[filth]

This is the discussion thread for inception. We will discuss the topics in the movie without spoiler tags, if you want to go and explain how great the movie was go to this thread http://www.revscene.net/forums/inception-t587197.html





How did Leo officially bring himself and the japanese guy back to reality? Also since the ending is questionable, SAY if they WERENT back in reality, how would Leo go into his 6th dimension dream when he was eating with the old Japanese guy?

[2damaxmr2]

No they were in the limbo. Because Watanabe died in the 3rd level. They knew the drug was about to wear off (In real life) So you only need to kill your self to wake up. If you are still hooked up with the machine then you need the kick to wake up from the dreamworld.

[mkchoi0801]

There's one thing i don't get about totems. The weighted die and the unstable chess piece both make sense. For example, the weighted die would always land on a certain number, say 6. If he was in someone else's dream, the die might land on a different number and he would realize that he's in someone's dream. But the top, the dreamer's subconscious would think that it would fall anyways, so what's the point of having a normal top as his totem? Unless he rigged the top so that it keeps spinning for a ridiculously long time, I don't understand how it can be 'unique' for him to judge reality.

[TheNewGirl]

The totem still he only knows the feel of (he and Mol actually). They're the only ones who have ever touched it so they're the only ones who could manufacture it in a way that would "feel right" so to speak. That was the whole point, the spinning is just their projection onto it of how it should be - something only they can control in their own dream.

They never came back to the "real" world at the end. Leo's character wanted to stay in the dream. It kind of implies that he would live out his time there and probably if he ever woke up he'd be all brain scrambled.

Actually the whole thing begs the question if he ever really woke up from his first jaunt into limbo at all or if the whole thing was a dream from start to finish and his wife really is the one who woke up.

It kinda reminds me of that illusion with the dancer that's spinning, some people see her going to the left, some people see her going to the right and if you concentrate hard enough you can make her seem to go either way. In Inception at first glance it looks like Mol was drawing him into the dream while Ellen Paige's char was the voice of reality BUT if you look at it from a differant angle it could be that that Mol was the voice of reality and Ellen Paige's character was lulling him deeper into the illusion.

[Kaolinite]

^ you cant really tell if he did end up in reality in the end. in his dreams he never got to see his kids faces because he forgot what they look like. at the very end, he sees their faces and if it was a dream he wouldnt..so that kinda shows hes in the real world.

but.. his kids never aged, were wearing the same clothes and were doing the exact same thing as his dreams... although 5 minutes of "real time" is 1 hour of a dream.. so he could have just been away for like a month.

i saw another persons comment where he said at the beginning of the movie ( in the dream ) he was wearing a wedding ring...every scene that was a dream he was wearing it and parts that were reality he was not. the very end of the movie he was not wearing the wedding ring...so doesnt that also show it must be reality.

one thing i didnt get was when everyone woke up in the car except for leo ( 2nd level ) they all left and leo must have drowned..which would send him into limbo.. also everyone just appears awake in the plane out of nowhere so they must have skipped some time.

[wc19]

I didn't get how the limbo worked, maybe I didn't hear it properly in the movie.

I thought you only go into limbo when the sedatives were still working so technically in the first level and if they used the sleeping drugs aka the other levels than you would just need a kick or kill yourself to wake up? Didn't make sense to me how Leo and the girl can go into limbo just by using the sleeping drugs at the bottom level where as watanabe went into limbo because he died in the first level.

[Jsunu]

I didn't get how the limbo worked, maybe I didn't hear it properly in the movie.

I thought you only go into limbo when the sedatives were still working so technically in the first level and if they used the sleeping drugs aka the other levels than you would just need a kick or kill yourself to wake up? Didn't make sense to me how Leo and the girl can go into limbo just by using the sleeping drugs at the bottom level where as watanabe went into limbo because he died in the first level.

Actually they went deeper into Leo's limbo since he was already there prior. What you see in the 4th level is his crumbling world that he had created with his wife that was previously empty dream space. Now the real question is how did leo enter saito's limbo?

Here a link with an extensive discussion on the movie:
http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Inception-Explained-Unraveling-The-Dream-Within-The-Dream-19615.html

And here is a link with the interview of the guy who made the sedatives in the movie:
http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2010/07/inceptions_dileep_rao_answers.html

Both links bring interesting debates on the topic.

[kchan]

did anyone catch what Mal said right before she got hit by the train in the dream?

[illicitstylz]

did anyone catch what Mal said right before she got hit by the train in the dream?

" so we can be together "

or something to that extent.





Interpretation 1: All of Inception is a dream.
(Note: This is the Inception theory to which I subscribe.)

We are never once shown reality. Every frame of Inception is a dream. Whose dream? My money is on Cobb, though it is conceivable that Cobb is simply the subject and that he is in someone else's dream (see Interpretation 3 and 4 below).

There are a number of key elements throughout the film - lines of dialog shared amongst the characters (Mal and Saito both tell Cobb to take a "leap of faith", Cobb predicts what Saito will say in limbo), acceptance of improbable events during segments of "reality" (Saito saving Cobb in Mombasa) - that support the notion that everything is a dream, but for me it all comes down to a simple question: What is our totem? We learn very early on that the one unimpeachable way to know whether or not you're in a dream world or the real world is to test your totem; an item whose behavior only a single individual can identify and predict. In the case of Cobb, it's his wife's spinning top. Arthur's is a single loaded dice. Ariadne's is a precisely weighted chess piece. But what is the audience's totem?

What event in Inception is the audience aware of that no one else can know? There isn't one. There's no point in which reality is clearly and unimpeachably established. The film opens in a dream sequence (Saito's limbo) before transitioning to another dream sequence (Saito's dinner party), which then slides into another dream (Saito's secret apartment). The characters supposedly awaken from that last dream sequence aboard a Japanese train, this presumably being our first glance at reality, but one must ask how the characters arrived from the apartment to the train. There's no visual transition; no shot of "tunneling" from one reality to another. One second we're one place, a second later we're somewhere else, but can you remember how we got there? No, because we're never shown it; we're never shown the awakening process that bridges the two. And not being able to identify specifically how you got from point A to point B is clearly established within the film as a sign that you are in a dream.

That transition, if it existed, would be the audience's totem; it would be the one thing we can cling to, whose behavior we can understand intimately and always predict. By not giving the audience a totem of their own, Nolan has flat out made it impossible to ever anchor any portion of the film as being real versus being a dream.

Now, that's not to say that the movie is ruined if everything is a dream. It doesn't negate the emotional breakthrough that Cobb goes through, which is ultimately what the film is about. In fact, everything being a dream is the ace up Inception'ssleeve: if it's all a fantasy, then there can be no plot holes; the lack of deep characterizations for anyone other than Cobb can be chalked up to the fact that they are all his projections and thus do not require rich histories or distinguishable character arcs. It's basically a catch-all safety net for any complaints registered against Inception's narrative.

[hal0g0dv2]

http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/6730/inceptionexplained.jpg (http://img682.imageshack.us/i/inceptionexplained.jpg/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

[rsx]

When Cobb was sitting in the hotel room gun in hand waiting for the totem to stop spinning, did it stop?

[hal0g0dv2]

^ yes

[Slifer]

So in a limbo you will grow old alone right? Then how come in Saito's limbo, his bodyguards were there?

[Fafine]

^ they grow old with everyone... they showed a scene where he and his wife was old with white hair and walking together. his bodyguards are projections just like how his wife had their kid projections when they were in limbo

[LUUUUUUUU]

Best Movie EVAR!

[LUUUUUUUU]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVkQ0C4qDvM

[Ulic Qel-Droma]

there is another theory that cobb himself was the one being incepted.

here it is


Dom Cobb was the SUBJECT throughout the whole movie. And at the end of the movie was the only time he was acctually awake. The clues are obvious once you realize that he was the subject and not Fisher.
Dom Cobb even said in one scene, the only way I can get to see my kids again is if I get back to the real world. At that scene the architect ran into the elevator real fast so he didn’t realize that he was being incepted.
There was no Cobol or Cobal however you spell it.. This whole plan was a setup to plant an idea in Dom’s head so that he could realize what the real world was. The person behind the idea was Michael Caine’s character, thats why he was at the airport. The real extractor was Saito.
It’s obvious he was in a dream throughout the whole movie. And they said that the totum was so that you knew that you were never in someone elses dream, not reality. Thats why when he went to the indian guys place he went to sleep and woke up in a someone elses dream. Thats why he never got to spin the totum in the bathroom.
Another thing.. Dom never got attacked throughout the whole movie, because he was the subject! Everybody else was getting attacked. Especially in the scene when the train came crashing through the middle of the street. Do you remember Dom being attacted in that scene? I didn’t think so.
There were flashbacks of Dom in the real world, but the Inception started when the so called “cobolt guy” told him that it was now or never, and gave him airplane tickets. Rember, there is no cobolt and that guy was part of the team in performing the inception on Dom. This explains why the kids are in the same spot when he got home wearing the same clothes. Because he was only asleep for a few hours.
Dom realized they planted the inception on him when he arrived back to find Saito sitting at the table an old man, the Dom says with a bewildered look on his face, I’ve come to remind you something, that this world wasn’t real. Thats when he realized he had the inception done to him. As he awoke on the plane you see everybody sitting there with a smile on their face knowing that they just did it to him, otherwise Fisher would have been like, you were in my dream and you and you were there and you were there! Right?
Think about all of the clues given to us. Its actually obvious if we pay attention a little harder. And about the top, it clearly started wobbling and no it did not start spinning again before the movie went to black.

the only thing that doesn't make sense now is why the leaders of two super powers of the world help incept him and risk limbo (and by super power i mean they're fucking more powerful than governments themselves).

unless they wern't super powers, and scare crow and the last samurai dude were just forgers as well and acted as if they were super powers.

i duno.

the other thing is totems. i've been studying lucid dreaming and dreams for a while. Totems only work in that movie because only YOU (the owner of the totem) knows how it works, and you can go into OTHER people's dreams. but a totem would never work in your own dream in real life, because you know the totem's secret (it's weighted funny, it falls over one side, it spins forever...etc whatever it may be). A totem in your own dream would work however it wanted to. but it would only work the way you wanted it to work if it were someone else's dream.

Cobb could be very well stuck in a dream still at the end. cuz his totem, would always fall over, in his own dream.

[clowe]

Did any of you guys see it in IMAX? If so, do you think it's worth it to see it in IMAX over the regular one?

[Presto]

^^^
It's not a film that needs to be seen in IMAX, but it would certainly enhance the experience. I saw it in the normal theater, and it blasted my mind.

[rice cooker]

Did any of you guys see it in IMAX? If so, do you think it's worth it to see it in IMAX over the regular one?
its already blurry enough on a regular screen let alone imax screen

[JLASA]

^^^
It's not a film that needs to be seen in IMAX, but it would certainly enhance the experience. I saw it in the normal theater, and it blasted my mind.

agreed....good thread...these theories are tough because they made the plot so it was possible for all this discussion about what the facts are.....i personally thing he was still in the limbo at the end and wasn't in the real world.

[JKam]

There's another theory that he's in his fathers dream and that's why he can see his kids' faces, they're projected by the grandfather.

[-EuroRSN-]

man this movie fucked me up... cant imagine what i would think if i was baked!

[FN-2199]

After reading everything in this thread, my mind is blown even further. All the theories are mixing me up!
Or... that's what they want me to believe..

[DanHibiki]

There's another theory that he's in his fathers dream and that's why he can see his kids' faces, they're projected by the grandfather.

But ur allowed to bring ur own projections into other people's dreams so he could easily have seen their faces.

[DanHibiki]

there is another theory that cobb himself was the one being incepted.

here it is

Dom Cobb was the SUBJECT throughout the whole movie. And at the end of the movie was the only time he was acctually awake. The clues are obvious once you realize that he was the subject and not Fisher.
Dom Cobb even said in one scene, the only way I can get to see my kids again is if I get back to the real world. At that scene the architect ran into the elevator real fast so he didn’t realize that he was being incepted.
There was no Cobol or Cobal however you spell it.. This whole plan was a setup to plant an idea in Dom’s head so that he could realize what the real world was. The person behind the idea was Michael Caine’s character, thats why he was at the airport. The real extractor was Saito.
It’s obvious he was in a dream throughout the whole movie. And they said that the totum was so that you knew that you were never in someone elses dream, not reality. Thats why when he went to the indian guys place he went to sleep and woke up in a someone elses dream. Thats why he never got to spin the totum in the bathroom.
Another thing.. Dom never got attacked throughout the whole movie, because he was the subject! Everybody else was getting attacked. Especially in the scene when the train came crashing through the middle of the street. Do you remember Dom being attacted in that scene? I didn’t think so.
There were flashbacks of Dom in the real world, but the Inception started when the so called “cobolt guy” told him that it was now or never, and gave him airplane tickets. Rember, there is no cobolt and that guy was part of the team in performing the inception on Dom. This explains why the kids are in the same spot when he got home wearing the same clothes. Because he was only asleep for a few hours.
Dom realized they planted the inception on him when he arrived back to find Saito sitting at the table an old man, the Dom says with a bewildered look on his face, I’ve come to remind you something, that this world wasn’t real. Thats when he realized he had the inception done to him. As he awoke on the plane you see everybody sitting there with a smile on their face knowing that they just did it to him, otherwise Fisher would have been like, you were in my dream and you and you were there and you were there! Right?
Think about all of the clues given to us. Its actually obvious if we pay attention a little harder. And about the top, it clearly started wobbling and no it did not start spinning again before the movie went to black.



I don't get that part. How does getting Saito out of limbo make him realize he was incepted? Plz explain.

Also he says everyone is smiling but Fischer was not. Fischer wouldn't have said "you were in my dream! and you!" because logics would tell him "oh, I saw these people when I entered the plane and so my mind placed them in my dream and gave them made up roles."

[JKam]

^ the original writer of that needs to be consistent with the names and have more concise ideas, I can barely follow what he's saying.

who the hell is Dom, cobol/cobal and colbolt guy? Are they all Cobb?

michael caine = scarecrow?

[moky]

Dom is Cobb's first name.

Cobalt Engineering is a company who either hired Cobb to steal from someone else, or was the one that Cobb stole from.

Michael Caine is Cobb's father in law.

[MR_BIGGS]

So is the spinning top Dom's totem or his wifes? My friend thinks Dom's totem is his children's faces.

[JKam]

it can't be his childrens faces because anyone can know what they look like unless its something very particular about their faces. The spinning top was originally his wife's I think.

[DanHibiki]

Actually they went deeper into Leo's limbo since he was already there prior. What you see in the 4th level is his crumbling world that he had created with his wife that was previously empty dream space. Now the real question is how did leo enter saito's limbo?

Here a link with an extensive discussion on the movie:
http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Inception-Explained-Unraveling-The-Dream-Within-The-Dream-19615.html

And here is a link with the interview of the guy who made the sedatives in the movie:
http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2010/07/inceptions_dileep_rao_answers.html

Both links bring interesting debates on the topic.

The first link says that the snow fortress level was Eames Dream but the interview with the chemist says that it's Fischer's dream.

So.....??!?!?!?!?!?!

[FN-2199]

The first link says that the snow fortress level was Eames Dream but the interview with the chemist says that it's Fischer's dream.

So.....??!?!?!?!?!?!

It's Eames' dream, but Cobb tricks Fisher to believe that they are entering Browning's dream because Fisher thinks Browning is setting him up.

Edit: To clarify, the vault was placed there by the team, in Eames' part of the mission and is the part that inception takes place. (Which is the vault)

[b0unce. [?]]

Dom Cobb was the SUBJECT throughout the whole movie. And at the end of the movie was the only time he was acctually awake. The clues are obvious once you realize that he was the subject and not Fisher.
Dom Cobb even said in one scene, the only way I can get to see my kids again is if I get back to the real world. At that scene the architect ran into the elevator real fast so he didn’t realize that he was being incepted.
There was no Cobol or Cobal however you spell it.. This whole plan was a setup to plant an idea in Dom’s head so that he could realize what the real world was. The person behind the idea was Michael Caine’s character, thats why he was at the airport. The real extractor was Saito.
It’s obvious he was in a dream throughout the whole movie. And they said that the totum was so that you knew that you were never in someone elses dream, not reality. Thats why when he went to the indian guys place he went to sleep and woke up in a someone elses dream. Thats why he never got to spin the totum in the bathroom.
Another thing.. Dom never got attacked throughout the whole movie, because he was the subject! Everybody else was getting attacked. Especially in the scene when the train came crashing through the middle of the street. Do you remember Dom being attacted in that scene? I didn’t think so.
There were flashbacks of Dom in the real world, but the Inception started when the so called “cobolt guy” told him that it was now or never, and gave him airplane tickets. Rember, there is no cobolt and that guy was part of the team in performing the inception on Dom. This explains why the kids are in the same spot when he got home wearing the same clothes. Because he was only asleep for a few hours.
Dom realized they planted the inception on him when he arrived back to find Saito sitting at the table an old man, the Dom says with a bewildered look on his face, I’ve come to remind you something, that this world wasn’t real. Thats when he realized he had the inception done to him. As he awoke on the plane you see everybody sitting there with a smile on their face knowing that they just did it to him, otherwise Fisher would have been like, you were in my dream and you and you were there and you were there! Right?
Think about all of the clues given to us. Its actually obvious if we pay attention a little harder. And about the top, it clearly started wobbling and no it did not start spinning again before the movie went to black.

damn, never looked at it like that haha

[Jgresch]

just saw it. It was good. THis thread made me go :O

[FlyNvBaller]

Ok so I've read a lot into this thing and have figured out most of the answers that I'm comfortable with.

So maybe someone can help me confirm what i'm about to say.

in the 4th level (limbo),
Fischer had to jump off the roof and be woken up by the defibulator - 2 kicks to get out of limbo
Ariadne had to jump off the roof and be kicked by the snow fortress explosion - 2 kicks to get out of limbo
this is because they were all heavily sedated in reality.

so under heavy sedation, in either levels, if you just kill yourself, you go into limbo unless you get a kick from the current level & the level above.

Cobb stayed in limbo because he missed the kick from above.
So in succession, he died from stab wound eventually i assumed, he gets reset back into limbo, dies in hotel elevation explosion, reset in limbo, and drowned in the van, limbo once again and wakes up on beach and is all confuzzled.

since he's still in limbo, if he and both OLD Saito shot eachother at the end, wouldn't they both be reset in limbo??
My theory is because in reality the timer or sedative wore off so they were able to kick themselves out with only one death, maybe that's why they were the last 2 to wake up?

[wuuhoo]

To get out of limbo, does ene would have to understand they are still "dreaming", and have to wake up by killing themself?
Seto forgets about everything until Cobbs come in and tries to remind seto that this isnt real. Once Seto finds out its not real, he kills himself. Therefore he escapes limbo.

There was the link above were one of the actors said being in Limbo is like being in a coma.
the individual needs to be awaken from within inorder to be awaken up in reality

[Ronin]

Ok so I've read a lot into this thing and have figured out most of the answers that I'm comfortable with.

So maybe someone can help me confirm what i'm about to say.

in the 4th level (limbo),
Fischer had to jump off the roof and be woken up by the defibulator - 2 kicks to get out of limbo
Ariadne had to jump off the roof and be kicked by the snow fortress explosion - 2 kicks to get out of limbo
this is because they were all heavily sedated in reality.

so under heavy sedation, in either levels, if you just kill yourself, you go into limbo unless you get a kick from the current level & the level above.

Cobb stayed in limbo because he missed the kick from above.
So in succession, he died from stab wound eventually i assumed, he gets reset back into limbo, dies in hotel elevation explosion, reset in limbo, and drowned in the van, limbo once again and wakes up on beach and is all confuzzled.

since he's still in limbo, if he and both OLD Saito shot eachother at the end, wouldn't they both be reset in limbo??
My theory is because in reality the timer or sedative wore off so they were able to kick themselves out with only one death, maybe that's why they were the last 2 to wake up?

I don't think that's the case and I don't think he dies in the hotel or the van. Remember that time is different so he probably woke up in the hotel five minutes after everyone else and then maybe a few seconds after everyone else in the van and then almost immediately after everyone else on the plane.

The kick is a feeling of falling so he could easily do it to himself in every situation. Remember the only reason they couldn't kick in the hotel is because the van was in freefall. As soon as it hits the water, the hotel regains gravity.

[Ch28]

http://cdn.fd.uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Inception-xzibit.jpg

[b0unce. [?]]

It is NOT a dream: The WEDDING RING gives it away.

We start the movie with Cobb in limbo with Saito, he is wearing a ring. Step back to the beginning, he is trying to convince Saito to let him into his mind to help protect it, this takes place in a dream two layers down. He is wearing a wedding ring. Things go south and we wake up in the apartment, where we think an angry mob is really coming down the street. They threaten Saito's life with him thinking it is reality, only for him to discover otherwise. In this entire scene Cobb is wearing a wedding ring. Wake up on the train, NO WEDDING RING. In the hotel suite on the phone with his kids, NO WEDDING RING. On the roof talking to Saito, NO WEDDING RING. France, the architecture university, NO WEDDING RING. The coffee shop in Ariadne's first shared dream, Cobb is wearing his wedding ring, she freaks out. They wake up in the workshop, NO WEDDING RING. They go back under and Ariadne explores the physics of the dreamworld, again Cobb is wearing a wedding ring.

Cobb goes to see Eames, the entire time not wearing a ring. He meets the new chemist, still no ring. The chemist gives him a quick taste of his latest potion, in that scene we get a quick glimpse of his hand with a WEDDING RING. Wakes up, no ring. See the pattern?

So finally, the inception. We are on the plane, we clearly see is not wearing a ring. Level 1, WEDDING RING, Level 2, WEDDING RING, Level 3 WEDDING RING, Limbo he is wearing his WEDDING RING.

After he meets Saito as an old man, the conversation continues past what we saw in the beginning, yet even here he is wearing a WEDDING RING still. Then, when Saito reaches for the gun, we are on an airplane. He is not wearing a wedding ring here.

HERE IS THE KEY. As he is walking through the terminal, no ring, as he is greeted by father in law, no ring, when he gets home and spins his totem, no ring.

In his dreams he is married to Mul still, as she can still exist there. In reality, he knows she is dead and does not wear a wedding ring as he is no longer married. A simple yet easily unnoticed way to test which parts are reality.

Not done there, I investigated another thing, Cobb's totem:

I have seen many posts of people saying his totem falls when he is in others' dreams. This is simply not true. People say it wobbles and falls over in the beginning. I watched and listened closely, Saito spins the top and we hear it spinning as the scene cuts to the young Saito. Then, in the end when we see him old again, he looks down and it is still spinning, he knows he is not in reality and goes for the gun.

When Cobb uses inception on Mul, it continues and never stops. In the hotel after the failed Saito mission, it falls. A funny thing to note is that every scene in which the top spins endlessly he is wearing a WEDDING RING. In the scenes in which it topples, he is not.

Now, the awakening scene. Looks an awful lot like a dream right? Not really. He wakes up on the plane surprised, but everyone is smiling. They woke up from the sedatives, but Cobb and Saito were down in limbo. When they got back, everyone is happy to see he made it, Saito looks just as stunned only backing up the fact that he really snapped back to reality. They are all getting bags, going through customs, etc. Everyone looks at each other with a grin because they know inception worked and that Cobb is finally home. Not very dream-like except that it seems like a dream come true. Had the scene after he and Saito with the gun been him in his home, him on his way to his home, etc, I would think it is a dream. No, he awakens in EXACTLY the place he went to sleep to start inception. You never really know how you get to where you are in a dream do you? Then how does he know he is on a plane and just successfully completed inception on Robert Fischer, the man in front of him?

Finally, the home scene. Looks like a dream? In this case, yes it does. we see the children exactly where they were, doing the same thing, wearing the same clothes. They appear the same age. On my second viewing this was red flag that it was a dream. But on my third viewing I noticed slight differences, such as the kids looking slightly older. The cast list has two sets of kids listed, ones slightly older than the others. They are not voice casts but actual actors in the film. I especially noticed a difference as the camera pans towards the totem, I chose to focus on the back door with the kids. The girl is seen throwing herself on her father, in this scene she looks clearly older than the memory he has of her.

And of course, the totem itself. I watched each spin my third time through. It spun flawlessly for a while, began to wobble slightly, then started a hard wobble then fall. In the final scene it appears to be spinning smoothly for a long time, he probably gave it a lot of power. It starts to slightly wobble, and the screen goes black after it begins a HARD WOBBLE as if it is about to topple, not correct itself.

Conclusion: The movie isn't a dream, Cobb isn't caught in some "limbo that looks a lot like reality." Cobb spends the entire movie trying to get to his kids in reality, why would he settle for shades in a limbo? What proof is there that he is dreaming the whole time? If he is dreaming at the end, where is he dreaming? Limbo? So he goes from talking to Saito to just waking up on a plane, all as a part of a dream in limbo? Really? Think about it.

Nolan would never take the "eeet was aaaaalll a dreeeeaaaammmmm" cliche way out. But the fact that he cut the film before the top falls over does have a meaning. He is planting a seed of doubt in your mind. He uses inception on the audience to have them question the ending. The concept of the movie thus becomes reality to the viewer, a heavy thing to think about and something that hasn't been done before.

But all the evidence points to reality.

[moomooCow]

;7056283']
...

Nolan would never take the "eeet was aaaaalll a dreeeeaaaammmmm" cliche way out. But the fact that he cut the film before the top falls over does have a meaning. He is planting a seed of doubt in your mind. He uses inception on the audience to have them question the ending. The concept of the movie thus becomes reality to the viewer, a heavy thing to think about and something that hasn't been done before.

But all the evidence points to reality.

I think that makes the most sense out of everything that's been said. This seed of doubt fucks with your mind and thats where all these different interpretations are coming from. The whole spew about an idea being the most resilient virus is what confirms this theory. ( for me at least ... ) It's mentioned two or three times in the movie with Leo explaining it to someone else, and it's also responsible for Mol's death so it seem pretty important to Nolan. The way he setup the last scene was the perfect way to prove it.

I need to watch this movie again.

[JLASA]

good post bounce. makes a lot more sense but i didnt notice the wedding ring in the both times i saw it in theatres. i guess i didnt pay attention enough to that but it does all make sense. however i didnt notice that the kids looked slightly older...they looked pretty damn similar to me

[Ronin]

;7056283']It is NOT a dream

...

...

...NOOOO GET OUTTA MY HEAD, CHARLES

[DanHibiki]

;7056283']It is NOT a dream: The WEDDING RING gives it away.

...

But all the evidence points to reality.

http://knowyourmeme.com/system/icons/1253/original/everything_went_better_than_expected.jpg?125751095 9

[Gumby]

With movies, you often see lots of inconsistencies. So if they were consistent with the wedding ring, then you gotta give them recognition for having such attention to detail.

[JLASA]

yeah thats true....i would have never thought of that...i might have to watch it again just to look for that lolol.....not

[SkinnyPupp]

;7056283']Theory which was stolen from the IMDB boards (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1375666/board/nest/167257951?p=1)
See the original thread of this theory to read all the arguments against it. This post in particular (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1375666/board/nest/167257951?d=167808547&p=11#167808547) brings up most of the things I would have. I also would have mentioned that Cobb appeared confused when he 'warped' from the airport to "home", with no time passing in between.

Because as the movie had established, when you are in a dream, you don't know how you got there. You are just there.

Just like how he could travel to Japan, France, Kenya, etc, all without actually traveling. He was just "there". Nolan is too meticulous a director to succumb to shitty editing, so it was probably done this way on purpose. There would also be a plot hole that he is traveling to all these countries on the run for murder. He would have been extradited from Japan immediately. Same as Kenya, they both have extradition treaties with the US.

It's been a while since I watched it, but wasn't Fisher's flight from Australia? So there's another country they 'leaped' to (and another which would have extradited Cobb).

Then the big plot hole that would have opened had this been reality, where Saito somehow has the power to buy Cobb's innocence with a phone call... what? He may be an energy tycoon, but come on.

My theory is, it was a dream. Perhaps an inception on Cobb himself. When his wife jumped off the building, SHE was the one who knew they were in limbo. She went back to reality, he didn't. The ring is only in other dreams because it's his totem (the top is his wife's totem). He had relieved himself of his guilt, and has basically given up and will "live" the rest of time with his kids.

[Tegra_Devil]

See the original thread of this theory to read all the arguments against it. This post in particular (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1375666/board/nest/167257951?d=167808547&p=11#167808547) brings up most of the things I would have. I also would have mentioned that Cobb appeared confused when he 'warped' from the airport to "home", with no time passing in between.

Because as the movie had established, when you are in a dream, you don't know how you got there. You are just there.

Just like how he could travel to Japan, France, Kenya, etc, all without actually traveling. He was just "there". Nolan is too meticulous a director to succumb to shitty editing, so it was probably done this way on purpose. There would also be a plot hole that he is traveling to all these countries on the run for murder. He would have been extradited from Japan immediately. Same as Kenya, they both have extradition treaties with the US.

My theory is, the ending was a dream. Perhaps an inception on Cobb himself. When his wife jumped off the building, SHE was the one who knew they were in limbo. She went back to reality, he didn't. The ring is only in other dreams because it's his totem (the top is his wife's totem). He had relieved himself of his guilt, and has basically given up and will "live" the rest of time with his kids.


can someone explain this to me.....if cobbs wife was back in reality...couldnt she just pop back in and join cobbs dreams? she was never in the level where cobb thought 'reality' really was. She was always in levels 2 and further....why not level 1 if cobb was actually dreaming?

[SkinnyPupp]

can someone explain this to me.....if cobbs wife was back in reality...couldnt she just pop back in and join cobbs dreams? she was never in the level where cobb thought 'reality' really was. She was always in levels 2 and further....why not level 1 if cobb was actually dreaming?
Who knows where Cobb really is though?

[Tegra_Devil]

Who knows where Cobb really is though?

http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/gilsheadexplodes.gif

[JLASA]

http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/gilsheadexplodes.gif

LOL

[woob]

Just like how he could travel to Japan, France, Kenya, etc, all without actually traveling. He was just "there". Nolan is too meticulous a director to succumb to shitty editing, so it was probably done this way on purpose.

While on the plane in Japan, Arthur asks, "Why Paris?", to which Cobb replies something along the lines of "This such-and-such school. I need an architect." Also, while he's in France, he tells Arthur that he needs to meet the forger in Kenya. This continuity tells us that this globe-hopping is not a dream.

[LiquidTurbo]

;7056283']It is NOT a dream: The WEDDING RING gives it away.

We start the movie with Cobb in limbo with Saito, he is wearing a ring. Step back to the beginning, he is trying to convince Saito to let him into his mind to help protect it, this takes place in a dream two layers down. He is wearing a wedding ring. Things go south and we wake up in the apartment, where we think an angry mob is really coming down the street. They threaten Saito's life with him thinking it is reality, only for him to discover otherwise. In this entire scene Cobb is wearing a wedding ring. Wake up on the train, NO WEDDING RING. In the hotel suite on the phone with his kids, NO WEDDING RING. On the roof talking to Saito, NO WEDDING RING. France, the architecture university, NO WEDDING RING. The coffee shop in Ariadne's first shared dream, Cobb is wearing his wedding ring, she freaks out. They wake up in the workshop, NO WEDDING RING. They go back under and Ariadne explores the physics of the dreamworld, again Cobb is wearing a wedding ring.

Cobb goes to see Eames, the entire time not wearing a ring. He meets the new chemist, still no ring. The chemist gives him a quick taste of his latest potion, in that scene we get a quick glimpse of his hand with a WEDDING RING. Wakes up, no ring. See the pattern?

So finally, the inception. We are on the plane, we clearly see is not wearing a ring. Level 1, WEDDING RING, Level 2, WEDDING RING, Level 3 WEDDING RING, Limbo he is wearing his WEDDING RING.

After he meets Saito as an old man, the conversation continues past what we saw in the beginning, yet even here he is wearing a WEDDING RING still. Then, when Saito reaches for the gun, we are on an airplane. He is not wearing a wedding ring here.

HERE IS THE KEY. As he is walking through the terminal, no ring, as he is greeted by father in law, no ring, when he gets home and spins his totem, no ring.

In his dreams he is married to Mul still, as she can still exist there. In reality, he knows she is dead and does not wear a wedding ring as he is no longer married. A simple yet easily unnoticed way to test which parts are reality.

Not done there, I investigated another thing, Cobb's totem:

I have seen many posts of people saying his totem falls when he is in others' dreams. This is simply not true. People say it wobbles and falls over in the beginning. I watched and listened closely, Saito spins the top and we hear it spinning as the scene cuts to the young Saito. Then, in the end when we see him old again, he looks down and it is still spinning, he knows he is not in reality and goes for the gun.

When Cobb uses inception on Mul, it continues and never stops. In the hotel after the failed Saito mission, it falls. A funny thing to note is that every scene in which the top spins endlessly he is wearing a WEDDING RING. In the scenes in which it topples, he is not.

Now, the awakening scene. Looks an awful lot like a dream right? Not really. He wakes up on the plane surprised, but everyone is smiling. They woke up from the sedatives, but Cobb and Saito were down in limbo. When they got back, everyone is happy to see he made it, Saito looks just as stunned only backing up the fact that he really snapped back to reality. They are all getting bags, going through customs, etc. Everyone looks at each other with a grin because they know inception worked and that Cobb is finally home. Not very dream-like except that it seems like a dream come true. Had the scene after he and Saito with the gun been him in his home, him on his way to his home, etc, I would think it is a dream. No, he awakens in EXACTLY the place he went to sleep to start inception. You never really know how you get to where you are in a dream do you? Then how does he know he is on a plane and just successfully completed inception on Robert Fischer, the man in front of him?

Finally, the home scene. Looks like a dream? In this case, yes it does. we see the children exactly where they were, doing the same thing, wearing the same clothes. They appear the same age. On my second viewing this was red flag that it was a dream. But on my third viewing I noticed slight differences, such as the kids looking slightly older. The cast list has two sets of kids listed, ones slightly older than the others. They are not voice casts but actual actors in the film. I especially noticed a difference as the camera pans towards the totem, I chose to focus on the back door with the kids. The girl is seen throwing herself on her father, in this scene she looks clearly older than the memory he has of her.

And of course, the totem itself. I watched each spin my third time through. It spun flawlessly for a while, began to wobble slightly, then started a hard wobble then fall. In the final scene it appears to be spinning smoothly for a long time, he probably gave it a lot of power. It starts to slightly wobble, and the screen goes black after it begins a HARD WOBBLE as if it is about to topple, not correct itself.

Conclusion: The movie isn't a dream, Cobb isn't caught in some "limbo that looks a lot like reality." Cobb spends the entire movie trying to get to his kids in reality, why would he settle for shades in a limbo? What proof is there that he is dreaming the whole time? If he is dreaming at the end, where is he dreaming? Limbo? So he goes from talking to Saito to just waking up on a plane, all as a part of a dream in limbo? Really? Think about it.

Nolan would never take the "eeet was aaaaalll a dreeeeaaaammmmm" cliche way out. But the fact that he cut the film before the top falls over does have a meaning. He is planting a seed of doubt in your mind. He uses inception on the audience to have them question the ending. The concept of the movie thus becomes reality to the viewer, a heavy thing to think about and something that hasn't been done before.

But all the evidence points to reality.

Using same logic:

In every scene where Cobb sees his children = he was in a dream.

Therefore in the last scene he sees his children = a dream.

[genesis195]

just watched the movie.. i think i need to watch it a few more times.. my head's completely blank right now.. there's to much detail and to much subtleties in dialogue, the ending just mind fucked me hard..

[SkinnyPupp]

This continuity tells us that this globe-hopping is not a dream.

How?

[will068]

Using same logic:


In every scene where Cobb sees his children = he was in a dream.

Therefore in the last scene he sees his children = a dream.

*Possible SPOILER*

You're missing a prerequisite for this one though. What he sees should be consistent.

The wedding ring all looks the same.

But the children in the end are not the same children from the dreams. imdb even shows that the child actors in the end scene are even older than the child actors used for the visions/dreams.




Daughter 1 Phillipa (3 years)
Son 1 James (20 months)

Daughter 2 Phillipa (5 years)
Son 2 James (3 years)

[SkinnyPupp]

Enough with the "different child actors" thing I keep seeing. The reason for that was for the beach scene, where the kids were babies.

[filth]

Enough with the "different child actors" thing I keep seeing. The reason for that was for the beach scene, where the kids were babies.

holy fuck. hes right.

[MR_BIGGS]

http://pascal.alseyn.net/galaxy/Inception-Explained.png

[SkinnyPupp]

^ Disagree, again

That chart does let you easily notice that only very few characters have full names though ;)

The ones with no full names = characters in a dream perhaps?

[TOS'd]

It's all a conspiracy!

[Tegra_Devil]

damn canada line........

[JLASA]

that poster wasnt really well done...dont agree

[Professir]

wouldn't it be funny if the dvd came out and there were 2 alternate endings; 1 where the strudle keeps spinning, the other where it just falls lol

[highfive]

See the original thread of this theory to read all the arguments against it. This post in particular (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1375666/board/nest/167257951?d=167808547&p=11#167808547) brings up most of the things I would have. I also would have mentioned that Cobb appeared confused when he 'warped' from the airport to "home", with no time passing in between.

Because as the movie had established, when you are in a dream, you don't know how you got there. You are just there.

Just like how he could travel to Japan, France, Kenya, etc, all without actually traveling. He was just "there". Nolan is too meticulous a director to succumb to shitty editing, so it was probably done this way on purpose. There would also be a plot hole that he is traveling to all these countries on the run for murder. He would have been extradited from Japan immediately. Same as Kenya, they both have extradition treaties with the US.

It's been a while since I watched it, but wasn't Fisher's flight from Australia? So there's another country they 'leaped' to (and another which would have extradited Cobb).

Then the big plot hole that would have opened had this been reality, where Saito somehow has the power to buy Cobb's innocence with a phone call... what? He may be an energy tycoon, but come on.

My theory is, it was a dream. Perhaps an inception on Cobb himself. When his wife jumped off the building, SHE was the one who knew they were in limbo. She went back to reality, he didn't. The ring is only in other dreams because it's his totem (the top is his wife's totem). He had relieved himself of his guilt, and has basically given up and will "live" the rest of time with his kids.

I agree. The whole movie was a dream. Cobb was in a limbo the whole time.

Starting scene - he's in the beach that looks like the one in the world him and his wife created. Meet Saito when he's old in the future. Refers to how they've seen each other in the past or know about his totem. (How did he get to this "reality"?)

Jumps to another level - Cobb is there trying to extract Saito's mind. Did not get the information he wanted because there was no information. He needed an idea seed that this japanese guy is powerful enough to bring him home.

Leads of other layers of dream throughout the movie.

His wife gave it away in the end that he created all this. A japanese guy to help him etc... leading to the ending scene of his home with his kids.

Other points - During the 3 level inception. Every character snapped out of each level. Cobb did not. He went from the 3rd level to reality. The only way to explain it is that he is in a dream and he jumped to another level.

Remember how he talks about his wife locking away an idea or a truth to forget. He's going through this whole inception to lock away the idea that he's in a limbo or that he's stuck subconsciously. To lock away all the doubts of reality and everything. To make him finally committed to accept he's with his kids.

[SkinnyPupp]

This (http://www.chud.com/articles/articles/24477/1/NEVER-WAKE-UP-THE-MEANING-AND-SECRET-OF-INCEPTION/Page1.html) is the best explanation of the movie I have come across.

The whole issue I couldn't get over of it "just being a dream" is WHY was it just a dream? If a whole movie is "just a dream" it feels like nothing was at stake. Nothing was accomplished.

But this writer's theory, if correct, proves that it "just being a dream" is exactly what was needed, and in my mind makes the movie even better than I had originally thought.

It's a metaphor, but more importantly, a really fucking good movie. How meta is that! :eek:

[MR_BIGGS]

^^ I just read that theory and was going to post it. Beat me to it.....

[SkinnyPupp]

Just don't read the comments, because there are some really hateful, spiteful people in there who can't accept that the movie can be interpreted in many ways (like dreams). Being typical anonymous internet trolls, they defend their positions in the most vulgar, annoying ways possible.

[KingDeeCee]

I have one question. How does Cobb's projections enter other people's dreams?

[SkinnyPupp]

Because the "other people" don't exist. They are all one person's dream.

[MR_BIGGS]

Just don't read the comments, because there are some really hateful, spiteful people in there who can't accept that the movie can be interpreted in many ways (like dreams). Being typical anonymous internet trolls, they defend their positions in the most vulgar, annoying ways possible.

Then there's entertaining ones such as:

It WAS ALL A DREAM, I USED TO READ 'WORD UP' MAGAZINE, SALT & PEPPA AND HEAVY D UP IN THE LIMOUSINE

:rofl:

[RRxtar]

This (http://www.chud.com/articles/articles/24477/1/NEVER-WAKE-UP-THE-MEANING-AND-SECRET-OF-INCEPTION/Page1.html) is the best explanation of the movie I have come across.

The whole issue I couldn't get over of it "just being a dream" is WHY was it just a dream? If a whole movie is "just a dream" it feels like nothing was at stake. Nothing was accomplished.

But this writer's theory, if correct, proves that it "just being a dream" is exactly what was needed, and in my mind makes the movie even better than I had originally thought.

It's a metaphor, but more importantly, a really fucking good movie. How meta is that! :eek:
good read, but i cant take this guy seriously when he starts off by saying "I think that in a couple of years this will become the accepted reading of the film, and differing interpretations will have to be skillfully argued to be even remotely considered." and then fills the article with his opinions and saying things like "To be honest, I haven't quite solidified my thought..." how can you state "this is the way the movie is" when you dont even know what your opinion on it is.


in the end, this is simply a fantastic movie which leaves the door open to many interpretations. like a good dream, there are different ways it can be taken, many of which are 'right'.


while all the different ideas are interesting to look at, i am satisfied with my idea that this movie unfolds as it appears.

[IfUCare]

http://i.imgur.com/JiPqw.jpg

[Gumby]

^
Funny, but too bad Caine is spelt incorrectly...

[SkinnyPupp]

LOL the plot holes are turning into dumb meme comics now :lol

[waddy41]

Questions:

What were Cobb and Saito doing in the beginning of the movie? (when they were in a dream in a dream) Cobb had failed what mission?

And why would Mal sabotage Cobb in his own dreams?

[LiquidTurbo]

Great article! Loved the fact that Leo DiCaprio also looks like Nolan too.. as per the writers' interpretation that DiCaprio is the director.

[jerche]

My friend told me that apparently, after INCEPTION delivers its credits, YOU will hear the spinning top TOPPLE...

Did anyone even stay until the very end?? lol

[skyxx]

^ I did, it doesn't topple. It just "seems" like it's gonna topple. ;)

[StylinRed]

I loved the Wardrobe of the film my god all the clothing was fucking awesome!!



a few notes spoilers?


at the very ending right when they go to credits the totem makes the sound that tops make before they're about to topple and they cut to credits (hinting that its not a dream)


BUT ALSO the wardrobe of his kids is different at the ending then throughout all his dreams (according to the wardrobe designer) indicating that this "image" isn't based off of memory but rather something new indicating its not a dream

[fsy82]

just watched the dvd...total mind fuck movie..but i agree with alot of ppl when they say the ending was reality because of no wedding ring

[TheKingdom2000]

http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/web03/2012/9/11/15/enhanced-buzz-10993-1347390691-5.jpg

Makes sense to me.

[Ronin]

Can anyone confirm the dream sequences = wedding ring and reality = no wedding ring? Or am I going to have to watch Inception agai...OKAY YOU CONVINCED ME.

Fucking love this movie.

[Matsuda]

hah I just watched it again last week also

[Sentinel]

Forgot where I read this but it was an interview by Michael Caine. He said the ending is reality, because you never see his character in a dream, always appears in reality. Therefore, the ending is the reality.
Posted via RS Mobile

[nns]

Inception: The Wedding Ring Theory - YouTube

[MrGoodbar]

Cobb dreams about Bruce Wayne's one night stand as much as he dreams about being in another Nolan movie.
Posted via RS Mobile

[k00laid]

i saw another persons comment where he said at the beginning of the movie ( in the dream ) he was wearing a wedding ring...every scene that was a dream he was wearing it and parts that were reality he was not. the very end of the movie he was not wearing the wedding ring...so doesnt that also show it must be reality.


from the first page of the thread, lol really didnt take 2 yrs to figure out

[RRxtar]

Tried to watch Inception on the weekend since my gf hasn't seen it and I haven't seen it since the theater. it wasn't on shawVOD, and no rental on Xbox only purchase and it was SD not HD and would have cost the equivalent of $18. :fuckthatshit:


and there are no movie rental places left in kelowna :seriously:


I dont download many movies, but seriously. dafuq am I supposed to do? :yuno:

[Ronin]

Netflix?

[chin3se604]

if you have the movietime channel its on this Saturday 11pm

[KingDeeCee]

Ask if your friends or family have one you can borrow. If all goes to worse, Inception is $10 at most places right now I believe.

[RRxtar]

Thanks to chin3se604 I saw it on Movietime. 10/10 first time and 10/10 second time around. Had forgotten enough about it that it didnt seem as much like I was watching it 'again' but remembered enough to pay attention to the small things. Perfect.