?
Great video as always! I still hope to someday see an LIA of "Who Goes There?" by John Campbell vs. John Carpenter's "The Thing (1982). One of my top 10 favorite books, and my #1 favorite movie.
If I remember correctly the surface of mars has an air pressure that, while not a vacuum, is in fact much much lower than sea level here on earth, so if the building they are in is pressurized as it would have to be, then blowing a hole in the side of the building would result in lots of air escaping as you see in the movie
Hi, love your stuff and this was a great video. I would love to see a video on We Need To Talk About Kevin as personally I found it to be a brilliant book that was difficult to adapt but they did a bloody good job of it and I'd love to hear your thoughts on it
...I don’t think you understood this film. Arnold has a bad reaction to the memory implant and experiences a psychedelic trip into madness as he dies. Note the fade to WHITE instead of black at the end, which recalls a side effect of a stroke/aneurysm. Also, everything the Recall rep warns Arnold about (in the sweating scene) comes to pass. Also, how things get more and more surreal and illogical as the story progresses. Arnold dies in the chair. I thought everyone knew this. Anyway, fun review overall.
I don't even understand why people debate so much the idea of if it was all in his head or not. I know the movie brings it up. However movies ending on "but it was all a dream" twist are pretty much universally, and rightfully, derided as terrible. So why would anyone want that?
"Did I help you save Mars?" One day, I'm going to write a version where Lori's a good guy. And if you're gonna tell me that Lori has to be a bad guy, watch the last video.
I thought the theory was that the Recall session went wrong and fried his brain like his friend warned and the dream he experiences is kinda like the end of Brazil with it being a near-death hallucination.
Mention of a Total Recall sequel: I've heard the adaptation of Minority Report was originally going to be that, with the three psychics being Martian mutants. I believe it was going to be set on Mars with Quaid as the Future Crime agent, but it for sure.
It's not that it's a vacuum. It's that it's at such a lower pressure than the inside of the building (presumably simulating Earth's surface so ~100x the surface pressure of Mars) that you still get explosive decompression anyway. The physics actually holds up pretty well.
My interpretation of the ending is this: It is not what he paid for, it is like the salesman guy told him, he is trapped in an illusion. He even says, "One moment you will be the savior of the rebel cause, and the next thing you know you'll be Cohagen's bosom buddy. You'll even have fantasies about alien civilizations, as you requested, but back on Earth you'll be lobotomized."
I'm not sure how to explain this but this movie is, at the same time as brainless as you say and yet... surprisingly smart in its twists and turns. I specially love the "maybe true, maybe implanted memory" ending.
Good review, but that argument for why the events would not be real is just bad. Yes, nobody would pay for that sort of an experience, but that makes perfect sense because the events in that scenario what the movie is actually about is the process going wrong, it is not what Doug payed for and instead he is experiencing a mental breakdown after which his brain is fried at the end of the movie.
Of course there's the possibility he wasn't lying about the recall machine fucking up Arnie's brain and the white light at the end is him having a stroke and dying
Watching this 3 years after the last time I saw it. Dom never considered that the Recall service had gone badly wrong, permanently mangling Quaid's psyche like the guy they were talking about on the construction site (which might be the real Quaid, who doesn't look like an Austrian bodybuilder)
When Quaid shoots the Rekall guy, the walls of his hotel room literally cave in. This is the biggest hint that the guy was telling the truth, and the bead of sweet was because he was the projection of a real guy who was stressed because of the situation he was put in
Not sure if this has been mentioned before but Arnold was literally the last person they wanted to hire for this movie. Before Arnold, actors as diverse as Richard Dreyfus, Patrick Swayze, and William Hurt we're considered for the role. Also speaking of adaptations and source material. While the first third of the film was based on Dick's short story, the rest of the film from the time Quaid gets to Mars is really more based on the "John Carter of Mars" series by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Loads and loads of fun. I am actually surprised that the whole ”is this actually real, or is it part of the implant fake reality” ambiguity is not from the original. That seems like such a Philip K Dick story premise. Instead they replaced the telepathy chip. Thanks god for that. Good change. Mars atmosphere is really thin, but a breached vacuum doesn’t create instant hurricane winds. That trope always annoys me. However, creating an atmosphere for an entire planet in a minute or less * would* cause wind strengths of geological magnitude. It would look more like a giant explosion and kill everyone and destroy every structure exposed to it. What happens in the film completely breaks any immersion and the only way to make sense of it is that it takes place inside some kind of virtual reality with arbitrary physics. Bad change.
The flaws you point out in the recall theory seems to ignore the fact that if it is "recall" than this experience is a botched job, explaining the horrific experiences. Shooting his wife is obviously wish fulfillment for a guy bored of his married life. Also, he shot her in the head and she seems to just come back with no problem.
If you can find it, you might be somewhat interested in the Canadian/European 1999 TV show "Total Recall 2070" it really has nothing to do with the book or either of the movies but it's a really neat sci-fi android/human buddy cop series that was really ahead of its time.
Point of Order: Quaid did kill his “wife” in cold blood. Both times he sees her she try’s to kill him. The first with a kitchen knife, and the second when she picks up a henchman’s gun and tried to shoot him. Also, an argument can be made that since the “jingle” is heard at the end of the credits, that it was indeed all just a planted adventure.
I suggest the name change from Quail to Quaid started merely as a typo that didn’t get noticed until filming had already started and they found no real reason to spend more money to reshoot.
Saying that Verhoven is not true to the source material is like saying that the sky is blue :D Remember, he directed Starship Troopers, where he admits, that he didn't finish the book because he didn't like it. Oh yeah, his reason is "it's a satire". But I agree with your verdict. It's a fun movie, but don't expect too much from it. But that's why we like most of Arnies action flicks :D
Mars has atmosphere indeed, but its pressure is extremely weak and explosive decomptession would indeed be a threat for earth-pressure containing areas.
First, he did NOT kill his ex in cold blood, she was trying to kill him as far as he knew! At the time, people did think that Mars atmosphere was like a vacuum. We now know it to be mountain air thin not vacuum but it wasn't known at the time.
They changed the name of the lead because the vice president at the time was named Quayle and the studio didn't want people think it was a reference.
It's important to note that Dan Quayle was a bit of a running joke in US politics at that point. He had a reputation as being not very bright due to a mistake spelling 'potato' - he spelled it 'potatoe'. At the time it turned into a joke of, "George Bush better stay well or else we'll be trusting the nuclear football to an imbecile." You did not want to invoke his name.
As I...recall...that was the spelling on the card and I guess it's an old way to spell it or something. He still should have known but it's not as dumb as it looks. Dumb but not as dumb.
Ah, the good old days, when there wasn't a very vocal portion of the American populace entirely ok with and even happy about an imbecile having the nuclear football.
You got that right, can't believe we let an invalid like that into the White House; luckily Obama isn't president anymore and I can sleep easy now
Also, Quaid is just a cooler name. Prove me wrong!
If you go by the "it was all just in his head" interpretation of the film, it's explained why the experience may have been traumatic within the film. The doctor explains Quaid was using the Recall memories as a template and filling in the gaps himself and outside of their ability to control. The real experience was likely meant to be far less extreme and less damaging to the "canon" (for lack of a better word) of the client's life.
Quaid had seen violence on Mars in the news before the procedure; it stands to reason his mind would construct violent scenarios . Quaid's wife was not supportive of his desire to go to Mars; it stands to reason he would resent her and see her as an antagonist. If you let your mind fill in the gaps, "The d__k went into the a__." could either be about sex or a bird taking flight. It depends on your state of mind.
Also, if he was being lobotomized, I'd imagine the brain would reflect that trauma since he was essentially being killed. Jacob's Ladder style.
Anyway, good review as always. Look forward to the next.
It would also explain the pill scene; why take such a unneeded risk?
Cade may have very well have fallen for it.
All that to do what?
Gain the girl's trust?
He already got it
Apparently I got Michael Ironside and Jeremy Irons mixed up in my head. Ahh well.
The Dom you monster.
*Michael Ironside but anyway, I thought it was a joke.
The Dom Don’t worry, The Dom. We all knew what you meant.
Its off to Tartarus for you to be tormented by 80s rockstar looking steve coogan lookalikes. how could you mix up ironside after his oscar level performance in highlander 2 with a hack like jeremy irons.
It's also pronounced "Rick-ter".
Not loyal, but it's heart was in the right place. I'd be harsher on it but...
1. It's classic era Arnie.
2. I am a male who was born in the eighties.
This stuff? Catnip. I want "Don't disturb my friend... he's dead tired" on my tombstone.
Pff. I'm a girl and this is one of my favourite silly action movies ever. It's just so...fun. And so EIGHTIES, despite the year it actually came out in. The Mars scenes kind of have the grunge and lived-in-ness of Blade Runner but cheesier. And so many fun lines!
6:20 That really DOES reflect correct physics. Mars's atmosphere is so attenuated, it's roughly one hundredth as dense as earth's. When you've got an atmosphere in a contained dome that is equivalent to one earth atmosphere and then you break it, exposing the internal atmosphere to one a hundred times lighter, you would absoloutely get a massively violent decompression.
well, it wouldn't be putting people perpendicular to the floor, the suction isn't that extreme even in space, that's gust Hollywood, but yes mars' atmosphere would not help much when it comes to decompression.
@@cjcolehour2778 Not sure if your body would pop like a balloon though.
@@cjcolehour2778 Correct. Decompression is not that dramatic. There's a scene in the tv show The Expanse that depicts decompression much more realistically and it basically just shows the air escaping an airlock into space almost immediately. No suction effect on any people or objects.
People generally seem to think Mars is way more Earth-like than it actually is. Possibly because of all the futurist ideas about terraforming Mars. In reality Mars is very small with low gravity, no magnetic field and an atmosphere that is about as close to being a vacuum from an Earth perspective that even space suits would still need to be pressurized similar to how they would be on the Moon.
Even the common depiction in fiction of powerful dust storms on Mars is greatly exaggerated. There's wind alright but it's nowhere near strong enough to be comparable to a storm on Earth.
It's The Martian's biggest crime.
In addition to the whole "was it real or Recall?" for the film as a whole, there's a secondary one with Melina's brainwashing - did Quaid stop the process in time, or was she turned into his perfect woman? When he asks if she's okay and she asks "what do you think?" is she indicating that she's fine, or is she genuinely wanting a cue for who he wants her to be?
Didn't they want to turn her into a subservient wife without backbone?
The thing about the "it was all an illusion by Rekall" interpretation is that it supposes the sweaty guy's warning was true, meaning Quaid wouldn't wake up and go back to his normal life but that he'd be effectively lobotomized by the embolism he suffered. That's why the movie fades to white instead of black. That's Quaid's mind being fried.
One of my favorite things about these reviews is the myriad of different excuses you give your fans for why they might not have enough money to donate to your Patreon. Great review as always!
bluetycoon7 I love that too 😄😄.
“Brainless adaptation”? But this movie is BRILLIANT!
The film’s clever use of having the main character never know whether what he experiences are a product of his environment or his inner soul puts it above and beyond most action flicks!
Hell, the rampant cheesiness of the whole picture can be explained and rationalized when you think that they’re just pre-programmed events fabricated by the lucrative novelty product of a corporation.
Except that the events aren't preprogrammed so much because his implantation went off the rails, so if the experience wasn't real, then he's been effectively lobotomised by their machinery and that fade to white at the end might as well have been brain death.
I think the Dom doesn't count that because it was from the original source material, not something the movie came up with on its own
I mean, Mars isn't a vacuum, but its atmospheric pressure is only like half a percent of earth's, so it's pretty damned thin.
I guess this shows he has no plans on doing a LiA on The Martian anytime soon.
Yeah, but that still will not cause explosive decompression like shown in the film.
Well pretty much the same thing happened in the martian so I guess it's close enough..
Lawrence Tider
Real, 100% vacuum doesn't have the sorts of decompression effects shown in the film
+Lawrence Tider yes it would.
I share your reasoning for believing that the film is real and not in Quaid's head: surely the Recall experience of being a secret agent would be a simple indulgent fantasy, how people imagine the job would be, as opposed to this harsh, complicated double-agent plot? I also wondered if the line "You think this is the real Quaid? It is!" was meant to be an indication.
My reasoning for believing it's all real is because it shows events where he is not there, or unconscious during. Like when the machine goes haywire because he already has a secret agent, and he had to be knocked out for.
I'm sure they changed the name due to then Vice-President Dan Quayle, who had a less than stellar reputation - that is to say, people considered him an idiot.
Especially after he screwed up an easy word at a spelling bee
No, you're actually wrong in this case. Mars' atmosphere has less than 1% the density of Earth's. Useful for aerobraking and pretty sunsets, but not much else. Very close to that of a vacuum.
Well, I don't know if it'd have quite the effect that it had in the movie, but the explosive rapid decompression in The Martian is probably about right.
James Austin Yes, the movie is horribly inaccurate. However, my criticism was merely that the aspect that he was pointing out wasn't one of the reasons that it is. My point is merely that the choked flow of escaping air would be the same. In terms of pressure, >0.01atm and 0atm are essentially the same. If there were a breach, air would rush out and people would die of asphyxia very quickly. They would not swell up, but they would experience the boiling of their bodily liquids. So, it has its inaccuracies.
@@ibol13l3 The bodily liquids wouldn't boil either, there is ample pressure from the skin.
There would be a very gentle breeze as the air flows out, and if the reservoir of air under the dome is big enough compared to the aperture, you might have days before the pressure drops to a point where you lose consciousness.
If the pressure drops suddenly, you'd stay conscious long enough to experience yourself asphyxiating.
@@davidwuhrer6704 You still have to consider the effect of oxygen loss. Even if atmospheric pressure wouldn't instantly go from 1-0 with a breach, or if there was a large supply of breathable air in the dome to rush past you for days, you'd still have a large amount of force applied to pushing the air out of your lungs and a increased effort required to inflate them. You'd also probably be panicking. No, you wouldn't asphyxiate instantly - or explosively - but there's no reason you wouldn't pass out.
@@luciesimpson6437 That "large amount of force" would be less than a mild breeze. It is at most one atmosphere of pressure.
Eventually you would pas out, of course. But that would take the aforementioned days.
Oh so my art teacher was wrong. She said that the book was more cerebral, and had a subplot where the alien device would cause the sun to go supernova if it wasn't activated within a certain time. They can't figure it out until Arnie realizes that it would have to be something really simple and noticed the alien hand-print. She thought it was the original, but it was the novelization. Thanks Wikipedia.
I rather enjoyed that novelization. If more of that had ended up in the movie, it would be a better movie.
I mean, the novelization likely has the name "Total Recall." The short story has a different title, "We Can Remember It For You, Wholesale."
isn't the air preasure on mars lower, so wouldn't there be some decompression if a seal or window is broken? you don't need a vaccum to be sucked out only a large enough diffence in air preasure, so that scene might have physiced (i love that term) more than you think.
Mars has an atmosphere around 0.6% that of Earths so it definitely would create a force if the colonies presumably regular Earth pressure atmosphere was exposed to it.
It is actually one of the faults in the otherwise striving for accuracy "The Martian", which relies on a storm on mars to cause the initial disaster that kicks off the story of the film, in reality the "storms" on mars are extremely weak to the point that a regular cooling breeze on a nice summers day on Earth is far more powerful.
Yeah, Mars' atmosphere is so thin that it may as well be vaccum for this purpose, so the movie wasn't failing physics there.
Ironically, "The Martian" (at least the film, haven't read the book) tries to have its atmospheric density both ways, and magically reinstates it for the grand finale, where there's so little air that the supersonic acceleration of the escape rocket can be deflected by a simple sheet across its open top. The dialogue even explicitly calls this out, expecting that most people won't remember how horribly dangerous the windstorms are supposed to be there.
There would be decompression, but, I don’t think it would be quite as (recalls scene of Quaid, um, exploding) dramatic as it was portrayed.
Eugenideddis yeah... and being put in a vacuum doesn’t make your eyes pop out.
I never saw this movie, but it is now very close to the top of "movies to watch while recovery from surgery/illness" list.
I mean, all the twists have been spoiled for you, but it really is one of the best pre-terminator 2 action movies
This movie and The Princess Bride are both on my mental list of movies to watch lying on the couch at home when (genuinely) taking sick leave from work.
never seen it? BLASPHEMY
Uhm the Dom, i love your Outro a lot. Your idea with the different reasons,
why someone didn't become a patreon is one of of the best things in your videos for me.
Thanks for your work and your very good humor ;)
I consider the ending being Quaid getting lobotomized in the end.
That's what the bright light symbolizes in my opinion.
The film's composer, Jerry Goldsmith, confirmed that interpretation. He once pointed out that during the fade to white, you can hear the "Dream" theme.
Another possible reason for the change in main character name could have been the fact that Dan Quayle, of misspelling potato fame, was Vice President either at release or during the production.
Oh it gets worse than potato. There's some choice quotes from Quayle...
"Republicans understand the importance of bondage between a mother and child."
"It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it"
"I love California. I practically grew up in Phoenix"
"It's time for the human race to enter the solar system"
I also thought he was the one who suggested that "Human being and fish can coexist" but that was was G.W. Bush
My theory on the character name change is that the vice president of the US at the time was Dan Quayle and the filmmakers didn't want people trying to draw some sort of connection between the two. As for the movie itself, I've always thought that while the specifics of the plot are fairly far removed from the source material that overall it has the feel of being a Philip K. Dick work more than any of the many other films he inspired.
Ah, the sweet tones of Caluna's voice trickling into the review, such a nice bonus to The Dom's excellent content :D
I thought that all of the "unpleasant" parts of the Recall could be explained by the "malfunction" that would kill him and that at the end, his brain was accidentally wiped O_O
I think the "it was all the dream" theory generally works on the idea that the fade to white was brain death because they didn't get him out
The ending is like Schrodinger's Cat, it was an implanted memory and a real-life event Quaid experienced, as both are true and both are false... It is up to you, the viewer to decide which is why I love this film.
It doesn't spell it out and leads to repeated viewings... Unlike that awful remake.
I agree. The original is by far more enjoyable (and better) than the later remake. Watching the original movie as a 15 year old when it was first released, it didn't occur to me until about five years later of the possibility that the remaining plot after Quaid's visit to Rekall could have been an implanted memory, or it could have been real.
One scene that has always stayed with me is the one where the young mutant girl runs up to Quaid and says that she can predict his birthday. The part of her character's face that isn't disfigured is lovely. I've always thought I'd like to have seen her and her mother play a slightly larger role in the movie, perhaps in assisting Quaid in some way.
+Punkster -- How is it even slightly ambiguous? There's that entire scene between Richter and Cohaagen that Quaid could not possibly be aware of. Quaid would _know_ it was a false memory if he could remember a conversation he couldn't possibly have been there to hear. And if Quaid _doesn't_ remember it, then its not a false memory. The very fact he even wonders about it is proof it's all real.
Grizabeebles
Well, the fact that we are still debating it, nearly 30 years later means it IS _slightly_ ambiguous.
However, I agree, that is a problem with the film, for sure. If we are really nitpicking, I could say that sentence you just used to start your response is debatably redundant, as something either is or isn't ambiguous but I get what you were trying to go for, you were making a point, same with the film-makers, they were making a movie first and foremost, which is why I choose to see that part you mentioned with Richter and Cohagen as mere exposition for the audience or maybe they just didn't realise that at the time, that it gave you a definitive answer. I still believe that they wanted the film to be seen as ambiguous.
It is a small flaw in an otherwise well thought out tale... Well, for a movie it is. My point though was not to tell you or anyone else what to believe it to be but to say how I saw it and that it is enjoyed either way if you rewatch it. I have done so, many a time (although not for years), in doing so, I had come to the conclusion that it is intended to be both real and an implanted memory.
No one is suggesting that you have to agree with me. In fact, it is better when you don't, it is part of its lasting appeal, for me.
For all I know, maybe the filmmakers have revealed how the intended it to be but I do not care to hear about it, I like it just as it is. It is one of those times where the question is more interesting to me, than the answer.
Thanks for the response.
+Punkster -- Don't worry. I'm not trying to start the usual fight over this. As Dom said, the cheesy 80's escapism lends to the air of fantasy and Arnie's opinion on the matter is well known. Way back when I bought the "Limited Edition" DVD and one of the commentary tracks has either the director or the producer lamenting they couldn't find a good way of re-cutting or removing that exposition scene that didn't leave the "triple-agent named Howser" reveal reduced to a pure deus ex machina.
As far as trade-off go, I think they came down on the right side of things too. Cheers.
There is a novelization of the movie (yes a book adapted from a movie that was inspired by a short story wrap your head around that) and the book reveals that.....you know what? Does it matter?
This is the definitive version of this story, and I'll accept no dissent on that thank you very much.
I was in my early 20's when this came out and watching Sharon Stone kick Arnie's ass brought about feelings I'm still not entirely comfortable admitting to.
It seems like they really liked casting Arnold in adaptations of books where the main character was nothing like Arnold. The Running Man springs to mind, the book character was a pale, scrawny guy with health problems.
How many books HAVE a guy like Arnold as the hero?
Coco Puff Less so in golden age science fiction. Asimov and Dick often wrote about average people, Heinlein did it a bit. Mind you, not all of them are scrawny per see, but think, say of the kind of guy you'd see as a private in Band of Brothers - not a huge, muscular person, just someone who might meet in the office.
Carl Rood the original Conan The Barbarian books?
Mars has an atmosphere 1/100th the density of Earths. There would be a 14 pound per square inch differential pressure between the building and air outside.
Could you please do a Lost in Adaptation episode on any of the following:
-How to Train your Dragon
-Holes
-Hoot
-Alex Rider
I would really really appreciate it.
I'm not sure if it is a Disney movie or not, seeing as so many things are owned by Disney these days it could be. It's a live action movie about a boy named Roy who lives in Florida and is trying to save the Burrowing Owls' habitat from destruction. I have no idea whether it's any good though since I've only ever read the book.
Leila Byerly omg I would love to see an Alex rider adaptation review
Well, that's a shame.
Leila Byerly I thought the book Hoot sucked, but I haven't seen the movie, so I don't know how much worse/better it may be.
I personally didn't like the book all that much either. I just thought it would be interesting to see how the movie compares and what The Dom's take on it would be.
I've never fully bought the idea that it was all in his head either. Not just because no one would pay for an existential nightmare filled with horrific imagery, but all of the stuff in the movie that happened without Quaid in the room. Right after Quaid sits down for the procedure he flips out and runs out of the room. The doctor questions the nurse and the nurse says something like "But I haven't given him the injection yet!" _after_ he's already left the room (It's been a while since I've seen the movie.). There's also at least one whole conversation between the villain and his henchmen with Quaid no where in sight.
Exactly! That's my reasoning for it being all real too!
I am SO GLAD you brought up his wife. No one ever does when talking about this film for some reason. I think the director (?) came out and said at some point that yes it was all a fantasy put in by Recall and the flash of light at the end is him being lobotomized, but I just don't buy it. What kind of customer would be happy with a product that made him fight and kill his wife?
Casi Hamilton Johnny Depp?
I'd say yes, but his wife smartly kicked him to the curb so it's a bit moot at this point :P
I assume the idea is that his brain reacted badly to the process and maybe mixed in his own secret resentment of his wife (who is a big meanie pants and won't let him go on a jolly to war-torn Mars or whatever) and scrambled it up into 'she tries to kill me a couple of times so I murderise her'? (I don't buy it, though, but I presume it's something like that, rather than 'yeah, we figure our clients probably all want to murderise their wives so we include that but also we lobotomised him because... um..?')
Well you'll have to forgive me because I don't remember where I read that he'd confirmed it was a dream in his opinion and I'm too lazy to go digging for it just now. But I think the idea was that it HAD gone wrong, he HAD reacted badly to it, and that's why he was getting lobotomized. But yeah for serious, I don't care how much a person resents their spouse, they still have to go home to them after the fact, so it's beyond fucked up to give them murder memories of them as an option.
For sure, but I assume (or at least... I hope) that the 'murdering your wife' and 'head nearly asplode' parts are because of his brain reacting badly? (A bit like in the Better than Life episode of Red Dwarf, where the main characters play a virtual reality game where all their fantasies are played out, except Rimmer's so full of self-loathing that his mind starts to screw things up for him - he gets off with his dream woman who turns into a horrible nag and by the end of the day they have half a dozen screaming kids, and so on.) I don't *think* those parts were meant to be in the implanted memories. (Again, I hope.)
The novelization included a line where it's revealed Hauser really did ultimately turn, but really had no choice except to go through plan, hoping it would work out. At least that's what Quaid believes, even after seeing the video. I prefer the movie, full on asshole Hauser.
It wasn't just that. When Quaid fell into the pit at the start of the story that actually happened. He stumbled across the machine and another machine that implanted a chip more like the one the IP gave him in "Wholesale". (Piers Anthony put as much of Phillips' ideas as he could into the novelization.) Through that he learned that the machine was created by giant ant aliens part of a circle of spacefarers trying to see who was worthy in joining them in escaping the encroaching end of the universe (foreshadowed in news reports of what happened to those who failed) and Hauser knew he had to keep that info away from Cohaagen. That's why he went along with his highly convoluted scheme...because he was part of another highly convoluted scheme.
man... this movie! It had such excellent direction which absolutely made use of juuuuust the right angles to support "this was all in his head" theories
I really like the ambiguity and the writing of Quaid’s wife as a betrayer in the fantasy makes sense in the context that he established and alternate love interest beforehand.
One of my favorite movies ever. I watched it so many times as a kid!
I always saw the killing of Quade's wife and the dream before he goes to recall as proof that it is really not a memory. As you pointed out how would he explain to his wife that he has a seemingly real memory of killing her only to come home and find out she is still alive.
The Quaid/Quail name change may have had more to do with American Vice President Dan Quayle who had a reputation of being intellectually limited.
Also... go ahead and enjoy picturing Ah-nold trying to introduce himself as "Quaallll"
All throughout your description of the plot I went "What?! Wait What? How? What? Why? Wuaat??? "
Common misconception but Schwarzenegger wasn't cast for the role so much as he commanded his production company, Carolco, to buy the script so he could be in it and was even the one to have say on picking the director. However, Verhoeven adding the ambiguity of real or not real was true to Philip K. Dick's common themes of where does reality begin and end and who/what/where is real.
I wouldn't call Total Recall "brainless." Yes, it gets a lot of the science wrong, and has a heavy focus on over-the-top action, but it touches on a lot of thought-provoking ideas about reality vs. imagination, even if it doesn't delve deep into discussing those ideas.
honestly one thing I've always been told about this version. That writers what to make the story self aware in that they take a somewhat simple plot and throw as many tropes and references in as possible and just make a fun movie. Sort of like what they did with Kingsman and A Cabin in The Woods for their respective genres.
I was playing Mass Effect Andromeda and was like "WAIT THE ALIENS TOMBS ARE TOTAL RECALL REFERENCE!"
Maybe, the one I saw seemed to be more Halo-y
On the topic of a Total Recall sequel, there were plans back in 1992 to make a Minority Report film adaptation that would have tied in to Total Recall with the precogs being psychic mutants from Mars.
I just found this channel/series, and I already love it. Could you do one on Howl's Moving Castle? I would love to see a comparison between Howl's portrayal in the book and Ghibli movie.
I'll always upvote a Pratchett reference :D
Can't wait to see you tackle the boringass remake, which for some reason chose to follow the original movie yet completely removed Mars from the story??
uknownada I nearly passed out from boredom watching it. The references they made to the original film (3 boobs prostitute, the fat lady disguise) just made me angry. Why make me remember I could be watching a better film?!
They make you remember it wholesale.
Well THAT didn't work.
I went to see with my friend and ended up falling asleep in the theater.
There is also no mutants in that version of the story, so the 3-boobed lady makes no sense unless she went to get that done at the back street plastic surgeon for her hooker business, in which case I'd rather watch that story.
Hahahaha! You think this is the real The Dom?
It is!
*proceeds to shoot everyone*
See you at the party Richter! :D So many great one-liners in this film, it's a damn fine action-comedy.
It's not Jeremy Ironside, but Michael Ironside, who's famous as the voice of Sam Fisher.
And Darkseid ;)
And infamous as General Katana
6:09 You can't just shoot a hole into the surface of Mars
2 videos in a week? YESSSSSSSSSSSSS PLEASE.
There was also a novelization of the film written by Piers Anthony.
I genuinely don’t understand how the story can be anything but real. The point of Recall is to implant memories people think are REAL. if you remember an adventure where you save an entire planet and give it a natural breathable atmosphere, but then suddenly that planet does NOT have a breathable atmosphere, wouldn’t that be a huge rip off that your memory was fake?
I for one personally love how Dominic sounds like Grover mocking Arnolds Voice
Great video as always! I still hope to someday see an LIA of "Who Goes There?" by John Campbell vs. John Carpenter's "The Thing (1982). One of my top 10 favorite books, and my #1 favorite movie.
If I remember correctly the surface of mars has an air pressure that, while not a vacuum, is in fact much much lower than sea level here on earth, so if the building they are in is pressurized as it would have to be, then blowing a hole in the side of the building would result in lots of air escaping as you see in the movie
Hi, love your stuff and this was a great video. I would love to see a video on We Need To Talk About Kevin as personally I found it to be a brilliant book that was difficult to adapt but they did a bloody good job of it and I'd love to hear your thoughts on it
everyone is gonna give ya crap for it but yeah. it's not jeremy ironsides. it's micheal ironsides, aka darkseid from the justice league cartoons.
I can only imagine he got confused between Michael Ironsides and Jeremy Irons.
...I don’t think you understood this film. Arnold has a bad reaction to the memory implant and experiences a psychedelic trip into madness as he dies. Note the fade to WHITE instead of black at the end, which recalls a side effect of a stroke/aneurysm. Also, everything the Recall rep warns Arnold about (in the sweating scene) comes to pass. Also, how things get more and more surreal and illogical as the story progresses. Arnold dies in the chair. I thought everyone knew this. Anyway, fun review overall.
That Arnie voice was 👌😂
I don't even understand why people debate so much the idea of if it was all in his head or not. I know the movie brings it up. However movies ending on "but it was all a dream" twist are pretty much universally, and rightfully, derided as terrible. So why would anyone want that?
yay the dom is back
Damn it The Dom, you sexy beast, i wish my literature classes were as fun as your reviews 😭
"Did I help you save Mars?" One day, I'm going to write a version where Lori's a good guy. And if you're gonna tell me that Lori has to be a bad guy, watch the last video.
I thought the theory was that the Recall session went wrong and fried his brain like his friend warned and the dream he experiences is kinda like the end of Brazil with it being a near-death hallucination.
Mention of a Total Recall sequel: I've heard the adaptation of Minority Report was originally going to be that, with the three psychics being Martian mutants. I believe it was going to be set on Mars with Quaid as the Future Crime agent, but it for sure.
"However, he underestimates the sheer power of austrian biceps [...]"
Dom mentioned my country positively in a sentence I'm a happy potato tHANKS
It's not that it's a vacuum. It's that it's at such a lower pressure than the inside of the building (presumably simulating Earth's surface so ~100x the surface pressure of Mars) that you still get explosive decompression anyway.
The physics actually holds up pretty well.
My interpretation of the ending is this:
It is not what he paid for, it is like the salesman guy told him, he is trapped in an illusion.
He even says, "One moment you will be the savior of the rebel cause, and the next thing you know you'll be Cohagen's bosom buddy. You'll even have fantasies about alien civilizations, as you requested, but back on Earth you'll be lobotomized."
OMG when did sir Pratchett said it? It's an awesome quote!
I'm not sure how to explain this but this movie is, at the same time as brainless as you say and yet... surprisingly smart in its twists and turns. I specially love the "maybe true, maybe implanted memory" ending.
Good review, but that argument for why the events would not be real is just bad. Yes, nobody would pay for that sort of an experience, but that makes perfect sense because the events in that scenario what the movie is actually about is the process going wrong, it is not what Doug payed for and instead he is experiencing a mental breakdown after which his brain is fried at the end of the movie.
Of course there's the possibility he wasn't lying about the recall machine fucking up Arnie's brain and the white light at the end is him having a stroke and dying
I have to say, purple is a REALLY good color on you Dom!
That was a really good impersonation of Arnold. Most people go for over top, dumb, and an incomprehensible accent.
Watching this 3 years after the last time I saw it. Dom never considered that the Recall service had gone badly wrong, permanently mangling Quaid's psyche like the guy they were talking about on the construction site (which might be the real Quaid, who doesn't look like an Austrian bodybuilder)
They might have changed the name from Quale to Quaid because Dan Quale was the vice president at the time.
I am curious if you have ever considered going in the opposite direction, as this movie was adapted into a novel by Piers Anthony as well.
Actually, it does confirm whether or not it was all in his head. Wait for the cut to credits.
When Quaid shoots the Rekall guy, the walls of his hotel room literally cave in. This is the biggest hint that the guy was telling the truth, and the bead of sweet was because he was the projection of a real guy who was stressed because of the situation he was put in
This is in my top 3 favorite sci-fi films
Not sure if this has been mentioned before but Arnold was literally the last person they wanted to hire for this movie. Before Arnold, actors as diverse as Richard Dreyfus, Patrick Swayze, and William Hurt we're considered for the role.
Also speaking of adaptations and source material. While the first third of the film was based on Dick's short story, the rest of the film from the time Quaid gets to Mars is really more based on the "John Carter of Mars" series by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Loads and loads of fun. I am actually surprised that the whole ”is this actually real, or is it part of the implant fake reality” ambiguity is not from the original. That seems like such a Philip K Dick story premise.
Instead they replaced the telepathy chip. Thanks god for that. Good change.
Mars atmosphere is really thin, but a breached vacuum doesn’t create instant hurricane winds. That trope always annoys me.
However, creating an atmosphere for an entire planet in a minute or less * would* cause wind strengths of geological magnitude. It would look more like a giant explosion and kill everyone and destroy every structure exposed to it. What happens in the film completely breaks any immersion and the only way to make sense of it is that it takes place inside some kind of virtual reality with arbitrary physics. Bad change.
The flaws you point out in the recall theory seems to ignore the fact that if it is "recall" than this experience is a botched job, explaining the horrific experiences. Shooting his wife is obviously wish fulfillment for a guy bored of his married life. Also, he shot her in the head and she seems to just come back with no problem.
If you can find it, you might be somewhat interested in the Canadian/European 1999 TV show "Total Recall 2070" it really has nothing to do with the book or either of the movies but it's a really neat sci-fi android/human buddy cop series that was really ahead of its time.
Point of Order: Quaid did kill his “wife” in cold blood. Both times he sees her she try’s to kill him. The first with a kitchen knife, and the second when she picks up a henchman’s gun and tried to shoot him. Also, an argument can be made that since the “jingle” is heard at the end of the credits, that it was indeed all just a planted adventure.
Even in self-defence, this is going to be awkward to explain / live with.
They probably changed his name because of laughing stock US Vice President at that time "Dan Quayle."
4:52 I'm not a baby, I'm a tumor!
I suggest the name change from Quail to Quaid started merely as a typo that didn’t get noticed until filming had already started and they found no real reason to spend more money to reshoot.
Saying that Verhoven is not true to the source material is like saying that the sky is blue :D Remember, he directed Starship Troopers, where he admits, that he didn't finish the book because he didn't like it. Oh yeah, his reason is "it's a satire".
But I agree with your verdict. It's a fun movie, but don't expect too much from it. But that's why we like most of Arnies action flicks :D
Michael Ironside did not come from space & terrorise this planet in a long run of action-movie adventures to be called "Jeremy Ironsides"!
I have a weird feeling this will deserve a revisit/additional video when Electric Dreams comes out on Amazon Prime.
Brilliant action movie...the good old days!
Brave Little Toaster would make for a great November Nano
The recall package is called Blue Skies over Mars
Mars has atmosphere indeed, but its pressure is extremely weak and explosive decomptession would indeed be a threat for earth-pressure containing areas.
That robot taxi is uber creepy
First movie I ever saw with someone actually getting shot in the head. I was used to people wildly flailing around covered in squibs.
First, he did NOT kill his ex in cold blood, she was trying to kill him as far as he knew!
At the time, people did think that Mars atmosphere was like a vacuum. We now know it to be mountain air thin not vacuum but it wasn't known at the time.
the arnie impression was damn good!
10/10 arnold impression