‘Total challenge’ It was one of the most iconic films of Arnold Schwarzenegger from the early 90s. This feature film action and Science fiction directed by Paul Verhoeven he proposed to us quite an interesting enigmagiven that He played with the ambiguity of his argument and ultimately It is the viewer who must decide for himself whether the events have been a dream or whether they have really taken place on tape. Did Quaid go to Mars, or was it all part of his memories implanted at the Rekall clinic?
The ambiguous ending of ‘Desafío Total’ with Arnold Schwarzenegger: was it a dream or was it real?
Broadly speaking, ‘Desafío Total’ tells us the story of a worker named Douglas Quaid (Schwarzenegger), who He is tired of his monotonous life in the year 2084.. One of his greatest aspirations is to take a trip to Marssince in this hypothetical future space exploration is quite advanced and several colonies and settlements have been established on the red planet.
But how the cost of these sidereal vacations is very highinstead He decides to go to a clinic called Rekall where the memories of said trip can be implanted for a significantly lower cost.so as far as he is concerned, it is as if he had had said vacation.
As A normal vacation is not enough for Quaid, He decides to have memories implanted in him in which he is a secret agent. In the middle of the intervention, Quaid himself escapes from Rekall’s staff, already thinking that he is a secret agent. who has been set up. clinic workers They decide to eliminate all traces of Quaid’s presence in their establishment and abandon him in a taxi..
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After evading several assassination attempts and following mysterious clues he left himself on video, Quaid ends up reaching Marswhere Vilos Cohaagen rules with an iron fist controlling aspects such as oxygen supply. Here meets Melina, the mysterious woman of his dreams.
At his hotel, Quaid he is ambushed by his alleged wife Lori (Sharon Stone) and Dr. Edgemar of Rekallwho They tell him that he is actually still at the Rekall clinic and that he is trapped in a fantasy. But Quaid notices that the doctor is nervous and sweating, and decides to kill him.deducing that everything is real.
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Subsequently, Quaid contacts the resistance that opposes Cohaagen’s oppressive rule and meet your leader, Kuatoa mutant with psychic powers.
After reading Quaid’s mind, Kuato reveals that Cohaagen hides a reactor of alien origin that can create a breathable atmosphere on Marsbut he does not activate it because it would end his monopoly on oxygen.
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One of the rebels turns out to be an undercover Cohaagen agent, and his actions lead to almost the entire resistance being crushed and Kuato killed. When Quaid is brought before Cohaagenthis He reveals that he is actually Carl Hauser.a close friend of the ruler of Mars who He agreed to become Quaid by erasing his memories and implanting false ones as a very elaborate ploy to find the rebel base and eliminate Kuato., Their leader. This It was a necessary step to bypass mind reading powers of the mutant.
In other words: Douglas Quaid does not exist as such, he is a fabricated identity with the sole purpose of infiltrating an agent among the resistance to find their leader and kill him, and the plan goes well.
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After escaping his captors and surviving several more shootouts, Quaid manages to reach the reactorwhere Cohaagen implores you not to activate it, because the planet will be destroyed. When Cohaagen attempts to sabotage the main control with an explosive, Quaid throws him into a nearby tunnel, causing them to decompress and be sucked to the surface of Mars, but the hero manages to activate the reactor before being expelled. Cohaagen dies due to lack of oxygen, but Quaid survives to the limit because when the reactor is activated, a breathable atmosphere is created throughout the planet.
After contemplating the blue sky of Mars, Quaid wonders if it was all a dreamand there is a fade to white at the end.
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Although this film was based on a short story by Philip K. Dick, Paul Verhoevenits director, requested several rewrites of the script so that the story “worked” whether it was understood as a dream or whether the events depicted actually took place., deliberately playing with ambiguity of many plot elements. In the movie itself There is nothing to suggest that the plot clearly leans towards either of the two possible “routes.”.
The main people involved in the projectwhich are director Paul Verhoeven and his protagonist Arnold Schwarzenegger They also have opposing opinions in this matter. In the director’s comments added to different domestic editions of the film, both have given their contradictory points of view: Verhoeven thinks the events happen in Quaid’s head.while Schwarzenegger believes that everything that happens in the film is real.
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The film’s own soundtrackcomposed by Jerry Goldsmith, He also clearly leans towards the dream theory. In fact, its main themeused on countless occasions in the previews of football matches on the now defunct Canal+, It’s called ‘The Dream’‘The dream’.
It’s not the only track on the soundtrack that suggests this theory; another song from the movie is called ‘The End of a Dream’‘The End of a Dream’.
Putting all this data on the table, The final answer to whether the story of ‘Desafío Total’ was a dream or real the thing is was intentionally ambiguousbut the balance leans more towards the side that it was a dream.
What was ‘Desafío Total’ about? Was it a good movie?
‘Desafío Total’ (original title: ‘Total Recall’) was an action and science fiction film released in 1990 and directed by Paul Verhoeven. It was partially based on the short story by Philip K. Dick called ‘We Can Remember It All for You’ 1966. At the end of the 21st century, Douglas Quaid (Schwarzenegger) is a construction worker bored with his monotonous life who dreams of going to Mars vacation. Since the cost of such a trip is prohibitive, He decides to go to a clinic where he is implanted with false memories of this “getaway.”since it is more affordable, but decides to add as “extras” the memories of a supposed life as a super spy unraveling a conspiracy. But Something seems to go wrong during the intervention and Quaid must flee from government agents who want to kill him. at all costs.
This tape It was a box office success.; managed to raise 261 million dollars starting from an estimated budget of between 48 and 80 million. Furthermore, he received mostly positive reviews. On aggregators such as Rotten Tomatoes it has ratings of 82% from critics and 79% from the public and on IMDb it has a score of 7.5/10. These scores place it in the top 10 of the best films by the Austrian-born actor. One of its strong points is precisely its deliberate ambiguity.that During all these years it has given rise to numerous theories and essays.
The failed remake from ‘Desafío Total’ with Colin Farrell
In 2012, a remake starring Colin FarrellKate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel and Bryan Cranston and directed by Len Wiseman. Unfortunately, This film had a mixed to negative reception. mainly due to the multitude of modified elements with respect to the original, such as the fact that the plot took place entirely on Earth where the only habitable areas are Australia and Great Britain, interconnected by an “elevator” that crosses the planet.
On Rotten Tomatoes it has scores of 31% from critics and 47% from the public, and on IMDb it has a score of 6.2/10. Both Verhoeven and Schwarzenegger even stated at the time that they thought that remaking the 1990 film was “something stupid and unnecessary”and time proved them right.
‘Total Recall’ (2012) was also a box office failure, since it raised $211 million worldwide with a budget of $125 million. As The collection is a raw figure, the net benefits are much smaller by having to deduct amounts in various concepts such as the percentage that the movie theaters took or the taxes declared.
