Christopher Nolan's Inception

[Timstuff]

BTW, was I the only one crazy enough to think that Inception could make a really cool video game? I was thinking that Quantiac Dream could probably do it justice (the Heavy Rain guys).

 

[JP]

The film was definitely straightforward and not difficult to comprehend. Not sure why anyone would have trouble following.

Agreed. I think the people who may have left the film confused or puzzled are the ones who over think things.

After reading all the reviews I was shocked at how straightforward everything was.

 

[Boom]

Spoiler

Okay. I am a massive idiot. Saito does die in the first level - as he and Leo drown in the van. But did he die in the third level too, or was he just unconscious?

 

[Doctor Jones]

It is pretty straightforward. It just takes some breaking down but it's all in the grasp of understandment.

 

[General Vulcun]

BTW, was I the only one crazy enough to think that Inception could make a really cool video game? I was thinking that Quantiac Dream could probably do it justice (the Heavy Rain guys).

After playing Portal, I was thinking more of Valve taking it on. It would be sweet either way. t:

 

[Doctor Jones]

Spoiler

Okay. I am a massive idiot. Saito does die in the first level - as he and Leo drown in the van. But did he die in the third level too, or was he just unconscious?

Spoiler

No he died in the third level. But when he died in the third level I think it effected him in all the other levels?

Now I have another question

Spoiler

Being that Dom and Saito drowned in the van, how would have those two been kicked back to the real world?

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Now I have another question

Spoiler

Being that Dom and Saito drowned in the van, how would have those two been kicked back to the real world?

Spoiler

I think dying under heavy sedation sends you to limbo.

 

[Boom]

Spoiler

Yeah. So when they killed themselves in limbo, there was nowhere else to go.

I'm still confused on this though. Saito died in level one from drowning, and he dies in level three from the gunshot wound. Why didn't he end up in the same limbo as Fischer. I thought limbo was a shared space.

 

[The Squirrel]

Great movie. I enjoyed every second of it.

 

[Poeman]

What I want Nolan to answer...

Spoiler

I know Nolan created some ambiguity with the final scene with Cobb's totem still spinning and leaving things to interpretation. But what I want to know is where does he individually believe Cobb is? Reality or dream? Or does he believe the screen going back has a significance because Cobb does not even realize where he is at so we shouldnt either?

 

[Solidus]

Agreed. I think the people who may have left the film confused or puzzled are the ones who over think things.

After reading all the reviews I was shocked at how straightforward everything was.

No. I don't think that at all. Some just may not have gotten it, I know some people I took did not. So that is just that.

But there are people such as myself that understood what was going on, but found that there is many more layers to it. It was made to look deeper and see it multiple times.

There are lots of questions about Cobb that may be talked about for a while. But the general idea of the story is somewhat straight forward but there is still lots to take in.

 

[Poeman]

Spoiler

Yeah. So when they killed themselves in limbo, there was nowhere else to go.

I'm still confused on this though. Saito died in level one from drowning, and he dies in level three from the gunshot wound. Why didn't he end up in the same limbo as Fischer. I thought limbo was a shared space.

Spoiler

Saito died in level 3 first before drowning...It didnt matter then what happens after that because he would go into limbo. Cobb was left dead because he went to search Saito in limbo

 

[omid17]

Spectacular loved every second of it 9.5/10



should have known it was going to be a [BLACKOUT]Chris Nolan ending[/BLACKOUT]

Spoiler

wish the hallway fight was longer, but the few seconds we got were just amazing

had a few questions

1. why was Saito old when Cobb went to get him out?

2. ending wouldn't make sense if Cobb was still dreaming, could he be in the limbo?

but im pretty sure he's back to reality cause we got to finally got to see his kids

 

[Solidus]

Spoiler

I actually thought it about it more, and actually even if Level 1 was just the van area in the city, and Cobb was in reality while planning all this no matter what Cobb had inception done to him.

It was interesting to hear that Cobb said Page's character was an extremely fast learner. Which is very interesting. She is too, watching her in the first dream, she controls everything like its no thing, like she's done it before.

I believe Miles is behind it, he chose Page and showed her to Cobb. Why? Miles wants his grand kids to have their father back, and wants Cobb to finally let go of Mal. Clearly Cobb's subconscious is not allowing this. It is guilting him into thinking that he killed his wife and it was because of the inception he planted in her that killed her. And not that it was her own choice. So he was living in a prison himself.

I think that Miles had Page who was already a skilled architect and a extractor. But she played stupid to Cobb so that he would trust her, and let her into his subconscious. Clearly because Mal is really aggressive towards Page more than any other of the characters it seems. She really does not like Page. I think that Page was a double agent so to speak, she was being the architect and helping Cobb give inception to Fischer, but at the same time she was trying to plant the idea in his head that it was not his fault on Mal.

Which this worked because the things she did had Cobb at the end thinking it was his idea, which is how they said the only way Inception works. So it could be the film had double Inception going on at the same time. If you think about it. Cobb and Fischer's story kinda parallel in some way.

 

[Doctor Jones]

Spectacular loved every second of it 9.5/10



should have known it was going to be a [BLACKOUT]Chris Nolan ending[/BLACKOUT]

Spoiler

wish the hallway fight was longer, but the few seconds we got were just amazing

had a few questions

1. why was Saito old when Cobb went to get him out?

2. ending wouldn't make sense if Cobb was still dreaming, could he be in the limbo?

but im pretty sure he's back to reality cause we got to finally got to see his kids

Spoiler

Remember time in the real world is very different in the dream world, especially limbo. Minutes in the real world could be decades in limbo.

 

[Heretic]

By the way, it is further explained in the prequel comic that Micheal Caine's character was involved with the technology and training behind the extraction/inception techniques. He would have been a worldwide celebrity that broke incredible ground in science.

Students who attend his classes for architecture...especially those who travel from the US specifically to be a part of his class...would have known that training under him could mean training for the concepts that he invented/mastered. So, Ellen Page's character absolutely knew and wanted to be a part of the process...possibly her entire life...which is all the reason she'd need to stay and help and learn more about things.

Or, we can just think that her teacher was one of the most acclaimed and groundbreaking men in the history of the world and she didnt know about it. Either way.

 

[omid17]

i like that Solidus

 

[omid17]

Spoiler

Remember time in the real world is very different in the dream world, especially limbo. Minutes in the real world could be decades in limbo.

true

Spoiler

, just hard to believe Saito was stuck there that long

1. how did Leo get him out? i thought you would always be stuck in limbo

 

[mrvlknight21]

Just saw this one with my wife and JStorm. All of us enjoyed it, I mean, obviously it is a well made movie. I read some reviews on other sites and about 9 out of 10 people said it was the best movie they had ever seen...which may have left me just a LITTLE disappointed. I mean, again, it was very very good, but definitely not the best movie I had ever seen.

Also, many reviewers said it blew their mind...which I dont understand either. It was somewhat complex, but not difficult to understand. Nolan did a good job of explaining things as the movie progressed and as needed.

I have to agree with others who say that the movie is NOT confusing. Im not sure exactly what people are confused about, except MAYBE the open to interpretation ending.

Spoiler

I personally think that Leo's character is still in a dream state, because it all ended wayyyyy too perfectly for him-no issues returning home, it seemed that he had put his issues of guilt about his wife behind him and he got his ultimate goal-being with his kids.....its just too perfect... but he got what he wanted, even if it wasnt reality.

I give it a 9 out of 10 and must say the trailer for The Town with Ben Affleck looked interesting.

 

[The Riddler]

I think that the criticism that the film lacks heart, stems from the fact that

Spoiler

• No attempt was made to dehumanize the victim (Robert Fischer), which led me to believe that the whole premise was morally ambiguous. What had Robert Fischer done to deserve the dissolution of his father's empire? I was actually feeling sorry for the guy throughout the movie. This is exacerbated (IMO) by the fact that Saito's motives in wanting the dissolution of said empire were far from altruistic.
• The main characters were thieves selling secrets extracted from people's minds to the highest bidder. Not exactly the sort of thing that endears them to viewers.
• Cobb was doing the job for selfish reasons (returning to his children). No matter how effusively sentimental that sounds, on film it came off a tad contrived. Not to mention that he put so many people's lives at risk by not mentioning how dangerous the task will be under the influence of heavy sedatives.
• Mal was just scary and unhinged in most scenes because she was trying to kill everyone that wasn't Cobb, and her grand dream was to live out life with Cobb in some deep dream level where there would be no return. The fact that her character was not fully fleshed out in the flashback sequences (all we see is that she wakes up from the dream and becomes depressed and suicidal) and that for the most part, she was just a projection of Cobb's subconscious, also did not lend well to making her (or Cobb) some kind of tormented, tragic figure. Her character was more essential to giving the main character some closure and emotional catharsis, and a more salient need for her character was as an unpredictable, deadly force that takes apart the main characters' best laid plans, not to make the viewers feel sorry either for her or the protagonist.

This is all that I am able to articulate about why the film lacked emotional impact. I personally thought the film was enjoyable on its own merits, but I can see where the film's detractors' complaints stem from.

those are some of the reasons why the movie is very good, imo. the fact is, the characters were flawed, and it depends on the viewer to identify with whomever they seem to identify with. is feeling sorry for fischer not an emotion? the whole movie is morally ambiguous.

the only thing i agree with is all the points on mal and her relationship with cobb; her characterization provided little chance to make an emotional connection.

 

[The Riddler]

after letting it sit in my mind, this might be the second or third best nolan film, imo.

memento is clearly the best, followed by inception or tdk.

interestingly, i went to sleep last night and dreamt that i was actually part of cobb's crew, and i got shot in the back by arthur with a shotgun, for whatever reason, and i felt a burning pain in my back. then i woke up.

freaky.

 

[Doctor Jones]

Just saw this one with my wife and JStorm. All of us enjoyed it, I mean, obviously it is a well made movie. I read some reviews on other sites and about 9 out of 10 people said it was the best movie they had ever seen...which may have left me just a LITTLE disappointed. I mean, again, it was very very good, but definitely not the best movie I had ever seen.

Also, many reviewers said it blew their mind...which I dont understand either. It was somewhat complex, but not difficult to understand. Nolan did a good job of explaining things as the movie progressed and as needed.

I have to agree with others who say that the movie is NOT confusing. Im not sure exactly what people are confused about, except MAYBE the open to interpretation ending.

Spoiler

I personally think that Leo's character is still in a dream state, because it all ended wayyyyy too perfectly for him-no issues returning home, it seemed that he had put his issues of guilt about his wife behind him and he got his ultimate goal-being with his kids.....its just too perfect... but he got what he wanted, even if it wasnt reality.

I give it a 9 out of 10 and must say the trailer for The Town with Ben Affleck looked interesting.

That's your fault putting stock into someone saying it's the greatest film of all time. Of course it won't be. Especially for a Nolan film. You know how people use hyperboles to describe his films. Did you honestly expect this to be the greatest film of all time?

Now it wasn't as mindblowing as The Matrix, because something already like that happened. It can't be duplicated. Instead Nolan used what The Matrix gave us in terms of continuing in that kind of science fiction realm of perception. I don't think he was trying to top it.

You see, your theory is as good as mine.

Spoiler

But it's open to interpretation. So if you believe it was a dream, that's fine. There are countless threads on the two different interpretations. There's explanations that lead to the other in how each turn out. Like for you, you think he got in way to easily, well if he was dreaming, that would have been apart of it, if he wasn't Saito kept to his agreement and pulled the right strings to make things turn out perfectly.

 

[Solidus]

Just saw this one with my wife and JStorm. All of us enjoyed it, I mean, obviously it is a well made movie. I read some reviews on other sites and about 9 out of 10 people said it was the best movie they had ever seen...which may have left me just a LITTLE disappointed. I mean, again, it was very very good, but definitely not the best movie I had ever seen.


I have to agree with others who say that the movie is NOT confusing. Im not sure exactly what people are confused about, except MAYBE the open to interpretation ending.
.

There is more than that too. Read a lot of the observations that myself and many others have seen with the film. Truly on multiple viewings more things open up. There is more to the story than looked at with first glance.The complexity lies on the layers below, not with just the general story itself I believe.

Spoiler

The perfectness of him letting go of his wife has to do with because he had inception done to him by Page. Because they said that inception will change a person's entire being, almost who they are as a person. So it is very possible with inception done to him that that is why he let such a clean break. But at the same time I don't think it was a clean break. There will always be hurt there for him, its just the movie did not need to explain that, its just that he stopped trying to keep her projection locked up for his use so that he could be with her all the time.

The more I watched the movie there is a lot more emotional connection there. It's just not the typical kind, the movie deals with the subconscious not the normal way of a persons feelings, it is going deep into the mind and not just talking to the person face to face. In doing so I think the emotions are more shown through All of the things happening to Cobb through out the heist, and his problems with it.

Glad you liked it, but I recommend at least one more viewing. To me it got way better on second viewing.

 

[omid17]

Dileep Rao's comments on the ending of the movie

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/164362 ... tory.jhtml

Spoiler

Dileep Rao offered further insight, advising viewers to pay attention to the scene in an unusual way. "You know what, I'll just say this: Use your ears not your eyes."

​

 

[mrvlknight21]

Spoiler

I actually thought it about it more, and actually even if Level 1 was just the van area in the city, and Cobb was in reality while planning all this no matter what Cobb had inception done to him.

It was interesting to hear that Cobb said Page's character was an extremely fast learner. Which is very interesting. She is too, watching her in the first dream, she controls everything like its no thing, like she's done it before.

I believe Miles is behind it, he chose Page and showed her to Cobb. Why? Miles wants his grand kids to have their father back, and wants Cobb to finally let go of Mal. Clearly Cobb's subconscious is not allowing this. It is guilting him into thinking that he killed his wife and it was because of the inception he planted in her that killed her. And not that it was her own choice. So he was living in a prison himself.

I think that Miles had Page who was already a skilled architect and a extractor. But she played stupid to Cobb so that he would trust her, and let her into his subconscious. Clearly because Mal is really aggressive towards Page more than any other of the characters it seems. She really does not like Page. I think that Page was a double agent so to speak, she was being the architect and helping Cobb give inception to Fischer, but at the same time she was trying to plant the idea in his head that it was not his fault on Mal.

Which this worked because the things she did had Cobb at the end thinking it was his idea, which is how they said the only way Inception works. So it could be the film had double Inception going on at the same time. If you think about it. Cobb and Fischer's story kinda parallel in some way.

Interesting and solid points/theories.