Inception

[killthenet]

I don't think the concepts are the most important thing here, it's all about the staging. Roger Ebert said it best that it doesn't matter about the ending of Inception, you could have told me how it ended before I watched it and it wouldn't have mattered a jolt, the journey is key.

 

Daft mentioned that the film wasn't complex and a lot of you who thought it would be confusing found that it was not to be the case, but it's all to do with Nolan's talent for structure and pacing. He has a knack for being able to take several narrative strands and weave them together in such a way that it's so easy to follow it doesn't feel quite so daunting.

 

It's something he learned with Memento, mastered in The Prestige and uses to it's greatest effect in Inception. Yes, other films and books explore the concepts of dreams and reality in much more depth and with more poignancy, but none do it on such a grand scale as Nolan does with Inception.

 

And probably best of all, it shows The Matrix up to be the dated, infantile schlock that is.

[Nintendohnut]

I loved it. I was expecting a lot when I went as I had heard a lot of people say it was good, but I was actually expecting it to be a let-down. In the end I was just blown away.

 

The idea itself is wonderful, and the entire premise to the film was just so refreshing. I can't count how many times I was told in the past 'don't end your story with they woke up and it was a dream'. This has caused a lack of any 'dream' films as you have to have a seriously good idea to pull it off. This film managed it easily.

 

I love most of the actors in the film anyway, but I thought they were all good characters, different enough that even those introduced late or given little screen time were still distinguished clearly. The relationships between the characters were great in some cases, not so good in others (e.g. JGL and DiCaprio - I wasn't sure if they were meant to be great friends or just work associates - JGL and the English guy however, I knew exactly what they were like)

 

The action scenes were great, especially the corridor scene which everyone else enjoyed. I was a little lost at the start of the film (as I hadn't read anything about the film before hand and didn't know the premise) but it wasn't too hard to grasp.

 

Audience reaction was excellent in the cinema, I heard people letting out held breath after tense moments (and I did it too admittedly), and there were sighs/exasperated groans at the end.

 

All in all I really enjoyed it. I was going to make this thread if there wasn't one already, but having read through the posts I think maybe people should stop arguing about it. Don't say it's discussion, it's started turning into an argument now. Some people like the film, others don't. TBH, Daft, my opinion is that while it's great that you're looking into the film and analysing it, maybe doing so has ruined your experience slightly. I came out of the cinema with a feeling of 'wow', and I don't want that to go away by picking plot holes in it!

 

Anyway, 9.5/10 for me. Really enjoyed it.

 

Toy Story 3 next!

 

Few things I spotted that I don't agree with there:

 

the truck has to be slowed down because time moves so quickly compared to the other layers that they simply can't show it in real time. The snow area goes on for much longer than anywhere else, thus it can be shown as snippets of scenes in real time. And the lift scene was clearly drawn out and shown pretty much with few gaps, indicating that the whole thing didn't really go on for that long but not watching that in slow motion made for more enjoyable viewing. I think he had 2 minutes (they said), or maybe less/more.

 

I'm sure they figured out how much time they had in the snow area and it was definitely a lot longer than the what the guy in the lift scene had. All in all, the 3 things were not happening in the same time frame, as some clearly took a lot more time for people than others.

 

Someone else explained the totem thing quite well; it's for protection so that you know you're in the real world and not a dream.

 

I don't think he killed his wife; he tried to help her as she was clearly unable to cope with the altered world. And he had no idea how to escape so for all he knew he wouldn't be going back.

 

He didn't really remove the guy's free will; he manipulated the people he believed in for him to make his own choice. Although this was clearly unethical, it made the guy believe his father loved him which somewhat adds a nice edge to what they did.

 

Why is Tiger Woods gifted? :p Something you can't really explain. And you don't really need to explain, it's just talent.

 

I don't think he can really control his dream, and doing things out of the ordinary like laser beams made all projections lock onto them.

 

And since they went into limbo in the same person's dream, that's likely what connected them. It's like another layer/dimension.

 

This post is a win.

[killthenet]

Each level of the dream breaks down like this:

 

1st layer - 1 Week

2nd layer - 6 Months

3rd layer - 10 years

 

At least, that's the relative amount of time that they could experience them for, with the subconcious' 'time scale' not being determined

 

 

 

[Daft]

Daft mentioned that the film wasn't complex and a lot of you who thought it would be confusing found that it was not to be the case, but it's all to do with Nolan's talent for structure and pacing. He has a knack for being able to take several narrative strands and weave them together in such a way that it's so easy to follow it doesn't feel quite so daunting.

 

Totally, he did do this utterly deftly. I didn't mean the film wasn't structurally complex, the whole van chase interplay was excellent, I meant the ideas behind it; "What's the most resilient parasite? An Idea." No shit (Someone quoted this to me as one of the amazingly original ideas. Really? Hell, that's what a lot of popular culture does; creates false needs). The dream within a dream thing just didn't seem special at all - I loved the idea in ESotSM of hiding yourself and memories in other memories, a dream within a dream was just another conman play in a different context.

 

The dream trying to attack anyone who interferes was great. Limbo, the communal dream space, this apparently fixed dream space, was a really interesting idea. Hardly touched.

 

Marion Cotillard and Tom Hardy's parts were excellent. Just to mention again. Actually, I think Hardy was the most enjoyable character to watch on the whole.

 

Each level of the dream breaks down like this:

 

1st layer - 1 Week

2nd layer - 6 Months

3rd layer - 10 years

 

At least, that's the relative amount of time that they could experience them for, with the subconcious' 'time scale' not being determined

 

 

 

Yeah, totally. I must be missing something, because it didn't seem like that.

 

Few things I spotted that I don't agree with there:

 

the truck has to be slowed down because time moves so quickly compared to the other layers that they simply can't show it in real time. The snow area goes on for much longer than anywhere else, thus it can be shown as snippets of scenes in real time. And the lift scene was clearly drawn out and shown pretty much with few gaps, indicating that the whole thing didn't really go on for that long but not watching that in slow motion made for more enjoyable viewing. I think he had 2 minutes (they said), or maybe less/more.

 

I'm sure they figured out how much time they had in the snow area and it was definitely a lot longer than the what the guy in the lift scene had. All in all, the 3 things were not happening in the same time frame, as some clearly took a lot more time for people than others.

 

Someone else explained the totem thing quite well; it's for protection so that you know you're in the real world and not a dream.

 

I don't think he killed his wife; he tried to help her as she was clearly unable to cope with the altered world. And he had no idea how to escape so for all he knew he wouldn't be going back.

 

He didn't really remove the guy's free will; he manipulated the people he believed in for him to make his own choice. Although this was clearly unethical, it made the guy believe his father loved him which somewhat adds a nice edge to what they did.

 

Why is Tiger Woods gifted? :p Something you can't really explain. And you don't really need to explain, it's just talent.

 

I don't think he can really control his dream, and doing things out of the ordinary like laser beams made all projections lock onto them.

 

And since they went into limbo in the same person's dream, that's likely what connected them. It's like another layer/dimension.

 

Yeah, that's all sweet but...

 

He's not innocent when it comes to his wife. He changed her mind, and not through volition. He broke in, he actually violated the secret that she locked away.

Edited July 22, 2010 by Daft

[Nintendohnut]

The reason they shared the dream was because they were all attached to the same machine. They couldn't just enter anyone's dream at random, they all had to have their sleep induced by the same machine. And there wasn't a fixed dream state, they were simply in one of the characters dreams. It wasn't always clear whose, but for example the hotel was Fischer's dream space and they were all in it because they connected to the same machine.

[Daft]

Ah, right. So Limbo is even less interesting than I thought.

[Nintendohnut]

Yep, it's beasically a dream that you cannot wake up from for a set amount of time, but it's one of those dreams where you know it's a dream so you start creating whatever you want. Only don't start creating from memories or you'll get super confused!!1!!!1

[Sheikah]

Each level of the dream breaks down like this:

 

1st layer - 1 Week

2nd layer - 6 Months

3rd layer - 10 years

 

At least, that's the relative amount of time that they could experience them for, with the subconcious' 'time scale' not being determined

 

 

 

yeah I think they said lift guy had 2 minutes and they had less than an hour in the ice place? Since 6 months is 24 weeks or so, it sounds about right.

 

[Daft]

Ah, gottcha.

[Nintendohnut]

I think I remember at the end them saying something along the lines of:

 

'there's the music. That means 10 seconds til the kick, which gives arthur about 3 minutes, which gives us about 60' So yeah, they had an hour in the snow station, and arthur had 3 minutes to give them the kick in the lift. EXCEPT they missed the first kick, where he drove into the barrier, which gave arthur an extra minute or so, and them about 20 more minutes I think (they had a couple of seconds before they hit the water which was the final kick)

 

 

...I think.

[Murr]

Pretty Much...

 

[Guy]

Winception.

 

That's basically all I have to say. It wasn't as good as this one really artsy foreign movie I watched one night at 4am in a college dorm with a bunch of imported, stoner deaf kids. Man, that movie was something else. I think it was in every language and banned in all but one of those countries and on the Moon. Mauritania, I think? My personal favourite memory is when one of the kids in our group, Ting King, became so moved by the brutally poetic family breakfast suicide that concluded the picture he too killed himself by leaping out of the window clutching a box of chinese Kelloggs Frosties.

 

Man, there's art and then there's art.

 

The Fountain is great too. I especially enjoyed how none of it made sense and despite the entire audience spending the movie wanting it to happen, Jackman didn't ever Wolverine out. Apes, light and swords are all I remember from The Fountain.

 

I'm done now. Gonna check out this new movie going around Malaysian art schools subtitled entirely in Wingdings. I tingle with anticipation at the thought of all the covert themes it will likely have that normal people just won't understand because I'll only explain them on Internet forums using the most complicated words I know.

Edited July 22, 2010 by Guy

[ReZourceman]

Legendarily amazing.

[Ronnie]

Excellent movie, absolutely stunning.

 

Daft, this may have been explained, but they only slowed down the truck falling into the water for dramatic effect. Slowing down actual acting scenes in the lower dreams would have been a bit silly. We see it in real time because that's how it would feel were you in that layer.

[Babooo]

Winception.

 

That's basically all I have to say. It wasn't as good as this one really artsy foreign movie I watched one night at 4am in a college dorm with a bunch of imported, stoner deaf kids. Man, that movie was something else. I think it was in every language and banned in all but one of those countries and on the Moon. Mauritania, I think? My personal favourite memory is when one of the kids in our group, Ting King, became so moved by the brutally poetic family breakfast suicide that concluded the picture he too killed himself by leaping out of the window clutching a box of chinese Kelloggs Frosties.

 

Man, there's art and then there's art.

 

The Fountain is great too. I especially enjoyed how none of it made sense and despite the entire audience spending the movie wanting it to happen, Jackman didn't ever Wolverine out. Apes, light and swords are all I remember from The Fountain.

 

I'm done now. Gonna check out this new movie going around Malaysian art schools subtitled entirely in Wingdings. I tingle with anticipation at the thought of all the covert themes it will likely have that normal people just won't understand because I'll only explain them on Internet forums using the most complicated words I know.

 

I actually love you.

 

Might as well give my opinion on it....I found it too confusing. Call me stupid, slow or retarded but thats my opinion. I can appreciate what its trying to do but I couldn't keep up.

[Retro_Link]

Absoluetly LOVED it!!

 

Just such a brilliant concept to explore and what a brilliant cast of characters!!... quite often there's someone in the cast who you just aren't all that keen on, or doesn't sit right with you, but these were just brilliant!! I warmed to them all instantly and loved them all! Seriously hiw cool was Arthur!

 

And like others have said, some genuinely great humour... personally loved the 'explaining a kick' scene, with the all the chair falling over goodness!... and the kiss scene of course!

 

Though I have to admit I was a little confused by it all and am gonna have to ask you to explain a couple of bits for me...

 

1) In the 4th dream layer, how did Cobb suddenly get from his appartment to washing up on Saito's beach?

2) Why was Saito SO much older than Cobb in the 4th dream, when he'd spent less time there... he died in the 3rd dream (sending him to the 'lost' unconcious mind layer), whiclst Cobb et al were already plugged into and experiencing it.

3) Cobb was stabbed by his misses... did just nothing come of that.

4) After all swimming out of the van and sitting on the shore, how did they all ultimately come out of the 1st dream layer and wake up on the plane?

 

Sorry if some of that is extremely obvious!

 

9/10, a truely awesome and mind blowing experience!!

[dwarf]

Going to see this tonight with the lads, hopefully it's going to be awesome.

[Wesley]

No need to hope, dude.

 

I really, really enjoyed it.

 

So did my girlfriend.

 

I thought it was going to be over-the-top and confusing in order to be "smart" and all that jazz.

 

But everything came off very well.

 

Also, very awesome action stuff throughout.

 

Action films usually bore me, but at that bit, with the guy, with the "turning" room, at... the end... with the BANG.

 

Awesome.

 

No need to spoiler that, I'm such a spaz that people who've seen the movie won't know what I'm talking about.

[Shorty]

Loved this film, just went to see it tonight.

1) In the 4th dream layer, how did Cobb suddenly get from his appartment to washing up on Saito's beach?

2) Why was Saito SO much older than Cobb in the 4th dream, when he'd spent less time there... he died in the 3rd dream (sending him to the 'lost' unconcious mind layer), whiclst Cobb et al were already plugged into and experiencing it.

3) Cobb was stabbed by his misses... did just nothing come of that.

4) After all swimming out of the van and sitting on the shore, how did they all ultimately come out of the 1st dream layer and wake up on the plane?

I'll give this a try:

1) I think there were supposed to be years of searching in between.

2) Saito didn't know he was lost in Limbo so he just lived his life, Cobb knew so he never aged.

3) Err... no

4) The first dream layer didn't last very long, they ultimately woke up from that on time like they were meant to, when the clock on the device ran down.

[Ellmeister]

As for 4) I thought it may be because they were coming down on the aeroplane, as in the feeling of dropping came from the descent upon coming to their destination?

 

Just my thought, although Shorty's idea makes more sense.

[Retro_Link]

Loved this film, just went to see it tonight.

 

I'll give this a try:

1) I think there were supposed to be years of searching in between.

2) Saito didn't know he was lost in Limbo so he just lived his life, Cobb knew so he never aged.

3) Err... no

4) The first dream layer didn't last very long, they ultimately woke up from that on time like they were meant to, when the clock on the device ran down.

Thankyou!

[dwarf]

Spoilers you kents:

 

Hmmm I was expecting to follow this easily because I usually get films, but I sort of dazed during one scene and missed a few bits of important dialogue and so it spiralled into confusion there. I kind of get the structure but basically reading everyone's ideas here makes me think I've missed a whole film's worth.

 

I still enjoyed it, I personally thought all the actors were great. Yes to whoever said Arthur was cool. Nice effects, good dollops of humour as mentioned 'Heheh, did you see that... Oh'.

 

Best of all (not really the best but still) that forge guy used a fucking M32 Hammer grenade launcher, i.e. the one from Uncharted 2 (& this vid):

http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/future-weapons-m32-grenade-launcher.html

 

Can someone explain the whole chaining of the dreams, I was of the impression they have to wake up in sequence in order to wake up when in that van, but wasn't sure if they did.

Also, I must've missed the points when they went to a new layer somehow, it kinda merged for me, despite there being obvious cut-off points/scene changes.

 

Basically I'm going to watch it again when not under the influence of alcohol. That's my excuse. Actually fuck that, I blame the film not making it as clear as it could have done, with actors murmering under their breath, and major subtle reminders being excluded.

 

Great film though. Just wish the twattish Beyblade fell the fuck over at the end.

[chairdriver]

Spoilers you kents:

 

Hmmm I was expecting to follow this easily because I usually get films, but I sort of dazed during one scene and missed a few bits of important dialogue and so it spiralled into confusion there.

 

Fail.

 

 

Just wish the twattish Beyblade fell the fuck over at the end.

 

Even more fail.

[dwarf]

Even more fail.

I don't deem that fail.

[chairdriver]

I don't deem that fail.

 

What, that you've completely missed the point of the last 15 minutes of the film?