Thread: Inception - Do you like it? - Post your Review

Originally Posted by cydonia1978

It was based on a book, right?

Actually no. It's only Nolan's second completely original film (the other one was his first film, "Following"). He had been tweaking with the idea for something like 10 years before it was released.

No the reason why they cant just make nukes and nuke everything is that they explain that the sub-conscious of other peoples dreams eliminates you if you change it too much so you can't just do that.

I think that Nolan is one of the best directors ever and this is my favorite movie of all time and I think he is sending us a message that some of the things in the movie can be accomplished in real life. Anyway...

I came to this site because I want to get into lucid dreaming and also to understand my dreams. When I saw the "reality check" thing it reminds me of the totems they have. im really new to this site but I think I will enjoy it very much. I also have questions about my dreams much like everyone else.

Originally Posted by Atras

inception was an amazing movie, however the rules tht apply to the dreams in inception r not accurate. for example, it has been scientlifically proven that there is not much of a difference in the time between dreams and reality

What?

Source, please.
It's known that time is completely different in dreams usually. Our perception of time is totally distorted in dreams.

Well, in Laberge's EWOLD, which is generally taken to be the Bible around here, he describes a study in which subjects who became lucid were asked to estimate 10-second intervals in their dreams and signal these intervals using a predetermined pattern of eye movements which the researchers could detect and record. They found that the estimated intervals were all pretty close to 10 waking-life seconds, well within estimation error. Although I certainly wouldn't call this study "conclusive proof," as far as I know it's the only laboratory data on the matter, so it's suggestive.

Hmmm. Interesting. I never knew about that.

Funny how I've gone through what felt like a month in one dream. And how plenty others have done too.

The thing about it is that it varies a lot, and through lots of different ways. And the thing about asking someone to estimate 10 seconds in a dream... that's kind of not good enough, and for a few different reasons.
One reason is that when you are consciously thinking about the time, it begins to make more sense, and become clear. Just like anything else you are consciously about in a dream.
Other reasons are that 10 seconds isn't really a good delay. Because 10 seconds is easy to estimate. And you would need to test all sorts of other delays, and then as you get higher a delay the more inaccurate it's going to be. etc. etc.

I saw Inception today and it was awesome! It is the best movie i have seen so far. About the end, I am not quite sure. The thing was spinning quite perfectly when they first zoomed back onto it, but it was also very wobbly in the last frames.

A new mark for Inception ! Over 200 fresh reviews! Fresh:203

Rotten:33. 43 fresh reviews to no rotten reviews over 3 days. Good run.

Inception was awesome. Plus I had a lucid dream within two days of seeing it, my first one in multiple months. I plan on seeing it again because I'm still trying to figure parts of it out.

As for the ending, neither because the movie ended before the audience could tell if it would stop or keep going. As an audience member you can decide for yourself if it will stop or keep going, or you can appreciate that it is neither because the movie is not real.

This was a great movie. Not only for us who know more about this subject but also for the ones who don't know.

This night I had 2 LD's after a couple of months of not remembering my dreams nor LD-ing. Thanks to the movie

I'm motivated again to practice.
I will buy the DVD to find out more.... I think it will help me a lot.

For the ones who didn't see it yet, It's realy a must for an oneironaut to see this movie, so go on...

When I heard it was about lucid dreaming, I was instantly hooked. However, I always had this lurking feeling in the back of my mind that it wouldn't meet up to what lucid dreaming is really like. That's okay, though, given the fact that real lucid dreams can be many many times more bizarre and visually stunning than what the movie portrayed. You'd need much more money on visual effects to actually get lucid dreaming done right, which is completely understandable.

The (already mentioned) fact that they didn't use dream powers (save for environmental changes) was probably Inception's best and worst quality. If they could bend the laws of reality at will, don't you think things would get a little hectic very quickly? Screw your arguments about projections noticing them and whatnot; it's obviously just a plot device intended to keeps things under sensible control. If it were more realistic, projections themselves would most definitely be bending the laws of dream reality just as much as the dreamers themselves were. I liked the cut-and-dry limitations imposed here, even though I secretly wished on the inside that some of them would fly or at least use telekinesis just once throughout the movie.

Most of the "rules of lucid dreaming" they laid out over the course of the movie served to limit the action in logical ways and keep the drama going, so common folk who have absolutely no idea what dream-logic is really like would be able to (at least, barely) understand what's going on at any given moment in the movie. It's not a highly accurate portrayal of lucid dreaming, and it wasn't really meant to be anyway. I know not everyone is going to agree with me on this, but the fact that it's about dream sharing is probably the biggest tip to a rational-minded lucid dreamer that the movie isn't going to be realistic in terms of how real dreaming works.

On another note, I've read some blogs on the internet that compare Inception to the process of making movies, with certain characters taking on archetypal roles in the movie-making industry. While I'm sure that may or may not be the whole point behind the movie, they are fun reads in themselves.

Originally Posted by DreamTheater

As for the ending, neither because the movie ended before the audience could tell if it would stop or keep going. As an audience member you can decide for yourself if it will stop or keep going, or you can appreciate that it is neither because the movie is not real.

I loved the audience's reaction to the ending! My husband and I were lucky enough to be in a packed theater when we watched it.. and I swear, EVERYONE groaned when the picture faced to black on the top. lol! Hubby and I expected it... But it was really funny when the whole house reacted the same way at the same time.

I say.... AWAKE!!

I'm slowly starting to hate this movie. I feel as if it is massively overrated. Somehow, it's gotten rated up to third place on IMBD's top 250 list. This movie was good, but it's nowhere near even being in the same ballpark as movies like The Matrix, Fight Club or Pulp Fiction. But I suppose that's just my opinion...

Originally Posted by cydonia1978

I loved the audience's reaction to the ending! My husband and I were lucky enough to be in a packed theater when we watched it.. and I swear, EVERYONE groaned when the picture faced to black on the top. lol! Hubby and I expected it... But it was really funny when the whole house reacted the same way at the same time.

In my theater, everyone just laughed, including me.

Originally Posted by Tavasion

i thought it was great. its always good to see films about dreaming. i know some people think that the dreams were too realistic, but like others said, the only one who could probably change into anything like a dinosaur or giant robot would be the person whose dream it is, since it is their dream. if the others tried to change anything, the dreamer's subconscious would realize it wasn't controlling aspects of the dream. i'd also like to think the Architect could design rules in the dream (not just the layout) such as gravity, physics, that sort of thing. i'm also assuming that some people have a natural affinity for changing shape or other such aspects, like Eames, since he could change into anyone he wanted without the subconscious noticing.

i understand they had to change a few things for the movie's sake, such as the time dilation. we all know that 5 minutes of real time does not equal 1 hour of dream time. but it helped the plot, so i can accept that.

i dont know about anyone else, but being stuck in the "limbo" of our subconsciousness doesn't seem like it would be too bad to me, personally...

Yeah, but the point is that nothing inside the dream would have the power to stop them if they did turn into giant mecha.

Originally Posted by MadMonkey

The reason thy didn't use dream powers is because if they did to much the subconcious of the person they were in the dream of would anialate them. Plus the guy they where in the head of had his subconcious trained for that kind of stuff. Wern't you guys paying attention.

I guess he could have healed himself though. I doubt that would have drawn as much attention as sumoning a gernade launcher.

I'm going to assume you mean to say that the subconscious would alienate them. They were already alienated, this is not good logic. If they were so inclined, they could have made battlesuits or shields for themselves.

Originally Posted by Black_Eagle

I feel as if it is massively overrated. Somehow, it's gotten rated up to third place on IMBD's top 250 list. This movie was good, but it's nowhere near even being in the same ballpark as movies like The Matrix, Fight Club or Pulp Fiction. But I suppose that's just my opinion...

Well if you keep an eye on the Top 250, you'll notice that big new movies quite frequently start off someplace in the list and stay there while they're in theaters, but then slowly even out to a more reasonable rating over time. So while I suspect that Inception will probably never slip off of the list completely (and deservedly not, IMO), I am pretty sure it will slip out of the top 5 before too long. It's still got the novelty working for it.

First of all, SPOILER ALERT!


(Yeah, like the whole thread isn't full of spoilers...)

My non-spoiler review is posted on the homepage.


I absolutely loved the movie, it was very entertaining, the visuals were great and it made me think. So as a movie, it was amazing.

As a good representation of dreams and lucid dreaming....meh. My first impression at the beginning was, why did he need the rope to get to the other floor? And why couldn't they heal themselves? I was a bit confused about their lack of dream control. It seems like they had great control of the environment, but with the exception of the Forger (who was the only one able to change his appearance, voice, and mannerisms), they had no control over their own bodies or the DCs. Cobb and Mal/Moll were able to create an entire city and yet you never saw them flying or doing anything remotely creative. I bet they probably wouldn't have gone as crazy if they had just used a tad more dream control instead of just creating buildings with it.

Umm what else....the way the dreams were so realistic was very cool. I liked that. The way the DCs attacked a foreign dreamer was an interesting and almost plausible take on shared dreaming.

The totem thing was a neat idea, but as someone else already said, the way their totems functioned would not make them lucid--the top or dice would simply fulfill their expectations about how they should act IRL. The RC should always be designed the opposite way--for example Cobb should have tried to levitate the top, and if he wasn't able to, he would know it's real (this is an actual RC I've used and it's worked well).

I didn't notice the inconsistencies as much until I read some of the posts here & elsewhere, so for me they didn't stand out too much.

I'm still undecided about whether or not Cobb was still dreaming at the end. I think I need to watch it again to be sure!

I thought it was pretty good. I had to explain a few things along the way to my girlfriend so I missed parts here and there. I enjoyed it thoroughly and would like to watch it again to pick up on some of the more subtle plots. Im a little confused about the levels of his dream involving the old asian man and the beginning. I think I missed how them being kicked resulted in him ending up there, but anywho still enjoyed the movie.

Yo Dub,

I went to inception again yesterday, and I came out out the movie realizing one thing... I was wrong it wasn't toppling at first, he's in reality. Sorry for all the pointless arguing.

Well, here's what I think. Yes, the top was on its way toward falling at the end, which is inconsistent with how it behaved in shared dreams earlier in the movie. BUT, as you correctly pointed out in a different thread, this only means that he wasn't in someone else's dream. We still can't rule out the possibility that he was in a dream of his own making, possibly even in "limbo" for the entire movie. I don't actually think that he was, but like I said, I don't think we can strictly rule out the possibility. (This is like the third time I've posted this, but there are so many Inception threads that I can't even keep straight which ones I've posted what in... for fuck's sake, why haven't we consolidated these threads?)

First of all: great movie. I have been un-active on these forms for like 4 years. Mainly because I stopped lucid dreaming. (Some weird things started to happen) This movie has brought me back here though--for better or worse. I have already queued up some hemi-sync and am getting ready for some WILDs.
Second:

I went to inception again yesterday, and I came out out the movie realizing one thing... I was wrong it wasn't toppling at first, he's in reality. Sorry for all the pointless arguing.

Just because the top falls doesn't mean it is reality. I question the infallibility of Cobb's totem. Mainly because it isn't really his totem. It is Mal's and also Ariadne knows how his totem works. Therefore his totem is rather defective. Run with this theory for a second: What if Mal (Cobb's subconscious) is trying to pull an inception on himself. I mean that is how inception is done right? You plant an idea in a mind and let it grow. So if you wanted to plant an Idea in your own head and make it stick, how would you go about doing it? The same way you would implant an idea in someone else's mind. Through the subconscious. How do you fool your mind into never waking up and never knowing it is a dream? I think this is what the movie is really about. It is Cobb's inception on himself and on a closer level Nolan does the same for the audience. By making you focus on the totem. It is relative to Cobb's mind. If he believes he is awake then he is. Did the top fall over? Yes it did. Is he dreaming? No. Is he in reality? No. He has turned his dreams into reality. Reality is just a perception filter and Cobb successfully changed his through the art of inception. Of Course this is just my opinion, but for me, my opinion is my reality.

I saw Inception again! OMG that movie is amazing! and I'm pretty certain he's dreaming from the beginning. here are my reasons:



1.They were hired to get info from Saito, but that was just a test, so why would a corporation be chasing him for failing?


2.In Mumbai just how many people were chasing him, I counted like 10 or more in the streets, in cars, all over. Projections? Why/How else would/could there be so many? One even says something like "you think you're dreaming now?" And Saito ending up right there at the right time? Cobb even realized it was "off" but dismissed it as we often do in dreams.



3.Who was supposed to be there ride on the roof when Arthur says "our ride's here"? they were definately surprised to see Saito in the helecopter. And what was the deal with Nash coming to Saito (betraying his team) and then being turned over to the corporation? If Saito is so powerfull where are his "men"? usually guys like him have a posse of gaurds and yesmen.



4.How did they get a personal plane? All the fancy clothes, equipment? I just got the impression that he was a fugitive on the run from the way he bolted from the train and the concern from his father. His father also said to come back to reality, when Cobb mentioned Mal.



5.How did his kids call him in some random hotel? How did they know he was there? How did they get the number? He's supposed to be on the run for murder, but they can just randomly call him?

Of course all of these things can be rationalized like we do in dreams: Maybe he called his mom and told her the phone number for the hotel so the kids could call later. Maybe they have tons of money from all the jobs and often hire a helecopter and private plane. Maybe Saito has crazy amazing connections and can be everywhere, anywhere whenever he wants. Maybe he's so badass he's a one man operation. Maybe Nash wanted more money so that's why he came to Saito. Maybe the corporation is after Cobb from another job.

I'd also like to say how much I love each character, especilly Arthur and Eames! I guess I'll have to get out my old Teen Beat magazines with the pictures of Joseph Gordon-Levitt LOL

What an interesting theory. I agree about the totem. Thanx for the insight, I'm going to ponder it.

Originally Posted by Mikekan

First of all: great movie. I have been un-active on these forms for like 4 years. Mainly because I stopped lucid dreaming. (Some weird things started to happen) This movie has brought me back here though--for better or worse. I have already queued up some hemi-sync and am getting ready for some WILDs.
Second:


Just because the top falls doesn't mean it is reality. I question the infallibility of Cobb's totem. Mainly because it isn't really his totem. It is Mal's and also Ariadne knows how his totem works. Therefore his totem is rather defective. Run with this theory for a second: What if Mal (Cobb's subconscious) is trying to pull an inception on himself. I mean that is how inception is done right? You plant an idea in a mind and let it grow. So if you wanted to plant an Idea in your own head and make it stick, how would you go about doing it? The same way you would implant an idea in someone else's mind. Through the subconscious. How do you fool your mind into never waking up and never knowing it is a dream? I think this is what the movie is really about. It is Cobb's inception on himself and on a closer level Nolan does the same for the audience. By making you focus on the totem. It is relative to Cobb's mind. If he believes he is awake then he is. Did the top fall over? Yes it did. Is he dreaming? No. Is he in reality? No. He has turned his dreams into reality. Reality is just a perception filter and Cobb successfully changed his through the art of inception. Of Course this is just my opinion, but for me, my opinion is my reality.

Wow amazing theory Mikekan, I agree with it, but what I'm not sure about is whether Nolan did this on purpose or not because it is very subtle. He might have left it open, or maybe not. Do you think Nolan meant for Cobb to be dreaming?

My question is: "Will there be a second one?"

Originally Posted by slash112

Hmmm. Interesting. I never knew about that.

Funny how I've gone through what felt like a month in one dream. And how plenty others have done too.

The thing about it is that it varies a lot, and through lots of different ways. And the thing about asking someone to estimate 10 seconds in a dream... that's kind of not good enough, and for a few different reasons.
One reason is that when you are consciously thinking about the time, it begins to make more sense, and become clear. Just like anything else you are consciously about in a dream.
Other reasons are that 10 seconds isn't really a good delay. Because 10 seconds is easy to estimate. And you would need to test all sorts of other delays, and then as you get higher a delay the more inaccurate it's going to be. etc. etc.

My theory on why people think that time runs differently in dreams is that when you find yourself in a situation in a dream, your mind automatically fills in the blanks - it provides you with a backstory, an explanation for why you're there, and so on. Those constructs will feel like memories, even though they are of things that you didn't live through (not even in the dream) . So you could have been in a dream for just a few minutes, but because you've constructed this elaborate set of memories to go with the dream situation it seems like you spent much longer there.