• Starting today August 7th, 2024, in order to post in the Married Couples, Courting Couples, or Singles forums, you will not be allowed to post if you have your Marital status designated as private. Announcements will be made in the respective forums as well but please note that if yours is currently listed as Private, you will need to submit a ticket in the Support Area to have yours changed.

DontTreadOnMike

Eddaic Literalist
Jan 28, 2010
1,316
69
✟24,436.00
Faith
Atheist
Marital Status
Married
Politics
US-Others
Anyone else see this yet? I really liked it a lot! but it was no where near as confusing as everyone said it was. I read that it was impossible to understand on the first viewing so the whole time I was second guessing everything that was going on. Turns out it's pretty straight forward. Yeah there are some twists and turns but just pay attention and you won't get lost.
 

Redguard

Make It So, Number One!
Oct 20, 2004
12,268
1,927
Toronto, Canada
Visit site
✟43,960.00
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Politics
CA-Liberals
I went into the movie not having heard anything about it being confusing, so fortunately my expectations weren't altered. I was pretty much a blank slate.

I really enjoyed the movie. It was a bit of a challenge at times to keep track of who was creating the next dream world.

The most confusing part for me (which I've since come to understand) was figuring out the reason for the age difference between Cobb and Saito and the beginning and end of the movie... the whole "being in limbo" thing and the amount of time that transpired.

10 thumbs up for Inception.
 
Upvote 0

Dark_Lite

Chewbacha
Feb 14, 2002
18,333
973
✟52,995.00
Faith
Catholic
Marital Status
Single
Anyone else see this yet? I really liked it a lot! but it was no where near as confusing as everyone said it was. I read that it was impossible to understand on the first viewing so the whole time I was second guessing everything that was going on. Turns out it's pretty straight forward. Yeah there are some twists and turns but just pay attention and you won't get lost.

The reason why that is said is because there are many different interpretations of the movie. The most straightforward reading of the film is that everything happens as depicted concretely, and he eventually goes home and sees his children in the real world.

But there are enough little things to make you wonder if he was still stuck in the created dream world, or if he was dreaming the whole time. During the chase through Mombasa, he gets stuck in that alley--classic dream moment. And of course the end of the movie not showing whether or not the top stops spinning... Not to mention that totems are supposed to be created by their owners. His totem was owned by his wife.

So, did his wife die? Maybe she's waiting for her husband to wake up. Maybe he's still trapped in Limbo without knowing it.
 
Upvote 0

DontTreadOnMike

Eddaic Literalist
Jan 28, 2010
1,316
69
✟24,436.00
Faith
Atheist
Marital Status
Married
Politics
US-Others
The reason why that is said is because there are many different interpretations of the movie. The most straightforward reading of the film is that everything happens as depicted concretely, and he eventually goes home and sees his children in the real world.

But there are enough little things to make you wonder if he was still stuck in the created dream world, or if he was dreaming the whole time. During the chase through Mombasa, he gets stuck in that alley--classic dream moment. And of course the end of the movie not showing whether or not the top stops spinning... Not to mention that totems are supposed to be created by their owners. His totem was owned by his wife.

So, did his wife die? Maybe she's waiting for her husband to wake up. Maybe he's still trapped in Limbo without knowing it.
I thought it was pretty obvious that he wasn't awake at the end. His kids hadn't aged at all. Even bigger than that, they were still wearing the exact same clothes and doing the exact same thing as they were when he first left. One interesting theory is that in the end, Saito used inception on Cobb to implant the idea that he was now awake because Saito knew he was too far gone into limbo to fulfill his promise to Cobb. He looks at the gun but we never hear the shot. I think it all hinges on whether or not Saito really did shoot him at the end to wake him up.
 
Upvote 0

Dark_Lite

Chewbacha
Feb 14, 2002
18,333
973
✟52,995.00
Faith
Catholic
Marital Status
Single
I thought it was pretty obvious that he wasn't awake at the end. His kids hadn't aged at all. Even bigger than that, they were still wearing the exact same clothes and doing the exact same thing as they were when he first left. One interesting theory is that in the end, Saito used inception on Cobb to implant the idea that he was now awake because Saito knew he was too far gone into limbo to fulfill his promise to Cobb. He looks at the gun but we never hear the shot. I think it all hinges on whether or not Saito really did shoot him at the end to wake him up.

Well, did it say how long he was gone for? I don't remember. They didn't go too much into the specifics of the background. There was no real explanation of how long the dreaming technology had been around, and it was apparently fairly common. The explanation of events outside the main story were vague at best--including the details of Cobb's flight from the United States. So, if he had been gone for *years* then it would make sense, but if he was only gone for a year or less it wouldn't be too bad.

Inception includes enough mysteriousness to make you question where reality ends and dreams begin, or if there was ever any reality in the movie at all. Personally I like believing the concrete interpretation as it makes for a nice, happy ending. :)
 
Upvote 0

Redguard

Make It So, Number One!
Oct 20, 2004
12,268
1,927
Toronto, Canada
Visit site
✟43,960.00
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Politics
CA-Liberals
My wife thinks that he was still dreaming at the end of the movie because the kids were still in the same clothes and playing in the same place as they were in all of his dreams.

She believes that the odds of this happening upon his return home after months and months of being away are highly unlikely.
 
Upvote 0

NiobiumTragedy

Glorious Tragedy
Jun 15, 2009
2,021
63
USA
✟25,152.00
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Politics
US-Others
My wife thinks that he was still dreaming at the end of the movie because the kids were still in the same clothes and playing in the same place as they were in all of his dreams.

She believes that the odds of this happening upon his return home after months and months of being away are highly unlikely.
The thing my wife brought up as well as what you said with the clothes and the location is that the kids didn't age. In the movie, it doesn't really say how long ago his wife died, but I'm assuming it was at least a few years judging by some of what was going on and the actions he was taking. It seemed that he was going through a long term psychological issue. Plus, he had been out of the US for quite some time, but the kids remained the same age, and kids that age grow quick.

Now granted, you have the issue of actors when you get technical like this, but I can see the point. There is a big difference between a 2 year old and a 6 or 7 year old.

I personally believe it wasn't a dream. The totem he said had perfect balance in the dream world, yet the top started to falter at the end. Had it been a dream, it wouldn't have wobbled at all, but continued to spin strait.
 
Upvote 0

Autumnleaf

Legend
Jun 18, 2005
24,828
1,034
✟33,297.00
Faith
Charismatic
Marital Status
Married
The thing my wife brought up as well as what you said with the clothes and the location is that the kids didn't age. In the movie, it doesn't really say how long ago his wife died, but I'm assuming it was at least a few years judging by some of what was going on and the actions he was taking. It seemed that he was going through a long term psychological issue. Plus, he had been out of the US for quite some time, but the kids remained the same age, and kids that age grow quick.

Now granted, you have the issue of actors when you get technical like this, but I can see the point. There is a big difference between a 2 year old and a 6 or 7 year old.

I personally believe it wasn't a dream. The totem he said had perfect balance in the dream world, yet the top started to falter at the end. Had it been a dream, it wouldn't have wobbled at all, but continued to spin strait.




Very good movie for left brained people, like me.

When his wife jumped she was across the way from their hotel room which makes me think her death was a dream.

I think the end was also him dreaming. The top spun until he joined his children. Then it faltered. Did he stop willing it to spin? Plus, where was his totem? He was using hers which means he can't really be sure about where it came from.
 
Upvote 0

Ringo84

Separation of Church and State expert
Jul 31, 2006
19,228
5,252
A Cylon Basestar
Visit site
✟121,289.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Methodist
Marital Status
Single
Politics
US-Others
I haven't yet seen "Inception". But as a person who has always been interested in dreams, I would very much like to see it.

Is it as good as everyone claims it is?

As an aside: what are the tags for spoilers?
Ringo
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0

Ringo84

Separation of Church and State expert
Jul 31, 2006
19,228
5,252
A Cylon Basestar
Visit site
✟121,289.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Methodist
Marital Status
Single
Politics
US-Others
Now for the $1,000 question: are the dreams shown in the movie real dreams like real people would remember in the morning, or are they "Hollywood dreams" that aren't anything like real dreams?

For reference, a good example of real dreams is the episode "Dreams" from season eight of M*A*S*H.
Ringo
 
Upvote 0

davidsheart77

Newbie
Aug 1, 2010
248
9
Lansing, Mi
✟22,903.00
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Single
Anyone else see this yet? I really liked it a lot! but it was no where near as confusing as everyone said it was. I read that it was impossible to understand on the first viewing so the whole time I was second guessing everything that was going on. Turns out it's pretty straight forward. Yeah there are some twists and turns but just pay attention and you won't get lost.
Truly agree the only thing I have heard that kind of threw me off guard from different perceptions was the notion of in the end was, is he still sleeping or was he awake?
 
Upvote 0

christine77

Newbie
Jun 15, 2010
71
5
Vancouver, WA
✟22,708.00
Faith
Catholic
Marital Status
Single
My wife thinks that he was still dreaming at the end of the movie because the kids were still in the same clothes and playing in the same place as they were in all of his dreams.

She believes that the odds of this happening upon his return home after months and months of being away are highly unlikely.
Nope he was awake. Didn't you see him spin that token? Dreams don't take much time. We don't know how long he was actually away from home.
 
Upvote 0