Inception Forum

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Hey duders, hopefully by now a good amount of you will have seen Inception. If so, this is your homepage post for SPOILER-FILLED DISCUSSION. Do NOT watch the video above or go into the thread below if you don't want MASSIVE SPOILERS. If you want to talk about plot points, feel free to do so in the thread below; no need to use spoiler text or anything like that.  

Great movie. Going to think about it for a while and post what I think essentially happened

Awesome, I wanted to know what you guys thought about the ending
 
I really can't make up my mind on where the dude is at the end, I keep thinking about it and going back and forth on it, I'm going to see it again next week. I can't fucking wait for the commentary track on this movie...and being excited for a commentary track says a lot about the movie.
 
Also I guess I'm a gamer dork, cause I instantly thought of Modern Warfare when I saw that snow dream. And a movie dork, cause I can barely remeber any of the action scenes other then that they were all awesome.  
 
 Awesome, I wanted to know what you guys thought about the ending
 
I really can't make up my mind on where the dude is at the end, I keep thinking about it and going back and forth on it, I'm going to see it again next week. I can't fucking wait for the commentary track on this movie...and being excited for a commentary track says a lot about the movie.
 
Also I guess I'm a gamer dork, cause I instantly thought of Modern Warfare when I saw that snow dream. And a movie dork, cause I can barely remember any of the action scenes other then that they were all awesome. 
 
EDIT : 
In one of the other Inception discussion threads user beanj007 pointed out that when they all miss the first kick, Cobb says that they have around 20 minutes left and that Arthur has like 2 minutes left. Though the scene in the hotel goes on for more then 2 minutes, as he has time  to beat some dudes up, put everyone in the elevator ans set the charges for the kick. So this made me think that it could be possible that they were all one level deeper without knowing it (explaining why Arthur had more time in the hotel) 
If this was the case then it would be possible that when Cobb wakes up in the airplane it' still a dream, but he believes it's reality (because he miss-calulated the number of dream layers he was in)  His mind would have constructed the perfect ending to this whole story. That would explain why the kids were doing the same thing, wearing the same clothes and looked the same age. Also that would explain the slight wobble of the top (he knows the totem's properties, and could have sub-consciously changed them to convince himself that this was reality)  
 
Doe that make any sense? It's probably a huge stretch, just a thought  
(I have no idea why there's a random link thing in the middle of that)
 
@walkingcarpet said:

Oh, and I kind of want to see Gorden-Levit play the Riddler in Batman 3 after seeing this movie as well. The outfit he was wearing in the second layer dream toward the end of the movie sold it for me. Make the vest green instead of brown and it'd be perfect. I think he'd be able to pull off the charismatic and fiercely intelligent Riddler ridiculously well.  "

And...this is a ridiculously great idea.

I thought the ending was kinda more aimed towards the audience, continuing the movie's theme of reality. It just kinda reminds me of the whole "Am I dreaming of being a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming of being human?" thing.

I just watched this film literally half an hour ago, and good god. I love film because of movies like this that just kind of leave me in this state of awe and this kind of weird high when I walk out the theater and enter the real world again (pun there only kind of intended). 
 
I really liked how Nolan was quick to define how the rules of the dream worlds worked and then stuck to them. It kept them from getting too abstract and as such made everything a whole lot more understandable. I think without him straight up telling you how everything pretty much worked, some bits toward the end where they were going three or four layers deep in the dream things had the potential to get real confusing real fast.  
 
Overall, Nolan has a way in his films of making everything feel incredibly tight and well thought out well in advance of a camera being pointed at anything. It makes it feel like the cutting room floor doesn't even exist because everything he wants in the movie is there, and nothing else. It's just great to see films that are crafted so well.  
 
The biggest thing for me is definitely the ending. You see Sato reach for the gun while he and Cobb are together in Limbo, so you can asume that he shot Cobb and himself as a kick out of the dream worlds, but they don't actually show it. I think the idea that he and Cobb went deeper is maybe not warranted so much, it's more, did he ever make it out al all. I built the world once, he could be it again quite a bit easier theoretically. The top sitting there at the end with just that slight wobble was a perfect way to end that film. I personally love and hate ambiguous endings with media because I always want to know what happened, but they're fun as hell to talk to people about.  
 
Overall, I loved the crap out of this movie and I can't wait to see it again.  
 
Oh, and I kind of want to see Gorden-Levit play the Riddler in Batman 3 after seeing this movie as well. The outfit he was wearing in the second layer dream toward the end of the movie sold it for me. Make the vest green instead of brown and it'd be perfect. I think he'd be able to pull off the charismatic and fiercely intelligent Riddler ridiculously well. 

So Alex didn't enjoy Mulholland Drive? Wow, that's in my top 5, easily. 
 
Zero-gravity sequence: Joseph Gordon-Levitt was hanging on wires, locked in place, not moving at all. The room itself was moving back and forth around him while he just pantomimed the movements with his arms and legs.... and it looks fucking amazing! $160 million dollars. That's all it took to make those incredible sequences. Michael Bay spent 4-times that to make shitty-ass popcorn flick.

going to see it again tomorrow before i can warrant any kind of discussion about it.

I have to agree with Alex. Nolan methodically cuts to black right when the dradle goes off kilter. He's asking the viewer 'Did Cobb make it out?'.  
 
... Also, I think 'Dallas' was the show where it all ended with 'it was all a dream!'

The crowd I was with flipped when the film ended, people clapping.
 
A note to Rorie, people who were laughing at the van falling were simply falling at the pure chaos of the situation, the last third of the movie is taking place in 1-2 seconds of a van falling, simply amazing. Sure it was meant to be a tense scene. It is either because the film can not be taken seriously or the chaos of the situation is simply obscure that causes people to laugh, for inception it was for the latter
 
One of my favorite shots had to be when the camera was stagnant and the hallway was rotating with JGL  or Arthur while he was moving around.
 
I liked this less then Memento, I think Memento is a better film in a small degree but maybe time will tell, but Inception was really great, maybe better then Dark Knight

I really loved this movie. Nolan somehow was able to fit the rules of this universe into the first hour of the film, whereas most films would use an entire movie to explain the universe and make a follow-up detailing the heist. 
 
As for the ending I think Cobb was still in Limbo. He would have no "kick" to wake him up, as they were heavily sedated and the implied gunshot from Saito wouldn't kick him and instead kill him. But I love how Nolan left the ending for the audience to interpret, showing the top wobbling ever so slightly then end the movie. Brilliant! 

 I like to think that Cobb is in reality. since the top was defiantly shaking and moving around and not in one place. My dad though brought up a big problem though that the Top Totem was not his it was really Mals originally maybe since she is dead it doesn’t matter anymore? 
 
Ellen Pages characters name  Ariadne is also a throwback to the Queen who helped Theseus through the labyrinth. So that could lead you to believe that she is a figment of his subconscious.  
 
When Leo finds Saito in Limbo and he is old he finds him as a old man filled with regrets like he kept repeating. Now the repeating thing could make you think he is like Mal sinc she kept repeating the train line. I think they meet up and he kills him and then himself thus getting them out of limbo.  
 
I dont know honestly i need to see it again all i would want to ask Nolan though is Arthur Real? 
the whole movie though has this theme of reality is what you make of it. 
 
Either way Dom Cobbs story ends on  a happy note the scene of them all waking up though was a lil cheesy 

I liked how the ending vaguely showcased that the the top might be toppling but cut out right before anyone could be certain. Still, kinda confused as to whether it was reality or not, which by all means is a great thing.  

On one hand, yeah, I could basically almost hear the top start scraping it's way to what was most likely a stop, and I do agree with the notion that Cobb was in reality. Yet, the scene with Cobb and Saito in Limbo - I still don't understand what Cobb's 'kick ' was. Don't quite remember the scene all too well, but it focused on the gun lying on the table towards Saito's end. Did this mean that the gun was used to shoot Cobb out of the dream and back on to the plane?  

Regardless, great movie. Was reading around on Giantbomb and was intriqued  by some of the users' ideas on the movie, one in particular stating   the whole meaning of the movie as being an inception that was planned by Cobb from the very start as a means to get over Mal and accept his 'reality'. Too lazy to name particular users for the idea, but a great thought. Kind of hinted at with Cobb's conversations with Miles and how this one job was able to return him to his former life, but still, a great insight nonetheless

Some critics are saying it's frontrunner for best picture. Any disagreements?

@MrMazz: It seemed pretty clear to me that the final scene was a dream from the age, clothes, and behavior of his children, which is pretty much identical to his memory of the last time he saw them. 
 
I'm sort of leaning towards the whole thing being at least one layer beneath reality--especially with Michael Caine's line about wanting him to come back to reality.

After the first couple scenes with Saito and talking about a dream within a dream I went "Oh fuck" because the rest of the movie I was running an ongoing check of "is this real? Is that real? Are these people real? Is this a dream? Did this really happen?" at every turn.
 
I still enjoyed the film but at a certain point the definition of reality really didn't matter anymore because all of it could be a dream. Still, that last scene made my entire theater gasp and groan before breaking out into laughter.
 
The movie was such a mind bender that I wouldn't get into an argument about whether Cobb is still in limbo or not. Your guess is as good as mine.

I'm leaning towards the ending indicating the topmost layer being a dream. I don't necessarily like what that implies, because that would indicate that all the characters are figments of Cobb's imagination. Though they could also be extractors diving into Cobb's dream for some goal, maybe to help him get over his wife or realize a greater truth? 
 
The thing that intrigues me is that Cobb's totem is Mal's totem which includes the possibility that he never felt the original totem in reality (If we are following the logic that one extractor is not supposed to ever touch another's totem). So an architect could be manipulating that totem to make him believe he is in reality when he is really not. 

@Cybexx: One I idea I heard which I kind of like was Miles was using Ariadne to try to bring him back to reality, and perhaps to do that they had to travel all the way into his subconscious and deal with Mal. Not sure if it holds up entirely though. 
 
I gotta say, with the music swelling up at the very end with everyone getting off the plane I really did want it to turn out to be real and have a happy ending. Although, if the layer that was presented as reality turned out to be a dream still, does leave open the possibility that Mal is still alive. . . .

@Feser said:

"

Some critics are saying it's frontrunner for best picture. Any disagreements?

"

I certainly would like to see Nolan get some recognition finally. I thought he deserved it for Memento, The Prestige, and The Dark Knight.

@Feser said:

"

Some critics are saying it's frontrunner for best picture. Any disagreements?

"

It's my front runner for sure, but even if it doesn't win Best Picture, Nolan absolutely must win Best Director or I'ma choke-a-bitch.

That same thing happened with the Van for me, the guy next to me couldn't stop talking and making fun of it. And this was at midnight.
 
And I also thought saw the Modern Warfare 2 similarity. 
 
An absolutely incredible film, I'm going to go see it again in the next few days.