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Mac17
here is my answer(invis. text.)

Response in white:
He can see them in his dreams. Thats why when he was talking to Mal at the end and she called for their children he turned away. And we don't really know if the top ever stop spinning. It did start to wobble tho
 
Just saw it tonight. Fantastic movie. Just gorgeous, and I love how it was scored by Hans Zimmer.

My only complaint is I didn't think Ellen Page was a good fit for the role.
 
I thought it was a great movie.

Highlight below only if you've seen the movie already:

My concept is that the whole thing was Cobb's dream. The old man he is taken to is Saito, who is in Limbo himself, is the one who promises Cobb that he could take him back home to see his kids, only if he is able to plant the idea into Fischer's mind.

He also explains to the girl that he lived with his wife in Limbo and they created a world together, which is where Cobb wakes up in the beginning of the movie (the beach). He also flips out when he discovers the secret that his wife was hiding from him the whole time, which was the spinning top inside the safe, which led him to believe that they were stuck in her dream the whole time. He then lays on the train tracks to snap her back from the dream, only for her to deny everything and kill herself.

If you think about it, the girl was the only one who followed Cobb into his subconscious levels, which led her to plead to him to share this to the others in the team for what he's putting them through.

He wakes up in the end on the plane, with all them looking at each other as if they're complete strangers. His kids, the house, it was all a projection of his imagination, and I believe his wife Mal was too.
 
Agreed, I loved Eternal Sunshine, that was the movie that made me respect Jim Carrey as an actor and not just a comedian.

Inception is the same way, I feel I could watch this movie over and over and take from it completely different things every time.
 
Just saw it last night. Great Movie! Some great gun battles on par with Heat, soon to be a trademark of a Nolan film.

If you would've walk in at the last 30 minutes, you probably would think its some sort of crazy surrealist avant garde film.

Great movie, great concept.
 
I thought it was a great movie.

Highlight below only if you've seen the movie already:

All of that seems plausible. However there is this theory... (spoilers in white below AND in the link)

I'm attracted to this explanation, that it may not be Cobb that's doing the inception by the end of the movie. After all, the whole idea is that someone else is planting an idea in your head, but you believe you came up with it.

Is it possible that Cobb had it backwards? That he keeps living in the dream world, but Mal is trying to free him from it? That she's trying to convince him to come back to her and their children? Maybe Cobb is the one who abandoned her and not the other way around?


Wild!
 
All of that seems plausible. However there is this theory...

Great link, my reply below:

I'm starting to believe that Cobb was the one who had the inception by Saito the whole time, because I kept thinking about how, throughout the movie, people kept telling him to take the "leap of faith". And the fact that Fischer's father was dissapointed for trying, and he died and old lonley man himself (representative of Cobb himself).

But in the same sence, Wouldn't Saito be stuck in Limbo along with Cobb?

Cobb broke into Mal's secret by opening the safe and finding the spinning top, making him realize that he was in a dream. But I'm sure there's more to it than just that and Mal indeed plays a bigger part. Why would she want him to stay with her in their "reality" if indeed it was all a figment of Cobb's subconscious? And what does Saito have to gain by going into Cobb's mind? Initially Saito releases Cobb when he fails, but then comes back with an offer to Cobb, which means that Cobb was already in Saito's dream.
 
Cobb always knew he and mal were in a dream. It was Cobb who planted the idea to Mal that they were in a dream. When they finally woke up Mal still thought they were in a dream causing her to suicide. This is why Cobb knew that inception would work cause he's done it before.

But the thing is, at the end when Cobb finally see's his kid. It's the same as all the flashbacks that he's been having. So maybe it really is still a dream.

And when everyone woke up in the plane, they were all obviously acknowledging each other.
 
To me.. the whole movie was a dream for Cobb. He is stuck in limbo. Even thou he has the top stop spinning. I still think the whole thing was a dream.

I also like the idea that it is someone else is dreaming and cobb is in there dream.



Either way, the movie is freaking great. Saw it again yesterday.
 
It has to win awards, everything in solid... music, editing, directing, writing, mise-en-scene, it's all well thought out.

Loved the film to bits, I love those kind of films, makes me want to see Eternal Sunshine again.

Agreed! I think it'll prolly get quite a few Oscar nods.
 
Theories Explained

To me the plot is very honest and straight forward.Nolan gives you hints that it might be all in Cobb's dream, but that's the go-to theory that Nolan wants you to think. But to entertain the Cobb Dream Theory let's look at it.

In the beginning when Cobb and Arthur are explaining his job to Saito, Cobb would be in Level 3 (the Chinese Palace) of his dreams:

Cobb's Dream > Old House with Rioters > Chinese Palace.

or

Reality > Old House with Rioters > Chinese Palace.

So you're saying that Arthur and Saito are projections of his subconscious or are they real people playing along to get him out of his dream? If so the whole focus the the story changes and would have been explained by the movie in a better fashion.

Then you have to think about Cobb with dream machine the whole time and being hooked up to all the other characters to play along with him. If so who ordered this, the father? Arthur? Are the Corporations real? How would they know he would go to Michael Caine to get Ariadne? If Cobb is the subject of his dream, wouldn't Mal show up in 1st level of his dream? This is where this whole theory falls apart.

The reason why the ending seemed like it was all a dream is because it was real.

WHAT?

Okay, remember when Cobb tells Ariadne " Dreams feel like reality, and it's only when we wake up that we know the dream wasn't real " ( I'm paraphrasing )

Well, the end seemed so dream like that it's not a dream which is supported by what Cobb said. And he finally saw the kids faces.

But why are they wearing the same clothes and why are they in the same place like his dream?

We, the audience, saw this shot over and over through the movie, so it's just a matter of satisfying the audience by finally seeing the end sequence to this shot, and that Cobb's dream finally came true.

The spinning top ending was just to fuel these other theories. It did fall.

BTW what were all the TOTEMS?

Cobb- Spinning Top ( although it was Mal's) did he have his own?
Reality- will fall
Dream- never stops spinning

Ariadne- Golden Chess Peice
Reality-feels lighter
Dream-regular weight or heavier?

Arthur-was his the Dice?
Reality- they were weighted I believe
Dream-???

Eames & Yusuf- did they have any? I think they should have characterized all the Totems a bit more. I think they're really cool... I want one. lol
 
Cobb always knew he and mal were in a dream. It was Cobb who planted the idea to Mal that they were in a dream. When they finally woke up Mal still thought they were in a dream causing her to suicide. This is why Cobb knew that inception would work cause he's done it before.

But you see, he performed the inception on Mal once he discovered her secret in the safe, which was the spinning top. So once he realized he was in her dream, he convinced Mal to come back to reality because nothing was real, however, Mal never grasped their "reality", thus commiting suicide to go back to her own perception of what reality was (for her anyway).

The majority consensus seems to lead us to believe that the whole thing was a dream. Some people (myself) think it was Cobb's dream the whole time and in the end he remains dreaming, others believe that Cobb was merely a character in someone else's dream in which he himself may have been the subject of the inception the whole time.

The last scene just wraps everything up and leaves you guessing.
 
I just saw this movie for the second time and these are the questions I'm still left with. [Highlight to view]

1. How was Cobb able to jump from limbo back to 'reality' whereas it was crucial that everyone else feel the kicks and jump back through the layers? Was it a result of being killed?
2. What's the point of a totem if it we don't know that it was created in reality? ie: did Cobb create his supposed anchor in a dream?
3. I'm wondering about the gravity situation on the mountain as well. Since the van was airborne that means the next layer would be affected. In the hotel, they are, for the most part stationary, which could explain why gravity is in effect on the mountain.


Either way, it was a great movie that I can enjoy thinking about and trying to figure out. If you haven't seen it yet, stop what you're doing and go.
 
I just saw this movie for the second time and these are the questions I'm still left with. [Highlight to view]

1. How was Cobb able to jump from limbo back to 'reality' whereas it was crucial that everyone else feel the kicks and jump back through the layers? Was it a result of being killed?
2. What's the point of a totem if it we don't know that it was created in reality? ie: did Cobb create his supposed anchor in a dream?
3. I'm wondering about the gravity situation on the mountain as well. Since the van was airborne that means the next layer would be affected. In the hotel, they are, for the most part stationary, which could explain why gravity is in effect on the mountain.


Either way, it was a great movie that I can enjoy thinking about and trying to figure out. If you haven't seen it yet, stop what you're doing and go.

Hmm do we still have to white the spoilers, I mean it does say spoiler in the title... Well anyways,

1. idk
2. I guess you can't really say. If the story lead us to believe there was only one reality (barring out the "the whole movie was Cobb's dream" theory), then they all had their totems shown in "reality". There wasn't enough information
3. I believe it was Cobb that said the deeper the level, prior levels would have less effect. Saito was hurting throughout the levels, but with each level the pain was less severe. So you can make the argument, on level 1, the no gravity, only transcended to level 2 and not beyond, or atleast a lot less severe.
 
Some people mentioned that the last level looks very out of place. I actually think the 3 levels or 4 levels represent a person subconscious very closely.

1st level, you have the crowded street. Everything is mundane and open, the sort of thoughts that you wouldn't mind everyone knowing.
2nd level, you have the hotel. It becomes more intimate especially the hotel rooms. Thoughts that you only want friends or someone close to you to know.
3rd level, Fortress in a no man land. The deepest secrets that you guard against everyone.
4th (or Limbo?), feels like a person free of constraints with his wildest imagination. The kind where once you get past a person defense and he/she opens up.
 
But you see, he performed the inception on Mal once he discovered her secret in the safe, which was the spinning top. So once he realized he was in her dream, he convinced Mal to come back to reality because nothing was real, however, Mal never grasped their "reality", thus commiting suicide to go back to her own perception of what reality was (for her anyway).

The majority consensus seems to lead us to believe that the whole thing was a dream. Some people (myself) think it was Cobb's dream the whole time and in the end he remains dreaming, others believe that Cobb was merely a character in someone else's dream in which he himself may have been the subject of the inception the whole time.

The last scene just wraps everything up and leaves you guessing.

He performed inception on Mal.
 
I still think it was a dream at the end. The title says "Spoilers"....

Don't read if you don't want to know.

A: The kids never aged. They are the same age as they were the first time we see them. Unless we are to believe that the whole series of events that take place are only a few short months. To me this is the biggest clue of them all. Hence when cobb goes back to the house and everything is the same as he remembered the day he left.

I still think he is in limbo and this is where he wants to be.
 
I still think it was a dream at the end. The title says "Spoilers"....

Don't read if you don't want to know.

A: The kids never aged. They are the same age as they were the first time we see them. Unless we are to believe that the whole series of events that take place are only a few short months. To me this is the biggest clue of them all. Hence when cobb goes back to the house and everything is the same as he remembered the day he left.

I still think he is in limbo and this is where he wants to be.

well, in the dream world time happens faster than the real world. so a few weeks in the real world may be a few months or years in the dream world.

might explain why the kids never aged.
 
Here is the thing. Time in the dream world goes quicker. So if the whole movie was a dream, wouldn't the characters be really old? The whole sequence of them planning the hiest spanned a couple months if I remembered right. Meaning if it was a dream, that would've been lots of decades. Making it impossible for them to be dreaming since none of them aged.
 
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