INCEPTION Review Thread (SPOILERS!!)

[lDlisturb3d]

Just saw it again for the second time today and Wow this movie is something else. Direction Perfect, Acting Perfect, Story Simply Mesmerizing

[FendersRule]

Originally Posted by Offender_Mullet

Before the potential flaming begins: Yes, I did 'get' the movie. I rated it 2 stars. I didn't loathe it. I was just disappointed.

I thought my brain was going to be stimulated, soaked with a deep philosophical analyzation about dreams, tampering with human emotions, etc., then put through a wringer & left out to dry as Nolan stomps all over it mind-numbing Hitchcockian twists and turns.....making me want to talk for weeks on end with friends about it.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Yes, it is visually stunning. However, the overall story was a bit weak and the acting was 'wooden'. I felt like I was sedated while viewing. Maybe his brother should have helped write the script? Idk?

I'll give it a 2nd chance when it hits home video, as I do with most movies I don't initially enjoy in a theater.....but as for now.....that's all I have to say about Inception.

You won't get flamed for your opinions, especially if they are correct

I agree with everything above. I'm a huge Sci-Fi fan (and horror second), and I had mixed feelings about Inception. I'll concede that it's Nolan's masterpiece, it has an amazing soundtrack, and it's shot extremely well and it should thus, rank very high. Should it be as high as it is at IMDB? No, this movie is not the #3 greatest movie of all time. I'll also never concede also that it's a great "Sci-Fi" film either. It's a great action/thriller movie, but it fails at Sci-Fi--It just doesn't do enough in that department for me for classic status of any sort.

Just some more thoughts came to mind to go with my prior thoughts a few pages back. These shouldn't require spoiler tagging because you can find this information in any plot description or just by basic human deductive reasoning by watching the trailers:

Inception is an Action/Thriller/ with a tad bit of Sci-Fi that feels a lot like The Dark Knight (cinematography and soundtrack are close to being the exact same), but it really doesn't have anything to say besides what it contains in the context of it's own story. It doesn't allow me to think outside the box at all. I could care less about dreams within dreams within dreams that are within even more dreams that are systematically in place for the sake of being in place, the power to kick out of dreams with exquisite timing from consciousness arousal, how to engineer dreams so that they would take longer to get out of, the deeper you go the more time you spend, different "consciousness" states, etc--who cares IMO. Keep reading:

[Show spoiler]Inception wasn't about dreams in a Sci-Fi sense, not at all. Inception was about a specific story of an idea implantation that consisted of specific dream sequences that have been built by a so called "architect" in order to move the plot along-- and that's the real difference for me. It didn't make me think about my dreams, how dreams work, life, reality, or anything else that I could walk away with from the movie. It only made me think about stuff in context of the movie. It's strictly a visual movie without an interesting concept IMO to take away from. Notice how when anyone talks about it, they are always talking about in strict context of the movie itself. It never extrapolates any further which is why these conversations bore me.

Sci-Fi movies are not suppose to be like this.

2001 made me think about life, evolution, regeneration, technology, automation, computers, tools. After seeing this movie, I was frozen in place. I couldn't stop thinking, and I felt like I had to rethink about life again.

Dark City made me think about how powerful memories are, how your experiences and memories are sufficient enough for your existence and how powerful you can be just by having them. I felt invincible walking out of the theater, and I was just a young'n.

The Matrix made me think about what if reality isn't necessarily reality; if there's another dimension and about overcoming impossible odds. This movie I really felt invincible walking out of the theater. This movie changed my life.

Westworld made me think about an adult theme park in which you can be anyone you want to be. Want to be a sheriff? Fine, strap on the suit and maintain order. Want to be a bank robber? Go ahead, it's completely safe...

A Clockwork Orange made me think about a dystopian society. A life ruled by youth with ultra-violence and russian slang to it's full extreme, along with some of Beethoven's 9th. It also made me think about classical conditioning principles, and other aversive conditioning principles of behaviorism and how they can be affective with considerable force.

Total Recall even gave me more to take away from than Inception. The feeling that I could go to some sort of a Total Recall place and have memory implants. But even then, how would you know if the implant is real, or if you are actually doing what you thinking you are doing in reality. Total recall is still the best paced science fiction movie to this date. It never, and I mean, never stops in pacing.

Blade Runner made me think about how much of a masterpiece a movie can be. How far humans can go with replicants and if they can have emotions (or perhaps, dream of electric sheep?). To this day, this movie is the poster child of Science Fiction, and it's probably standard knowledge that this is a movie that should be shown in film school.

THX-1138 gave me another dystopian society in which thoughts and interests are controlled by psycho-active mind numbing substances.

John Carpenter's They Live is even a much better Sci-Fi. There is so much to extrapolate from that movie, and so much of it is actually true.

These are only a few of my Sci-Fi greats. So what about Inception? Inception gave me absolutely nothing to think about or take home from outside of the context of the movie. Maybe it's because Nolan was too systematic with his film-making? I'm not sure, but it sure ain't a Sci-Fi classic by any means, at-least to my standards. It doesn't explore any of the foundations of dreams by any means, yet just shows the audience the systematic sequencing of dreams and how dreams happen according to Nolan's world. It only asks for audience to interpret what is happening within the bounds of the movie, and not necessarily for extrapolation.

So, in conclusion- I saw this movie after noting it's #3 position on IMDB.com, and with all the fanbois telling me how amazing it is. I also, as you can note, love science fiction to it's fullest degree. I walked out from the theater not very impressed and was frankly getting tired of everyone talking about it. Could it be because my exceptions were too high? Or, could it be that this movie really doesn't have much to say? Maybe a mix of both?

Additionally, as my last post in the Inception thread, I would like to thank SquidPuppet for recommending me a much better mind-twist movie in which I actually was attached to the characters. It's been three days since i've seen it, and I still think about it--that movie is called Triangle and I consider it superior compared to Inception in most criteria. See it, if you dare.

[Offender_Mullet]

Nice post FendersRule. I originally had quite a few of the movies you listed as comparisons in my post, but took them out (and around 3 extra paragraphs), as to not start a "like zomg its not better than so-and-so movie", not that was your reasoning (I can see it's not) but people tend to take things the wrong way too easily and this is one movie I literally have almost nothing else to say about.

One thing I did like and forgot to mention was the score. Oops! I loved it.

Originally Posted by FendersRule

Could it be because my exceptions were too high? Or, could it be that this movie really doesn't have much to say? Maybe a mix of both?

[chefazn]

Movies that require more than one viewing is a masterpiece =).

[ScarredLungs]

Originally Posted by Marcus Wright

I havent really seen the movie but I have to agree with that from what I have seen so far from trailers, and review posts.
If a movie is too complicated, I think thats just wrong.

P.S Anyways, if 58 people gave it four stars, than its definitely not a mastrepiece or timeless classic like TDK or The Matrix.

It is hard to take you post without a grain of salt if you have not seen the movie. We could randomly go talk to 200+ people and I bet about 58 would agree that blu ray is not worth it right now. When, in fact, it is worth it. The movie is not complicated, but it does cause you to think.

Originally Posted by chefazn

Movies that require more than one viewing is a masterpiece =).

That is a good rule of thumb. This movie qualifies as a master piece in my book.

[Petra_Kalbrain]

Originally Posted by FendersRule

You won't get flamed for your opinions, especially if they are correct

I agree with everything above. I'm a huge Sci-Fi fan (and horror second), and I had mixed feelings about Inception. I'll concede that it's Nolan's masterpiece, it has an amazing soundtrack, and it's shot extremely well and it should thus, rank very high. Should it be as high as it is at IMDB? No, this movie is not the #3 greatest movie of all time. I'll also never concede also that it's a great "Sci-Fi" film either. It's a great action/thriller movie, but it fails at Sci-Fi--It just doesn't do enough in that department for me for classic status of any sort.

Just some more thoughts came to mind to go with my prior thoughts a few pages back. These shouldn't require spoiler tagging because you can find this information in any plot description or just by basic human deductive reasoning by watching the trailers:

Inception is an Action/Thriller/ with a tad bit of Sci-Fi that feels a lot like The Dark Knight (cinematography and soundtrack are close to being the exact same), but it really doesn't have anything to say besides what it contains in the context of it's own story. It doesn't allow me to think outside the box at all. I could care less about dreams within dreams within dreams that are within even more dreams that are systematically in place for the sake of being in place, the power to kick out of dreams with exquisite timing from consciousness arousal, how to engineer dreams so that they would take longer to get out of, the deeper you go the more time you spend, different "consciousness" states, etc--who cares IMO. Keep reading:

[Show spoiler]Inception wasn't about dreams in a Sci-Fi sense, not at all. Inception was about a specific story of an idea implantation that consisted of specific dream sequences that have been built by a so called "architect" in order to move the plot along-- and that's the real difference for me. It didn't make me think about my dreams, how dreams work, life, reality, or anything else that I could walk away with from the movie. It only made me think about stuff in context of the movie. It's strictly a visual movie without an interesting concept IMO to take away from. Notice how when anyone talks about it, they are always talking about in strict context of the movie itself. It never extrapolates any further which is why these conversations bore me.

Sci-Fi movies are not suppose to be like this.

2001 made me think about life, evolution, regeneration, technology, automation, computers, tools. After seeing this movie, I was frozen in place. I couldn't stop thinking, and I felt like I had to rethink about life again.

Dark City made me think about how powerful memories are, how your experiences and memories are sufficient enough for your existence and how powerful you can be just by having them. I felt invincible walking out of the theater, and I was just a young'n.

The Matrix made me think about what if reality isn't necessarily reality; if there's another dimension and about overcoming impossible odds. This movie I really felt invincible walking out of the theater. This movie changed my life.

Westworld made me think about an adult theme park in which you can be anyone you want to be. Want to be a sheriff? Fine, strap on the suit and maintain order. Want to be a bank robber? Go ahead, it's completely safe...

A Clockwork Orange made me think about a dystopian society. A life ruled by youth with ultra-violence and russian slang to it's full extreme, along with some of Beethoven's 9th. It also made me think about classical conditioning principles, and other aversive conditioning principles of behaviorism and how they can be affective with considerable force.

Total Recall even gave me more to take away from than Inception. The feeling that I could go to some sort of a Total Recall place and have memory implants. But even then, how would you know if the implant is real, or if you are actually doing what you thinking you are doing in reality. Total recall is still the best paced science fiction movie to this date. It never, and I mean, never stops in pacing.

Blade Runner made me think about how much of a masterpiece a movie can be. How far humans can go with replicants and if they can have emotions (or perhaps, dream of electric sheep?). To this day, this movie is the poster child of Science Fiction, and it's probably standard knowledge that this is a movie that should be shown in film school.

THX-1138 gave me another dystopian society in which thoughts and interests are controlled by psycho-active mind numbing substances.

John Carpenter's They Live is even a much better Sci-Fi. There is so much to extrapolate from that movie, and so much of it is actually true.

These are only a few of my Sci-Fi greats. So what about Inception? Inception gave me absolutely nothing to think about or take home from outside of the context of the movie. Maybe it's because Nolan was too systematic with his film-making? I'm not sure, but it sure ain't a Sci-Fi classic by any means, at-least to my standards. It doesn't explore any of the foundations of dreams by any means, yet just shows the audience the systematic sequencing of dreams and how dreams happen according to Nolan's world. It only asks for audience to interpret what is happening within the bounds of the movie, and not necessarily for extrapolation.

So, in conclusion- I saw this movie after noting it's #3 position on IMDB.com, and with all the fanbois telling me how amazing it is. I also, as you can note, love science fiction to it's fullest degree. I walked out from the theater not very impressed and was frankly getting tired of everyone talking about it. Could it be because my exceptions were too high? Or, could it be that this movie really doesn't have much to say? Maybe a mix of both?

Additionally, as my last post in the Inception thread, I would like to thank SquidPuppet for recommending me a much better mind-twist movie in which I actually was attached to the characters. It's been three days since i've seen it, and I still think about it--that movie is called Triangle and I consider it superior compared to Inception in most criteria. See it, if you dare.

Geez... it's a good thing that this film has never been considered a part of the "Sci-Fi" category then, isn't it?

Everyone involved with the production has always referred to it as "a heist film set within the realm of the subconscious." There is nothing Sci-Fi about it for crying out loud! If anything, in my opinion, it stands out within its own genre... Psy-Fi!!! PSYCHOLOGICAL FICTION!!! Not Science Fiction!!!

The film is not meant to change your opinions on dreaming or the notion of dreaming itself. It uses the established conceptualization of dreaming to produce an intriguing story about theft and manipulation.

YOU have obviously not watched the film in the proper context. YOU went in expecting to have the film change you somehow. All that the film is meant to do is change how you EXPERIENCE the spectacle of watching a film... vis-a-vis, USING YOUR BRAIN TO UNDERSTAND A STORY INSTEAD OF SITTING IN A PUDDLE OF YOUR OWN DROOL AND HAVING IT FORCE FED TO YOU! It was never designed to make you change your perspective on life.

This is the precise reason why I have stated on a number of occasions that the film is not a MIND F***. I have, instead, referred to it as the ultimate MIND TRIP!!! In THAT regard? This film is easily a masterpiece!!!

P.S. I agree with all of the other titles you mentioned and how they MIND F***ED the viewer. However, this had no intention on competing with them on anywhere near the same platform. Completely different intentions behind those films and Inception.

P.P.S. My caps are not meant to express a yelling approach to my discourse. My use of caps is meant to make certain statements stand out. I apologize to FendersRule for misleading him in believeing that I was chastizing him or intentionally offending his opinion. I merely was meaning to express an opposing opinion while accentuating certain aspects of my arguement.

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by Marcus Wright

I havent really seen the movie but I have to agree with that from what I have seen so far from trailers, and review posts.
If a movie is too complicated, I think thats just wrong.

P.S Anyways, if 58 people gave it four stars, than its definitely not a mastrepiece or timeless classic like TDK or The Matrix.

It's just Internet voting, it doesn't really mean anything. I thought it was an excellent movie, I just didn't give it 5 stars because that's something I rarely do and never do right after seeing a movie.

[sheeraz]

Originally Posted by Gandalf Stormcrow

It's just Internet voting, it doesn't really mean anything. I thought it was an excellent movie, I just didn't give it 5 stars because that's something I rarely do and never do right after seeing a movie.

Why didn't Cobb simply move his kids to Europe?

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by sheeraz

Why didn't Cobb simply move his kids to Europe?

My guess is he didn't

[Show spoiler]want to place them somewhere his employers and/or enemies could use them as leverage against him.

[sheeraz]

Originally Posted by Gandalf Stormcrow

My guess is he didn't

[Show spoiler]want to place them somewhere his employers and/or enemies could use them as leverage against him.

So Cobb basically messes up here in the US, his kids would be safe from his enemies here but not in Europe? I don't really understand that.

[mjbethancourt]

'Inception' was never advertised as a remake of Kurosawa's 'Dreams'. Anybody who is disappointed by a lack of surrealism and weirdness, had the wrong idea to begin with. I've been seeing a lot of that, people disappointed because they expected something that it was never advertised to be.

As for FendersRule's screed, I don't know how you can list all those movies, call them profound, and yet come away from 'Inception' with no such impression. That just doesn't even make any sense to me. Particularly, the 'Dark City' example: that movie changed your thinking with its message about the power of memories, and yet you got nothing from 'Inception' and its masterful allegory about

[Show spoiler]guilt and regret and its power to twist and consume your reality?

And 'The Matrix'? Something as cheaply thought-out as the 'The Matrix' makes you question reality, but you get nothing from 'Inception'? I submit that perhaps it is not the movie that is lacking, but rather your own scope of human experience.

I also disagree with Petra, I certainly think that 'Inception' fits in the same category and meets or exceeds any of the films on that list. In my opinion, it was ten-times more thoughtful than 'The Matrix', the only point of 'The Matrix' was gunfire and special-effects, to me all that pseudo-philosophical jibberish was just filler dialogue.

[mjbethancourt]

Originally Posted by sheeraz

Why didn't Cobb simply move his kids to Europe?

Originally Posted by Gandalf Stormcrow

My guess is he didn't

[Show spoiler]want to place them somewhere his employers and/or enemies could use them as leverage against him.

[Show spoiler]His kids live with Grandma and Grandpa, and yet Grandpa teaches at a University in Paris ... I think it's not meant to make obvious, temporal sense, because in the context of this movie, "home" is not a location on a map, it is a state of mind.

... but to answer Sheeraz's question:

[Show spoiler]He can't be with them because he is on the run. He can't settle anywhere, not the US, not Europe, not anywhere; that is no kind of life to involve children in.

[Bunker]

Originally Posted by Marcus Wright

If a movie is too complicated, I think thats just wrong.

Yeah, except the movie is really not that complicated at all. Is paying attention for 2 and a half hours asking too much of you?

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by Bunker

Yeah, except the movie is really not that complicated at all. Is paying attention for 2 and a half hours asking too much of you?

Yeah it's not that complicated, a lot of it is open to interpretation, which is not the same thing.

[KarmaNL]

Apart from all the fight scenes and set pieces, the one scene that got imprinted in my mind was the shot of the van screeching round the corner in slowmotion with the sound also slowing down. Is it me or was the same shot in the movie twice?

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by KarmaNL

Apart from all the fight scenes and set pieces, the one scene that got imprinted in my mind was the shot of the van screeching round the corner in slowmotion with the sound also slowing down. Is it me or was the same shot in the movie twice?

Pretty sure it was only in the movie once but due to the slowness of the shot, it may have seemed like it took place more than once.

[KarmaNL]

I told my girlfriend afterwards about the van scene and she also replied " yeah why did they show it twice"

Or was that just a part of the whole dreamstate time thing? So a lot of stuff happens in between but the van is still going around the same corner.

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by KarmaNL

I told my girlfriend afterwards about the van scene and she also replied " yeah why did they show it twice"

Or was that just a part of the whole dreamstate time thing? So a lot of stuff happens in between but the van is still going around the same corner.

[Show spoiler]It's part of the dreaming effect, as you saw like the entire last third or fourth of the movie happens after the van hits the rail and begins its descent into the water.

[D-Blitz]

Originally Posted by Marcus Wright

I havent really seen the movie but I have to agree with that from what I have seen so far from trailers, and review posts.
If a movie is too complicated, I think thats just wrong.

P.S Anyways, if 58 people gave it four stars, than its definitely not a mastrepiece or timeless classic like TDK or The Matrix.

The Matrix is an all-time favourite for me. Inception is ten times better than the Matrix in practically every department. I wouldn't compare it to the Dark Knight - very different movies.

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by D-Blitz

The Matrix is an all-time favourite for me. Inception is ten times better than the Matrix in practically every department. I wouldn't compare it to the Dark Knight - very different movies.

I wouldn't say it was 10 times better, the Matrix is still an excellent movie that did very well in the box office and spawned 2 sequels that also made money. Not to mention movies like the Matrix probably inspired Nolan to do Inception.