Track this topic | Email this topic | Print this topic

I just saw this movie last night, and I've got to say....I am very, very impressed. I hadn't been this excited to see a movie in a long time, and I am glad I wasn't disappointed. All of the actors in this film were amazing, with a story so wonderfully complex yet elegant. And since Hollywood is so hellbent on doing re-hashes, classic remakes, and sequels, it is so refreshing to see an original and unique story being given such attention to detail and making me think so much about it since seeing it.

Although, I am a Nolan fanboy, I love every single movie he has done, so I might be a little biased.

Has anybody else seen this movie? What are your thoughts on it? And what would you make of the story, the visuals, and the ending?

This post has been edited by TheEvilEye on 18th July 2010 01:17

We were meant to go see it this afternoon but responsibility got in the way. I'm glad you liked it, as I'm kind of in the same boat as you - I wasn't super-crazy about Insomnia but thought Memento, The Prestige, and of course the two Batman flicks were all pretty great.

Might manage to see it tomorrow, if so I'll get back to the thread. Otherwise, probably won't get to see it for several weeks due to other plans coming up. :\

--------------------

"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

Seeing it on Tuesday. Can't wait. The Prestige is the film I annoy people to watch, and even sit with them and see it for the Nth time. Even after countless watches I still notice clever little pieces of the puzzle that are in the film from the very beginning. I hope Inception is just as brilliant.

--------------------

Scepticism, that dry rot of the intellect, had not left one entire idea in his mind.

Me on the Starcraft.

This movie was phenomenal. I didn't like what they did with the ending.

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

I am definitely not a fan of open-ended / interpretive endings to films. I feel like: it's not my story, it's not my universe, they aren't my characters- whatever my imagination does with them (while it could be fun) is neither going to be as significant nor as satisfying as a legitimate close would have been (that after enjoying the entirety of the rest of the movie, I'd prefer a definitive, consummate payoff over the real?/not real? tossup the film gave. Although it was done well enough that I still wouldn't say it takes anything meaningful away from it in the case of this specific film). I mean, I can get behind the fact that as storytellers they still want an audience to decide certain things on their own, but it always ends up feeling like a cop-out to me because instead of seizing an opportunity to make a decisive, powerful statement with the ending, they instead leave it in the air so that (and pardon me for generalizing) the disney-folk can have the happiest ending in their head and the cynics can have the opposite in theirs.

Whatever, I've formed my own theory on the ending and it doesn't change the fact that this was my favorite movie that's come out of the last two years. I'm going back to see it again later this week to catch all the things I feel like I missed.

Also, Ellen Page hasn't stopped being cute. In case anyone was worried.

--------------------

"We're not tools of the government or anyone else. Fighting... fighting was the only thing I was ever good at, but at least I always fought for what I believed in." - Frank Yeager (a.k.a. Grey Fox)

I LOVED the movie. I thought they did a great job of building suspense but not relying on confusing the audience to do it artificially. Also, I never would've expected the best action sequence of the summer to come from Joseph Gordon-Levitt! I wanted to see it again immediately after leaving the theater.

--------------------

Hey, put the cellphone down for a while
In the night there is something wild
Can you hear it breathing?
And hey, put the laptop down for a while
In the night there is something wild
I feel it, it's leaving me

Joseph Gordon-Levitt was definitely one of my favorite parts of this movie. He also had the best line in the movie with Ellen Page (you know what I'm talking about!). I also thought Cillian Murphy held his own with an already great cast, and the scenes he was in were great and perfectly done.

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

For a little bit of added fun, I've wanted to ask you guys: How many of you interpret Cobb being in reality at the end, and how many think he was still dreaming (or, maybe that *everything* was all a dream?)

I tend to be on the side of Cobb being in reality. I believe it's a much more rewarding ending, seeing as all that Cobb has gone through, with his subconscious trying to make Cobb accept that Mal is a shade and move on. And in doing so, it doesn't make sense to me to have him go through all of this, just to accept the same shades of his children, since the movie spends so much time to get him to move on. I also think it was true that Cobb has been trapped in limbo and escaped from it before. As he has pointed out and that which seems obvious, he is the most experienced and capable extractor in the movie. And given everything he knows about Inception, I think he's too aware of it to be fooled by it, especially given all of the trials and growth he has gone through by the end.

I also believe Saito was actually capable of getting Cobb into the country to see his kids again. Given his nature, it seems easily within his abilities to put in motion bribes and other measures to come through on his promise to Cobb.

So after all of this, we are left with a couple of loose ends: The children's appearances at the end, and Cobb's spinning top. But I think this entire scene is more of Nolan's brilliance using devices to teach us a few things:

1. That this is Christopher Nolan showing us how unstable reality actually is, and that the lines that blur reality and dreams are nowhere near as substantial as we think they are.

2. The spinning top's purpose is to show us that reality and dreams can exist together, that our perceptions of reality are what make reality so, and that the power of dreams and the subconscious can influence that in ways that shift these perceptions and fool us just as dreams can.

Most importantly....I think Christopher Nolan is using the ending as his ultimate "Inception" to us as the viewer. The spinning top did wobble, and then continued spinning until the movie faded out. I think he used this to plant his final inception...what if there is a higher state of consciousness? And that our reality might be a dream within a dream? An idea that relates to the entire overall themes of the film.

I almost convinced myself to go see it again last night just because I've been thinking about it *that* much, but I'm definitely going to go see it again this Thursday.

This post has been edited by TheEvilEye on 18th July 2010 20:22

In response to EE's spoiler box. I don't think there was enough built up regarding the philosophy behind what they did in the movie to justify that last yes/no/maybeso shot. Sure they explain what happens and how it all works and we see what happens when someone uses it a specific way, but it's never openly/blatantly acknowledged, making the last shot totally inconsistent with the tone of the movie.

Also:

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

To me, it would be a plot (or shot) inconsistency if it wasn't a dream. Even if the top could have kept spinning in place like it did - which is entirely possible - that was not how it started spinning. When it was initially spun on the table, it was clearly spinning in a radius. The final shot, then shows it in place standing upright, literally moments later, which is not physically possible.

That said, it would make much more sense philosophically and just logically if he was in the real world.

This post has been edited by Narratorway on 31st July 2010 07:08

--------------------

Arts

Farts

Twarts

I have plans to see it, though I have no particular affinity for Nolan. (I will say I love Memento, but nothing else he has done has piqued my interest.)

The main draw for me is Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He's been one of my favorite actors since The Lookout way back when.

I loved the movie. Absolutely loved it.

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

I think Cobb is in a dream in the end with his children. It makes sense to me in correlation with the rest of the movie, specifically with the spinning top.

--------------------

Join the Army, see the world, meet interesting people - and kill them.

~Pacifist Badge, 1978

Quote (Narratorway @ 18th July 2010 21:50)

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

When it was initially spun on the table, it was clearly spinning in a radius.  The final shot, then shows it in place standing upright, literally moments later, which is not physically possible.

I noticed this as well, I'd hope that something like that was just a shot continuity error.

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

Even if it isn't, there is much more solid evidence in the movie to back the theory that he was dreaming at the end. Either way, a large consensus on the ending seems to be that the entire film was, in fact, all a dream.

An article to check out about that theory:
http://chud.com/articles/articles/24477/1/...PTION/Page1.htm

Part of me enjoys that this film can be picked apart and analyzed to such an extent, but at the same time it's kind of upsetting to think that all of the supporting cast in that movie, ALL of who I loved so much, were just projections of Cobb's subconscious.

That link shows in the spoiler box regardless but I'm telling you if you haven't seen the movie DON'T CLICK IT.

--------------------

"We're not tools of the government or anyone else. Fighting... fighting was the only thing I was ever good at, but at least I always fought for what I believed in." - Frank Yeager (a.k.a. Grey Fox)

I liked the film a lot, but it's not the modern masterpiece that I was told about. For me, Inception is to The Prestige what Batman Begins is to The Dark Knight. It's a good film, but shallower and not as complete. I can't say I'm disappointed, however.

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

The film isn't a dream and it's not reality. It's the paradox that Joseph Gordon-Levitt was talking about with Ellen Page, the hot student. The point isn't that it's a dream or reality, it's about planting the idea in our heads. The film purposefully doesn't tell us whether it's a dream or reality, and you will never, ever know, because that's the whole point of the film. It the film told us it was all a dream, then the film is planting the idea rather than letting us work it out ourselves, and therefore we can 'trace the genesis.' That's why the film is called Inception. It makes us question our own lives and our reality. More than anything it should make us question WHY we believe what we believe. Inception is what goes on every day in our world. It's very similar to The Matrix in this regard.

If I had to choose, I would go with a dream, because first of all, like Mal says, the whole faceless corporations and inter-dream exploring in a contemporary landscape is completely absurd, and also even in the supposedly 'real' places they end up in different places with absolutely no explanation of how they got there, which Leonardo DiCaprio explains is a classic effect of dreaming. Despite this, we'll never know, and the whole point of the film is not knowing in order to Incept us successfully, so it's irrelevant.

It's too bad she won't live. But then again who does?

The best bit was when Page and DiCaprio were in his vision, and Mal came with the kitchen knife while the others held them down. That made me think that this film should've really been a 15 or an 18 certificate. Nolan has the promise of some top-quality horror in his films, but doesn't implement it enough. Mal was terrifying. The fact that it was a 12A (or PG-13 or whatever the equivalent is) held her back more than Cobb's imaginary walls.

Anyway, tailing back to what I said at the beginning, this film is not extremely complicated and it's not as beautifully pieced together as The Prestige. But I can't fault it too much, because this is a summer blockbuster, and for a summer blockbuster it's amazing. It sets a promising precedent; unless of course a string of mystery films come out trying and failing to emulate Inception's success... I'm not going to think about that just yet. I noticed that when DiCaprio was questioned about the film he was keen to get across that it was a summer blockbuster. He's got the right idea.

All in all, great film for what it is. I hate to say it but it is a little bit overrated.

This post has been edited by sweetdude on 21st July 2010 19:21

--------------------

Scepticism, that dry rot of the intellect, had not left one entire idea in his mind.

Me on the Starcraft.

I plan on seeing it tomorrow, I was going to go today, but had things come up. Im looking forward to it.

-Just saw it- to be honest, I will enjoy almost everything. I response to most films is "feh, it was okay. I liked it" I like good films like Jaws and Terminator 2, and silly car movies like Fast and Furious, and even *censored naughty word* like Twilight. Inception was an excellent film. I don't like to spoil films for those who haven't seen it, so I'll just say that I don't use the word "Excellent" to describe something unless it truly deserves the use of such magical air-guitaring praise.

--------------------

"You know that feeling you get when you're on a merry go 'round, and you want to jump off to make the spinning stop, but you know it'll suck when you land? I feel like that all the time"- Keno

"I stab my girl until I fall down"
-Yukari
Do you like Horny Bunnies?

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

I also noticed that the top started spinning one way and was suddenly upright in the next shot, but I took it, as a FallingHeart said, to be a shot continuity error. I figure they shot him starting to spin the top and then walking away, and then they separately shot the top spinning so they could do the teaser ending.

I interpreted it it as him being in real life. Frankly, if it was all a dream then it's like there was no point to the entire movie, so I choose to interpret the end as reality.

--------------------

Wha? Thanks to me?

Great movie, had a lot of fun watching it. Even if you kind of have to say "Oh, COME ON" as soon as the last scene cuts to black. Hilarious to have a whole theater do that at the same time.

A lot of layers in this movie. A whole lot. Even more if you try to "figure it out," which is definitely a cool part of the experience. But I have to agree with sweetdude, to a degree. The movie had a lot of holes... a lot of hanging plot points, a lot of shallow concepts, and a lot left over to be desired. On the other hand, I think that's also a huge selling point: the movie never really tries to be too much more than it is. Nolan isn't a big-budget rookie anymore. He can handle every layer to Inception, in my opinion. Including the layer of handling the breadth of his audience completely. He makes a great, great decision to keep 75% of the complexities as simple as he can. Not necessarily to "leave it open to interpretation" or "incept the audience" but just because he understands his medium so well. A movie is a movie... pure entertainment. And he really kept it that way through and through.

It was fun to talk about theories about the movie on the way home from the theater. But now, I can only think about how good of an experience it was altogether. I'm not in the least bit dissatisfied about Inception, and that's all that I need. Nolan knows how to entertain, and that's why his personal masterpiece works so well.

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

PS: Following suit with my opinions above, I think it makes the most sense (within and outside of the confines of the movie and storyline) that Cobb is indeed living in true reality

--------------------

I find your lack of faith disturbing...

I agree with Sweetdude. It was a very entertaining movie, but it was not terribly deep or complicated when you get right down to it. It was a summer blockbuster with some philosophical elements but nothing as multilayered as say Existanz, the Matrix, or even Memento. True, sylistically it shares much in common with those movies, but I feel as though this film did not want to overcomplicate matters. Everything is pretty well spelled out except, of course, for the ending.

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

Yeah, I'm going with reality. This had a 'feel good' movie approach to it. Everything in the plot seemed to be harkening towards resolution. The open ended nature was of course intentional, but my own interpretation saw events naturally leading to a happy conclusion, unlike many darker films. I did not notice the change in the way the top was spinning but would also attribute that to shooting continuity error.

Overall, I enjoyed Inception. Can we start talking about Batman 3 now?

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

I gotta say it's simply not possible for it to be the real world for the reason I mentioned above and saying that's a continuity error really don't hold up as a counter-argument. First off, errors happen like that in films because no one is paying attention. In other words, they are most likely to occur with background objects or other aspects in the film making process where people aren't focusing their attention. This last shot is pivotal and to believe that they weren't focused on it is...unlikely to say the least. Couple that with Nolan's well-known meticulousness and it leads to the only other possible explanation that the supposed 'error' was intentional, hence confirming it's a dream.

This post has been edited by Narratorway on 10th August 2010 01:31

--------------------

Arts

Farts

Twarts

Some interesting points I read:

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

In the ending shot, when Cobb wakes up on the plane, he's not hooked to his gear, nor does he wake up startled like any other instance of waking up we see.

In the ending shot of his children, they're wearing the exact same damn clothes as throughout the rest of the movie, meaning it's either a dream or Cobb is a children's garments prophet.

From the moment Cobb wakes up on the plane, he interacts with none of the crew-members anymore; as if they're side-show characters in his own dream that'll quickly take him to his salvation, or even strangers somewhat amused by his confused antics.

Ofcourse, the ending is specifically created in such a way that a lot of interpretations are possible; like the totem, it can be spun both ways.


--------------------

The Collapse of Heaven and Earth

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

Narratorway, I'll agree that maybe I'm not giving Nolan enough credit. He is a meticulous filmmaker, although the greatest make errors. Still, as I mentioned, I didn't even notice the difference so it was probably hasty to comment. As Djibriel points out, though, and as I said earlier, it seems pretty clear that there was only one obvious intent to the ending - to create ambiguity. My immediate reaction was "real world" although I'm sure scrutiny and debate will continue for the life of the film...or until there's a sequel.

Side note: Maybe the topic header should be marked "SPOILERS" so we don't have an entire thread of spoiler tags?

Quote (FallingHeart @ 17th July 2010 23:00)

Also, Ellen Page hasn't stopped being cute. In case anyone was worried.

Abso-freaking-lutely. She's a very beautiful gal, and wears a mean business suit.

In other news,

I finally got to see it two days ago and it was fantastic!

I found the world beautifully crafted, amazingly well-filmed and the actors were very compelling and really made me wish I could've had an opportunity to perform in it.

All of the characters had aspects I thought would turn me off of them, but turned me around with the charismatic charms each had. Arthur is by far my fave,

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

in spite of his 'lack of creativity' which he disproved in his anti-grav saving the day

And I enjoyed Ariadne's growth from student to, sorta' mentor,

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

in the way she forced herself upon Cobb to aid him in his personal struggle.

Leo did a brilliant job. It's taken me a while, but since Catch Me If You Can, I've really tried to pay better attention to his abilities since he's really tried to work himself out of being labeled famous as a heart-throb. He's a legit man and I can only hope I'll be as talented as he someday.

Great movie, if you haven't seen it, do yourself a favour and go. it's definitely worth catching in theatres, too.

--------------------

Games on the Go
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy: Four Warriors of Light
Baldur's Gate

Too much to play, so little time!

Greg

@ Djibriel/Narratorway:

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

I found the following with respect to the kids and the top. I haven't verified it but worth bringing into the discussion I think:

They weren't in the same clothes at the end and at the beginning. Similar colors, but different clothes. I've seen it three times, I can't describe the clothes exactly, but Phillipa was wearing a dark pink dress at either the beginning or the end and the other time she was wearing a light pink dress and an undershirt with stripes.

Also, the kids were played by different actors, stay for the credits, one says 3 years and the other says 5.

Top drops at the end of credits. LISTEN.

Quote (MetroidMorphBall @ 10th August 2010 17:50)

@ Djibriel/Narratorway
*spoiler*

Can someone corroborate this? If so, that is total win for MMB.

--------------------

Wha? Thanks to me?

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

I've heard the two separate child castings argument before, and while I think it still holds some weight, I have considered the fact that they hired different actors to portray the children's voices on the phone early in the movie. No evidence, just something to consider, especially given the time frame of that moment in "reality"

--------------------

I find your lack of faith disturbing...

I saw this movie a couple of weeks back and I loved it and can't wait for it to come out on DVD. My thoughts on the ending

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

It seems like they might have left it open for a sequel with the idea that he was, still dreaming, but the way this movie was executed, I could only see a sequel as being a cheap continuation of something that was done really well, and therefore won't be done as well. I guess that's true of most sequels but I would hate to see a sequel to this. I just don't think it can be replicated well enough.

--------------------

Chewbekah ^_^

Currently Playing: Final Fantasy XIV: ARR, Attack of the Firday Monsters, Animal Crossing: A New Leaf, Lego City Undercover, Kingdom Hearts 1.5 Remix

Recently Finished: Fire Emblem: Awakening

Favorite Game: Suikoden III

Quote (Perigryn @ 10th August 2010 22:41)

Leo did a brilliant job. It's taken me a while, but since Catch Me If You Can, I've really tried to pay better attention to his abilities since he's really tried to work himself out of being labeled famous as a heart-throb. He's a legit man and I can only hope I'll be as talented as he someday.

He's always, always, been an amazing actor in my book. Watch What's Eating Gilbert Grape? and The Basketball Diaries if you want to see a younger DiCaprio at his best. I believe he found it harder to work his way out of those two films than Titanic.

Quote (MMB)

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

Top drops.

Well that settles it then, good discovery.

This post has been edited by sweetdude on 3rd September 2010 17:33

--------------------

Scepticism, that dry rot of the intellect, had not left one entire idea in his mind.

Me on the Starcraft.

Quote (sweetdude @ 3rd September 2010 09:30)

Well that settles it then, good discovery.

Well, not really. Remember, that was just something I found on the Internet and reposted, and hadn't independently verified that information. Since then, I found a YouTube clip of the credits, watched through the whole thing and...didn't hear a top drop!

This post has been edited by MetroidMorphBall on 4th September 2010 17:42

I saw the movie and enjoyed it.

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

I liked the whole idea of rumaging through people's subconcious to steal information for whatever reason or hijact their decisions.

Its almost like a espionage type movie.

The whole thing of inception of affecting someone to the point where they no longer know the difference between reality and a fictional dream world reminded me of the 13th floor in the aspect that they literally couldn't tell the difference between a cyber world and the real world because it looked too real.

--------------------

We are stardust.Our bodies are made from the guts of exploding stars.

Neil Degrasse Tyson.

I saw it recently and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

The plot was good, very good even and kept me interested throughout..

Saito had the best line in the movie:

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

I bought the airline.

And anything going on between Arthur and Eames was solid gold.

As for the ending:

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

Funnily enough, I don't give a damn about the ending. To me this movie was about the process and workings, not about any conclusions and any of the two endings would be fine with me, so I just don't care.

--------------------

"I fell off the mountain of words at around the 10,000ft mark. Tell my family...they owe me money." -Narratorway

"If you retort against this, so help me God I'll shove any part of your anatomy I can find into some other part. Figuratively, of course." - Josh

"We have more, can deliver tuesday." - Del S

Good old CoN