Inception

[Goldenboko]

Also I feel a lot of the people (not anyone in particular) saying "the ending is a dream" are only saying that because it's the edgy ending. I cant think of any reason the ending couldnt be reality, that it couldnt just be a straight foward story with a straight foward happy ending.

I personally subscribe to the idea that the entire thing was a dream upon a lot of reflection (at least until I can watch it a few more times), but regardless, I'd say that Cobb's kids not having aged a day and even being in the exact same position playing as they were the day he left is a pretty strong indicator that the end was a dream all on it's own. Not to even mention how quickly and cleanly everything wrapped up in the end. It was like he woke up and everyone's there and he's home a minute later. It was just such a sped up, neat and tidy happy ending that it all seems more like a dream than an ending that actually takes place in the real world.

This.

[blackmage_nuke]

Was there an indication of how much time had passed since he left? I thought it was only a matter of months. Though the exact same position thing is a bit odd but not completely impossible in reality

[Slothy]

Impossible? No. Highly improbable? Hell yeah. What are the odds that they're wearing the same clothes, same haircuts, and playing in the exact same spot and the exact same way as when he left?

And even though they didn't indicate how much time had passed, those kids are young enough that they should have physically changed in some way even if it was only months later. Though I find it unlikely it had only been months. Cobb seemed pretty well established as a person who could retrieve information through dreams at that point. Too well established and familiar with life on the run if you ask me for it to have just been a few months if you ask me.

[Miriel]

Impossible? No. Highly improbable? Hell yeah. What are the odds that they're wearing the same clothes, same haircuts, and playing in the exact same spot and the exact same way as when he left?

And even though they didn't indicate how much time had passed, those kids are young enough that they should have physically changed in some way even if it was only months later. Though I find it unlikely it had only been months. Cobb seemed pretty well established as a person who could retrieve information through dreams at that point. Too well established and familiar with life on the run if you ask me for it to have just been a few months if you ask me.

According to people who have seen multiple viewings of Inception to catch little stuff like this, the kids aren't wearing the same clothes as in the dreams. Similar, but not identical. And they're not in the same spot in the backyard either. Different positions, different time of day.

It could still be a dream that Cobb's constructed a bit differently in order to convince himself it's reality, but there are differences in the kids appearance and position at the end of the film.

As for the ring/no ring thing, apparently you can see Cobb's ring finger when he hands over his passport, and there's no ring to be seen.

[Goldenboko]

Same exact clothes too.

EDIT: Vivi22 got it xD

[blackmage_nuke]

Though I find it unlikely it had only been months. Cobb seemed pretty well established as a person who could retrieve information through dreams at that point. Too well established and familiar with life on the run if you ask me for it to have just been a few months if you ask me.

I thought he was already an extractor before the fiasco with his wife. I seem to recall something about the grandfather teaching him.

[Goldenboko]

Though I find it unlikely it had only been months. Cobb seemed pretty well established as a person who could retrieve information through dreams at that point. Too well established and familiar with life on the run if you ask me for it to have just been a few months if you ask me.

I thought he was already an extractor before the fiasco with his wife. I seem to recall something about the grandfather teaching him.

Being good at being on the run has nothing to do with him being an extractor, merely with him being able to avoid the extradition to America for the murder of this wife.

[blackmage_nuke]

Well I cant say for certain but I dont think it's ever declared whether being an extractor is legal (I assume not unless he's extracting for the government) If he was an extractor before hand no doubt he would have had to get used to covert operations since it involves a lot traveling and secrecy, being good at being on the run wouldnt be a big leap from there. And even if he were doing it legally most of the time he'd have to hide his identity from his targets so I can imagine he already has the fake identities and con artist thing going. Also since he fled the country I dont think America would be trying to track him all over the world over one murder of for all they know was probably just a normal housewife, unless they were both government workers, i get a strange feeling they were but everything is starting to get hazy so i dont know.

Also its hard to say whether the kids moved in with their grandmother or their grandmother moved in with the kids (or maybe everyone was already living together) But if it was the former, would it be so hard to imagine that coming back home after months that the kids would go back to their favourite play spot? Like Cobb said, his son was digging for something, maybe he burried something there and wanted to see if it was still there?

[Raistlin]

According to people who have seen multiple viewings of Inception to catch little stuff like this, the kids aren't wearing the same clothes as in the dreams. Similar, but not identical. And they're not in the same spot in the backyard either. Different positions, different time of day.

What about the lack of any aging and being in that exact same position (and even same lighting too, IIRC)?

There are certainly issues with the ending being a dream, largely due to the forced ambiguity. But there sure seems to be a lot more contradictions and necessary assumptions if you conclude the ending is reality.

[Ouch!]

According to people who have seen multiple viewings of Inception to catch little stuff like this, the kids aren't wearing the same clothes as in the dreams. Similar, but not identical. And they're not in the same spot in the backyard either. Different positions, different time of day.

What about the lack of any aging and being in that exact same position (and even same lighting too, IIRC)?

There are certainly issues with the ending being a dream, largely due to the forced ambiguity. But there sure seems to be a lot more contradictions and necessary assumptions if you conclude the ending is reality.

For the question of aging, at least, the movie never specifies how long Cobb has been on the run. Given the phone conversation he has with his children in the beginning of the movie where his son is still asking about when their mother is coming back, it would seem to me that Mol's death is still fairly recent.

[blackmage_nuke]

As I said its hard to gauge how much time passed since he left, assuming it was a year is as much an assumtion as assuming it were a month. The strange lighting might represent how he was dazed and the reality became 'dreamlike'. Have you ever had that moment when you are with someone and it feels like you're the only people in the world?

edit: ^Ive been looking for that exact phone conversation because thats what I felt would be the best indicator but Ive only found vague summaries

Not to even mention how quickly and cleanly everything wrapped up in the end. It was like he woke up and everyone's there and he's home a minute later. It was just such a sped up, neat and tidy happy ending that it all seems more like a dream than an ending that actually takes place in the real world.

You might not have noticed but it actually does that through the entire movie EXCEPT when theyre in the dream world. Cobb travels from place to place with seemless time breaks, things happen one after the other very quickly and cleanly.
Example:
He needs a new architect
he imediately appears at a university to talks to his father in law, he mentions an architect he knows
Ariadne appears litterally (i think) in the next shot they are suddenly in the coriddor
All of the sudden theyre on the roof

Later they have a training montage.

The fact that it wraps up cleanly is just as much an arguement that its reality as much as it is an arguement that the whole movie is a dream!

And as you said the neat tidy happy ending that seems like a dream, maybe its telling us that dreams can come true.

[The Man]

This is probably the best explanation of the film I've read to date.

[Psychotic]

I saw it, and it's not half bad. Some pretty sweet action scenes and the movie kept your brain on its toes.

I think it dragged on a little, though. That scene in the snow at the end was pretty much pointless.

My take on the ending:

(SPOILER)I think it's left purposely open ended for people to interpret it how they want. Whether he was still in the dream, reality, or hell even if the whole damn movie was a dream, it's up to the viewer. If you asked Nolan he probably wouldn't have a definitive answer. For me, the top was wobbling and about to fall over and that was enough evidence for me that he was in reality. The other reasons would be that many layers of dream is too damn confusing and also I like happy endings.

Yes!

[I Took the Red Pill]

I've seen it 2+ times now, I work at a movie theater so sometimes I'll sneak into Inception and watch part of it to see if I can catch anything else, and in my opinion one of two things is happening:
(SPOILER)
1. The end is straight up real, period. He lives happily ever after with his kids. For me this is a strong possibility. We are shown (I believe) two times during the movie in which the top falls over. Barring the possibility that literally everything is a dream (which I'll get to), I just feel the whole being on a plane, getting off, going through customs etc. fits in too nicely with the scenes where we see the top wobble. He clearly wants to get home to his kids more than anything, as we can hear the pain and longing in his voice when he talks to them over the phone. If Saito is really as connected as he claims to be (and I certainly feel like he is, with lines like "I bought the airline"), then it really isn't too much of a stretch to believe that he could get him through customs and to his children. Also, and this is a less rigorous point, I just feel there's not much "strangeness" to the dream. They seem to take a very normal flight, have a very normal landing and a very normal trip through customs. I understand that the "strangeness" of some of the other dream levels (i.e. the sudden storm and gravity shift while Cobb and Fischer are at the bar) is due to macroscopic effects in a lesser dream state (in this case, Yusuf's driving), but to me if accept the fact that Cobb was not dreaming for at least part of the movie, the ending is real.

2. The whole movie is a dream, and Cobb has yet to wake up. There really is no straightforward evidence for this, but I feel like it is suggested by quite a few scenes. First off, when he is talking to his children over the phone, that whole conversation seems very dreamlike in nature. Whether it's the "When are you coming home Daddy?" or the "She's shaking her head no" when Cobb asks to talk to his mother, to me it just felt like the type of conversation that would occur in a dream. Second and probably more convincing to me is the whole "Coble Engineering" thing. It just seems really strange to me. Think about how bizarre the scene in which Cobb recruits Eames is. The following scene with a bunch of Coble Engineering suits chasing after Cobb after he jumps out of a second story window seems very dreamlike to me.

In the end, (SPOILER)I think the top wobbling and then cutting away was not meant for as much scrutinizing and nitpicking as the internet has given it (though it was clearly bound to happen with an ending like that); I think it's more likely that it was a very simple, succinct way for Nolan to end the film with: "But what if he's still dreaming?" I can make no conjectures in positivity, and I think that was Nolan's aim. The skepticality that remains is what defines the movie.

[BarelySeeAtAll]

...all your debating etc is giving me a headache >_<.

Therefore I say: it was a good film Though I found myself asking what the time was and how long left it had. The ending was really...not sure, but the whole thing was just simply..amazing. Breath taking.