A great film that will leave you confused.

Rating: 9/10 (22 January 2003)

If you watch this movie, and just happen to pay attention, you'll be very confused by the end. Warning: major spoiler ahead.
There's a scene where Arnie is getting his vacation chip installed in his brain, and just before he gets it, a technician is looking at the chip. The guy mentions something like 'oh look, here's a new one, blue sky on Mars!'. They proceed to embed the chip and away we go.
At the end, after Arnie activates the Alien atmospheric converter/creator, a s***load of oxygen is released and creates an atmosphere, complete with lightning and thunder. Eventually a blue sky forms. This is where the confusion comes in. The whole movie revolves around the audience wondering if Arnie is really a secret agent whose past memories have been triggered, or if he's just experiencing his vacation chip. Philip K. Dick originally wrote the story to keep you guessing, even after you read the last page, and the movie successfully carries this off. However, most people I've talked to never noticed the technician talking about the blue sky on Mars chip, and hence don't get the full effect of the built-in confusion. I think if you watch this movie again and really pay attention (maybe even turn on the subtitles), you'll enjoy it much more. Realize the paradox: blue sky on Mars chip, blue sky on Mars at the end of the movie. Overall, a great action film with one of the best action film guys ever. Special effects are pretty damn special, or at least were in their time. The plot kinda sucks, and the dialogue is predictably bad, but who goes to see Predator or a film like this expecting a really interesting plot and some great lines other than 'I'll be back' or 'stick around'? One good quotable is 'open your mind, Quaid'. I forgot if Arnie gets any catchy lines or not. A good way to waste 120 minutes of your life.