Why Total Recall is deeper than you think (Major Spoilers)

Rating: 9/10 (18 February 2002)

***Spoilers ahead***
(This is all my conjecture and opinion, so I'm not adamant that my theories are correct, it's just something fun to think about.)
Total Recall is not deep because of it's numerous plots twists, although those do add to the fun of the movie. If someone calls Total Recall deep, many will respond that it relies on numerous plot twists to "look deep", while it's really an artificial movie filled with violence and gratuity to appease it's teenage audience. I will try my best to disprove this and show that Total Recall does have those moments, but is much more that many people don't realize.
One thing always bothered me about Total Recall. Everything in it made sense except for one little scene that just didn't fit. This scene holds the key to Total Recall and all of it's deeper meanings. This deeper meaning is ironically (and people still miss it) in Arnold's last line. "What if this is all a dream?" The entire movie is a dream, in fact, and the scene that holds the key is when we see Melina on screen as Quaid is preparing for his Rekall trip. This part always bothered me. How is it that a picture of Melina is at Rekall? The answer is simple. She never existed.
Nothing in Total Recall actually happens and only a small bit of it actually happened in real life. Here is what really happened to Douglas Quaid: Douglas Quaid was a normal guy who always wanted to go to Mars but couldn't because of time, expenses, and his wife. So he decided to go to Rekall and get the memories of a trip to Mars as a secret agent implanted. Unfortunately all goes wrong and Quaid has a schizoid embolism. Then the movie begins. Quaid dreams about Melina, having never met her, but had her image implanted at Rekall. He dreams of going to Rekall and the only real thing that actually happened to him. Then everything plays out in exact detail the way he specified at the real Rekall: Melina, his spy life, and saving the whole planet, just as specified.
There are a few counterpoints, but they quickly fail. How could he dream about Melina before he goes to Rekall? He doesn't, the dream at the beginning occurs after he goes to Rekall. What about the guy who offers the red pill to Arnold? He is just part of the dream, not really at Rekall. There are questions I would have for those that think Total Recall is based in reality. How could Melina's profile have existed at Rekall? How is it that everything plays out exactly as planned by Quaid at Rekall? He saves the planet, gets the girl, and crushes the bad guy. What are the odds? Zero.
I once hated the mutants and thought they greatly detracted from a fine action movie, but when I realized that Total Recall is nothing more than a paranoid delusion, I finally realized that they only add to the ludicrousness of the idea of the film being based in reality. The mutants would indeed detract from the movie, but they really only add the incredible experience of Quaid's dream.
Total Recall has many fun action scenes and one-liners, but it is really a little bit more. There are many who love the twist at the end when we find out that Quaid volunteered to have his memory erased to infiltrate the mutants. The ironic thing is that this is not the ultimate mindbender of the movie. The reality is that none of it ever happened.