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[KidA Seven]

Mal either went back to reality, or to further mind fuck you... Mal could have been a subconscious character of another character... infinite amount of times.

We know for a fact this whole movie is a dream because the kids don't age. Saito is a subconscious character of cobb. Thing is, with each stage, more subconscious characters can arise from each subconscious character. Think about the rich guys father... what would happen is we went inside his dream? More subconscious characters would come to play.

Each subconscious character can be stuck in a stage like Saito was. Think of it as a branch that branches into another branch, into another, and another, and another.


In other words, Cobb is stuck in an infinite loop that he failed to grasp. Mal performed inception on him (she tricked him into thinking he performed inception on her). That's if you think Mal went back to reality. For all we know, there could be an infinite amount of branches (dreams).


That's my take.


Edit: Guess you'll always be stuck in limbo going through life an infinite amount of times.

Edit 2x: Changed mol to mal :lol

 

[duckroll]

Goddamnit her name is Mal! :lol

 

[harSon]

Oh, well I think that's pretty normal. They're still just projections. Being trained to have defenses against extractors just means that they're well armed and a lot more aggressive. But considering how Cobb and his team are pros, they've obviously dealt with stuff like this before. It's nothing really new to them, it just makes it harder than originally expected.

As I said, I'm willing to accept the fact that they have a slight edge since they're highly trained and the game is basically on their terms. But once that edge is blown (ie. the subconscious becoming aware of their presence), than I doubt a skill advantage is enough for Eames to single handedly take on a small army of heavily armed (and prepared) men.

 

[duckroll]

As I said, I'm willing to accept the fact that they have a slight edge since they're highly trained and the game is on their terms. But once that edge is blown (ie. the subconscious remaining unaware of their presence), than I doubt a skill advantage is enough for Eames to single handedly take on a small army of heavily armed (and prepared) men.

It's not just a skill advantage when he has unlimited ammo and can pull any weapon or explosive he wants out of his ass though...

 

[harSon]

It's not just a skill advantage when he has unlimited ammo and can pull any weapon or explosive he wants out of his ass though...

If that's the case, then Fischer's subconscious would be on equal footing considering it was trained to combat intruders. And it's still one person versus a small army :lol

There's also the scene where the team's utility van rolls down a large cliff a few times, landing perfectly on its wheels without a dent to its performance.

I'm aware of the fact that this is a dream, but Nolan doesn't really push the whole "you can do whatever you want in a dream" angle within this film, so stuff like this ultimately feels out of place within the mythos that he has created.

 

[dmshaposv]

I think BenjaminBirdie has the same qualms as me.

In order to be a heist movie, Inception literally stuck with real-world rules. However, considering the fact they were in a dream world (especially when Fischer himself is aware of the fact at deeper levels) why couldn't they use dream manipulating abilities to concieve a more conveniant heist.

For me, that was the wasted oppurtunity. Sure you guys are assuming that Fischer would trust them if the heist was more grounded in reality. However, why not create an alternative path to get to Fischer's dad. We know that dreams can be manipulated anyway since the projections know of the extractors presence and without Fischer's knowledge (Eames forging his uncle's identity).

Also, the movie isn't clear who can or can't manipulate dreamspace. Cobb and Page's character are manipulating in Cobb's dream, yet only Eames can manipulate Fischer's dream (with the identity and the bigger gun).

 

[duckroll]

If that's the case, then Fischer's subconscious would be on equal footing considering it was trained to combat intruders. And it's still one person versus a small army :lol

I don't see why they would be on equal footing at all. The subconscious is just a bunch of generic ideas projected as military forces. They're not actual thinking people nor do they have minds of their own. It's already impressive that they can be organized to repel invaders in such a manner, but there's obviously a limit to it. Fischer himself is not a soldier, nor does he seem to be an aggressive person at all. There's a lot of fear and confusion within him. I don't see how it is unrealistic that they are able to overcome these forces given the context and explanation of the film.

There's also the scene where the team's utility van rolls down a large cliff a few times, landing perfectly on its wheels without a dent to its performance.

I'm aware of the fact that this is a dream, but Nolan doesn't really push the whole "you can do whatever you want in a dream" angle within this film, so stuff like this ultimately feels out of place within the mythos that he has created.

Yeah I actually find all the Yusuf scenes to be MUCH more unbelievable. The entire "omg he is so incompetent that he is being owned while driving the van!" scenes were a little painful because for obvious reasons things would likely turn out okay at the end, but it was so drawn out with the "oh no! he's messing up again!" scenes over and over when they end up getting out of it safely through luck and not Yusuf's actions or skills was really.... a bit much. :lol

 

[rhino4evr]

Birdie seems to have the same criticism as a few people. All I can say is you shouldn't judge a film by what it wasn't, but what is was. The film was already over the top without letting leo and th gang have dream super powers. The design of the dream is supposed to be realistic...that's what makes it work as a hesit film.

It's not that you didn't understand it, you just didn't get the actual point of the plot.

 

[AniHawk]

And plus it would have made the crew amazing. The best of the best. They take the chances others won't.

Risk! I just wanted a little risk. Risk that I didn't see coming, of course. Yes, in the logic of the movie, going into Limbo was a risk. In the logic of the movie storytelling experience, it was telegraphed like eight reels ago.

Wasn't Mr. Charles the "gun"? Maybe it goes off too early, but it's exactly what's going on and what fails at the beginning of the film, and the big risk that's taken with Fischer.

 

[Chaser]

It's interesting to approach discussion and critique in this film because, really, it's all commentary on the subconscious and how it affects/constructs our dreams.
Because of this, it's hard to know what Christopher Nolan is ultimately manipulating, and if these puzzles he's put before us have an intended answer, or if the puzzle is in some way the point itself.

A lot of the "holes" some have pointed out seem relatively easy to explain - the logic in Nolan's universe seems relatively clear, and I rarely felt like he was going beyond his own restrictions.

With that said, the film has its flaws. There were many characters' that served little purpose beyond advancing the plot, and while Nolan would brilliantly (and Pfister, beautifully) show us key thematic elements of the film, the exposition was laid on far too thick at times.

Ultimately, this film seems to demand multiple viewings. Hopefully I can fulfill that demand sooner rather than later.

 

[Skiptastic]

Glad to see this thread take off. Just so hard to keep up with the discussion!

Man, that zero G fight with JGL where it seems to be one long shot in the hallway...that's what I'm looking forward to seeing again.

 

[HiccupTruck]

So I was watching this film and for the life of me couldn't figure out why it wasn't like Lost.

Spoiler

Just kidding.

 

[rhino4evr]

Bump

 

[Anton Sugar]

Yeah I actually find all the Yusuf scenes to be MUCH more unbelievable. The entire "omg he is so incompetent that he is being owned while driving the van!" scenes were a little painful because for obvious reasons things would likely turn out okay at the end, but it was so drawn out with the "oh no! he's messing up again!" scenes over and over when they end up getting out of it safely through luck and not Yusuf's actions or skills was really.... a bit much. :lol

If anything ages "badly", it will be the plausibility of the action sequences (as a side note, I thought the firearm sound effects lacked some "kick"). I look at it as the projections are the equivalent to badly programmed bots in a multiplayer game--can be deadly, but most likely won't be.

And then again, if you subscribe to the idea that Cobb is undergoing Inception, then maybe it was all just a setup that was virtually guaranteed to work in order to "wake" Cobb up.

 

[SpeedingUptoStop]

It's nice to have a thread where I don't have to read through pages of posts from people didn't like the film haven't actually seen it yet. As with anything in entertainment, I'm totally fine with whatever you thought of it after you've seen it, but disregarding anybody who actually liked it before you've actually seen it is getting pretty terrible in the other thread.


Still trying to figure out who Saito is. Perhaps he's really a forger, like Eames? Something somebody created to antagonize Cobb into wanting to shake himself out of this grief and come back to reality? He sets everything into motion when Cobb is pulling a Mr. Charles on him at the table.

God I need to see this a couple more times.

 

[Skiptastic]

If anything ages "badly", it will be the plausibility of the action sequences (I thought the firearm sound effects lacked some "kick"). I look at it as the projections are the equivalent to badly programmed bots in a multiplayer game--can be deadly, but most likely won't be.

I liked someone's metaphor (maybe Ebert's) of mental white blood cells. I don't know if I would call a white blood cell necessarily smart, but in the aggregate they take care of the disease.

 

[SpeedingUptoStop]

I really don't consider the projections to be that smart since they're merely a fraction of Fischer's mind, and it's not like his mind has much experience with weapons to begin with. You can train the subconcious to protect itself, but it's going up against the best team of extractors ever, they understand how to circumvent these issues.

 

[kaskade]

I liked someone's metaphor (maybe Ebert's) of mental white blood cells. I don't know if I would call a white blood cell necessarily smart, but in the aggregate they take care of the disease.

That's what they were referred to in the movie.

 

[Anton Sugar]

Still trying to figure out who Saito is. Perhaps he's really a forger, like Eames? Something somebody created to antagonize Cobb into wanting to shake himself out of this grief and come back to reality? He sets everything into motion when Cobb is pulling a Mr. Charles on him at the table.

God I need to see this a couple more times.

I'm wondering this, too. The ending isn't frustrating to me at all, but the "real world" definitely wasn't the equivalent to our modern world.

I also love the "what's in the suitcase"-esque mystery behind Saito's character. Was it ever really explained what he does, other than being extremely powerful?

I also liked how they really drive in the nail of "when you dream, you enter in the middle, you never remember how you got there" unless you're trained to recall these things...and the movie starts right in the middle, without the audience knowing how they got there

 

[SpeedingUptoStop]

I also liked how they really drive in the nail of "when you dream, you enter in the middle, you never remember how you got there" unless you're trained to recall these things...and the movie starts right in the middle, without the audience knowing how they got there

The whole film is like that. It's enough to talk about the movie itself, but the subtext/commentary on how we, the audience, interact with a movie and they work is great too. Anonymous goons coming to kill the hero? Nolan somehow made the biggest action cliche totally compelling for me again.:lol

 

[Feep]

I don't understand where all this "Who is Saito? What is Saito?" nonsense is coming from. I refuse to believe the *entire* movie was a dream, as that makes it all fairly pointless. He's the guy that could realize Cobb's goal. I also personally think that everything after the fourth level (scene with Mal) was just Cobb's own fantasy, including extracting Saito, including the plane, including his children. It just doesn't make much sense to me otherwise, as Cobb never got the "kick train" going. He's still down there.

 

[rhino4evr]

I don't understand where all this "Who is Saito? What is Saito?" nonsense is coming from. I refuse to believe the *entire* movie was a dream, as that makes it all fairly pointless. He's the guy that could realize Cobb's goal. I also personally think that everything after the fourth level (scene with Mal) was just Cobb's own fantasy, including extracting Saito, including the plane, including his children. It just doesn't make much sense to me otherwise, as Cobb never got the "kick train" going. He's still down there.

Yeah the more i think about it the more I agree.

 

[harSon]

I'm in the middle of writing my review and now that I think about it, I have to wonder if the entire premise of the film is flawed? Nolan argues that Inception is seemingly difficult due to the minds capability of distinguishing between foreign and domestic thoughts. Shouldn't the same be true with humans? There are a few characters that Fischer never meets within the real world who tag along for the mind invasion. Wouldn't his mind reject these people as foreign invaders?

 

[Littleberu]

I don't understand where all this "Who is Saito? What is Saito?" nonsense is coming from. I refuse to believe the *entire* movie was a dream, as that makes it all fairly pointless. He's the guy that could realize Cobb's goal. I also personally think that everything after the fourth level (scene with Mal) was just Cobb's own fantasy, including extracting Saito, including the plane, including his children. It just doesn't make much sense to me otherwise, as Cobb never got the "kick train" going. He's still down there.

We don't know that. If Saito shot him in the Limbo, he would in fact wake up as if nothing happened, or without his mind.

Wouldn't his mind reject these people as foreign invaders?

Mr. Charles made sure that he would see all these people before going into the third dream. He said "They are with me".

 

[Christopher]

I def gotta see the movie again now knowing what I know lol it's def a mind fuck but now that you know the basic concepts it should come together.

 

[B-B-Bomba!]

I don't understand where all this "Who is Saito? What is Saito?" nonsense is coming from. I refuse to believe the *entire* movie was a dream, as that makes it all fairly pointless. He's the guy that could realize Cobb's goal. I also personally think that everything after the fourth level (scene with Mal) was just Cobb's own fantasy, including extracting Saito, including the plane, including his children. It just doesn't make much sense to me otherwise, as Cobb never got the "kick train" going. He's still down there.

Agree 100%

You could see more and more into it if you wanted, but ...

Some of the characters get tricked and struggle to pinpoint where reality lies, evidently that happens to some of the audience, too.

 

[Hasphat'sAnts]

I'm in the middle of writing my review and now that I think about it, I have to wonder if the entire premise of the film is flawed? Nolan argues that Inception is seemingly difficult due to the minds capability of distinguishing between foreign and domestic thoughts. Shouldn't the same be true with humans? There are a few characters that Fischer never meets within the real world who tag along for the mind invasion. Wouldn't his mind reject these people as foreign invaders?

But he assumes that these people are his own defenses, doesn't he? I mean, he does see them on the plane, so subconsciously, he feels that these people aren't out of place.

I've had long long conversations with people I've only seen but never talked to before, so as long as his mind is convinced it's not strange, then Cobb and his gang only need to maintain that illusion.

 

[harSon]

We don't know that. If Saito shot him in the Limbo, he would in fact wake up as if nothing happened, or without his mind.

Mr. Charles made sure that he would see all these people before going into the third dream. He said "They are with me".

He still hasn't seen them in real life, dreams are capable of jumbling that which we already know but they can't create something that we have not already seen before.

 

[Feep]

We don't know that. If Saito shot him in the Limbo, he would in fact wake up as if nothing happened, or without his mind.

I don't believe that would work. Limbo or not, he was still under the effects of the sedative. Shooting Cobb would just send him deeper into the dreamworld.

Edit: There's just too much going on for the entire movie to be a dream. That would make it something like six total layers, with a massively complex whirlwind of motivations, characters, actions, and projections foreign to Cobb. It's nice to think that someone was using Inception on Cobb, but it seems far, far too complex, as well as dangerous. Besides, what was the Inception? A "simple" idea was never shown to be planted in Cobb's head by an external source. Ariadne pretty much sat there as Cobb worked through his guilt. And she wasn't subtle about telling him what he needed to do, earlier in the movie.

I just don't think it works.

 

[Anton Sugar]

I don't understand where all this "Who is Saito? What is Saito?" nonsense is coming from. I refuse to believe the *entire* movie was a dream, as that makes it all fairly pointless. He's the guy that could realize Cobb's goal. I also personally think that everything after the fourth level (scene with Mal) was just Cobb's own fantasy, including extracting Saito, including the plane, including his children. It just doesn't make much sense to me otherwise, as Cobb never got the "kick train" going. He's still down there.

I think if the entire movie was a dream, it doesn't cheapen it in the slightest. It's a heist movie, but at it's heart, it's about Cobb's inability to accept the "reality" of his wife's death and how it's his fault. If Mal is right, then Cobb is stuck in what he thinks is "reality" and the only way to break him out is via inception.

 

[Anton Sugar]

He still hasn't seen them in real life, dreams are capable of jumbling that which we already know but they can't create something that we have not already seen before.

What? Yes he has. Everyone is on board the plane.

 

[SpeedingUptoStop]

He still hasn't seen them in real life, dreams are capable of jumbling that which we already know but they can't create something that we have not already seen before.

They were all on the plane with him right before he fell asleep.


which makes me wonder if anybody else from the plane randomly showed up in his dream, like a stewardess in the background or something...

 

[Lionel Mandrake]

Loved the movie. I went with 6 friends. 3=Said it was amazing. 2= Said it was great. 1= Said it was okay (Claimed he didn't get all of it). As we were walking out one friend said, "I choose to believe that the top stopped. That's how the movie ended. Nobody say differently." I thought the ending was pretty much perfect.

My only major complaint was the opening. It was very complicated and didn't offer the audience a whole lot of exposition. The whole thing was difficult to follow and I don't think anyone knew what was going on. After the first 10 minutes or so, it got a lot better. I don't get the complaint about no emotion or character. Cobb obviously had "baggage" he was struggling with and a large part of the movie is him coming to terms with it. The rest of the characters don't really have a need for an emotional core. They're thieves, doing a job. I don't really see why people are complaining that these people seem "cold." I didn't see anything that would necessitate a large emotional response from any of them outside of Saito getting shot or Ariadne entering Cobb's dreamworld.

Okay, so all of this story and stuff is great, but what about the action, man?!

JGL's gravity scenes might be my new favorite action sequence of all-time. My jaw was wide-open the entire time. I felt like a little kid watching a magic show. The mountain scene was pure Bond, and it was great. And the paradox scene! The whole audience gasped at the paradox scene.

 

[blame space]

you guys remember that look Mal gave Cobb and Ariadne as they were taking the elevator out of Cobb's "basement"? that shit was scary.

 

[duckroll]

I don't understand where all this "Who is Saito? What is Saito?" nonsense is coming from. I refuse to believe the *entire* movie was a dream, as that makes it all fairly pointless. He's the guy that could realize Cobb's goal. I also personally think that everything after the fourth level (scene with Mal) was just Cobb's own fantasy, including extracting Saito, including the plane, including his children. It just doesn't make much sense to me otherwise, as Cobb never got the "kick train" going. He's still down there.

Saito is an enigma because he is a very strange person, regardless of whether he is real or if he is part of Cobb. I don't see how you can say it is nonsense when the movie is deliberately written to make him extremely... convenient to say the least. He is a character who is initially the victim of a failed extraction. Yet he tells the extractors that he let them in, because it is an audition. After having failed their mission, they flee. But Saito manages to catch up to them, but yet he is not angry at them, he helps them escape and even offers them a job. These are people he hardly knows, and people who have just recently worked against him, yet he's okay with that and offers to let them in on this big job he needs doing. His words to Cobb will later mirror what Mal said to Cobb in the flashback before she jumped.

Saito is also a man who seems to be able to bend the rules in reality, like how they bend the rules in dreams. He follows Cobb around the world without him knowing, saving his ass when he least expects it. He has no problems with sharing his plan with a team of unknowns put together by Cobb, including a girl who is fresh out of school and not a criminal at heart. Any of these people could have betrayed Saito, but they simply didn't. Saito is able to buy an entire airline at the snap of his fingers, before they even express the need for it.

His offer to Cobb is the most unusual one of them all. He, a Japanese citizen, promises that he can clear all charges filed against him in the United States with a single phonecall. Yet a man with this much power and wealth needs a bunch of extractors to enter the mind of his business rival to dissolve the company? Surely there are better and easier ways to deal with his competition.

Ultimately, the movie starts and ends with Cobb and Saito. Two men who seem linked by some thread of fate, but yet two men from opposite ends of the globe who have no connection or relationship before the events of the movie began. They share no past, and no history, they the entire movie revolves around their relationship and the driving force of Cobb's motivation is on a promise Saito makes which he might not be able to fulfill.

Saito is in every sense a character who embodies a deux ex machina. He is the axle the entire story revolves around, not Cobb, because without him, there would be no mission, there would be no hope, there would be no future. But he is also the character we know the least about, and the one who makes the least sense. He is a huge piece of the Inception puzzle. If he is not a piece of the puzzle, then it would just be poor writing, which I honestly feel this movie is too well made to fail on such a simple matter.

 

[SpeedingUptoStop]

Loved the movie. I went with 6 friends. 3=Said it was amazing. 2= Said it was great. 1= Said it was okay (Claimed he didn't get all of it). As we were walking out one friend said, "I choose to believe that the top stopped. That's how the movie ended. Nobody say differently." I thought the ending was pretty much perfect.

My only major complaint was the opening. It was very complicated and didn't offer the audience a whole lot of exposition. The whole thing was difficult to follow and I don't think anyone knew what was going on. After the first 10 minutes or so, it got a lot better.

By the end, you completely understand what happened though, every last detail. and then the final piece of it all is that the very first scene didn't happen in the beginning, but it happened at the end. It confused you so it was in the back of your mind trying to make sense of it, then it drops the hammer on you when Leo goes after Saito and washes up on the shore again.

I don't get the complaint about no emotion or character. Cobb obviously had "baggage" he was struggling with and a large part of the movie is him coming to terms with it.

I really don't know how you don't find an emotional core right there in Cobb/Mal's shared recitation of Waiting for a train. that was fucking beautiful, pitch perfect, and not heavy handed in the slightest. If you have any idea of the what they're talking about, then you understand entirely.

you guys remember that look Mal gave him as Cobb and Ariadne were taking the elevator out of Cobb's "basement"? that shit was scary.

Marion was just outstanding in this, for that scene alone. Just incredible.

 

[harSon]

What? Yes he has. Everyone is on board the plane.

And? People don't actively walk down airplane aisles to get a look at everyone's faces. From what I remember, only Cobb, Saito and Eames interact with Fischer.

 

[SpeedingUptoStop]

Saito is an enigma because he is a very strange person, regardless of whether he is real or if he is part of Cobb. I don't see how you can say it is nonsense when the movie is deliberately written to make him extremely... convenient to say the least. He is a character who is initially the victim of a failed extraction. Yet he tells the extractors that he let them in, because it is an audition. After having failed their mission, they flee. But Saito manages to catch up to them, but yet he is not angry at them, he helps them escape and even offers them a job. These are people he hardly knows, and people who have just recently worked against him, yet he's okay with that and offers to let them in on this big job he needs doing. His words to Cobb will later mirror what Mal said to Cobb in the flashback before she jumped.

Saito is also a man who seems to be able to bend the rules in reality, like how they bend the rules in dreams. He follows Cobb around the world without him knowing, saving his ass when he least expects it. He has no problems with sharing his plan with a team of unknowns put together by Cobb, including a girl who is fresh out of school and not a criminal at heart. Any of these people could have betrayed Saito, but they simply didn't. Saito is able to buy an entire airline at the snap of his fingers, before they even express the need for it.

His offer to Cobb is the most unusual one of them all. He, a Japanese citizen, promises that he can clear all charges filed against him in the United States with a single phonecall. Yet a man with this much power and wealth needs a bunch of extractors to enter the mind of his business rival to dissolve the company? Surely there are better and easier ways to deal with his competition.

Ultimately, the movie starts and ends with Cobb and Saito. Two men who seem linked by some thread of fate, but yet two men from opposite ends of the globe who have no connection or relationship before the events of the movie began. They share no past, and no history, they the entire movie revolves around their relationship and the driving force of Cobb's motivation is on a promise Saito makes which he might not be able to fulfill.

Saito is in every sense a character who embodies a deux ex machina. He is the axle the entire story revolves around, not Cobb, because without him, there would be no mission, there would be no hope, there would be no future. But he is also the character we know the least about, and the one who makes the least sense. He is a huge piece of the Inception puzzle. If he is not a piece of the puzzle, then it would just be poor writing, which I honestly feel this movie is too well made to fail on such a simple matter.

Perfectly nailed it right there. the man is so in control of everything, but barely ever does it border on being so in control that he's literally manipulating reality as if it were a dream. He's as questionable as the spinning top at the end.

 

[rhino4evr]

The fact that saito uses the "leap of faith" line really makes me think that he is well aware of all of Cobbs problems..and is using that in some sort of advantage.

So my friend makes this point...wether it's a dream or not it does not matter. Cobb has forgiven his guilt and has reunited with his kids..and ultimately he is happy either way.

 

[Anton Sugar]

And? People don't actively walk down airplane aisles to get a look at everyone's faces. From what I remember, only Cobb, Saito and Eames interact with Fischer.

I thought he explained that: your subconscious creates the people in your dreams, it's not an active process of "I remember seeing this guy, so lets put him here." It's only when people/places behave strangely that the dream starts to "collapse" and turn on the intruder.

He's seen Leo and co. so they can operate secretly within his dream, unless of course he stops believing/starts suspecting them.

 

[cnizzle06]

Amazing movie. A few minor complaints, I felt the snow scenes were really drawn out. I was getting kind of bored. And as cool as they were, the slow mo scenes were getting a little repetitive. Also, when she jumped off the ledge, was I the only one that felt it was really strangely shot?

Overall, one of the best movies I've seen in some time.

 

[SpeedingUptoStop]

So my friend makes this point...wether it's a dream or not it does not matter. Cobb has forgiven his guilt and has reunited with his kids..and ultimately he is happy either way.

That's just goes to show how amazing how Nolan could create the stakes and meaning, even in an "unreal" world. either way, Cobb is resolved, a better man than he was before. The only way a sequel could ever work is if this wasn't his final resolution, just his final resolution with Mal, and he still needed to escape the dream worlds. but if his totem doesn't work, how would he ever really know he escaped?


I also wanna know about Cobb/mal's totems when they were together. Cobb took her top in Limbo, right? what was his totem that whole time they were together? Could Mal have incepted that her totem was his? and that the closer he is to reality, the more the totem would spin out of control?

 

[B-B-Bomba!]

Just because Saito is convenient, doesn't necessarily mean Nolan was being clever!

If you attribute a certain level of intelligence to the film, be aware that that intelligence may simply be yours.

 

[Mairu]

They could make a sequel if it had a different cast of characters and they were dealing with more inception/extraction. As much as I enjoyed the cast I wouldn't want a sequel with any of them as it would ruin the ambiguity of the ending

 

[SpeedingUptoStop]

Really wish I could find the Waiting for a train quote somewhere but Google's only turning up OST titles.

 

[rhino4evr]

They could make a sequel if it had a different cast of characters and they were dealing with more inception/extraction. As much as I enjoyed the cast I wouldn't want a sequel with any of them as it would ruin the ambiguity of the ending

I totally agree..would have to be an entire new cast and plot. If the end is a dream, then we never really know if the rest of the team even makes it out...for all we know they could have been shot right there in the water..and turned into vegetables.

I prefer a directors cut to a sequel..

 

[Anton Sugar]

I totally agree..would have to be an entire new cast and plot. If the end is a dream, then we never really know if the rest of the team even makes it out...for all we know they could have been shot right there in the water..and turned into vegetables.

I prefer a directors cut to a sequel..

Doubt it'll happen. Doesn't Nolan not really believe in DC's?

 

[Snipes424]

Mal either went back to reality, or to further mind fuck you... Mal could have been a subconscious character of another character... infinite amount of times.

We know for a fact this whole movie is a dream because the kids don't age. Saito is a subconscious character of cobb. Thing is, with each stage, more subconscious characters can arise from each subconscious character. Think about the rich guys father... what would happen is we went inside his dream? More subconscious characters would come to play.

Each subconscious character can be stuck in a stage like Saito was. Think of it as a branch that branches into another branch, into another, and another, and another.


In other words, Cobb is stuck in an infinite loop that he failed to grasp. Mal performed inception on him (she tricked him into thinking he performed inception on her). That's if you think Mal went back to reality. For all we know, there could be an infinite amount of branches (dreams).


That's my take.


Edit: Guess you'll always be stuck in limbo going through life an infinite amount of times.

Edit 2x: Changed mol to mal :lol

I came to pretty much the same conclusion, although you explained it better than I could :lol :lol.

 

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Here's a little bit more on how I love how this movie works as a commentary of an audience's relationship with a film.

Storytelling as a high-tech con

Which brings me to one of the most interesting ways to look at Inception. It's really a movie about the technology of making movies. I don't just mean the tools required to film a car floating off a bridge - I mean the way people writing and producing a film have to get together and talk about how they'll collaboratively build a believable fantasy that will manipulate somebody (their mark, or the audience) into having a psychological epiphany. In other words: How do you reverse engineer a dream experience, break it into its constituent parts, then rebuild it for personal gain?



As our mind hackers plan their heist, it's almost like we're in the writers' room as a filmmaker and her team are planning a blockbuster. We've got a business objective (to plant the idea, which will result in being paid). But you can't just jump inside some guy's mind and say, "Here's an idea!" You have to present it to him in the form of a story, an emotionally compelling story, that will cause him to feel like he's come up with the idea on his own.

Building and executing that story, from the architecture of the sets to the cast of meaningful characters, is what Inception is about. We learn how the mind hackers find a personal story that will be intensely moving for their mark. And then we see parts of that story unfolding all at once (some in slow time, some in constant time): We're watching scenes get broken down into tiny little frozen parts. It's as if we're inside the head of a director filming his movie, trying to keep the overarching narrative straight despite having to film scenes out of order, over and over, with different kinds of technology. You especially get this feeling during some of the special effects sequences, which are as much about how you stage an action scene as they are about the scenes themselves.

It's a serious intellectual high to come with Nolan on this journey, to peek inside his brain and see how he breaks down a scene

 

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Doubt it'll happen. Doesn't Nolan not really believe in DC's?

Nope. Every film he makes is his final final cut. He barely even shoots more scenes than he already knows he'll use in the film. This is the director's cut, for sure.