Poll: Inception Ending- Obviously Spoilers

[blindthrall]

Since I couldn't find a thread like this, I decided to make one.

I'm torn between options 1 and 2.

2 first, since it's easier to argue in favor of. Saito, the Japanese businessman, couldn't actually get Cobb (DiCaprio) off the hook with the US. Money is one thing, but bribes can only buy you so much in the first world. So they deep drug Cobb at some point on the plane after they all wake up. Not too unlikely considering the team all have an axe to bear against Cobb for putting them in such a risky situation without their knowing, and some of them probably thought it was best for his sanity. His house at the end looks EXACTLY like it does in his memory, and his children haven't aged even though it's implied some time has passed since he'd left the country. The immigration officer calls him by name and gives him a wink, which I find unlikely to the point of being a wink to the audience. Then there's that top...

Now 1...the Matrix theory. Yes, he planted the idea in Moll's head, but that doesn't necessarily make it wrong. What if she did wake up after the fall, and she's been trying to wake Cobb up the entire time? Notice how he couldn't see his children's faces for most of the movie? Did she steal the image to make him more desperate to join the real world? She tells him that the shadowy conspiracy houding him is a symptom you're in someone else's subconscious. But why does the top fall over earlier, when he's in the 'real' world? I think it's because the top came from that level of dream, so it would obey physics in that level, regardless of its objective reality. It's the idea that the Matrix flirted with but never had the balls to confront-that reality is too subjective for any kind of litmus test, and there's no way of knowing how many dream levels or Matrices there are, or even if there's a limit. But the litmus test in Inception is death, which is one hell of an all-or-nothing gamble. A leap of faith indeed.

I don't think this movie is better than the FIRST Matrix, but it's certainly smarter. I never thought DiCaprio would be able to play crazy people so well. Now if only he plays a Lovecraft protagonist, although it's kind of doubtful anyone can top Sam Neil for that role.

 

[laryri]

The top belonged to Moll so obviously she knew the physics of it. In her dream that she created it spins endlessly. Therefore any time that it doesn't is fake.

 

[Sylocat]

I stayed until the credits were over... and I heard the top falling over. Yeah, they play that right over the end of the credits.

 

[Zarokima]

I stood up at the end and yelled "************!" so I'm going with option 4. It's the best movie I've seen in a while, but the ending takes that whole "FUCK YOU, AUDIENCE!" thing most popularly introduced with The Lady or the Tiger to an absolutely absurd level.

The similarity of the house to his dream is explained by the fact that it's a memory; the hotel room from the flashback looked just like the one in the dream, too. It doesn't say how much time has passed since the event, but he looks about the same as when he flashbacks to Moll's jump, so it couldn't have been too long. I also remember that at the end the top wobbles a bit -- I do not remember if when spun in the dream it spun perfectly straight or wobbled but just didn't tip over. Also, he handed over his passport to the agent at the end, which has his name and country, so "Welcome home, Mr. " isn't that farfetched. Your bribe argument also doesn't hold much water because it's never stated that Saito is using bribes (it might also be blackmail or just calling in favors), and since he's been established as a very powerful businessman (he bought airline they were traveling with, FFS) I'm willing to believe this within the universe of the movie.

However, there's that disconnect between the kick in Cobb's Limbo where he stays behind to find Saito, and when he washes up on the shore of what I guess is Saito's limbo (or is it different parts of the same Limbo?), so that does leave some room for the others to keep him under and just let him stay in his dream world. Having finally said goodbye to Moll, and saving Fischer, his subconscious continues with his life as he wants it to be.

That said, I even stayed after until the credits finished hoping there'd be a short clip of the top falling over. I really want it to be real, but I'm open to the dream possibility.

 

[Glamorgan]

At the end of the credits, you can hear the spinning top drop. So it was actually reality.

 

[blindthrall]

I stayed until the credits were over... and I heard the top falling over. Yeah, they play that right over the end of the credits.

No shit...Well that makes my question moot. I kind of thought Moll was right.

 

[Omega V]

Actually, I can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt the entire thing most certainly is NOT a dream:

Spoiler

as I understand it, it is explicitly mentioned that the maximum number of dream layers that can exist simultaneously is limited by the quality of the sedative used. The very best sedative in the world can produce three layers+ limbo. Assuming this is true, since all three layers+ limbo are seen towards the end of the movie it almost completely rules out the possibily of Cobb still being in a dream world. For example, if Cobb had been if the dream world since he was in limbo with his wife, then it would require at least 5 layers+ limbo, well beyond the capabilities of any sedative.( of course he could of just dreamed that the sedative has any impact on the maximum number of dream layers, however, there is no evidence that the dream world can trick someone into believing something that he would know to be a blatant falsification )
If Cobb had been dreaming since the scene where he meets the chemist, then it would still require at least 4 layers+ limbo, still beyond the capabilities of the sedative.
Also, the top is clearly seen loosing momentum at the very end.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

Either that the entire movie was a dream, or that Cobb just doesn't care any more he just wants what makes him happy.

 

[antipunt]

At the end of the credits, you can hear the spinning top drop. So it was actually reality.

I stayed until the credits were over... and I heard the top falling over. Yeah, they play that right over the end of the credits.

Are you guys serious, or just playing. Cause man, I thought this was a controversial thing.

 

[Thunderhorse31]

I don't think he couldn't see his children's faces in any of his dreams (as you mention), but merely that he didn't want to see their faces, lest he be overcome with emotion and want to stay in the dream world forever (since the mission could go up shit's creek and he'd never see them any other way).

Anyway, I voted the "everything was real" option since it makes the most obvious sense, though I think the ambiguity of it all makes it all the more interesting.

 

[Glamorgan]

At the end of the credits, you can hear the spinning top drop. So it was actually reality.

I stayed until the credits were over... and I heard the top falling over. Yeah, they play that right over the end of the credits.

Are you guys serious, or just playing. Cause man, I thought this was a controversial thing.

Nope, we're serious. And I quote Wikipedia:
Cobb spins his totem to test reality but is distracted by the reunion. The top wobbles as the screen cuts to black, leaving the audience to wonder if Cobb is still dreaming. However, after the credits, the sound of the top dropping can be heard.

 

[antipunt]

At the end of the credits, you can hear the spinning top drop. So it was actually reality.

I stayed until the credits were over... and I heard the top falling over. Yeah, they play that right over the end of the credits.

Are you guys serious, or just playing. Cause man, I thought this was a controversial thing.

Nope, we're serious. And I quote Wikipedia:
Cobb spins his totem to test reality but is distracted by the reunion. The top wobbles as the screen cuts to black, leaving the audience to wonder if Cobb is still dreaming. However, after the credits, the sound of the top dropping can be heard.

Ahh thx. Haha, I guess I was just really surprised because I thought Nolan wanted to leave it 'open'

 

[DanDeFool]

I stayed until the credits were over... and I heard the top falling over. Yeah, they play that right over the end of the credits.

Thanks. That's a load off my mind.

That shot at the end was really asking the question, "How do you know what reality is? And does it matter?" For Cobb, that he could finally be with his children was more important. That he finally saw his children's faces was more proof than his totem.

 

[gravitii]

SPOILER ALERT (i don't know how to do the boxy thing yet for those) but the old man at the end is himself and somehow stayed in limbo and aged after he himself woke up, and by waking up (killing) that version of himself he somehow woke up completely, also if he drown in the car that was in the first dream so he might have just woken up anyway, or gone to limbo and the old man thing would work. i didn't stay for the very end of the credits but i'll take their word that the top fell and at that point it doesn't really matter if it's a dream or the real world, as they're essentially the same thing at that point. and if the top kept going in the "real world" how come everything else was normal, unless he made everything normal to trick himself into thinking it's the real world.

off topic but inception doesn't seem as hard as they make it out to be. it could hypothetically be done freddy style through a series of nightmares. if you tell someone to kill their family in a dream over and over, they're eventually comply, no need for shirades.

I thought the movie was great and pretty smart. second best of the summer next to toy story 3 lolz.

 

[Cherry Cola]

but the old man at the end is himself

No, the old man is Ken Watanabe.

If you don't agree with me I'll be glad to hear exactly why Cobb turns Asian when he's 70.

 

[rabidmidget]

I thought that the entire point of the top at the ending was that it showed that he no longer cared about whether his reality was real or not and that he was happy to be with his kids again.

 

[gravitii]

but the old man at the end is himself

No, the old man is Ken Watanabe.

If you don't agree with me I'll be glad to hear exactly why Cobb turns Asian when he's 70.

I honestly don't think he looks asian although his decore obviously is, which is simply a matter of taste. you're probably right though. and who's ken again? i'm not good with names.

 

[Cherry Cola]

but the old man at the end is himself

No, the old man is Ken Watanabe.

If you don't agree with me I'll be glad to hear exactly why Cobb turns Asian when he's 70.

I honestly don't think he looks asian although his decore obviously is, which is simply a matter of taste. you're probably right though. and who's ken again? i'm not good with names.

He was the guy who played Saito.