Is Total Recall (1990) ambiguous?

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clagnaught

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Poll Is Total Recall (1990) ambiguous? (219 votes)

No. I am not confused / I think the plot is pretty straight forward. 55%
Yes. Who was Arnold? Is he trapped in a machine? Was that his vacation? etc. 45%

Alright, so I'm in the middle of the latest Blue Bombin, and I need to check. Do you find the ending to Total Recall ambiguous?

I always thought the plot was pretty straight forward. Yeah, it's a crazy sci-fi movie with action scenes and weird imagery scattered throughout, but the plot always felt like a fish out of water / double agent movie. The movie just peels off the layers the further in you go until the big revelation that Quaid is really Hauser.

However, the most I've heard people talk about Total Recall--besides it being a pretty good action movie--is people like Dan mentioning they were confused about something. This past year, I watched it with my brother, and he also didn't know what to think of the ending. This seemed like a one off thing, but it feels like this is more divisive than I originally thought.

What says y'all?

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thomasnash

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The ambiguity is about whether any of it is real at all. The plot of the film is exactly the same as the scenario Quaid picks out. Later the guy comes along and claims to be a failsafe in the machine for cases where people get trapped in the simulation/start to believe the simulation is real.

It's pretty clearly a deliberate element of ambiguity that's been included, however my general feeling with stuff like that is that if the film doesn't give you any indication one way or the other then you kind of have to just take the most straightforward narrative as "true." I think it's a fun little quirk to throw in but if you accept that as the "truth" of the film then there isn't really a story.

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NTM

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#2  Edited By NTM

It was always straightforward to me. I don't remember exactly when, but I remember this topic coming up and whether it's all a dream or not. When I was younger I never really thought about it, so it was never a dream (he just, somehow, got his ass to mars), and I still see it that way, but the theory behind it being a dream is very compelling and I can see it that way too. It is ambiguous, yes. Paul Verhoeven has gone on to say that it can be either one, basically leaving it up to the viewer. The film works both ways.

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Justin258

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The big question of the movie is "is Quaid still in the machine or is all of this actually happening?"

It's a fun little question to get people to go back and comb the movie for details that might give them a clue either way, but personally I'd rather just take it as straightforward. Otherwise, we have what is essentially an "it's all just a dream" movie.

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nutter

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Ugh...I think both?

It’s a straightforward movie with a purposefully ambiguous ending. Because even the ambiguity is straightforward (I don’t think there’s a ton to interpret), I chose the straightforward option.

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liquiddragon

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All I know is that it's not a very good movie and I don't understand how or why it gets brought up nearly 30 years later.

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BoOzak

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Yeah, the plot isnt complicated but the the ending is ambiguous. You dont have to be confused to think that.

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BoOzak

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handlas

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#8  Edited By handlas

As a kid I always thought it was straightforward. Watching it years later I wasn't sure if it was real or just the simulation thing.

Regardless, I'd rather sit down and watch Running Man.

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bigsocrates

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I don't understand how people can say it's not ambiguous. It's not just the ending; the entire movie plays out exactly as Quaid requests when he goes to Recall. In addition, the stuff that happens is extremely outlandish with ancient alien technology and it turning out that Quaid is this big shot on Mars.

I think people just assume it's all real because it's Ahnuld so of course he's not just a schmo, he's a superhuman superagent, but if you had another actor in the role, like a Bruce Willis or Jeff Fahey type, I think the ambiguity would pop a lot more.

It's a really good movie and a smart script. Back when even action movies could be smart and clever and have big ideas.

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AndyC80

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Paul Verhoven has been pretty clear on this. He was having a bad reaction and the flash at the end of the movie was his mind having an aneurism.

Movie end is ambiguous, but it seems directorial intent is there to be found, if that matters.

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hassun

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It's definitely ambiguous, both in intent and in actuality. That is very easy to prove as well. Just go online and search for "Total Recall ending" and you'll see that it's ambiguous enough to make people spend a lot of time trying to figure it out. People have interviewed Verhoeven about it as well.

To me it feels like there are enough hints in the film to make me think it's all a dream.

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LeStephan

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#12  Edited By LeStephan

I remember the 2nd time watching the movie I thought : why the fuck did I ever think it was a dream the first time? its obviously really happening... Dont remember why though.....that said...Ive only seen the bluray cut, I believe that had added scenes so maybe it changed stuff to be clearer.

Also I think Arnold looks 100% like an average dumbass except for his muscles. Same goes for Bruce Willis. I think the reason theyre so cool is because they do cool stuff while looking like they're possibly the lamest person on earth. I always thought they both have 'dad faces' haha.

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cikame

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No Caption Provided

Replace shoe with memory and princess with secret agent.

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The_Greg

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#14  Edited By The_Greg
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liquiddragon

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@the_greg: I'm pretty sure Crayon Shin Chan is timeless.

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veektarius

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This is kind of the same conversation as Inception, right? My position on Inception was always that while, yes, the facts support two possible endings, only one of them has any kind of narrative merit. The appeal of the "it's all still a dream" ending is in the fact it gives you uncertainty, but digging any deeper, many of the movie's most dramatic moments become pointless.

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Fezrock

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I think either way the movie works, it being a bad reaction at Recall or it all being true. So, much like Inception, it doesn't really matter. Also, much like Inception, anyone convinced they know the answer is wrong.

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jmdoane

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The problem with the ambiguous ending is that "Recall" (the company) only implants memories of your experience. It doesn't play out like a dream or a VR experience, you can just think back and remember it happening. An ambiguous ending would be him sitting at home (or waking up), laughing softly to himself, and saying "Remember that time I went to Mars? Whew! Boy that was crazy huh?". And then maybe winking at the camera. As it is the movie ends with him still very much on Mars, and Mars still has an atmosphere. So it can't just be a "memory".

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RaynorShine

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#19  Edited By RaynorShine

"Huh, blue skies on Mars? That's a new one!"- Total Recall employee reveals the ending the the simulation/movie before it is administered. I always took this as the defining clue that it was all a controlled simulation of an action hero fantasy in Arnold's mind. But it is definitely designed to be ambiguous, this it's just what lets my obsessive mind move on to another topic haha.

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OurSin_360

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It always set it up where it could be either or, and leaves it up to the audience to decide what they believe.

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tankboy

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I watched the blu-ray with the commentary on. After the atmosphere machine is activated and they are looking into the sunset(rise?), the screen fades to white and the credits start. The commentators (90% sure it was Verhoeven) pointed out: a fade to white is a movie trope for dying. (Note: I prefer this interpretation, because it is interesting. If it wasn't a dream it was all just a little too typical.)

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The_Ruiner

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#22  Edited By The_Ruiner

You can completely accept the reality the movie puts forwards as the truth if you like but there are a million clues to hint that it's probably not real. So it's really up to you how much of what you're seeing is reality.

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randombullseye

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There's enough going on that it COULD be that yes, he was indeed a secret agent who saved mars or perhaps just a construction guy with a fake vacation memory inserted into him that somehow botched and the white filling in at the end is his mind blanking completely as the implanted memories end.

I feel the same way about 12 Monkeys. There's a lot there that indicates insanity or time travel, possibly both.