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Total Recall (1990)
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This week on the Everything Actioncast, Zach and Chris get their asses to Mars and discuss 1990's Total Recall, which just turned 35.
Directed by Paul Verhoeven and based on the Philip K. Dick short story "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale", Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as Douglas Quaid, a construction worker who visits a company called Rekall, who can implant memories into clients minds. Wanting a Martian spy adventure due to his constant dreams of Mars, the process unlocks Quaid's actual memories and he's forced to go on the run when people like his wife Lori (Sharon Stone) start trying to kill him and he makes his way to the actual Mars to figure out what is going on. Zach and Chris discuss the ridiculously over-the-top violence, the many quotable lines and memorable Arnold expressions, the fantastic practical effects, why Mars would advertise their seedy red light district in commercials, the classic "is it real or a dream?" debate, and more.
You can watch Total Recall on Paramount+, Fubo, Philo, or MGM+. Next week, we enter the African jungle and dive into Congo, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary.
We want to hear your comments and feedback. Send them all to contact@everythingaction.com. Also, let us know your suggestions for movies for us to discuss.
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Transcript
Introduction to Everything Action Cast
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Everything Action Cast, the official podcast of EverythingAction.com.
00:00:18
Speaker
Hello, and welcome to the Everything Action Cast, the podcast week of June 2nd, 2025. I'm your host, Zach. I'm your co-host, Chris.
35th Anniversary of 'Total Recall'
00:00:26
Speaker
And this week we are getting our asses to Mars and talking about Total Recall, which is celebrating its 35th anniversary. came out on June 1st, 1990. And one of the all-time greats, I mean, one of the best Arnold movies of all time, one the best, you know, I mean, technically it's a 90s movie, but I mean, in spirit it's an 80s movie.
00:00:46
Speaker
So it's like one of the best 80s action movies. I make that mistake, too. I always feel like this was, like, 88 or something. Yeah. Because of the tone. But you find out it's, like, just at the start of the ninety s and you're like, what?
00:00:58
Speaker
I mean, the 90s technically didn't really start until, like, 93, 94, like, a couple years into the 90s.
80s to 90s Cultural Transition
00:01:04
Speaker
Like, those first couple of years of the 90s were still, like, the 80s. Yeah. Basically, apoculture-wise. Like, Reagan's and stuff. Like, me like but ah right was Ronald Reagan still president?
00:01:13
Speaker
No, I think it was... Were we into Bush? Which one? I forget. think this is the I think you're right. This is like the last year last two years of Bush before Clinton.
00:01:26
Speaker
Clinton was like the rocking 90s. Yeah, mean but it's like you know hair metal was still playing on the radio. The last dregs of it until Grunge destroyed everything. Grunge started, that was kind of like... That the Whatever year it was. 93, 94. 92. Yeah. Yeah.
00:01:38
Speaker
that that was ninety whatever your debt was three eighty four ninety yeah I think you're right. like It takes like at least two years to figure out the tone of the whole decade.
Paul Verhoeven's Trilogy Discussion
00:01:52
Speaker
But yeah, Total Recall like tonally straight up just like an 80s action movie. and And essentially also like RoboCop because it's Paul Verhoeven. So it's the exact same tone and crazy over-the-top violence and satire as RoboCop.
00:02:11
Speaker
If you told me this took place in the same Robocop universe, like like if you like it it's the future of the Robocop universe? Yeah, this is just the continuation. once you Once you develop a Robocop person, this seems very natural of what happens in the world and then how crazy like society moves on.
00:02:33
Speaker
Because total Total Recall is 2084 is the year it takes place. think Robocop is what, like the It's just like the current time. Near future. I don't think they ever really say what the year it is in RoboCop.
Adaptation of Philip K. Dick's Works
00:02:45
Speaker
Really? Yeah, I feel like i feel like um this, so Total Recall, RoboCop, and Starship Troopers are like the holy trinity of like Paul Verhoeven action movies.
00:03:00
Speaker
Like, all and i'll yeah all, like, ultra-violent, satire, like, just, like, super, like, excessive in every way.
00:03:12
Speaker
yeah it definitely is just, like, if you had to describe, like, his, like, tonal, like, movies. You see these three movies and you totally get him as a director.
00:03:23
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:03:27
Speaker
And definitely, ah but I'm assuming a big departure from the original Philip K. Dick short story. ah We can remember it for wholesale.
00:03:37
Speaker
Which i don't think I don't think even goes to Mars. I think it just all it' all takes place on Earth. But I think the character Douglas Quayle in that story ah did did go to Mars, but everything all the action takes place on Earth still.
00:03:52
Speaker
And it's like weird. it's like weird like He has like a telepathic link with like the people chasing him so they can talk like in in their minds, so they can talk to each other. and there's rota aliens that are going to invade Earth.
00:04:04
Speaker
I think it's also like closer... It was like a lot of Philip Dick novels aren't related, but I also feel like some of them are in this universe because it was also like Blade Runner-ish.
00:04:18
Speaker
Yeah. Do Androids Dreamer Electric Sheep? It's like, you know, is.
Implanted Memories and Reality Questioned
00:04:24
Speaker
lot of the stories kind of like they'll take the like basic premise or like a couple ideas from them and then just turn them into like you know big blockbuster action movies or something completely different from what the actual short story was.
00:04:36
Speaker
Yeah, the source material just sort of like doesn't matter at that point. It's just sort of like cool, cool like elements. But let's like just abstract the fuck out of it. Yeah, there's a cool idea where you can implant memories and then we'll let's just play that. Let's like expand that.
00:04:53
Speaker
But also make it like a crazy or old Schwarzenegger movie. yeah Yeah, I could see like if Philip Dick was still alive and saw that. He's like, that's not what I wrote Dennis Quaid to be.
00:05:03
Speaker
Just like Arnold. like douglas douglas Doug Quaid? Yeah. i think I think he was still alive. Was he? They were working on the script in 1982 they finished the script and they showed it to him he was like, that's mean, I don't think he cared that it wasn't a full adaptation.
00:05:20
Speaker
No. I feel like he's like, hey, this is my writing. It wasn't wasn't so much as As a writer, he probably was just like, hey, that is not what I wrote.
00:05:31
Speaker
You're destroying my thing. I think he understood the difference.
00:05:36
Speaker
That's good. That's what I'm assuming. You look at Philip Dick's past, it's like crazy how many stories he wrote in sci-fi elements. And how many got turned into movies and TV shows and everything else?
00:05:48
Speaker
No, no, no. Philip K. Dick passed away in 1982. eighty two But like like so many of his stories got turned into like other media. Right, right. But I'm saying but he didn't see Total Reef. Oh, no, he did it, no. I'm oh, no, he passed away pretty young.
00:06:03
Speaker
You think he's going to be like an old man. 53, which is way too soon. and Yeah, yeah it's like, I need to see the original because I feel like a lot of those things where... Well, I mean, it's so there's no original. It's just you got read the original story.
00:06:24
Speaker
Right, right. i got to read the original see the original, read the original, you same thing. Yeah. Where he, it's like that version where it's like a guy, he's like running. I think also, wasn't that the same premise as like running man?
00:06:37
Speaker
that another film? That was a, that was a Stephen King. wow. Which the new, the new movie, like the Edgar Wright, Glenn Powell movie is going to be closer to the actual, uh, Stephen King running man where it's like, that's like, you that was like, they're like, like the, like the ah field, like the play field is like terror country. You can like, or I think you can go where anywhere you are in the world.
00:06:56
Speaker
in the original running man novel and then the hunters just chase you like across the the world it is interesting think that arnold has been in like at least two literary no three literary movies like conan running man yep total recall feel like there's one or two more but that's still pretty impressive yeah you just like got sci-fi yeah
00:07:25
Speaker
just imagine him just like sitting like standing near a fireplace just reading all these sci-fi books, just like, yes, I would be in this one. This is a good one. i wonder if there's some alternate universe where he turned down the Matrix.
00:07:37
Speaker
I feel like like every person in Hollywood like turned down the Matrix. There's like so many Matrix people that could have been in the Matrix stories.
00:07:45
Speaker
Yeah, but I just think it's funny to see Arnold seeing that going like, cool, he enters a real space, and then he gets a gun, and then it's like, oh, okay. I mean, Total Recall sort of Matrix-y, where it's like, you know what is real, what is reality?
00:07:59
Speaker
You go into a weird machine. There's only one scene in this whole movie that plays around with memory. With the red pill? yeah Yeah. It... After that, it's like not a mind fuck of a scene. Or or or like a you question the dreamlike of it.
00:08:19
Speaker
You know, in a modern movie, it would be something like Vanilla Sky-esque, where there's like a pause and whatever, and then there would be a whole philosophy about the choice and all that.
00:08:31
Speaker
This movie moves real quick, where it has no time to like philosophize on that. I mean, there there there is hints throughout the... extract like Like you said, in the first half, until we get that like that Dr. Edgemar scene.
00:08:42
Speaker
But like yeah there' just kind of like there's hints either way of... it could be like is It's fake, it's real. What is it? Oh yeah, you want you want to explain that? So... well so i mean the but The big thing is... The the question is... when he When he goes to Recall and gets and mean and he wants to have like the secret agent ah memories implanted him...
00:09:05
Speaker
when when when it when it goes haywire, is that part of the secret agent program? Or is it real and they unlock sexual memories that and then everything else in the movie is real?
00:09:19
Speaker
So, I mean, i I've watched this movie at least four or different times in the last few years. just It's something on TV. Like, it was just always on TV growing up. It was on TBS lot.
00:09:31
Speaker
Yeah. Highly edited, I'm sure. Very edited. Every time. We all know why. Yep. But, yeah, like, as a kid, it just what flew over my head of, like, the idea of the recall, like, being fake.
00:09:48
Speaker
Like, you're in the recall. I always thought it was just straight up, like, he just, like, stumbled upon this reality. He turned out to be secret agent. But,
00:10:00
Speaker
It's like, this movie is a little more clever because you can still see that, like, is the, is what he experienced at what point was the shift, you know? Like, when did he get incepted?
00:10:12
Speaker
And now you're stuck in this. I guess also, this was, like, the inception of the 90s. If, like, like, is it all a dream? Was it real? You know, like.
00:10:24
Speaker
and yeah like I feel like I found that out later in life, and I was like, whoa. And now I can't not look at this movie this way. Yeah, because, like, ah the recall salesman, the Bob McClane, he describes, like, when he's pitching like the Secret Agent approach like storyline, he's it's basically the entire plot of the rest of the movie.
00:10:46
Speaker
It's, like, ah very accurate. Yeah, and then you see, like, like he's showing like images of, like, It's like, here's our new like ah alien ancient alien artifacts that you can find. And then it's it's exactly how it looks in like the end of the movie.
00:10:59
Speaker
And then there's when Arnold's asking, like ah they did they put in a ah ah a female character in his in his ah ah spy storyline. it's he's He's describing her, and then it becomes Melina, who's like the the character that shows up later on.
00:11:16
Speaker
But he's only seen her in like his dreams before that point. So like if the recall has an image of her, then where'd they get the image from? i mean, they could also be scanning his brain to build it.
00:11:30
Speaker
I also feel like the recall machine is sophisticated enough to look at your memories in order to replace them and then also like build it to be more realistic.
Mars and Corporate Control
00:11:43
Speaker
Okay, here's another thing. I don't know how the recall... The recall machine just implants a past memory so you feel like you went there without actually doing it, right? Yes. Yep. But it doesn't say that like you get to relive the memory again.
00:11:57
Speaker
Well... ah yout You know how memories sometimes fade and you don't quite remember, but you remember just the highlights? Yeah. So you mean to tell me he remembered getting kicked in the dick like three times? Yeah. i love I love that this Sharon Stone's go-to move is just punching him the dick.
00:12:13
Speaker
You know what I mean? like It just seems a weird thing to have. I don't see James Bond movies. you know like and i don't I don't know if there's a scene in James Bond where gets his dick punched a lot. yeah Yeah. His his crotch gets pounded in this movie.
00:12:27
Speaker
That's Arnold's like dream. like Yeah, that's one of my fantasies. It results in like some great... This movie has some of the best Arnold faces and Arnold grunting... Like where he punched the dick. He's like, Oh, la I thought you remember in the early days of the internet where had like the Arnold soundboard.
00:12:47
Speaker
Yeah. I think it's like total recall and like um kindergarten cop. Like it's mostly all those like quotes and sound effects coming. Oh, this, I mean, I would argue this is like, if this is, is it the most quotable our movie? It's probably like, top it's definitely top three.
00:13:03
Speaker
Like, so many, like, so many, like, faint, like, like, banger quotes from Arnold in this movie. Like, you know obviously, get your ass to bars. There's, uh, I mean, you so even, like, online just, like, bullshit.
00:13:17
Speaker
Or, like, hey, stop bullshit-ing me. Or, consider consider that a divorce. Mine is, uh, just like, oh, what are you feeding this thing? He says, blondes. See you at the party, Richter.
00:13:30
Speaker
You know what's funny? I forgot where that context was. I was schoombed that was just his own thing. I didn't realize Richter says that to him. because it's it's sos It's such a tossed off line of Koehgan like, hey, I'm having party later. Goodbye.
00:13:44
Speaker
Yeah. that That's why I was like, oh, ah wow, that's where it comes from. Because if you don't see that scene a lot, like I've seen more of the scene with the party Richter scene to the point where I thought that was his own quirk.
00:13:56
Speaker
I forgot that Richter mentions it. That's the callback. yeah, Kohagen's like, hey, come to come to the party, and then Richter's, yeah, we're just like, yes, I'll see the party, and he punches him.
00:14:07
Speaker
So, totally forget that that's the, like, he remembered that.
00:14:14
Speaker
and this This movie also start like starts off with the crazy Arnold having a dream about Mars, and he then he falls off a cliff, smashes his face against a rock, and then he you get the crazy um him like decompressing because there's no atmosphere, and you get like the like... Arnold's eyes are bulging.
00:14:34
Speaker
Horrified to me as a kid. I love that Paul Verhoeven is within like the first minis, just like, here you go, nightmare fuel. Yeah. ah Also out of context, too.
00:14:45
Speaker
You don't know really what's going on. You're just thinking this is the beginning of the movie. Oh, we were also talking before we started recording, too. so arnold like So Doug Quaid is like, I want to move to Mars. I'm fascinated by Mars. I have these dreams about Mars.
00:14:58
Speaker
But if if if this is the dream he's having, why would you ever want to go to Mars where it's like you're going die by falling off a cliff and then suffering horrific decompression of your face? It's his weird fetish.
00:15:09
Speaker
Yeah. I want to see my eyes bulge. I want to see what it tastes like when you like experience no error
00:15:18
Speaker
It's like he's choked. Yeah. Oh, my God. um So, it's not like he dreamed of Mars where like it's a so it's like beautiful and it's like ah it's like raining. It's like dune. He dreams of the a perfect Arrakis.
00:15:36
Speaker
He literally goes there in a space suit and then through his own clumsiness, like, is perishing. And he's just like, I really want to go and try that. that's We should move there. We should abandon our lives here and go to Mars, where the possibility of us dying horribly exists.
00:15:54
Speaker
Oh, like, your chances go up, like, a lot. It goes from 0% on Earth to like, ninety percent there's also a massive civil war happening on Mars, where like there's a rebel... There's like a resistance movement fighting Cohagen and like the like the Mars government.
00:16:09
Speaker
So it's like, yeah, let's move there. Also, is Cohagen the only corporation in Mars? He... So he... i think he controls like the mining company, because their main export is this mineral called Tiberium, or Tiberium, or something... Turbinium.
00:16:30
Speaker
And there's, I think there's some, like, um news report, kind of, you Paul Verhoeven, like, world-building stuff, where there's, I think Earth is ah is having a civil war, too, because it's like it's, like, the Northern Alliance and, like, the Southern States. don't know if it's, like, the Northern Hemisphere or Southern Hemisphere are, like, fighting each other, but they're, like, exporting out, like, turbinium as, like, a weapon, because they use it for, like many like, manufacturing weapons.
00:16:53
Speaker
So that's, like, that's like is the big, like, where he's making all his money from is, like, the all the turbinium mines. I see, and he's the only manufacturer, so... Yeah, and so it's like the only source they can get is, like, Mars.
00:17:07
Speaker
And then he also obviously controls the air for everybody.
00:17:11
Speaker
yeah I guess this is, like, ah Paul Verhazen's, like, commentary on, like, monopolies and... Corporations, like, controlling too much and colonization and... But, you know what's interesting? Like, in this movie...
00:17:27
Speaker
In previously, know, Robocop, he had a board, there was a whole, like, structure and all that. Not in this one. It's sort of the fantasy if, uh, what's-his-face from Robocop's survive.
00:17:39
Speaker
Yeah, Dick. And then he just went to space. He became the old man. yeah he's the Yeah, he's the old man, yeah. Because this is what he wanted to- Essentially, this is what Dick wanted to do.
00:17:52
Speaker
um and in Detroit. He wanted to control, wanted to build a perfect society that is under his rule, and then he will extinguish anything else that he can't control.
00:18:04
Speaker
And then in and Total Recall, that's what his character basically is. He's like the same character, too. Pretty much, yeah. so with a With a much more convoluted plan.
00:18:17
Speaker
i mean, think about it. He's also got a henchman that is ah doing his dirty work.
00:18:24
Speaker
I think I read Michael Ironside actually ah auditioned to be Boddicker in Robocop. so So he's basically like Clarence Boddicker in this movie.
00:18:34
Speaker
But he's not like on drugs or no crazy sh street crimes. You know what's weird too? Michael Ironside doesn't do a lot of other things. like he He definitely is more menacing. and he's He's great in this, but it's not like he's like killing any other like other targets. It's just like, I just need to hunt down.
00:18:55
Speaker
like Quaid. Well, there's a bunch random people that get put down in the middle of country. There's that one scene where they're chasing one of the many scenes where they're chasing Quaid through I think it's before he leaves for Mars he runs with the escalator on Earth and there's a random guy that's just shot and an artist grabs him. We won't talk about that.
Action and Practical Effects in 'Total Recall'
00:19:15
Speaker
Let's get into that.
00:19:16
Speaker
So at this point in the movie, Quaid figured out, like, okay, his reality isn't true. There's, like, people after him. His wife, his supposed wife, has betrayed him. Yeah. And then he's just running the streets with, I think, like, does he, he already has a gun from his, like, last encounter. Yeah, his is his friend Harry, who I always, I always feel like it's, like, a lost opportunity to have, Danny DeVito be Harry.
00:19:39
Speaker
Just continue, like, that that twins thing.
00:19:43
Speaker
Was that ah about a year before this or after? It was a couple years before this, yeah. and But then and then they they were like in junior in the 90s. But the that the guy who plays here like Harry is like like, it's like, man, that could have been Danny DeVito or possibly Bob Hoskins.
00:20:00
Speaker
he's got that guy That guy actually was the stand-in voice or the like TV show voice for Danny DeVito and Hercules. He does a really good Danny DeVito. I feel like they were going for that. He's working for Quagin. He tries to kill Quaid because you want the recall. You got your memories back and you're going blow everything. So we're killing you.
00:20:21
Speaker
And then he kills all of them in like horrible, brutal fashion. and then yes I'll also mention, like before we get to that, that fight scene is what 90s choreography looked choreograph Yes!
00:20:32
Speaker
Swings and throws and It's almost hard to follow like where everyone is standing. Everyone just seems to be knocked out of frame, so they're just like at least two feet out of distance of like what's happening and next, right?
00:20:46
Speaker
And then it's like, alright, now you fight one guy. Now you fight the other guy. Then you fight the other guy. like it just Everyone takes turns. I really noticed watching this time that there's a lot of like, chops to the face, and then the people in it but then it causes, like, horrible damage. Like, it's like, Arnold will, like, chop someone in the face and their entire, like, face is bleeding. Like, they're, like... It's like... He broke their nose and their jaw and they're like, dead. From, like, one blow. Well, I mean...
00:21:09
Speaker
He looks powerful. He's working construction. It's a great intro. yeah It also reminds me of that scene in Commando where Arnold... He picks the entire tree. Yeah, and now it's like Arnold now using a jackhammer.
00:21:21
Speaker
Yep. Which is funny to think later on that's a callback.
00:21:26
Speaker
So he uses construction skills later. Yeah, like an hour later. ah So, like, yeah yeah, if you think about how nonstop his day is, this movie feels like it takes place in, like, a day.
00:21:40
Speaker
Maybe two. A couple days, yeah. Well, however long it takes to get to Mars, because we were talking we also talking before we started recording, like like, how, like, you can take a shuttle to Mars, but it seems like it's a it's just like the equivalent like a super fast, like, plane ride. It's like, it's not, because, like, are um we saying, like, if you ever went to Mars, it would take, like, months to get there?
00:22:02
Speaker
If you, like, launch the rocket, like, a shuttle today, try to get the bar to Mars, it'd be, like, months or... I think it takes like it takes, like, five days to go to the moon.
00:22:13
Speaker
Yeah. So, you're now telling me that Mars now is, like, way further away. takes, like, a day? like oh yeah It would take between 150 and 300 days to get to Mars. A year.
00:22:31
Speaker
Almost a year. Yeah.
00:22:35
Speaker
But seems like it seems like it took like like overnight, maybe, not even a couple hours. I mean, Richter got there before Arnold. Yes, he did, yeah.
00:22:48
Speaker
and know also And also, like in in order to find out like that um that robot suit, like the robot fat woman suit. No, no, he got that from his friend. The like the in his like is like suitcase full of goodies that he got, like the hologram watch and everything?
00:23:03
Speaker
Yeah.
00:23:06
Speaker
yeah I think that's where he got it from. Which i see I still don't understand like how that suit malfunctioned, because it seems like it should just be like Arnold talking, and then it again comes out with like the woman's voice, whatever he's saying, but it's like it's like pre-programmed with things, apparently. Just two weeks, not that. Two weeks, yeah.
00:23:23
Speaker
Yeah, it's weird, because it's not like someone spilled water on him. It's not like a scene where, from a previous shootout, it's damaged. Yeah. So that suit is just like a 50-50 if it works or not.
00:23:38
Speaker
Or has like a timer on it or it'll expire. Like it only lasts a certain while then like amount of time to like disintegrate and like blow up. Oh, ah well, before we get to that, that's like a different scene.
00:23:49
Speaker
Let's go back to the shootout. yeah If you haven't seen a lot of Paul Verhoeven scenes or movies, the the scene on the escalator is almost as gratuitous as that Robocop.
00:24:01
Speaker
The Ed 209. Ed 209 guns this guy. Is that the same guy? i feel like it'd be funny if it's the same actor. yeah And then it's just like he's known for these roles, whereas he gets blown away.
00:24:13
Speaker
That'd be a great thing, of like every Paul Verhoeven movie, that guy shows up just eviscerated bullets. I mean, that human shield scene is pretty funny. It shouldn't be funny, but it's shot so like comedical for what's happening.
00:24:27
Speaker
Well, it just keeps going. and he's like If it was just like a brief, like, oh, that guy got shot, that's it's weird that's crazy. like That random guy just got like shot with, like, and a bunch of times, but Arnold picks him up and is like waving him around like a shield so that it becomes like over the top and ridiculous and crazy. Yeah, it's disrespectful right to use him as human shield, alright? Then it's like he throws him to us. Yep!
00:24:51
Speaker
He's already already dead.
00:24:54
Speaker
we hope that in the future you can you can come back from that. Maybe.
00:25:00
Speaker
I think it'd be funny to think that like, oh, if we use like the Terranium Or Tiberium. You can bring them back from the dead. It's like that. ah Whatever that stuff is in the.
00:25:12
Speaker
Megalopolis. i think that also That builds buildings and also heals people. also gives you super powers.
00:25:22
Speaker
So yeah. the Later on when Quaid. Also a lot of amazing. Puppeteering and animatronic work. Watching Arnold rip something out of his nose.
00:25:33
Speaker
To this day. Still gives me chills. Yeah, it's it's it's Rob Poutine who did um The Thing and um I think he worked on RoboCop with Paul Verhoeven. That's why he came back over for this one.
00:25:48
Speaker
But yeah, but i but one of the best special effects artists of all time. Where do you think that Arnold head is? I don't know where you can pull out the nose tracker. I feel like there's probably like several oral headaches. There's the one like that it blows up on Mars, or like the decompression ones, and there's like, yeah, the one no where he's like ripping the the ball of his head.
00:26:09
Speaker
there like a Planet Hollywood somewhere?
00:26:14
Speaker
It's in that ah that auction, that like regular intermediatus one where they they they got the the naked Stallone from The Devilish Man.
00:26:22
Speaker
Oh, that's what they unrevealed? Yeah, they I think that was it was a replica of the Planet Hollywood one where it's like there was like a the ice blocks to load. Was it big? It's like life-size. God damn, that's a big thing to have.
00:26:38
Speaker
But the Arnold head, I imagine, like isn't so complicated. It just, like, It'd just be funny to think this face that probably has like a tubing system where you can rip out something from it.
00:26:50
Speaker
And can probably put candy in it.
00:26:55
Speaker
Yeah, get that, like, the protractor, like, whatever that extractor gun is, like, the tool is.
00:27:07
Speaker
Yeah, just the noises that see you, just like the crunching and stuff, it's
Quaid's Identity and Mars Mission
00:27:10
Speaker
just like, oh, man. Yeah.
00:27:13
Speaker
You should imagine, it like, it's so huge coming out of your nose. How did they put it in him? I mean, they had to do, like, brain s surgery or something, right? guess. Like, did they put it in the nose?
00:27:26
Speaker
Or, like, put it put it up his nose, the same way he pulled it out?
00:27:32
Speaker
Yeah, it had to be, like, in his brain, because if it's your nose cavity, your nose cavity can't exactly...
00:27:39
Speaker
And what's what's thats in the yeah ah so what what's nuts is that it so it has this like casing around it, but it's actually like a little like like it's a little like um i like like a a smaller device that would go up foot of your nose more easily than this giant like ball that surrounds it that protects it from something.
00:27:59
Speaker
don't know. because it's like It would be easier if he just put it up his butt, I guess. Or something, yeah. Because like it cause it pops out and the shell like instant instantly falls off. It's just like a normal, like ah smaller like tracking device.
00:28:13
Speaker
Wait, do you think that ball thing was part of the extractor? No, I think because it because it opens up because the extractor is just a claw.
00:28:23
Speaker
Oh. I think that ball was like holding the the tracking device in it to protect it maybe or something.
00:28:32
Speaker
i do like I do love when he throws the tracking device Richter and all these like guys show up and they're like, oh, he's over there! He's over there! He's over over there! Obviously he's not there and they just shoot anyway.
00:28:43
Speaker
Just keep shooting, yeah.
00:28:46
Speaker
Yeah, it's like a classic green squad.
00:28:53
Speaker
And then that's also where you get, like, before that before he pulls that thing out his nose, that's where you get like the classic, like, um, him talking to himself, like he he finds out that his his actual identity is Hauser, who did work for Cohagen, but he defected.
00:29:07
Speaker
But then they found out about it, and they made they turned him into Quaid. So he has to get his ass to Mars.
00:29:15
Speaker
Yeah. i mean He doesn't even tell himself why. just sort of, oh, you used to, but whatever, we'll tell you later. like get Go there, and you'll find out more.
00:29:26
Speaker
and he yeah He doesn't just check into the Hilton using that one identity, and then you'll get you'll get more info when you get there.
00:29:37
Speaker
Which is just like, when he gets there, it's just an ad for the like brothel bar.
00:29:44
Speaker
Yeah, I thought it would be like a little bit more of a spy pack, like a go-bag or something. Like a gun or more gadgets or something. me it just like It's one piece of paper. which though I guess the hotel wouldn't ask questions if ah if he paid enough, but it just like I'm sure there was a poster, like a flyer for a brothel. Alright.
00:30:04
Speaker
So, I'm also assuming... ah Now, knowing we know about the movie... Do you think Cohagen was watching that hotel, like paying for the room or paying for like the service, you know, like making it an obvious trap?
00:30:23
Speaker
Because like, it's not Arnold. Arnold doesn't even go to that hotel. i mean, he doesn't stay. He just like immediately goes to his next thing. I think he i think i think it is like, he gets a room there. So he's staying there.
00:30:34
Speaker
But I don't remember him like having like a credit card or like whatever credits or whatever the future has. Yeah.
00:30:41
Speaker
He just shows us them ideas. It's like, oh, okay, you want the same room as you yeah had before, Mr. or Whatever Your Name Was? Alright, here you go. Yeah. I just feel like there's something missing where there's still like the logistics of how he's able to do all this, but it's like the dream fantasy, which does help support the theory that all this movie is just a recall happening.
00:31:05
Speaker
And it seems the scene that the Doctor takes place in the hotel room, too.
00:31:10
Speaker
so That was... I thought that was just a salesman. He is... and see the i i don't know if he's don't know he's like the founder of Recall. i mean he's He's in the ads.
00:31:22
Speaker
One of the ads that you see for Recall. um But it's weird that they sent like b that guy, like the spokesman, to the Arnold's party. The head of Recall.
00:31:35
Speaker
It seems like an unnecessary thing to do for a guy who's like, I need to make more commercials. I have no time to visit a client and then explain how a recall works. To try to convince him that this this is fake.
00:31:50
Speaker
and But like... i Okay, so in that scene, the guy said, like, even if you kill me, like, it doesn't matter you're stuck in here, so you at least take the pill, like, you could leave.
00:32:05
Speaker
Do the pill was like a poison pill to kill him or was it like a tranquilizer and then they would like throw him back in like the recall machine or do whatever they were trying to do with him? Well, see, at that point, Hauser still didn't complete his mission.
00:32:18
Speaker
Yes. Okay, so you want to spoil it because we're getting to the point where... ah People have seen this movie. Yeah, I mean, is this technically the ten second act still?
00:32:29
Speaker
It's like halfway through. Alright, well, so then You find out through, like, later on that this is, like, a plot within a plot. And that Hauser has been working with Cohagen to infiltrate the mutant group.
00:32:45
Speaker
Yeah. For whatever reason, instead of allowing that lie to continue, Hauser gets recalled to become Douglas Quaid.
00:32:58
Speaker
So he can... I think i think there there's there are explanations that because Quato and all the mutants are telepathic, they needed him to be... like They couldn't just send Houser because they'd his mind and be like, oh, he's trying to here to kill us.
00:33:11
Speaker
They needed a fresh quaid identity to be like, I'm i'm on your side, i don't know what's going on, but I'll help you. And then they would get him close to Quato and then they would like you know burst in and destroy the resistance.
00:33:27
Speaker
Okay, but does that mean that Arnold never... How did Arnold meet Melinda? And then just sort of like, oh, I'm in the Resistance. And he's like, okay, cool. and Time to get recalled so that I can meet Quato.
00:33:38
Speaker
Is that what happened? It's weird because Hauser meets Melinda and then is like, I love you. I'm going to defect from Cohagen. But then that was fake because they wanted to do like the Quade mission?
00:33:52
Speaker
like Like the Quade plan?
00:33:57
Speaker
So instead of like, okay, hey, we could just kidnap Mileena and just like brainwash her, like recall her, and then send her in as the mole.
00:34:09
Speaker
Yeah, because it's either Hauser actually did the fact, he found like the air machine, but like the atmosphere machine, but then got captured by Kohagen and they turned him into Quaid to like so keep that secret.
00:34:24
Speaker
Or, it's this yeah, its it's this whole crazy elaborate plan to like to have but be like a double secret agent, have Quaid turn into Quaid, but then actually it' it's Hauser's plan all along to like infiltrate and kill the Quato and the Resistance.
00:34:44
Speaker
See, I propose a third theory where, and it makes more sense because it's, here's why. So the third theory Is that.
00:34:56
Speaker
Hauser is another personality. To the agent. Whoever like he was. That worked for Coyagan. And then was like hey. Let me be Hauser to set this plot up.
00:35:09
Speaker
And then you brainwash me again. and then. Or it's like he was a regular guy. Who did this plan. And then was Hauser. order to get close. Or like Hauser isn't like the. Sorry I'm sorry I'm like confusing myself now. um I'm going to keep talking about it.
00:35:24
Speaker
He was a regular employee that was not Hauser. Yeah. Finds this out, gets total recall, becomes Hauser. Hauser is the, like, oh, we should do this thing where, like, you trick me to, like, fulfill the plan so that, like, we can do this.
00:35:42
Speaker
And then that's why that lie happens. And then... Quaid gets into this and then it's like, oh, haha, we tricked you. like You were always like a bad guy. But then it's like, were you always a bad guy? Or were you already recalled to be a bad guy in that version?
00:36:00
Speaker
Because just how in this version he's a good guy, his like nature wouldn't be bad guy. It's supposed to prove that like somewhere along the line his brain is like, hey, like his personality is like, I shouldn't be doing this.
00:36:13
Speaker
yeah So, it's weird that his previous personality was evil. like a corporate yeah Like a corporate asshole, because he has like a ah big house and a Mercedes, and he's BFFs with Cohagen.
00:36:28
Speaker
On Mars, like driving a Mercedes? On Mars, yeah. Where are you driving a Mercedes on Mars?
Society and Economy on Mars
00:36:35
Speaker
Is there a whole section of Mars we just don't see in the movie? that like We only see like the one city, but it's like it gets bigger from like another angle.
00:36:43
Speaker
Yeah, because it's it's very narrow streets on Mars where it's like it's like basically like go-karts driving around. like Johnny Cabs and these little other cars driving around. Well, maybe he's on Earth. He just doesn't care what's going on here.
00:36:57
Speaker
which We haven't mentioned Johnny Cab yet, but Johnny Cab is crazy. Just the look of that character. The look of the hat. It's like Uncanny Valley. Uncanny Valley, Johnny Cab.
00:37:09
Speaker
Why does the Johnny Cab try to kill Quaid? That is weird. Yeah, because it seems like that's like some sort of like programming where if you like stiff the fare, it tries to kill you. Because he gets out, gets out he's like, I forget what he says or if he says anything, but it's like, I'm not paying you or like, fuck off or something. And then the thing I'm just ahhh! And he drives him and tries to blow him up.
00:37:35
Speaker
It seemed like a bad business decision for a car like that.
00:37:40
Speaker
If I can't get my $20, I'll blow up this whole thing, costing it more money. who And if it's like an automated taxi, why does it have like a joystick to drive? Because the giant cab doesn't have any arms.
00:37:54
Speaker
and I guess it also has a foot pedal, because yeah you you need to also take over the car to then press it to go. It's a weird design. yeah all the all the All the vehicles that are in in this movie seem like so tiny.
00:38:09
Speaker
So cramped tiny. um they don't look like they can take corners. You take a sharp corner, your car is like turning over. It's like, what's up above? you Do you remember Space Mutiny? Did you ever see that, Chris? They had like those go-karts in that movie.
00:38:26
Speaker
The big like Chase was like these like little like tiny space go-karts. These are one step up above those. where it's like There's actually like interior, but they're still pretty small. Yeah, you you basically, if you lean too heavy to one side, you tip the thing.
00:38:40
Speaker
Yeah.
00:38:43
Speaker
But also there's giant, like, drilling mining machines. Which is great, because later on when you see, like, the drill machine, it looks like something out of, like, like a space marine, or, like, something out of, like, a heavy sci-fi, like, alien movie.
00:39:00
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. we'll get into that as soon as we talk about our other favorite character, Benny. Oh, Benny!
00:39:12
Speaker
I got five kids to feed, man! So, Benny is a mutant who is like apparently another double agent. And would be funny if Benny's also recalled.
00:39:25
Speaker
Oh my god, that's crazy. like He actually was like an innocent cabbie, and then he gets recalled, so then like he doesn't know he's an actual father whatever. Regardless, he's still a mutant.
00:39:37
Speaker
But his mutant ability is weirder than... like there's Okay, so before we get to that, the mutants in movie, they vary in like things, and they're all like lame X-Men. They're like the Morlocks.
00:39:51
Speaker
Yeah, but, like, we we talked about this before, about how, like, they are rebelling because they know something's not right with the air and the radiation. That's what's causing more mutants.
00:40:02
Speaker
But the corporation, i guess, doesn't care, because it's like, oh, it only happened to, like, eight of or whatever. You know, it's like something where, like, nah, it's not a problem. You just live in bad district. Yeah, it's the slums area. We don't care.
00:40:14
Speaker
ah you just keep mutating. It's like, yeah, eventually they're, like, and they're, like, reproducing other mutants, so... Eventually you're going to have to deal with these people who now live here and like are populating the planet.
00:40:26
Speaker
But there also are just like normal people living there too. Yeah, but what are they doing that's different from the mutants? They're more mutants than radiation? They're wearing protective gear, you know? They're wearing sunscreen. like Melina wears like 1000.
00:40:41
Speaker
s spf for a thousand Yeah, almost everyone in that bar has a little bit of a mutation going on, except, like, her. Her thing is just, like... And, like, the bar the bartender doesn't have, like, a... He's like mut is not a mutant.
00:40:53
Speaker
No, he's not. But I'm surprised the girl the three breasts is not, like, the most in-demand, like, worker there.
00:41:06
Speaker
But, yeah, like, Benny's there, and it just seems like he's never been there before, because when they recognize him or not recognize him... yeah I feel like that bar is very like, hey, we know everyone here. It's like a local bar.
00:41:18
Speaker
That's like the place to go if you're if you want like a sleazy Mars vacation.
00:41:25
Speaker
but's like That's a popular program. But it's like right next to a sharper image in a Jack in the Box. You know, these days, a Jack in the Box is not always in a rough neighborhood.
00:41:36
Speaker
But, I mean, that area of Mars looked rough. Jack in the Box and Mars has to cost like so much more than on Earth. They ship like the burgers and stuff up there. unless they're yeah i mean All the food there has to come from Kohagen.
00:41:53
Speaker
He's the one paying for all that.
00:42:00
Speaker
Or it's like or it's not it's not beef, it's native Mars rats running around. It's like, oh, that's that's what we make meat out of. Yeah, you kind of think be like Demolition Man, more like people.
00:42:16
Speaker
it's more like... See, once you think about the economy, and it's just bizarre for them to treat the workforce like this, and then not expect like a revolution or some other issue.
00:42:27
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Because it's it reminds i mean it's definitely based on like a corporate town. Back when like mining companies used to own like the mine and then the town next to it and then pretty much control the economy. So if they decided, hey, no more bookstores. like You just don't have a bookstore in your town.
00:42:48
Speaker
yeah they They pay you with credits for the store like like the company store you can never pay off your debt. And then you you will only eat like whatever they sell to you. So whatever they say, hi we don't have don't offer this.
00:43:00
Speaker
It's like, okay, I guess you're just eating beans and bread. It was a nightmare to live in a corporate town back in like in America. but let's What's weird is that They advertise Venusville, which is like the like you know the brothel area, the red light district, on the commercial that Quade's watching in the beginning of the movie. where it's like It's like, come visit Mars.
00:43:20
Speaker
yeah a world It's like our galaxy famous v Venusville. Yeah, why they promoting that as like, come check out our sleazy downtown? I know almost every state in America has a rough area, but they don't make ads for it.
00:43:38
Speaker
is it is ah Is it like Amsterdam? or trying to sell it like Oh, it's like the red light district of Mars. Come visit. yet We have three breasted hookers.
00:43:49
Speaker
I wish. You figured that'd be like a thing they would promote in that Paul Verhosen future. But they don't. It's not like that's an ad where it's like featuring crazy anatomy.
00:44:00
Speaker
But like even when I went to Amsterdam, they really downplayed the Red Light District. It's there. they don't They're not going to deny like the history and stuff, but like you don't really see ads for it.
00:44:16
Speaker
And even then, it's like, i don't know. They missed the boat. The internet destroyed that Red Light District. You don't need to there and spend that much money. But but yeah the commercial the commercial and for Mars in this movie, like pro what's like it's like, climb the mountain kind of that mountain, and then also like yeah visit Fenusville.
Recall Technology and Narrative Speculation
00:44:32
Speaker
Take a shuttle, go climb that mountain, and then you sleep with a hooker, a mutant hooker. Yes. That's the fantasy. but Oh, okay. So...
00:44:45
Speaker
Now, this is the another theory that because of, like, he's in a memory, because, like, of what she's doing wrong... Or, like, a a storyline that Recall basically wrote.
00:44:56
Speaker
but it's like it's it's It's their secret agent storyline that he's following. Because the ah there's, like, that counter-commercial against the, like, Recall that's like, hey, instead of, like, Recalling, why not just go there?
00:45:09
Speaker
Yeah, experience the real thing on a shuttle that it apparently takes a day to get to Mars. It like it like goes at light speed. It's like, when you go there, it's like it's actually another recall machine, so you never went, you just recalled again. It's actually a teleporter.
00:45:29
Speaker
and No, no, not a teleporter. It's another machine that makes you believe you flew. Yeah. So it's like... It's like, warning, do not use recall and then this other recall service, but we we legally can't call it a recall.
00:45:43
Speaker
I feel like Kohagin, I think you mentioned you mentioned a little bit ago, like I feel like Kohagin should be using like recall like way more, like or like the memory wipe stuff like a lot more. Way more, right? He should be he should he could wi like wipe out anyone who like questions him or like displeases him. It's like, oh, youre like you failed. like i'm I'm making you like a like good Yeah, a poor person. You're a homeless person Venusville now.
00:46:09
Speaker
See, like, it's a crazy premise that I think, like, is a little underused once you realize the power behind it. And I think the Total Recall TV show sort of, like, played around with that idea, but it has nothing to do whatsoever with this. It's like, was it Total Recall, like, 2070?
00:46:26
Speaker
It was like prequel? Yeah. Yeah. yeah It's about the abuse of, like, recalling and then, like, manipulation. But then it became something completely, like, out of whack and you keep going down the line.
00:46:38
Speaker
It's almost like a totally different show. That's why I think, like, some people don't even consider it, like, anything close to the movie. It just happens to have a recall machine so you can, like, remember things.
00:46:51
Speaker
Or, like, you can examine a case because, like, it's still fresh in your head so, like, you get to relive it. Again, cool premise... It just, like, underutilized in in both mediums.
00:47:03
Speaker
So, in this, it's like, wouldn't it have been cool if you in ah in a thing where, like, you didn't know if even your enemy is your enemy. You think it's your enemy mean because, like, your mind is being manipulated through, like, the machine.
00:47:17
Speaker
So, like, you have false memories. Yeah, would it have been awesome if, Richter was actually, like, a resistance person that got captured and turned into Richter? And then he has to fight his programming. Yeah, like he snaps out of it or at the end or something.
00:47:30
Speaker
I think snapping out of at the end is like kind of a cop out. As he gets his arm ripped off, he's like, oh shit, I remember everything. yeah i said oh my god, we actually were friends.
00:47:42
Speaker
You did have a cool party. Yeah. What did do to Kwato?
00:47:48
Speaker
It wouldn't be so bad, but I feel like it loses the impact of how sinister Richter is. I just feel like if there was yeah another guy... if What if Richter's henchman was actually a really good friend of Quaid?
Modern Parallels and Philosophical Themes
00:48:02
Speaker
Yeah. Because that henchman guy, the one who gets his junk, I think, stabbed by the person. a little Yeah, by Thumbelina, yeah. Which we don't see again. like I don't think we see that guy, and I think we might see Thumbelina again in a shot.
00:48:18
Speaker
they're they're all yeah Yeah, they're all they're all in the at the end. but we we cut back to them because they're at all like you losing their air, so they're all coming like dying slowly from loss of air, but then ah when they restore the atmosphere, they all kind of, like, walk out of like, the the broken window of the bar, and, like, hey, we have air now.
00:48:36
Speaker
one of the other The other guy, Tony, who's, like, the guy with, like, one eye, like, he's got that, like, kind of, like, his face is, like, half pig skin. That's Dean Norris. Yeah, I know. Did not know. It's, like, so weird to think.
00:48:50
Speaker
And doesn't Norris in that one do, like, a cool-ass, like, kick? I think so, yeah. I think he does some cool moves that, like, shoot out at the bar. imagine there's an alternate future where Dean Norris will really got more into martial arts?
00:49:06
Speaker
And then it's like it's weird because Bryan Cranston was the bad guy of the remake.
00:49:11
Speaker
I'll mention in the remake at the end because it's a totally different movie.
00:49:17
Speaker
ah So... Okay, here's my other question about the Mars reactor. I mentioned this before to you, but... The more I think about it, and I looked at my notes, I had to write it up. that like The ancient aliens built this cool reactor and then just didn't turn it on.
00:49:35
Speaker
They just said, eh, we'll leave it. like was the Was they built it because Mars was getting worse or then they didn't turn it on because it was getting better then they just forgot it?
00:49:46
Speaker
That's one of the questions I got. I feel like they built it make it to make it hospitable planet because he has no atmosphere. like The machines designed to make an atmosphere on Mars.
00:49:57
Speaker
But then they just did not turn it off. yeah, something happened to them, I guess. They died or left. Yeah, no idea. But then it's like, how did they then like did the humans make it easy to operate or did the... like Because they just like hit a button and it just turns on. I feel like for a reactor, it should be way more complicated with levers and stuff.
00:50:23
Speaker
It's literally one person just needs to put their hand and she you'll use two hands two fingers for one of the fingers because it's it's like like a four-fingered hand. But you just put your hand in there, it turns on the machine. That's it. There's no there's no like scans. there's yeah There's no dials. There's no buttons. It's just like, put your hand in there, it turns off So like I'm like, did the humans just say, like,
00:50:45
Speaker
ah yeah, we realize how easy it is to turn on? If you don't want it turned on, why don't you just destroy the interface? Yeah. Because, like, Kohagen still wanted to own the... He liked the idea of the mine and the air supply. it was all, like...
00:51:02
Speaker
his control, he charges the people, like, air and the town as attacks and stuff. So, the machine would just definitely destroy the air atmosphere industry, but, like, people still gotta mind that. don't understand why it's not like... People would love O'Hagan if he did that.
00:51:19
Speaker
Yeah. Well, I think he and his scientists believe that it turned out, it's gonna blow up the planet, because it's or it's gonna detonate all the terbinium, and, like, you it's basically a doobesie device. Oh, so it's like, yeah, he, okay, so but he has, like, a legit idea of, like, hey, I don't want to turn it because it might kill us all. I feel like saying that in a report or something is a little like, oh, that makes sense.
00:51:43
Speaker
But he goes about it in, like, such the weirdest way. You know what mean? at least in Robocop, Dick's plan was he wanted to be in charge. But then in this one, he's just like, I'm afraid about destroying the Mars planet if I turn it on.
00:51:58
Speaker
so cause Yeah, because I'll lose all my power and ah money I have. No, I mean, he still can mine stuff. Well, yeah, but don't i don't I don't think he knew i don't think he knew it was atmosphere machine. I think he thought it was like ah like a doomsday nuclear bomb or something that was going to blow up the entire planet. ah Yeah, there's no, like, tax or anything.
00:52:17
Speaker
It's just sort of like... Because at the end, when, like, trying to turn around, he's like, No, you idiot! You're going to kill us all! Like... Yeah, you know what's weird? Like, for a villain's last line, you think it's gonna be like, I'll get you, or like, damn you, or, you know, something kind of sinister. It's not. He's pleading with him. It's like, this is, I think this is a weapon.
00:52:38
Speaker
Yeah. tot yeah You're gonna kill all of us. like Don't do it. you're the In his eyes, Arnold's the madman. Yeah. Okay, if you think about... okay Before we get to that, if you think about the evil plan, or the Kohagen plan, where like him and Hauser came up with this idea to stop the mutants from turning on the reactor that might blow up the world, he just watched his friend, his good friend Hauser, doom the world.
00:53:05
Speaker
setbook like do the world Mm-hmm. So I get why he he's like, oh, please, God, don't do this.
00:53:15
Speaker
I don't know if someone can... I wonder if there's someone else that can make a remake, but they threw it through the view of Cohagen. Like, kind of not, like, not sympathize with him, but, like, kind of make it in a certain way where it totally makes sense.
00:53:29
Speaker
Where, like, you should be worried. Mm-hmm. but like yeah know richter But then they do muscle in, they do kill lot innocent people. like They're charging air to the people they're poisoning. They turn off the air to Vietusville and he's just like, I don't give a shit. Kill them all. like Then you're going to kill your tourism. like They put it on commercials.
00:53:52
Speaker
You know what mean? Like you imagine it was just like like you mentioned Amsterdam. It's like, oh no, they destroyed the Red Light District. It's like, what? It's like, yeah, no... they like they suffocated that town. Like, what?
00:54:06
Speaker
I guess his plan is to kill everyone and sweep everyone away and put new people in there. boy at the he maybe um of But then who would live there? Their radiation's terrible.
00:54:17
Speaker
Yeah, that that too. because he's two He doesn't want to repair like the cheap domes they have.
00:54:25
Speaker
Oh yeah, it's really hard to redeem them if they do it. But
00:54:30
Speaker
Besides that, like he just has like a doomsday weapon that he didn't know. and then I'm surprised he didn't like threaten the Mars colony with that. Oh, yeah. Be like, we found this alien we thing. We don't know what it is. It could be a bomb.
00:54:45
Speaker
sot Don't test me. I'll blow us all up. I'm a mad man. I'll put four of my fingers in this thing. And there's no safeguard. There's no like lock. There's no... It's just an open bowling ball for me to put my fingers
00:55:03
Speaker
yeah we have We haven't mentioned Quato yet. like like His reveal. Okay, let's get into that. Which is we just so good. They've mentioned him for a while. you just it's like Quato lives, I think.
00:55:16
Speaker
He's the leader of the Resistance. one knows who he looks like then its reveal there's like. There's a guy named George who's like running around with Resistance. And then he opens his shirt up and Quato is coming out of his stomach.
00:55:31
Speaker
Now, does Quato live in that guy, or Quato gets to transfer into other people? I always thought like it was weird that George and him are technically brothers.
00:55:42
Speaker
Yeah. and i would like It seems like if quato like she like they like share control of the body, because when Quato's talking, like George kind of like goes limp and is hanging there.
00:55:53
Speaker
they to share like consciousness or something.
00:56:03
Speaker
guess so because then like i mean that funny if like as soon as like quato then goes back inside and george is like all right what did he say yeah he was talking about me it's a very gross out scene quato thing was very unique um and you know they've been parody since then but it's um it's always interesting concept of him because he this is the weird mutation of all the mutations you can get It's like an optional one where... Does Quato then come out of the guy's body? Or it's like there's Quato already in him like that?
00:56:39
Speaker
It seems like he kind of like... He... Can maybe like go in more... Like he can bury himself more in the stomach. So it's not like super noticeable that he's like in... Like he's coming out of George's stomach. Then he wants to emerge. He kind like pushes himself out more. Hmm.
00:56:59
Speaker
mean, they do that thing where it's like, you can only have so much mass in a human body, so then where the hell do you get like another person, like a kid-sized mass into someone like that? Yeah, I mean, George is wearing like very baggy shirts, too, so that's what I'm trying to cover it up. he He's doing how they try to hide like pregnant women in Hollywood. It's like, wear super baggy clothes.
00:57:18
Speaker
a point, got a point.
00:57:20
Speaker
I remember Quato's voice being lot more raspy, too. He has a much more normal voice than I remember him having. guess I guess maybe because I'll carry his... Yeah.
00:57:35
Speaker
He sounds like Robot. He's very monotone. Yeah. yeah
00:57:44
Speaker
but like I feel like it reminds me of a bit more like sickly or like... Yeah, like, Quaid! Open your mind! I think that's because like parodies have like kind of tainted it. Probably, yeah.
00:57:55
Speaker
think more parodies have done it to be sounding more mutated as what you think it's going to be. But then when you watch the first original idea, you're like, oh. He's just like some wet-looking guy.
00:58:07
Speaker
yeah Wet-looking, like... kind of like yeah kind he kind of looks like Chucky a little bit.
Climactic Battle and Benny's Role
00:58:13
Speaker
A little Like, the face, it like, the head and stuff. it but he's Like, the same, like, mold for Chucky.
00:58:24
Speaker
but yeah, he doesn't he doesn't last for long. Like, because Benny is a mole, and then the Quo Higgins guys, like, sweep in and just, murder everybody.
00:58:34
Speaker
ah but it's interesting that, like, uh, Marshall Bell, who is, um, the actor for, you know, he's the outside of Quato. Yeah, George. He did the voice of Quato.
00:58:48
Speaker
Yeah, I didn't know that was the same actor. I always thought it was like a different voice actor for, like, different actor completely for the inside. But Quato's like, kind of his, like, brother. Yeah. Yeah.
00:59:05
Speaker
And then the final shootout's great. like the fight that They're fighting them in like the alien ruins, and then Quaid's using in that like hologram watch. that like there's There's so much stuff they like they revealed they kind of like set up in like the beginning movie, and they pay off at the end. Because you get the hologram watch like you know an hour earlier, and then he finally starts using it.
00:59:30
Speaker
great like like He's like, oh, you think think this is the root of Quaid? It is. but like kills everybody. yeah I like the but payoff.
00:59:41
Speaker
Paul Verhosen does a really good job of at least explaining the tech and like why you need to see a scene of it. It's not very wasted. So when you do like this grand shootout, which the third act is like finally what you think and this movie is again.
00:59:58
Speaker
I think the second act is only the Benny scene is really going to go action scene. Okay, no, no, there's the shootout on the bar, but I feel like that happens so quickly, and I don't think i don't think Douglas Quay gets involved, really. He just runs out.
01:00:11
Speaker
they i think they escape into like the the tunnels.
01:00:18
Speaker
Because they're trying to hold off like but like the Cohegan's men so that Quaid and Quato at the Resistance base.
01:00:33
Speaker
But yeah, that we yeah then then they scene the scene with the driller where like like like Benny's He like disappears, like bernie disappears and then just like you think he would like be like um done like i helped either he got paid or like he's just like alright we should accomplish but then he decides like stay behind like pilot a drilling machine try to kill Quaid just because yeah yeah
01:00:59
Speaker
And then, yeah, with much like mentioned, Quaid uses his construction abilities to use that like power drill and like drill into the side of the driller machine. and you get the At least in this personality, Douglas Quaid is a master of drilling.
01:01:14
Speaker
So when he knows the weak spot of like any machine. Yes. The hydraulics then into the side where Benny is.
Ending Ambiguity and Legal Implications
01:01:25
Speaker
Hey, Benny! Screw you!
01:01:30
Speaker
Yeah, you think Benny actually is a father of five or four? but he Well, he screws up and says, like, I got four kids to feed, and Arnold's what happened to the fifth one? He's like, oh, you got me.
01:01:42
Speaker
and don't have any kids.
01:01:46
Speaker
But, like, that that's not what gives Benny away. Benny away just, like, shoots Quato, so it's not even like, that was the, ah the like, ha-ha. Or it's like, again, you get into the whole, like, maybe Benny got recalled,
01:01:58
Speaker
they forgot them or even like but he, Benny just goes to like, uh, wave and goes like, Hey, by the way, if you want to leave this memory, you got to take this pill.
01:02:09
Speaker
Yep.
01:02:16
Speaker
But, uh, yeah. the And then the, the, the ending, so like they turn on the reactor and then, ah you get, you get more of the Arnold, uh, like bulging eyes, crazy but like crazy fake head, like ah dying of like decompression. But then Mars gets an atmosphere, everyone everyone' everyone everyone's safe.
01:02:36
Speaker
And then there's the final shot is there's a like a bright light, which you assume is the sun, but a lot of people, the theory is that it's like him getting a lobotomy and in Recall.
01:02:48
Speaker
Yeah, because he's getting manic. you need to just front all the load to I guess like I mean it's like you really come back from that yeah basically reset your whole personality yeah what is like the doctor from recall says like um he's he's having like a like an aneurysm or like some sort of embolism or something that's why they have to like get him out if don't get him out like by taking that pill then he's gonna like die in the dream
01:03:19
Speaker
Yeah, but I i don't know. It's kind of sad if it's the dream one, because then you know it's like... It's over for him. It's adventure this Arnold drooling in a chair at Recall.
01:03:34
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, it's like... There's a Black Mirror episode that's basically this idea. Where it's like, oh, the reality set in and it's too late, and you basically have the...
01:03:48
Speaker
the consequence and that there was like hints that like there was a chance that it won't but too late dennis quaid personality one so now you you don't know how to escape but i wonder what i mean is that a waiver in the total recall system where it's like ah hey there's still like a you know 30 40 chance you might be trapped in your dream we're we're messing with your brains but but we're not you can't host liable for any aneurysms embolisms uh Catastrophic brain failure.
01:04:22
Speaker
Death. Yeah, that that's where, like, it gets a little weird about this trip. Because, like, everyone warns him, and then I guess there's not enough, like, report.
01:04:34
Speaker
Because I... Okay. Because assuming that it's not a... a dream right like assuming that this is the reality that recall place was however it kind of goes wrong they just dump the person in the street yep they just like oh crap they drank they puppy full tranquilizers dump yet i mean they gave us money back which is nice i guess well that that's just to cover them up because they want like a no paper trail but it's weird because it seems like in this future world there's no like everything's a paper everything is a like a credit system so like
01:05:06
Speaker
credit card company is going to be like oh no you went to recall i guess like they refunded him so then it's like you didn't get a service but you ended up with like you know an embolism
01:05:21
Speaker
and then they mentioned that one guy they got like uh turned got turned to like a schizophrenic or something or like kept like it was the one one case that happened that like kind of like tarnished recalls like a image.
Paul Verhoeven's Career and Legacy
01:05:32
Speaker
Right. It's happening again. yeah Essentially, if you think, if you believe subscribe to the philosophy of that this movie is a recall gone wrong, this is another lawsuit that's going to happen.
01:05:45
Speaker
yeah I mean, you don't really know that. I mean, at least did it as a kid. It really, like, but i I think I realized that point when I was like, 16 maybe like watching it again all the way through uncensored not on tbs i feel like i feel like i mean there's definitely a paul verhova thing where you could you can just watch it and you could just watch it a straight like crazy gory action movie but like robocop and starship troopers 2 but then you can like dig into like the layers like star troopers obviously is like a satire about fascism and
01:06:17
Speaker
Robocop is about corporate like corporate taking like corporate culture taking over things. And and Jesus Christ sometimes. Yeah, stripping away humanity. And Torrey recalls about like colonization. and You can really dig into it. There's like much deeper layers in all of crazy action movies if you want to dig into a it. Did Paul Verholtz ever do anything that's like this level again? He just stopped making these kind of movies?
01:06:43
Speaker
I feel like he stopped doing, like, these, like, big, crazy action movies. Like, I think the last movie he did was, like, Benedetta. Like, it was, like, the, like, sexy nuns movie.
01:06:54
Speaker
i feel like I feel like the last, like, crazy big movie he did was Hollow Man. Wow, I forgot. And that has no real allegory besides don't let Kevin Bacon be an invisible pervert. Yeah. Hollow Man and the Black Book, which is, like, a World War II drama.
01:07:10
Speaker
did Elle, which is, like, a, um, like a um like like sexual drama or like like a psychological thriller. And then Benedetta, there's lesbian nuns. and they just don them been like five years It's been like four years.
01:07:29
Speaker
Yeah, 2021 was Benedetta, so that was his last movie. Wow.
01:07:37
Speaker
and don't I don't yeah don't think he has anything in the pipeline right now either. You weird. I always think Paul Verhosen needs to team up with
01:07:51
Speaker
the guy that does a lot of body body horror. Oh, like David k Cronenberg? Oh my god, you imagine a Verhosen-Cronenberg team up?
01:08:03
Speaker
Or just Paul Verhosen just doing a body horror movie. I mean, just ah give him another like satire thing. I kind of want him take... it like he Imagine him trying to make an AI thing or a movie about like cars. like you imagine a Paul Verhosen movie about like Fast and the Furious? It's like the same idea, but it's I would love it if he did like ah not like another like if he did like a Star style or like a Total Recon style movie again. and but One more of them.
01:08:37
Speaker
Yeah... Well, okay, Total Recall and Stars the Troopers, I like this the like ah satire of the world. That's what like you like more about those movies, I think. A lot of the like people think about but how silly it is, like how the news is told and the world building.
01:08:52
Speaker
But just have it be like, it's following like a heist movie, but then it's just like, what they're doing in the background is just like, like what? what Is this Cream that does what now? Like, You know, like, something like that. Oh, like, what are they heisting? Like, they're heisting apples.
01:09:05
Speaker
Like, oh. But they're magical. Oh. yeah
01:09:10
Speaker
They're heisting the concept of ah youth or something. But then it's an allegory for oil. Like, oh.
01:09:20
Speaker
I kind of want to test to see if I can like write out a Verhosen movie and then just be able to see if I'm clever. If it falls into like, wow, that's actually pretty clever. No one knows what that's the story about. Or it turns out to be a pile of garbage and I'm like, wow, you know this takes skill.
01:09:34
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
01:09:38
Speaker
But I also think like a lot of the Verhosen things about his movies that still hold up over time is that like he shoots like practical effects. He shoots like with like classic squibs.
01:09:50
Speaker
Yeah, he he is the king of squibs. I mean... though no electric troopers like You think how made the the scene with the the machine gunning people and all that? I thought about it. I was like, wow, like they they shoot bugs. They shoot like people. There's like a lot of like dummy work.
01:10:04
Speaker
and like great like visuals. Like an iron-sized back in it. you know like yep I like that he works with like a few people from his movies. Like, hey, you were great in this. Can you come back? and We'll make another movie.
01:10:15
Speaker
Sharon Stone was obviously in Based Instinct. Yeah. It's like a great trend. it's like he He appreciates people that like you need to be in least one movie with him, and then there's a good chance you get to come back in another movie. Never worked for Arnold again, unfortunately.
01:10:31
Speaker
It's a little chance. i mean, they're both doing things, so come on. One more. a Recall 2. yeah Remember this. Remember Barry's. Quakes revenge. Now, Hauser's revenge.
01:10:43
Speaker
Hauser's revenge, yeah. Hauser, like, his persona comes through, and then it's just sort like, Hey, Quaid, what have you done? Like, now you make it so that, like, the two personalities in one body, and then, but Quaid has lived, like, this big life of Melina, but then Hauser's real, like, wife is like, where were you? You've been gone for, like, 40 years.
01:11:03
Speaker
Can imagine that movie? It somehow becomes like a separate like entity, and it's like two Arnolds. It's Houser Arnold and Quaid Arnold. Yeah. it's Essentially, it's Quato. like he He gets to the Quato himself.
01:11:17
Speaker
Oh, God.
01:11:20
Speaker
see Done. We got it. We can make that movie. Yep. We can buy the Arnold dolls. and just like make the find find those Go on propstore.com wherever whatever that site is and like find the Arnold heads.
01:11:32
Speaker
All you gotta do is buy that Arnold one with the nose and just glue it to his chest. and
01:11:39
Speaker
And then maybe add some gears and strings to move the head. And then it's like, you film the regular Arnold and then you film the puppet Arnold and then just be like, Quaid!
01:11:55
Speaker
Get me to Mars.
01:11:58
Speaker
Or opposite. Get your ass back to Earth. Yep. I miss my Mercedes.
Conclusion and Teaser for Next Episode
01:12:08
Speaker
But yeah, Total Recall. It's a classic. It's one of the it's one the it's one of our one the best. Definitely. like I definitely like enjoy watching re-watching it once in a while. Especially to sit and watch it all the way through on a TV version.
01:12:23
Speaker
but I also feel like this movie came out a lot during like Thanksgiving. i also i saw this movie a lot around family, which is not a family-friendly movie. i think it just I think it just got like ah a 4K fairly recently, too, so it's like you can get like a super high-quality version.
01:12:45
Speaker
But yeah, so I think they'll do it for Total Recall, or Recall Total Recall. And ah come back next week, we're heading into the jungle talking about Congo. We're celebrating its 30th anniversary.
01:12:58
Speaker
um Can't wait to 95. So we're going to, you know, all the great gorillas, diamonds, all lasers, all that stuff that happened Congo. So come back for that.
01:13:09
Speaker
How do send you all of our usual stuff out there? We got news, reviews, trailers. I got a review of um Karate Kid Legends. If you want read my review of that movie, ah it's on the site. And all of your stuff is up there as well. So head over check all this stuff out.
01:13:22
Speaker
And yeah, so for Chris, I'm Zach, and we will see you next week. For more for Everything Action, head to www.everythingaction.com. You can also find us on Facebook at facebook.com slash everything.action and follow on X at Evie Action.
01:13:39
Speaker
We're also on Instagram and threads at everything.action. Find episodes of the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your at podcast app of choice. And be sure to rate and subscribe.