Inception

[Tusan_Homichi]

My first viewing, I was pretty sure it was real. The second viewing I'm leaning towards him still being in limbo and just accepting it.

I'm thinking when he stayed behind to save Saito, he just never came out of it. Everything from when he wakes up on the plane til the end of the movie is just a bit off. No one talks. Everyone just sort of stares at each other. His dad is there at the airport waiting for him. And while it might just be a movie editing thing, they never show how he got from the airport to his home and as big an emphasis as they placed on knowing how you got somewhere to prove you're not dreaming, that seems strange.

Then, it's the exact same time of day, the kids clothes are the same, the kids haven't aged, they're in the exact same position, etc as his memory of them. And he spins the top, and just leaves it showing he accepts whether it's real or not. Though, the top does wobble, it sure does spin an awfully long time.

I'm not completely sure on this of course, but I'm curious on whether those seeing it a second time came away with a similar feeling.

 

[casmith07]

It's completely possible everyone came out of dreaming except him. Pretty interesting.

It's also possible the entire thing was him in limbo. That he went so far down that when they laid down to die by the train, he was immediately put into limbo.

But that doesn't explain how he'd be able to create different characters with individual personalities, etc. without knowing them prior. Can't project what you don't know, right?

And then also, how did Mr. Saito get so old that quickly?

 

[Tusan_Homichi]

It's completely possible everyone came out of dreaming except him. Pretty interesting.

It's also possible the entire thing was him in limbo. That he went so far down that when they laid down to die by the train, he was immediately put into limbo.

But that doesn't explain how he'd be able to create different characters with individual personalities, etc. without knowing them prior. Can't project what you don't know, right?

And then also, how did Mr. Saito get so old that quickly?

I don't believe him or his wife used a sedative to build their subconcious world. So, that whole limbo thing wasn't really a danger for them. Hence, him planting the idea that them killing themselves to get out of it and them laying in front of the train, etc.

Also, time is really sped up down there. Him and his wife were basically down there for 50 years, but seemed to just lay down in their living room for what appears to be an afternoon nap. So, Saito could have aged a lifetime in the time he was down there in limbo.

 

[Hoofbite]

I don't believe him or his wife used a sedative to build their subconcious world. So, that whole limbo thing wasn't really a danger for them. Hence, him planting the idea that them killing themselves to get out of it and them laying in front of the train, etc.

I don't think he planted the idea of killing themselves.

She had set the top down in her "safe" signifying that she was in real life. He simply spun the top to remind her that he was dreaming and in doing so planted the ever-lasting thought of being in a dream.

Also, time is really sped up down there. Him and his wife were basically down there for 50 years, but seemed to just lay down in their living room for what appears to be an afternoon nap. So, Saito could have aged a lifetime in the time he was down there in limbo.

That's how I took it as well. Time is sped up so much that Saito aged a lifetime while they were running around for a few minutes.

One thing that I didn't get was how Leo and Page were able to force themselves into limbo.

The plot made it seem like limbo was the result of dying when you were too deeply sleeping.

I dunno.

I thought the ending was reality as the top looked like it was about to topple. It seems as if it weren't in reality that the entire movie would have taken place on at least the 1st level of dreaming and the kids would have aged a lot more than they had. Them still being the age that they were gives me the impression that it was in fact reality.

 

[Rynie]

It's completely possible everyone came out of dreaming except him. Pretty interesting.

It's also possible the entire thing was him in limbo. That he went so far down that when they laid down to die by the train, he was immediately put into limbo.

But that doesn't explain how he'd be able to create different characters with individual personalities, etc. without knowing them prior. Can't project what you don't know, right?

And then also, how did Mr. Saito get so old that quickly?

Mr. Saito was much older because they died in different levels. Remember the time thing about the levels. 5 minutes in reality is, I think, an hour in level 1, 10 days in level 2, etc.
those #'s might be wrong, but you get the point

 

[YosemiteSam]

Inception sucked, it wasn't believable at all. (entering other peoples dreams? What a load of crap!) It was nothing more than a repackaged Pocahontas!

That said, I give it 10/10.

Had to throw in a jab at the Avatar haters. :

 

[theogt]

It's completely possible everyone came out of dreaming except him. Pretty interesting.

It's also possible the entire thing was him in limbo. That he went so far down that when they laid down to die by the train, he was immediately put into limbo.

But that doesn't explain how he'd be able to create different characters with individual personalities, etc. without knowing them prior. Can't project what you don't know, right?

And then also, how did Mr. Saito get so old that quickly?

Even if he went into limbo, he'd come out of the dream as the same time as them. He would just have to spend 50 years or whatever amount of time in limbo after the sedative wore off.

So, I guess, worst case scenario is he spends 50 years in limbo with his kids and family in the US, then wakes up and goes back home to his normal life.

But I don't understand how he could have projections if he was in limbo -- there weren't any projections when he and Mal were in limbo. It seems to me that you don't have projections in limbo because you're actually in your subconscious. Thus, he had to be in reality at the end.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Even if he went into limbo, he'd come out of the dream as the same time as them. He would just have to spend 50 years or whatever amount of time in limbo after the sedative wore off.

So, I guess, worst case scenario is he spends 50 years in limbo with his kids and family in the US, then wakes up and goes back home to his normal life.

But I don't understand why there weren't any projections when he and Mal were in limbo. It seems to me that you don't have projections in limbo because you're actually in your subconscious. Thus, he had to be in reality at the end.

This doesn't make since. If he was in limbo, then even Mal wouldn't have been there as Mal is dead.

Well, unless it's the same *limbo* that is thought to exist between life and death, but I suspect not since he isn't dead at all. He is still dreaming which means life.

 

[theogt]

This doesn't make since. If he was in limbo, then even Mal wouldn't have been there as Mal is dead.

So, when he confronted Mal, he wasn't in limbo? He was in a separate memory, right?

Then, he went into limbo to get Saito. That explains why he washed up on shore in Saito's world (just like he and Mal washed up on shore when they went into limbo). But Saito had projections in his limbo.

 

[YosemiteSam]

So, when he confronted Mal, he wasn't in limbo? He was in a separate memory, right?

Then, he went into limbo to get Wantanabe.

This limbo is where they blurred the lines to add to the intensity of the movie. Limbo is still a dreaming state and it all still happens in someones mind as nobody is dead at that point. (besides Mal, but she was a projection anyhow)

It doesn't completely make sense, but the idea behind the movie kicked so much ***, that I'm willing to over look that. It is great to have a movie with a fresh storyline.

 

[casmith07]

I can't believe I didn't catch this before - every kick but the van kick woke everyone up from a level. The van kick didn't work. Is it possible they are all in limbo?

 

[theogt]

The spinning top was Nolan's inception. While all the facts point to it being reality, he plants the little idea that maybe it's not reality. Maybe the guy was dreaming. So you begin to question everything in the movie, , you question every little fact, and can probably eventually convince yourself it was a dream.

 

[casmith07]

Yeah...I suppose the stewardess could have woke them all up by kicking the back of their legs as well - or the sedative time limit wore off, which also wakes them up from the first level.

 

[Kevinicus]

Inception sucked, it wasn't believable at all. (entering other peoples dreams? What a load of crap!) It was nothing more than a repackaged Pocahontas!

That said, I give it 10/10.

Had to throw in a jab at the Avatar haters. :

Why? You can't compare the quality of craftsmanship in Avatar to Inception.

 

[Hoofbite]

I can't believe I didn't catch this before - every kick but the van kick woke everyone up from a level. The van kick didn't work. Is it possible they are all in limbo?

I thought the van kick woke up nearly everyone. Everyone but Leo. It woke Fischer and Eams (who is playing the uncle, or whatever. You see him transform from the uncle back to Eams while they are on the river bank) and it also woke Page as she and the kid from 3rd Rock From The Sun were sharing a regulator. If you go back, each of them had a kick in the previous levels.


I couldn't figure out how Leo and Page could force themselves into limbo but after thinking about it again, that isn't what happened.

They hooked themselves along with Fischer to his memory of limbo. He was then the architect of this recreated limbo. Why this was necessary, I don't know. If Fischer could have been brought back after getting shot, I don't know why it would have been necessary to do that entire scene. Because that's what they did, they hooked him to the defibrillator and then also hooked him to the briefcase. So when he was thrown off the building by Page, he woke back up and instantly ran to the vault. So this is the only part that kind of is still foggy for me. If he would have died, he would have gone to limbo but instead they revived him and sent him to what would have been the 4th level down, Leo's architected memory of limbo.

So the way I am looking at it, the van kick worked for everyone who wasn't more than a single level below it. Page and Fischer (I know I keep mixing real names with the movies names, sorry if it is confusing) came back to the ice base after the fall off the building. From there, I guess the elevator shaft brought them back to the hotel and the van falling, back to the van. The kicks get a little odd because Page and Fischer seem to kick themselves from #4 back to #3 by diving off the building. Why would there need to be a kick from previous levels if you can kick yourself without dying and going into limbo?

I dunno. Lots of weird things I'd like to look at again.

Guess the main thing is, they weren't in limbo at the end, they were in Leo's architected limbo. Page and Fischer went back up level by level but Leo died in one of the levels. I think he actually died in the van level by drowning, which is why he kind of washed up in limbo.

Gotta see it again.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

This movie must be pretty good if a whole thread is devoted to it.

 

[theogt]

Guess the main thing is, they weren't in limbo at the end, they were in Leo's architected limbo. Page and Fischer went back up level by level but Leo died in one of the levels. I think he actually died in the van level by drowning, which is why he kind of washed up in limbo.

Yes, this makes sense. Saito was in in limbo for dying in the snow dream. Cobb died in the van dream, which threw him into limbo, meeting up with Saito, who had been there for many years already.

 

[DallasEast]

This movie must be pretty good if a whole thread is devoted to it.

Yep yep.

 

[Kevinicus]

I thought the van kick woke up nearly everyone. Everyone but Leo. It woke Fischer and Eams (who is playing the uncle, or whatever. You see him transform from the uncle back to Eams while they are on the river bank) and it also woke Page as she and the kid from 3rd Rock From The Sun were sharing a regulator. If you go back, each of them had a kick in the previous levels.


I couldn't figure out how Leo and Page could force themselves into limbo but after thinking about it again, that isn't what happened.

They hooked themselves along with Fischer to his memory of limbo. He was then the architect of this recreated limbo. Why this was necessary, I don't know. If Fischer could have been brought back after getting shot, I don't know why it would have been necessary to do that entire scene. Because that's what they did, they hooked him to the defibrillator and then also hooked him to the briefcase. So when he was thrown off the building by Page, he woke back up and instantly ran to the vault. So this is the only part that kind of is still foggy for me. If he would have died, he would have gone to limbo but instead they revived him and sent him to what would have been the 4th level down, Leo's architected memory of limbo.

So the way I am looking at it, the van kick worked for everyone who wasn't more than a single level below it. Page and Fischer (I know I keep mixing real names with the movies names, sorry if it is confusing) came back to the ice base after the fall off the building. From there, I guess the elevator shaft brought them back to the hotel and the van falling, back to the van. The kicks get a little odd because Page and Fischer seem to kick themselves from #4 back to #3 by diving off the building. Why would there need to be a kick from previous levels if you can kick yourself without dying and going into limbo?

I dunno. Lots of weird things I'd like to look at again.

Guess the main thing is, they weren't in limbo at the end, they were in Leo's architected limbo. Page and Fischer went back up level by level but Leo died in one of the levels. I think he actually died in the van level by drowning, which is why he kind of washed up in limbo.

Gotta see it again.

I think he meant the initial van kick, the one they "missed."

 

[MarionBarberThe4th]

*eyes closed*


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