Scene analysis of TOTAL RECALL escalator / subway chase (by Rob Ager) 

Total Recall is just a great action film, it reminds me of a simpler, much happier time when blockbusters were actually entertaining but with a degree of depth below the surface.

I really miss movies from this Era, especially Arnold's. I have all of His on DVD. Hollywood seems incapable of making fun movies to watch anymore.

I love the guy who dies multiple times but still braces himself for his fall when tossed. That man is a legend!

Micheal Ironside's face is just incredible. The perfect villain, everytime!

The escalator sequence is akin to the ED 209 scene in Robocop when Mr. Kenny gets obliterated in the office. Paul Ver Hooven directed the best action movies.

The Human Shield moment always reminded me of the ED-209 malfunction massacre from Robocop (also Verhoeven, who else)

What shocked me was how the human shield jumps at Richter after being riddled with bullets...

Escalator human shield guy: I think what's most significant is that this guy appears to be an almost exact double of Quaid - very similar height, hair, clothing, and masculine face. It is very fitting thematically as this scene is when Quaid is reborn from an irrelevant "nobody", and he's like a shadow of this drone body which is killed and discarded, this is like his old life as a nobody being shed from which he emerges as the heroic figure. Look at that human shield guy as being symbolic of Quaid's old life and it all makes sense.

13:35 it's entirely possible that she fired the last 16 rounds of a 1500-round clip and then reloaded with another

The scanner not picking up the bug in his skull theory really hit me like an epiphany. If it was intentional it’s brilliant.

I love how in old action movies you have to make a mean face when you fire a gun.

Some of this is just continuity. I've always thought it was real...because there are cut aways to other characters. If it was 'all in his head' they should have stuck with him once he went to Recall.

Another amazing movie!!!! One of my favorites!!! And damn, Sharon Stone!!!!!🤤🤤🤤

The escalator victim also appears later in the movie, this time as one of the Mars security/immigration personnel, this time standing behind Quaid disguised as the "Two Weeks Lady" when the mask starts to malfunction. Incidental use of the same stunt man (Steven Lambert) ? Or a subtle hint by Verhoven with deeper meaning?

Great analysis Rob - spot on with the music score observations as well. Shame more modern action scores don't have this detail to them.

As an American, subways in my city allow guns but not food. There was a court case at some point so I guess somebody had to have contacted security, but you see people with guns on them sometimes if you ride the subway.

Just before the scene ends, when Richter is indiscriminately shooting up the moving train, and right before he screams in frustration at Quaid getting away, one of his rounds certainly seems to hit a passenger standing on the other (inside) side of one of the sliding double-doors of the train-car. I only noticed that because you showed each shot a zillion times in this video! One thing about Quaid's tracker not showing up on the big security screen: the actual tracker -- once it is removed from his head through his left nostril -- is that it is inside a spherical shell that splits apart into two hemispheres. Perhaps that spherical shell around the tracker makes it invisible to the huge X-ray-type security screen, but the portable scanner device his pursuers use are designed to detect the tracking device implant. I've always felt that the entire adventure was all in his mind, and that he's been in the Recall facility the whole time. I just don't see Mars getting a breathable atmosphere quickly enough for him and the chick he's with to not suffocate completely. There are other clues, especially when he's at Recall but before he begins undergoing the procedure to implant his 'vacation' adventure.

When I was younger watching, I always had inner sense of sympathy for the innocent man getting used as a shield scene on the escalators. That part always stuck with me and still does lol I remember feeling back then was this man didn't deserve it but perhaps that's the human souls reaction and somewhat strangemy little mind was already making moral decisions in what's good and what's bad, then some times bad things happen to good people. Excellent video brother. Love these videos.

6:47 I think the super advanced secret agency from mars wouldn't use a bug that would be detected by scans the person goes through everyday

The backpack guy was temporarily stunned that Arnie was behind him on the escalator. He was about to ask for an autograph until "SPLATTT"

Filmed at Chabacano Metro station in Mexico City!

Really interesting video. I love total recall. I never noticed that only the gun is noticed in the scanner and not the tracker in his brain. I think it's a nod to say it's not real and all in his mind. Brilliant film!.

The scanner moment is about genetics. The gun Quaid carries through the scanner is symbolically a Y chromosome. He stands out because he is a real man, capable of breaking through the black mirror and escaping the state apparatus. Among other things, TR is about masculinity and it's manipulation. The genetic aspect is hinted at by it's preoccupation with blood and physical beauty/deformity (the triple-titted woman, the mutant resistance, etc). The heroism of Quaid is due to his hyper masculine actions (he jackhammers with his phallus, unloads his weapon, etc). Ultimately he PENETRATES THE ILLUSION. His dick really works, is what I'm sayin'

The irony of this scene is that if Quaid really was inside his “vacation” all along then brutality of the deaths like the guy on the escalator doesn’t come off as violent as it appears if he’s not real anyway.

In the early 90s they'd have HBO and other movie channels for free sometimes to get you to sign up. I was like 8 or 9, and this came on. Mom said it would be too violent, but my dad thought it'd be edited for TV. I snuck back into my older sister's room and put it on there, telling my parents I was gonna go play with toys or whatever...when this scene came on, I knew this is what it meant when a movie was rated R.

Total Recall is a very intelligent, action packed and humorous movie. No other movie in recent memory for me has been able to balance all those elements have them work all so well.

Hi Rob, I don't usually leave comments on RU-vid, but I just wanted to let you know I've really enjoyed watching your videos. You clearly know a lot about films and film making. Total Recall is a movie I've watched many many times since the '80s and I've never made a connection with Indiana Jones. The music in this scene always reminded me of the music in First Blood when Rambo is escaping from the police station and into the woods. Best wishes Paul

3:56 "Goldberg". Just point it out rob. I'm also a massive critic of modern "film scores" and a huge fan of proper film scores from back in the day. I notice you called him "Goldberg" here instead of Goldsmith. Love you work friend!

My mom and I saw this at the theater. I was more sad about the goldfish than any of the people or mutants.

To understand why 95% of Total Recall is set in Douglas Quaid's mind you must listen to the first ten minutes and how Douglas or Arnie's trouble marriage and his unfulfilling life is the reason Arnie's character becomes trapped inside his dream world

The protagonist using an innocent victim "White guy" as bullet shield is what set this scene apart...and elevated it.

this scene always reminded me of a early video game, flat surfaces, hard sharp angles...back ground features [here as depicted by people] that barely react to what is happening right next to them...frantic music and violence galore...fun times for a few quarters spent...

Have you noticed Verhoeven likes to use extremely generous explosive blood packets for when someone gets shot? Its like they’re being shot with grizzly bear jaws. Its the same in Robocop. Ive never seen the kind of bullet mutilation like in that movie. Just crater sized chunks of flesh being punched out from their bodies. Its almost cartoonish.

All of your videos deserve 10x more views on the merit to your work and how much more interest/appreciation it creates in the movies and things you analyze.

I love making up little stories of sorts about fictitious technology both interesting and banal. I came up with a cheap and easy way to technobabble my way to convincing you that a standard 9mm sized magazine can hold a great many bullets. The bullets are made of a pure exotic element which is more malleable than gold and harder than titanium. Let's make the substance more expensive than gold too, so it's likely that only the likes of an interplanetary spy would be carrying one. It costs $400,000 to fully load this $15,000 weapon and takes 6 seconds to magdump on full auto. While the tech is high it's not all that high so while the agency hopes it isn't captured by another agent, their chief concern would be the monetary loss. This element is not prohibitively scarce but it's still worth a lot because it is useful for practically everything in future tech. It's so important in the economy and in tech that it's euphemistically called "the element" read: "THE element". The elemental slugs are small enough to fit 50 in a 9mm mag and would fit 100 but the rest of that mag space is needed for battery for the magnetic rails that propel the projectile. In fact it's a power hog and even with battery tech using yet another otherworldly element, all those fancy cosmetic bits on the weapon are essentially made up of battery. Once propelled, the slug gets split by notches at the end of the barrel and forms into a hollow pellet or other geometrical shape depending on the barrel attachment, changed at will based on the needs of the user. Perhaps you want to limit the amount of exit wounds or pierce armor or even break off into bird shot, perhaps be less-than-lethal (fine ouchy needles) or just cut some paper targets, such can be achieved with different expertly made components. I can go on but its kinda yawn ok it's feasible sci fi to have a 50 shot projectile weapon back to the shooting pls.

Will we ever see the return of this masculine style of film making in our lifetime, or are we doomed to watch effeminate men talking and showing emotion till the day we die?

@3:26 I thought the score was by Basil Poledouris from a memory of the credits when I saw it but I checked IMDB and it did say Jerry Goldsmith. Weird, because the percussion motif in the credits sounds just like Poledouris.

I think it is a mistake to try and attempt to interpret every single detail as a kind of symbolism for something. Especially the environment in the concrete structure (real structure that was or still is in Mexico City, where the movie was filmed). The stuff with the red dot, red gun, red tracker, red blood. I think a simpler explanation for these colors and their contrast with everything else simply that "it looks good", it creates color contrast, which itself could have been a good reason for the film color design. If we keep interpreting everything as having really thought out and meaningful detail we can keep going into this rabbit hole and eventually these guesses will be just guesses since we won't ever find out whether the director or set designers really meant something by the color red etc. Especially in this film in which people keep trying to guess what is real and what isn't (which I think doesn't actually make sense in the plot itself) then we can dismiss anything that looks funny or meaningful as a sign that it is "fake". Actually the plot of the story itself isn't making sense. The explained purpose of the Rekall service is that it is supposed to install memories, right? So when someone gets out of the machine they are only supposed to have a bunch of fake entertaining memories indistinguishable from really lived memories. So, in that case why would there even be a question as to the reality or artificiality of the events of the film? It doesn't make sense that someone lives this adventure after entering the machine. It should only affect the memory. Right?

Total recall is my favourite Schwarzenegger action movie.

I am really drawn to the narative of both movies. the idea of installing memories could effectively shift your reality

The advertisement for a real trip proves this isn't a memory implant; no way they're gonna include advertisements for their competitors in their product.

I was the same age as you and had the same reaction to the escalator scene, particularly Arnies's 'meat shield' I really felt for the poor guy.

I have an ear for reused soundbites in films and Quaids pistol is the same sound as the pistols used by the bad guys in the drugs factory shootout in Robocop.

Hey rob. What do you think of this lqbt stuff and then wanting to teach this stuff in schools to children . What do you think of it as a parent . It feels so strange and wierd with these groups

in escalators when bad guys open fire on arnie the guy who takes all bullets. i always tought he look bit like arnie and is clothed bit like him so i tought bad guys think hes arnie and shoot him cos it when saw this 1st time loooong ago. cos they seem shoot before they see arnie.

When Arnie hides and the camera pans back with Ironside in the lead there's a shadow of someone we don't see who then runs with the bad guys. Fantastic movie, saw it on its release and another great analysis video, nice on Rob.

seeing and looking at the mexican subway was and is always amazing

good analysis. the escalator scene was one of the highlights of the movie.

I always felt bad for the guy that on the subway escalator that gets used as a human shield, then there's a quick shot of his face getting stepped on - Jesus, he was just standing there. anyway, the best scene in total recall according to me and my grade school class at the time was the alien with three tits, and the vote was unanimous

Hi Rob. Great video as always. I think the ads at 18:00 about real trips could be interpreted as key evidence to prove that the experience is real. The reason is if it is implanted as part of an ego trip then why Recall, a dream-implanting company, would implant a memory that encourages real trips. The comparison of the two TV screens matches Quad's recalling process, prompting Quad to recall the previous matters and return to reality. As for that Melina appears on the recall computer screen, I tend to understand that that shot is recording the semi-dream state of Quad. Note that Quad dream about Melina before going to Recall at the right beginning of the film.

Ver Hoeven sure has a style all of his own when it comes to gunshot wounds. They're very distinct and repeated across his 3 most famous movies. On ammunition pedantry - It always struck me in RoboCop how much ammunition was in Murphy's super-charged handgun. I think in the mill scene when Lois returns his weapon to him you actually see him loading a hilariously small magazine into it given how many bullets that thing could dispense.

I'll have to give this film a try.

The music is immaculate. Perfert tension, and composition.

I love this movie, it's one of my favorites.

I don’t know if I saw somebody running past me with a gun, I’d just let them run by without making a fuss.

Great work as always - I clicked “Like” before it even started up :D

Action movies...Arnold and Stallone did it great.

The number of times Arnie gets hit in the balls during the film made me wince as well

15:53 another element of the jump through the train window is that the window is the same proportions as a TV screen, and it's as if Quaid is jumping _into_ the screen, which symbolically is what he has just done by entering the dream/fantasy. As you say here "his adventure has an audience" (referring to the crowd of commuters). He's leapt through the screen (kinda like the plot of Last Action Hero when the kid has a magic ticket which allows him to pass into the movie world by going into the screen) into the new reality. This is similarly used in the scanner scene: The large black x-ray scanner is like a movie screen, and just like the train window he smashes it and jumps through it. You could also say the scanner also shows a different, hidden layer of reality and so fits the theme of the film of these different layers of reality (real/fantasy, Quaid on the surface/Hauser underneath). Again, Quaid is jumping from one reality to the next, which is what his character has just done by going to those brain butchers at Recall.

The great Paul VerHoeven

From what I can tell, concerning the guy playing the human shield, he is the only person wearing a backpack. Why do you think that is?

:D

Is this a reupload? It looks familiar.

‘Rapid percussion’ Like impending gunfire

I love Total Recall. This scene kicks ass it doesn't mess about.

Interestingly modern 9mm pistols routinely hold 17+1 or even slightly more rounds. The “+1” being a bullet already loaded in the chamber and the other 17 in the magazine. There is currently a growing trend with several manufacturers creating their weapons to hold a newish round called the 30 Super Carry, which is slightly smaller than a 9mm and therefore allows a few more rounds to be squeezed into traditional magazines and pistols for nearly identical ballistic qualities. There are also already pistols from Kel-Tec that use a beefed up .22 caliber round and will hold about 30 rounds in the gun. So 26 rounds in a near future pistol is not entirely out of the question. Gun Nerd signing off. Great review as always Rob!

It comes off really like a futuristic GTA gaming experience with all the map trackers etc. Even the character creation at the Rekall center is straight up modern video game stuff.

Maybe someone could explain this to me. People like that in this film the story of the plot is that the events we see in the film could be real and could be fake. I also thought that for a long time. But that question isn't valid and does not make sense. Please read the next paragraph carefully. The plot of the story itself isn't making sense. The explained purpose of the Rekall service is that it is supposed to install memories, right? So when someone gets out of the machine they are only supposed to have a bunch of fake entertaining memories indistinguishable from really lived memories. So, in that case why would there even be a question as to the reality or artificiality of the events of the film? It doesn't make sense that someone lives this adventure after entering the machine. It should only affect the memory. Right?

Awesome analysis!! Although the version shown in this video is clearly uncut, I'm pretty sure that this scene & others were cut down (censored) upon the movies release, both in cinema's & VHS. The BBFC were shitting the bed around that time. those fucks!!

Lol lose empathy for the character for pushing a woman over yet perfectly ok to use a man, just an everyday guy, as a human shield. I don't think anyone will lose empathy for him if he pushed some chick over, I wouldn't even care if he used one as a shield. In fact that would just make it more ballsy and interesting.

Well that escalated quickly

Notice the round, red flashing alarms on the walls when Quaid crashes through the scanner? Like the bug, the tracking device image, the throbbing circles around the scanned image of the gun...

Do our dreams show the viewpoint of the antagonist generally? Just asking.

Was originally much more violent and bloody before it was cut down for its rating in the States. The unrated version has never been released.

So I take it you are on the side of people who think it's a fake reality. What, if not just the escalator-chase made you think that. (Personally, I still haven't made up my mind)

Running man was 1987 along with Robocop and Predator while Predator 2 was 1990 famous penthouse voodoo murder scene

For my part, the fact that they don't seem to bother hiding their guns has never bothered me, nor that bystanders don't care that much either, for several reasons but mainly because the movie doesn't get into much details about its futuristic setting. Maybe they're not used to reacting to the sight of guns in such a short time - I mean in the subway you're always alone and have your thoughts occupied by something. Or on the contrary, maybe they're used to seeing cops dressed as civilians and running around, and they're too brainwashed or apathetic to dare reacting quickly. Also, Verhoeven's movies often use rather chaotic displays of gratuitous/shock value violence, so I wouldn't consider this as a clue. In fact, Quaid not feeling much emotion could confirm that this is reality, since he's the bad guy and some of his memory would supposedly not have been wiped completely. The normal person he's become would have reacted differently, at least emotionally. Although it's possible that the device they used in order to implant memories also controls his emotions. It's unclear whether he's supposed to be living them in an accelerated real time for instance, or the whole thing is just a memory that he acknowledges afterwards instantenuously. But anyway if they did implant emotions too, it would kinda contradict some of his reactions, such as his laugh while seeing the ad, since the company wouldn't add doubt in his mind which would ruin the experience for him. (Not sure my poor English is making sense here, but to me something wouldn't add up.) As far as I'm concerned, the meaning is supposed to correlate to the same clues that convince Quaid, such as the bead of sweat on the company guy's head when he comes to tell him there's a problem with his supposed dream. Although, obviously the movies plays on the other possibility, and neither can be completely dismissed.

Quality Film! Paul Verhoeven is an Underatted Director! Was it All A Dream? Personally I Hope Not! But there's Loads of Hints it is ie When Quad was at Can't remember the name of the place! Anyway choosing her etc, Sun on Mars n Being a Secret Agent etc! Cheers Rob 🍻 Great Annalyss Again!

I disagree with your theory, because if it was an illusion only in his mind, then why do we see the interaction between Sharon Stone and the other bad guy being her boyfriend we keep seeing things from the enemies point of view and that wouldn’t happen if this was just some type of mind trip that Arnold was on

If you pause the video at 17.31 you'll see the most fake Arnie stunt double you ever seen, jumping through the train window 😂😂

TOTAL RECALL escalator death scenes reminds you of Terminator 2 gallery scene when guy in hallway soaks up the bullets. Plus this death scene it was survival at all costs for Quaid who had unlucky meat shield human man save him.

I recently watched TR on blu ray for first time in ages and spotted a funny goof. When he’s confronted by his work friend after freaking out at Recall, they corner him against a “concrete” wall. When he breaks free and kicks the guy who sounds like Danny Devito the entire concrete wall visibily moves. Try and spot it next time you watch.

Those are Goncz pistols, they had double stacked 16 20 and 30 round magazines

Calling out continuity errors can ruin the film I think. When you see them you can't unsee them. Better to stick with philosophy/psychology breakdowns which can enhance enjoyment, or even blow our minds.

and lastly the passengers on the subway train just return to normal after being shot at and by Arnold just standing there

Hey Rob. Have you watched "The Power of the dog". It was very good movie to me and many guys. I want to hear your opinion if you have watched it.

Now Go Watch or Even Read : The Running Man

Mexico City s subway system design so futuristic ,you can't find second one like that anywhere in the world

I have one critique for you: when you review/speak about action movies you always seem to mention people dying without being shot in the head. Marksman are trained to shoot the bigger target, the chest, and noting the placement of shots on the men above the elevator he shoots pretty much every single one of them in the heart. They're as dead as dead gets.

Actually I'm not sure how ambiguous it ever really is. He pays for a trippy secret agent delusion, and then he gets a trippy secret agent delusion. You really got your work cut out for you to argue that any of it is real

it was NOT a memory/dream, and I can prove it... beyond doubt.

Reality in what date? This is in the future and people probably react differently to violence.

Disagree that we're meant to believe that the secret agent stuff is real at this point. I think its purposefully ambiguous from the very beginning

Total recall 2013 remake with Colin Farrell needs analysis also

The scanner didn't detect the bug because it was top-secret government hardware meant to slip past exactly such a scan.

Whenever Richter gets out of bed in the morning, the first thing he does is weigh himself on his scale

Damn, had to come across this at the end of my lunch break. Guess I'll return at 3

Es el metro de la CIUDAD DE MÉXICO

Good gosh, Total Recall Sharon Stone still melts my pants off.

This movie to me is amazing if it's all a dream and we are meant to doubt it.. I know,but at the end of the day if all these adventures are real it's not as memorable