TOTAL RECALL - Quaid was dreaming...

Besides being completely awesome, this film is pretty ambiguous when it comes to whether or not Quaid actually experienced everything after his Rekall visit, or if he dreamt it.

But I recently realized that there are two pretty major giveaways that he was in fact dreaming the entire time.

They both happen as soon as Quaid gets to Mars.

The first is when his disguise malfunctions.

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While it's a cool effect, it's physically impossible for Quaid to be wearing this mask, as the locking mechanism (or whatever the glowing protrusion is) comes out much too far and can be seen deeply embedded inside the mask.  Quaid's head literally could not fit in there.

The second instance is when Richter shoots the glass dome, just after Quaid's mask explodes.  I can't find a screencap of it, but the likelyhood that an advanced, futuristic civilization would neglect to install bullet proof glass domes when there are many guns (and other dangerously heavy objects) present, is so remote as to be completely laughable.  Not only is that completely impractical, it's extremely dangerous and no doubt would be incredibly costly to Mars as a vacation spot.  Who would vacation or move to a place where the only barrier between them and certain death is glass that breaks when fired at?

Not even Cohagen himself would be safe on Mars.

While you could argue that these instances are part of the batshit insane aesthetic Verhoeven infused into the film, they are not consistent with events that came before, when Quaid was awake.  Such as the X-ray scanning machine in Quaid's colony on earth.  That shows signs of a civilization that is overly cautious, not one that is negligent enough to overlook bullet proof glass on an oxygen-less planet.  Along with the impossible mask, that batshit aesthetic does more to reinforce the fact that it really is all a dream, rather it being some heightened reality...the heightened reality is more likely a dream state.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Harford 

I've I always assumed the locking device on the head disguise was just cool special effects design that wasn't overly concerned with logic.

That's exactly what a dream entails.  It's part of the heightened reality aesthetic I mentioned.  It's safe to argue that it's not overly concerned with logic because it's all just a dream anyway.  For instance, Robocop also has some insane shit in it, but it's all completely logical in design.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Johnny Boz 

 

Arnold sees Melina in the Dream at the beginning. (It's real.)

Actually this could support both it being a dream and real.  If everything after Rekall is a dream, then Quaid is merely dreaming the same Melina he dreamed about before Rekall.  So where did dream Melina originally come from?  In the PDK book, Melina is a Rekall model, so it could explain why she was on the selections screen while Quaid is being asked which woman he'd like.  And Quaid could've seen Melina the model in his everyday life on a billboard or an advertisement, and dreamed about the same girl in first scene of the movie.

This is actually fairly ambiguous and could support either theory.  Their looks are not necessarily because they work for Cohagen.  Quaid's construction buddy showed he was concerned about Quaid going to Rekall because of his buddy's near lobotomy...that look he gives could be his concern.  Same with Lori...it is established that she is concerned about Quaid's obsession with Mars.  This could be either because she really doesn't want to go there, or she is trying to keep Quaid under the memory cap.

I already responded to the first question above.  The schizoid embolism is part of the dream narrative implanted by Rekall.  He didn't really suffer a schizoid embolism, it's part of his vacation package.  At least that's how I theorize it in line with my two dead giveaways in my first post.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Judas Booth 

Regarding the breakable glass: I always looked at that as evidence that the Mars colony was built on the cheap with zero OSHA oversight. Maximize profits and eliminate 'unnecessary' expenses. That fit in with the Cohaagen business model to me.

By doing that though, they wouldn't really be maximizing profits, because of the risk factor.  One bad experience (like we see in the film), which could easily happen (guns almost always end up being used), would put people off going to Mars and supporting that economy.  Melina says that Cohagen "built cheap domes", but it doesn't make any sense since Cohagen himself lives in the colony.  He'd be risking his own life.  The breakable dome is just the sort of stupid thing that happens in dreams and not reality, with with the later Melina quote being Quaid's subconscious trying to rationalize the stupidity.  

Quote:

Originally Posted by skierpete 

 

The truth - there's no right answer because it was designed for there to be no right answer. The "huh, blue skies on Mars" line at Rekall is an example of this. Put in the movie to leave ambiguity of was it all in his head or did it really happen?  

While I agree it's safe to offer up any explanation you want, the blue sky on mars is not ambiguous.  In actuality it's the biggest clue that Quaid dreams everything after Rekall.