Christopher Nolan's Inception

[Crazedwraith]

Finally saw it yesterday. Pretty good, though the cerebral complex nature did not go well with my sitting slightly behind the cinema's speakers meaning I had to sprain to catch some of the all important dialogue. Any way some pretty cool stuff but some of it grated on my suspension of disbelieve. Mainly; during the big brain heist; how come none of the dreamers in the van get hit by stray bullet fire in the chase scene? I was fully expecting them to hit snags in the lower levels when team mates random disappear when the sleeper in the van catches one through the skull.

Plus: the 'falling wakes you up' how come no one snapped out of it when their van rolled fully over then?

As for the end: I'm going to assume Cobb never made it out of the dream. The Spinner doesn't fall over. (after credits signs be dammed) Plus those kids are pretty much exactly as he sees in them in his projections.

[Steel]

I went to see this a second time with another group of friends this weekend. I didn't stay till after the credits the first time, but this time I did. At the very end it played 'Je ne regrette rien' as if it was being heard on a level below.

Does this mean they produced 2 credits? One with a falling top, hes out and one with the song, hes in? Devious bastards.

Or maybe just the US release got the happy ending

For the van rolling not waking everyone, I was annoyed with that, but had everyone already gone to the next level so it didn't reach them? Of course it should have still woken Arthur, who we get the most views of flapping about in the back- people look bloody silly flying about while they're asleep.

[JLTucker]

I went to see this a second time with another group of friends this weekend. I didn't stay till after the credits the first time, but this time I did. At the very end it played 'Je ne regrette rien' as if it was being heard on a level below.

Does this mean they produced 2 credits? One with a falling top, hes out and one with the song, hes in? Devious bastards.

Or maybe just the US release got the happy ending

No. That shit is apparently a rumor. I didn't hear it either on my second viewing.

[Steel]

Ok, so it certainly isn't a regional thing then. We still don't have anywhere near a large enough sample size to reject the idea of two end credits yet however.

[Admiral Valdemar]

For the van rolling not waking everyone, I was annoyed with that, but had everyone already gone to the next level so it didn't reach them? Of course it should have still woken Arthur, who we get the most views of flapping about in the back- people look bloody silly flying about while they're asleep.

The kicks aren't all equal. The initial plan was for the van hitting the barrier to wake them. It failed. I know from my experience, not all "falling" sensations will wake you, it depends really.

[Cosmic Average]

I seem to recall that the kids were wearing the same exact outfits when he last saw them at the end. Even if it was only a few months, the little one would have definitely out grown his clothes.

[YT300000]

Finally saw it yesterday. Pretty good, though the cerebral complex nature did not go well with my sitting slightly behind the cinema's speakers meaning I had to sprain to catch some of the all important dialogue. Any way some pretty cool stuff but some of it grated on my suspension of disbelieve. Mainly; during the big brain heist; how come none of the dreamers in the van get hit by stray bullet fire in the chase scene? I was fully expecting them to hit snags in the lower levels when team mates random disappear when the sleeper in the van catches one through the skull.

Well, they can still change things in the dream, they just have to be careful to do it in a reasonably subtle way to not set off the projections. If they can conjure up firearms and PASIVs, and Eames can turn himself into James Bond in his dream, it doesn't seem that unlikely that they/Yusuf bent the reality a bit to make them harder to hit/kill. Not impossible though, as Saito demonstrated.

[Shroom Man 777]

Indeed. Turns out they HAVE an excuse for non-real physics and gunfire projectile velocities since none of it was even real!

[Jeremy]

I stayed through the credits and did not see the top fall over. The top was wobbly at the end of the movie.

[DPDarkPrimus]

The entire score of the film is based on the song they use for the "countdown". Pretty cool.

[Darwin]

Saw it this weekend, the thing with the top, is it would after the initial spin settle into a very stable state in a dreak. That it was wobbling at all would indicate reality : a well balanced top can go for quite a while on the right surface. Additional evidence that Cobb was not wearing his wedding band would have me lean towards this, the *only* questionable bit was the kids clothes and that they were playing in the exact same pose from his memory/dream before he went fugitive. It's outside possible they hadn't outgrown/ruined those clothes yet if he had not been on the run for too long, and the rest is just weird coincidence.
We don't know how long Cobb was on the run, but evidence points towards not very long, perhaps 2 months. The kids were still wondering where mom was for crissake.
No after-credit stinger for the showing I saw.

Personally I think it's just meant to leave the question in our minds, and the whole theme of the movie. Cobb himself, even free (or is he?) still has the idea that just maybe, he isn't awake.

[Darwin]

tvtropes (yeah I know) brings up the supposed fact that the kids at the end are played by different actors, several years older than those in the dream sequences, and wore similar, same patterned clothes.

[Admiral Valdemar]

The entire score of the film is based on the song they use for the "countdown". Pretty cool.

That's awesome. It's like when I watched the documentary on TDK with Zimmer and Nolan spending weeks creating The Joker's theme.

[JLTucker]

The entire score of the film is based on the song they use for the "countdown". Pretty cool.

Expect it to be disqualified for an Oscar nomination.

[CaptHawkeye]

Wow I just found out the guy who played Eames also played Shinzon.

[Rye]

I realised a couple of things that bug me about it now. I stand by my earlier comments, but it occurs to me that the film is, in one key way, extremely lazy and unimaginative.

The dreamworlds, and specifically the limbo state are pretty dull. I mean, you have an awesome narrative justification for going beyond Dark City/Matrix standards of the endless noir city, but it played it safe. For the constructed dreamworlds, that's not too bad, but not for the deepest levels of the subconscious.

The raw, infinite unconscious is where the demons live. The things our inhibitions reject, some growing powerful. The only one in the entire film is Mal. Strictly speaking, the episode Terrorform of Red Dwarf did this much more imaginatively than Inception did, because on the shores of pure creativity, all they could create was ... an endless city? No MC Escher floating palaces? No lucid dreaming flight? No mini self-aware solar systems floating about the place? No terrifying monsters from everyone's minds? Just a shitload of depressing buildings?

[Stofsk]

Wow I just found out the guy who played Eames also played Shinzon.

Welcome to two pages ago

[Gandalf]

My fiancée and I saw this last night, as well as the Expendables.

This film was dull as hell. Well acted, and well made, but the storytelling was as boring as the time I tried to watch grass grow*.

* I was a very bored child sometimes.

[adam_grif]

My fiancée and I saw this last night, as well as the Expendables.

This film was dull as hell. Well acted, and well made, but the storytelling was as boring as the time I tried to watch grass grow*.

* I was a very bored child sometimes.

If you think Inception was boring, then it's a good thing you went to see The Expendables too, because a plotless ADD fueled romp through South America is probably just your thing.

Jesus.

[Peptuck]

Plus: the 'falling wakes you up' how come no one snapped out of it when their van rolled fully over then?

From what I observed in the movie, you have to be conscious for a falling sensation to wake you up and kick you to the next level. If you're out when you fall, you don't wake up. In order to wake up, you need a powerful shock to kick you up on the van level, i.e. hitting the bridge or hitting the water.

[Bounty]

Holy shit! I totally didn't see Shinzon in him.

Me neither. I guess that's what eight years and a decent script does to an actor.

[Steel]

Plus: the 'falling wakes you up' how come no one snapped out of it when their van rolled fully over then?

From what I observed in the movie, you have to be conscious for a falling sensation to wake you up and kick you to the next level. If you're out when you fall, you don't wake up. In order to wake up, you need a powerful shock to kick you up on the van level, i.e. hitting the bridge or hitting the water.

But Arthur was conscious (in the level down) the entire time, so he should have been woken up even if nobody else was, and we see him flying about the most in all the shots of the back of the van.

[Shroom Man 777]

Does anyone have an excerpt of Cobb's conversation with his children on the phone? Where can I find the movie's script? I'd like to read the lines, but apparently the dialogue isn't in IMDB.

[JLTucker]

Does anyone have an excerpt of Cobb's conversation with his children on the phone? Where can I find the movie's script? I'd like to read the lines, but apparently the dialogue isn't in IMDB.

You can buy the Shooting Script on Amazon. It apparently has some great extras.

Edit: Also, if you wait until the end of the year, Warner Bros. may provide the script for free on their For Your Consideration awards page, like they did with many films last year.

[JLTucker]

Does anyone have an excerpt of Cobb's conversation with his children on the phone? Where can I find the movie's script? I'd like to read the lines, but apparently the dialogue isn't in IMDB.

CHILDREN'S VOICES (over phone)
Hi, Daddy! Hi, Dad.

COBB
Hey, guys. How are you?

CHILDREN'S VOICES (over phone)
Good. Okay, I guess.

Cobb closes his eyes, trying to picture his children: INSERT CUT: COBB'S MEMORY - A LITTLE BLONDE BOY (3) back towards us, crouches IN A GARDEN, looks at something in the grass...

COBB
Who's just okay? Was that James?

JAMES (over phone)
Yeah. When are you coming home?

COBB
I can't. Not for a while.

INSERT CUT: A LITTLE BLONDE GIRL (5), also FACE UNSEEN, joins JAMES, CROUCHING BESIDE HIM...

JAMES (over phone)
Why?

COBB
Well, James, like I've told you - I'm away because I'm working.

LITTLE GIRL (over phone)
Grandma says you're never coming back.

Cobb pauses, takes a breath. INSERT CUT: James and Phillipa, FACES UNSEEN, lift their heads from the grass, responding to someone's call - they RUN AWAY FROM ACROSS THE GARDEN

COBB
Phillipa, can you ask Grandma to pick up the phone -

PHILLIPA (over phone)
She's shaking her head.

Cobb TENSES as if about to SMASH the phone.

COBB
Well, we'll just have to hope grandma's wrong about that won't we?

JAMES (over phone)
Daddy?

COBB
Yeah?

JAMES (over phone)
Is Mommy with you?

Cobb looks like he just got punched- INSERT CUT: COBB'S MEMORY - MAL, WIND BLOWING HER HAIR, SMILES CALMLY...

COBB
No. No, we talked about this, James. Mommy's gone.

JAMES (over phone)
Where?

GRANDMA'S VOICE (over phone)
Time to go, kids. Say bye-bye-

COBB
I'll give some presents to Grandpa, okay? Just be good for-

Cobb STARES at the dead phone. Then DOWNS his drink - A KNOCK at the door. Cobb GRABS the top, the gun - MOVES to the door - cracks it: Arthur