Red Bull Unrailistic | LIVE Broadcast

Member of the Month

PartyBullshiit
March, 2024

Online

Welcome to the Newschoolers forums! You may read the forums as a guest, however you must be a registered member to post. Register to become a member today!

SPOILER ALERT. Inception discussion

profile picture
theBearJew
Posts: 10951 - Karma: 15,633
Once again, this thread is about the end of the movie, if you haven't seen it, don't scroll down till you do see it. If you haven't seen it, go into the movie and right at the beginning say to yourself "what is this entire movie was true/possible"

































Okay So now that that is out of the way. What did everyone think of the end of it...

My theory is that he is still stuck in limbo and will be forever. He spins his totem to see if it is reality but when he sees his kids he just doesn't care anymore. They are wearing the same clothes they were wearing in his memory when he tried to change it so that he could see their faces. Once he finally does change that memory and is able to see their faces he accepts that as his reality whether or not it is actually reality. Also i think the fact that the totem spun for ever but still wobbled meant that he was still somewhere in the middle of reality and dreamworld.

Then again as I typed this I thought of a few reasons why he had to be in reality... That movie was wild, its crazy to think about if all of that was true or possible. My mind got fucked 5 ways sideways from that movie.
Jul 16 2010 11:49AM
0 0
profile picture
thugaim
Posts: 2181 - Karma: 33
The whole movie was not a dream, as evidenced by Cobbs spinning thing falling over at various times.
Jul 17 2010 8:15PM
0 0
profile picture
theBearJew
Posts: 10951 - Karma: 15,633
However, they never aged from the time he had left? That part doesn't make sense, also they were wearing the exact same thing they were wearing in his memory.
Jul 17 2010 8:48PM
0 0
profile picture
Shewlur...
Posts: 5046 - Karma: 940
yeah, i thought the exact same thing. it was the exactly like his memory except they turned around.
Jul 17 2010 8:59PM
0 0
profile picture
thugaim
Posts: 2181 - Karma: 33
Whilst interesting, i think you are looking too far into it.

For the purposes of the plot of the movie, he wasn't dreaming when the totem fell over. He clearly stated that when it falls over he knows he is awake. Thats why his wife locked the totem in the safe, because if she spun it she'd realize she was dreaming.
There is never any mention of the totem falling over during dreams... otherwise there would be no point in having one.

The ending seemed like him just accepting that it didnt matter if he was dreaming or not, because it seemed real enough. However, it seems like he isn't dreaming, because in his dreams, he could never see the faces of his kids.





Jul 17 2010 9:23PM
0 0
profile picture
[~_~]
Posts: 20239 - Karma: 1,273
You're sort of contradicting yourself here. Just because a film is set in a realistic setting doesn't mean it is supposed to be a realistic film (logically or otherwise). All films are an interpretation, meaning all stories have implausible aspects. This is where the suspension of disbelief comes into play. What you said also applies to every great film ever made.

Futhermore, it's ridiculous to take into account a couple minute details of a film and use that as a basis of black-and-white classification. It wasn't supposed to be entirely realistic (obviously), nor was it supposed to be entirely surreal. Besides, Christopher Nolan is known to teeter on the dividing line between art-film and Hollywood epic, which Inception certainly was.

Many points were based on actual psychological factors regarding dreaming (other lucid dreamers surely recognized many of these during the film). The theme itself was highly conceptual, and Nolan felt that such a concept was better left without a grand consensus (hence the ending). Some ideas are just better left that way.

That's fine that you didn't like it, but it was far from a "load of shit."
Jul 17 2010 10:52PM
0 0
profile picture
DrZoidberg
Posts: 5675 - Karma: 4,268
First of all, that was one of the best films I've seen. I think they left the end rather open on purpose, to be interpreted  either way by the viewer. The totem didn't fall, but like said above he saw his kids faces which he could never do in the dream. The complication of the plot was sick, especially when they had the three level dream.  I bet everybody in the theater besides me and my brother were thinking "there's no way he could ski backwards and shoot!" Such a sick movie, worth the $10.50 I apyed.

Can somebody explain the significance of the pinwheel in the safe, or rather why was it a pinwheel and not something else?
Jul 17 2010 11:56PM
0 0
profile picture
grams.
Posts: 7406 - Karma: 186
I know the pinwheel was in that picture of the owner's son, blowing the pinwheel when he was a little kid. I'm not sure what other significance it has though. Maybe it has something to do with the dad not being there for the son when he was little, but he remembered enough to hold on to that pinwheel, a moment that was remembered by that picture that he had. Other than that..I really don't know.
Jul 18 2010 12:02AM
0 0
profile picture
bitchezluv=]
Posts: 869 - Karma: 43
but if he was stuck in limbo and his wife killed herself then she would be braindead. so killing himself with his wife would not be a reliable option i think the top falls just for my sanity.
Jul 18 2010 1:28AM
0 0
profile picture
scratchproteen
Posts: 5173 - Karma: 286
I agree with your statement on the ending, just from reading all the posts in this thread almost everyone interprets it in a different way and has different opinions and that is what I believe Nolan was going for. With it ending like that it changes the whole way everyone views the movie.

If you ask me, I believe he was just ready to be with his kids no matter what the situation it was which is why he didn't focus on his totem falling. Whether it be limbo or reality or a certain level of dream.
Jul 18 2010 1:38AM
0 0
profile picture
Jordan
Posts: 4079 - Karma: 2,122
yeah, the pin wheel was a sign that his father really loved him (fisher)

remember he said "Disappointed" but as fisher later finds out, his father was disappointed he tried to live up to him etc...

and when he opened the safe and saw the pin wheel (item in the picture) it meant his father really did love him.
Jul 18 2010 3:52AM
0 0
profile picture
AbeFroman
Posts: 1268 - Karma: -4
this movie was badass as shit. But i think it left a lot of questions but not too many. if you have ever seen the movie Cache. That leaves too many fucking questions. Go see that then watch inception and it'll be like the director explained the whole movie
Jul 18 2010 8:19AM
0 0
profile picture
AbeFroman
Posts: 1268 - Karma: -4
Also could someone explain his top. I understood the loaded dice how the person who was having the dream he was in wouldn't know it was loaded so it would land wherever. But how would the top keep spinning forever. i understood if it spun forever he was in a dream if it stopped he was in real life i just dont understand how that worked. How it spun forever
Jul 18 2010 8:23AM
0 0
profile picture
low_fidelity
Posts: 2673 - Karma: 118
The whole movie is fake. He is in "limbo" the entire time. Juno = Himself
Jul 18 2010 8:39AM
0 0
profile picture
DrZoidberg
Posts: 5675 - Karma: 4,268
Yeah now I remember the pinwheel being in the photo of him as a kid, don't know why I didn't see that during the movie.

Anybody think the whole movie was a dream of one of the main characters? That would be kinda crazy.
Jul 18 2010 9:32AM
0 0
profile picture
thugaim
Posts: 2181 - Karma: 33
Its a dream... when he is dreaming there are no laws of physics that the top has to follow, so it spins forever.
Jul 18 2010 9:47AM
0 0
profile picture
Bepo
Posts: 8195 - Karma: 17
Not exactly, there's gravity in the dreams and well as every other law of physics. The top doesn't really make sense because there's no hidden outcome that someone can't predict, a top would always fall.

As for the movie I was kinda let down. The movie was incredibly simple and they explained every single piece of the plot. It would have been better if they didn't dumb it down for the average movie goer because it was pretty obvious the studio wanted something that everyone could follow. The idea was really really good however the dumbed down explanations really killed it. In the end it was more of a summer blockbuster than an all time great movie (which it could have been).
Jul 18 2010 10:23AM
0 0
profile picture
jeR.
Posts: 1325 - Karma: 58
i think that the whole base reality for the movie is just Cobb's first level dream, as his wife says he is being chased by insidious corporations across the globe, and is living in a surreal way. when he wakes up from limbo at the end, i think he is just returning to his original dream state that he was in in the beginning of the movie (before going into fischer's minds), but not real reality.
Jul 18 2010 11:22AM
0 0
profile picture
H8CH
Posts: 2709 - Karma: 218
Was that movie too ambitious for the proposed plot do you think? I enjoyed it alot, but I just thought Nolans ideas may have outstripped how to put it to the big screen? Still a 9/10 though for full on visiual and mind bendy-ness...
Jul 18 2010 11:56AM
0 0
profile picture
BikeMlatt69
Posts: 1947 - Karma: 60
i lol'd when i saw that some of the security guys in the skiing scene had on splices
Jul 18 2010 12:10PM
0 0
profile picture
gnargoyle
Posts: 22 - Karma: 10
YO THAT SWITCH LINE THAT ONE DUDE DID IN THE THIRD DREAM WHEN HE SHOT ALL THOSE OTHER DUDES.... HELLA HYPHY!!!
Jul 18 2010 3:41PM
0 0
profile picture
powday
Posts: 3055 - Karma: 326
those were dope, white with the murdered out lens haha....and the other crew was rocking Anon's haha...

But anyways....I'm just curious about the end on the plane, when he just wakes up and theres no machine connected to him or anything....is it just because when he stayed in the van underwater he was in the limbo going to find the asian guy because everyone else had already gotten out of that dream...and then when the asain guy kills himself and leo they both awake in the plane? Just a little confused....

And I def think the ending is reality, they just kept the top spinning to add a little laugh at the end because you gotta have some comic relief after watching something like that....everyone in my theatre laughed.
Jul 18 2010 4:41PM
0 0
profile picture
skiminnesota
Posts: 9093 - Karma: 429
someone correct me if im wrong. but the top can only spin in reality correct?

hence when he was in the bathroom at the one point and tried but could not get the top to spin. along with how he had the girl make her own sign of reality (the chess piece)

but maybe i missed something

the movie was fantastic the best movie ive seen in a very long time.
Jul 18 2010 5:21PM
0 0
profile picture
Waldo-
Posts: 1026 - Karma: 184
what if the whole movie was a dream?
Jul 18 2010 5:25PM
0 0
profile picture
KnobJockey
Posts: 797 - Karma: 37

couldnt the place at the very end not be a dream because he knows how he got there?

and  also is Mol still in limbo or is she dead?

Jul 18 2010 5:30PM
0 0
profile picture
Waldo-
Posts: 1026 - Karma: 184
Inception 2- Mol's revenge
Jul 18 2010 5:31PM
0 0
profile picture
mariob
Posts: 1036 - Karma: 36
personallly i think this is the reason the movie is so good, cause it leaves u questioning reality and not just in the movie but in our lives.
Jul 18 2010 10:46PM
0 0
profile picture
Uncle.Badness
Posts: 2545 - Karma: 55
This movie fucking sucked but maybe that was because I went in with wayyyyy to high of expectations. Perhaps I can't fully appreciate movies as much as I would like because I have taken time to really learn about how movie plotlines are formed and my understanding of plot devices such as Macguffins doesn't allow me to see a movie like a totally uninformed moviegoer. Just my two cents.
Jul 18 2010 11:04PM
0 0
profile picture
KnobJockey
Posts: 797 - Karma: 37
he doesnt find out that his father was disappointed that he tried to be him, that is one of the ideas that they put into his head to make him break up the company
Jul 18 2010 11:31PM
0 0
profile picture
PappaG
Posts: 931 - Karma: 797
I thought the central theme of the movie was "letting go". Cobb needed to let go of the fact that his wife Molly is dead. He was letting memories of her hold him hostage and he desperately needed to move on. With that in mind, I believe his totem falls in the end and what he is living with his dad and children is in fact real life. I do believe he was stuck in limbo for a while with Saito, but by having such strong dream controlling capabilities, I believe Cobb was able to pull both himself and Saito out of limbo.

Not sure if this is true, but I read somewhere that Cobb has a wedding ring on for the entire movie except for the duration of the film after awakening on the airplane.

With most of Nolan's films, the simplest reason is always the interpretation he wants his viewers to share.
Jul 18 2010 11:41PM
0 0
profile picture
bootleg_BEN
Posts: 2499 - Karma: 44
Pretty sure my mind is about to blow up. I cant stop thinking about what exactly happened, saw it at 7 and its now 230 in the morning, i cant sleep. My mind wont stop thinking about this movie. I think i need help.
Jul 19 2010 4:37AM
0 0
profile picture
Tasche
Posts: 5422 - Karma: 99
This was one of the best movies I have seen in the past 5 years. I am usually a pretty harsh movie critic but I loved everything about this film.

I have so many questions in my mind, which is the best part of this movie, it sticks with you. There are no right answers about what was actually happening, it sparks debate.

They did such a good job of mixing plot and special effects as well. The 0 gravity fight scene was awesome.

And my 2 cents on why there was gravity in the snow but not in the hotel is that it has to do with acceleration. The van is accelerating causing a negative acceleration and negating gravity. In the hotel they are not moving so there is no acceleration. I also really liked the concept of an exponential slow down in time the deeper you go, crazy.
Jul 19 2010 10:38AM
0 0
profile picture
thugaim
Posts: 2181 - Karma: 33
You fail at physics.
Jul 19 2010 10:44AM
0 0
profile picture
Tasche
Posts: 5422 - Karma: 99
how so sir?
Jul 19 2010 11:15AM
0 0
profile picture
*Dos*Planker*
Posts: 2983 - Karma: 168
the movie was already 2 and a half hours i dont think they had anymore time to put more things in
Jul 19 2010 11:25AM
0 0
profile picture
PappaG
Posts: 931 - Karma: 797
Yeah, there's no need to go into the specifics of how they construct/extract dreams. That was NOT the point of the movie so you'll just end up hurting your brain thinking about it too much. Sure, you can look at Inception as this fantasy flick or you can look at it from the perspective that it's about one man's attempt at redemption, an attempt at closing a chapter of his life, and an attempt to be able to move on. The whole dream backstory was just a vehicle to drive home the more important messages in this film.
Jul 19 2010 11:40AM
0 0
profile picture
thugaim
Posts: 2181 - Karma: 33
"reverse gravity"...



Jul 19 2010 1:08PM
0 0
profile picture
thugaim
Posts: 2181 - Karma: 33
Ignore this... for some reason i thought you said reverse gravity. Apparently i cant read.


Regardless... the lack of gravity you experience in freefall is the same as lack of gravity in orbit or just in empty space. They were dreaming with no gravity in the van, so there was no gravity in the hotel... it should follow that there should be no gravity in the snow also.
Jul 19 2010 1:17PM
0 0
profile picture
spere
Posts: 6105 - Karma: 248
The movie was alreafy 2 1/2 hours long, doing any more storybuilding at the beginning would have made it way too long.

Great movie I thought, I was high as fuck when I saw it and I thought my mind was gonna explode. Definitely need to see it again
Jul 19 2010 1:27PM
0 0
profile picture
Dhane
Posts: 3866 - Karma: 1,722
people are so crazy! its a movie about entering peoples dreams, stealing peoples secrets, becoming lost in your subconcious and living a life within a life, and you guys are going to argue about why there was gravity in a dream within a dream within a dream?
Jul 19 2010 2:04PM
0 0
profile picture
thugaim
Posts: 2181 - Karma: 33
Its not the reason i didn't like the movie that much, its just something that bothered me afterwards.
Jul 19 2010 2:43PM
0 0
profile picture
Crack.
Posts: 6020 - Karma: 86
you guys definitely missed the true meaning of that whole movie
Jul 19 2010 2:47PM
0 0
profile picture
Big_Spence
Posts: 16177 - Karma: 4,352
the "crazy amazing animation"?
or the same exact typical disney storyline and moral that's used in 75% of their movies?

yeah i wasn't impressed by either.
Jul 19 2010 2:59PM
0 0
profile picture
StevenR
Posts: 1372 - Karma: 33
I think we all know who the coolest person here is.

The conclusion i have come to, is that the final scene is in fact reality. I think that he had been stuck in limbo, or perhaps yet another level of dreaming after the snowy place, for a very long time (in dream time), all of which was spent searching for Saito. They have both aged a lot by the time Cobb finds him. When the y finally meet again, Saito shoots Cobb first, and then himself and they are brought back to the real world.

It does seem odd that the final scene was very similar to Cobbs dream, however i think that was sort of a way to both create brief suspense while we are waiting to see if they will turn around, as well as to leave more room for these discussions (I don't think there really is a correct conclusion to come to, its all up for interpretation and this is mine). Anyway, for the purposes of the plot, i interpret the similarities to be a coincidence. It is true that they haven't aged, but we don't actually know how long it has been since Mol died and forced Cobb to run from the authorities.

Finally, i think the wobbling of the top indicated that it was going to fall over. In instances where he spun it and he knew he was dreaming, it was always steady. I know a lot of people have pretty much already said a lot of these things, i'm just reiterating it the way i see it, and again, i don't think i'm "right", and its impossible for anyone to be truly "right" about this. This is just my interpretation of it. All in all i thought it was a great movie.
Jul 19 2010 3:49PM
0 0
profile picture
Uncle.Badness
Posts: 2545 - Karma: 55
That wasn't necessary.
Jul 19 2010 4:52PM
0 0
profile picture
PappaG
Posts: 931 - Karma: 797
If you have time, the link below is a worthy read:
http://chud.com/articles/articles/24477/1/NEVER-WAKE-UP-THE-MEANING-AND-SECRET-OF-INCEPTION/Page1.html


It basically suggests that the entire movie was a dream. So much to grab from it, but the most striking thing I took was the scene where Cobb's wife commits her supposed suicide.

"Note that when Cobb remembers her suicide she is, bizarrely, sitting on a ledge opposite the room they rented. You could do the logical gymnastics required to claim that Mal simply rented another room across the alleyway, but the more realistic notion here is that it's a dream, with the gap between the two lovers being a metaphorical one made literal. When Mal jumps she leaves behind the top, and if she was right about the world being a dream, the fact that it spins or doesn't spin is meaningless. It's a dream construct anyway. There's no way to use the top as a proof of reality."


Also there's this bit from Leo:
"That Cobb is dreaming and still finds his catharsis (that he can now look at the face of his kids) is the point. It's important to realize that Inception is a not very thinly-veiled autobiographical look at how Nolan works. In a recent red carpet interview, Leonardo DiCaprio - who was important in helping Nolan get the script to the final stages - compares the movie not to The Matrix or some other mindfuck movie but Fellini's 8 1/2. This is probably the second most telling thing DiCaprio said during the publicity tour for the film, with the first being that he based Cobb on Nolan. 8 1/2 is totally autobiographical for Fellini, and it's all about an Italian director trying to overcome his block and make a movie (a science fiction movie, even). It's a film about filmmaking, and so is Inception."
Jul 19 2010 5:09PM
0 0
profile picture
teleak
Posts: 2251 - Karma: 105
yes, finally get to post in this, you've been bating me for days.

i think it was real life.
Jul 19 2010 8:32PM
0 0
profile picture
squibble
Posts: 4569 - Karma: 104
real life
Jul 20 2010 8:15PM
0 0
profile picture
Piste.Off
Posts: 11586 - Karma: 1,861
my theory on why i think it was all leos dream.
at the end of the movie leos kids are wearing the same clothes they wore in all his "dreams". also for those complaining how there are plot holes about the movie didn't explain enough how the technology to go into dreams was possible etc etc. in the movie leo told ellen that when you're dreaming you never really knew how the dream started and you can't remember how you got there. when the movie starts you're pretty much thrown into the middle of the plot and you are almost expected to know how the dream stuff works. so im saying that this movie is meant to be viewed as one big dream. i don't know if i did good enough job of explaining that or not but anyone else with me here?
Jul 20 2010 8:28PM
0 0
profile picture
ECfreeski3
Posts: 12019 - Karma: 125
do you drink heavily? i dont think ill ever try to lucid dream (well, not again. obviously ive sort of tried before, i guess) since the first time i woke up after drinking, thought i had had a dream in which i purposely did stuff i wouldnt do normally since it was a dream, and it turned out it was REAL LIFE
Click for larger image
Jul 20 2010 8:33PM
0 0
profile picture
thisandthatfilms
Posts: 7713 - Karma: 525
deffinitly this. when the movie ended i screamed fuck you at the top of my lungs
Jul 20 2010 10:54PM
0 0
All times are Eastern (-4)