Questions tagged [inception]
A 2010 British-American science fiction heist thriller film written, co-produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan.
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Why does Ariadne's totem work?
In Inception, Cobb's totem was a spinning top, that in reality would stop spinning eventually.
Arthur's totem was a special dice, that in reality would roll a particular number more often.
Ariadne's ...
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Why was it necessary to rescue Saito from limbo?
In Inception, one of the last scenes (and actually the very beginning scene) is Saito being approached by Cobb to both retrieve him and remind him about their arrangement.
But did that action really ...
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How does Eames get access to Fischer's office?
In the movie Inception, Cobb employs Eames for his Inception task as a forger. As a part of the task, Eames observes Browning and his behavior and mannerisms so he can forge his identity seamlessly ...
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Why do we never see the faces of Cobb's children? And why don't they age?
One thing that makes me feel that Cobb dreamed the end is that the faces of his children were never revealed.
And weirdly, they don't seem to have grown up either. Children of that age change ...
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Does everyone experience the same Limbo?
When both Cobb and Ariadne go down to Limbo near the end of Inception, it's essentially the same as Cobb had left it. But if Ariadne went herself and hadn't heard about Cobb's limbo (so her ...
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On which level does Cobb die?
We see Cobb being stabbed by Mal in 4th level of dream (which is presumably limbo); does that give him a shock to rise up to the third, then to the second, and ultimately to the first level (where he ...
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Why were they trying to get that letter from a locker in Inception?
I have watched Inception a few times but I can't understand why they all are crazy about that letter which was in that locker? Why were they struggling to get that letter?
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Esoteric quote that inspired Nolan's 'Inception'
I remember once reading a very esoteric, borderline nonsensical quote somewhere on the old IMDb boards which was apparently one of Nolan's inspirations for the film Inception. It had very few ...
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How did Cobb’s crew know about Saito’s apartment?
In the first part of Inception, Cobb’s crew leave the dream where they attempted to extract Saito’s secrets in the castle, and return to a dream (though this is unknown to Saito at this point) in ...
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What was the purpose of Saito's presence during the inception job?
In Inception, Saito hires the extraction team to plant an idea or achieve "inception" into the mind of a CEO.
The team consists of trained specialists who each perform a particular task. Saito is ...
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What techniques were used to film Ariadne entering the dream world for the first time
I am having trouble finding techniques that Nolan had used in the filming of this scene.
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How can Cobb use Mal's totem for a reality check [duplicate]
How can Cobb use Mal's totem for a reality check?
Isn't this defeating the whole idea of totems.
That totem belongs to Mal so how can Cobb use that to check for reality. Wouldn't that give ...
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Why can't Mal give a kick to Cobb from the “real” world if she actually escaped
If Mal was right that it was all fake, and she jumped and got out of the dream, Then upon waking up why can't she give some sort of kick to Cobb in the "real" world? (Just like Arthur gave the kick to ...
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1answer
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How is the spinning top a totem?
The purpose of a totem in Inception is to behave abnormally in the reality. So only you know how it is not normal. In someone else's dream, that person won't know the abnormality of your object, so it ...
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Explanation of the opening scene of Inception
Can someone explain the opening scene of Inception where Cobb is shown on the sea shore? He looks weak and is taken by the men of the old guy, who then shares food with Cobb. This old guy looks like ...
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Why was the movie titled Inception?
Inception means:
An event that is a beginning; a first part or stage of subsequent events.
But the movie talks about humans dreaming & lucid dreaming etc.
So, why is the movie titled ...
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1answer
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How does Saito eliminate Cobb's murder charge?
In the final scenes of Inception, Saito is seen making a phone call after the completion of the job. Though we don't hear any conversation, we can assume that he is taking care of Cobb being able to ...
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How do Cobb's children know which hotel he's staying at in Kyoto in Inception
After the failed extraction of information from Saito, Cobb claims that he's "getting off at Kyoto" and we later see him in a hotel room. He spins his totem--the top--to make sure he isn't dreaming, ...
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Why is Saito, a multi-billionaire, travelling all alone in a public train in Inception?
In Inception, Saito is supposedly a multi-billionaire who controls a big chunk of world's energy business, is able to buy entire airlines at a moment's notice and usually seen traveling in helicopters ...
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Why didn't the characters wake up when the van went off the bridge in Inception? [duplicate]
In one of the early scenes it shows Cobb being pushed backwards off a chair to be woken up out of the dream.
Considering the van crashing through a barrier and falling through the air (never mind the ...
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Why was Saito old in Limbo?
The only thing that I'm missing in Inception is why was Saito old in the opening and closing scenes of this great movie?
Both Cobb and Saito land in Limbo in (presumably) the same moment and Cobb ...
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1answer
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Why doesn't Fischer recognize Arthur, Saito and Eames as kidnappers?
In Inception, Robert Fischer was kidnapped by Cobb's team who had him in Taxi with Eames, Arthur and Saito. Robert must have known that they are kidnappers as they kidnapped him anyway. But, in later ...
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How many layers does the movie Inception involve?
In the third layer, there is a mountain and they ski down it and all, but after that, do they enter the fourth layer of dreaming or do they enter limbo? Is Cobb the only to enter and does he/do they ...
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Why is everyone's limbo space the same in Inception?
Cobb, Ariadne, Fischer, Saito all die in the dream and end up in the same Limbo world, which is the world Cobb and Mal built.
Does this have any logical explanation according to the rules set up by ...
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Shooting of the gravity free scene in Inception
How was the gravity free scene in the hotel in Inception shot? Was zero gravity created?
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Robert Fischer took the plane with Cobb's team?
Why did Robert Fischer take the plane with Cobb's team in Inception (2010), and how did he get sedated on the plane?
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Why should one not share his or her totem?
In the movie Inception, why didn't Arthur allow Ariadne to see his totem, which was a loaded die?
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What is Arthur's specialty?
In Inception, when Cobb is trying to recruit Eames in Mombasa, Eames expresses surprise that Cobb is still working with Arthur. Cobb replies "Well, he's good at what he does", to which Eames replies "...
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1answer
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What subject is partial to post-war British painters?
In Inception, in the beginning dream scene, Mal remarks that a painting looks like Arthur's taste. Cobb replies that, "Actually, the subject is partial to post-war British painters."
What subject ...
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How did Cobb and Mal commit suicide while young in limbo if they lived decades there?
We can see the scene in Inception where Cobb and Mal commit suicide on the train tracks at a young age, but in the end of the movie Cobb reminds Mal that they lived to a very old age in their dream. ...
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1answer
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Do they ever really wake up from the sedative test?
I distinctly remember a scene in Inception when Cobb is testing Yusuf's custom made super sedative. He then abruptly wakes up and goes to the bathroom where he proceeds to splash his face with water ...
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Can a person die of starvation in an Inception-like dream?
Is it possible that a person, dreaming at 2nd or 3rd level, can die of hunger?
And, will that person wake up to reality?
In case, the person is heavily sedated, will he wake up or go in a limbo?
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Why didn't Mal use her totem (spinning top) before she actually died?
In Inception, it was told that the totem's concept was invented by Mal.
Then why didn't Mal use her spinning top to find out if she is in a dream or not before jumping off the window?
Is it the case ...
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Why didn't Saito kill himself when he was stuck in limbo?
In Inception Cobb tells Ariadne that he was stuck in limbo with Mal for 50 years. Then they killed themselves by lying on the railway track.
So, it is possible to commit suicide even if you are in ...
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2answers
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Why was Mal's projection in limbo?
In Inception, how did Cobb know Mal would be in limbo?
She was a projection, not a real person. When Arthur explains the rules for limbo, or anywhere else in the movie, there is nothing to indicate ...
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1answer
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Did Nolan leave the ending of Inception up to the audience? [duplicate]
I know that a lot of discussion about this one has taken place already. But as you know its "INCEPTION"! every time you see it, it blows your mind...
So if you see closely you can see that in ...
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Who decides how a totem behaves in a dream?
In the movie - Inception, who decides how a totem behaves inside a dream?
First of all, in the dream, are the totems manifestations of the dreamer? The architect creates the other parts and ...
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1answer
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In Inception movie final scene, why does the spinning top never comes to rest? [duplicate]
In Inception movie climax, why does the director cut to black before the spinning top is shown coming to rest?
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What was Cobb's original totem? [duplicate]
In Inception, Cobb uses his dead wife Mal's totem. It is not clearly mentioned or shown what was Cobb's original totem? Or did I miss something? Help please.
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Why did Yusuf hesitate to show Cobb his dream chamber?
During Yusuf's recruiting for the Inception he's about to show Cobb and the others how his special sedatives work in practice. But right before showing them he hesitates for a short moment:
Yusuf: ...
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1answer
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How is the extracted information brought back to reality?
In the film Inception assuming Cobb was successfully able to extract Saito's secrets from the safe how would he bring those papers stamped "confidential" to the reality?
The only way I can think is ...
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No Kick In Higher Level means they're stuck
How can the group exit out of the first level? Was there a sedative timer in the plane that wakes them up? If that's the case it ruins the point of the story:
Eames says that "He's sitting this one ...
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2answers
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How did Cobb come to the basement using the elevator?
In the movie Inception when Cobb is dreaming about his wife Ariadne enters his dream and lands up in an elevator with each floor containing Cobb's memory of Mal.
In this scene Ariadne enters the ...
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Where does Limbo take place?
This question is inspired by Who was dreaming when and whose mind was being projected?, where the infographic shows very well in which mind each dream level takes place, except for the Limbo:
So let'...
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1answer
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Is coming out of a limbo easy or difficult?
At Level 1 when Saito is shot in the chest and Eames is about to shoot him in the head (in the warehouse) Cobb stops him saying that as they are all on sedatives killing him would send him to the ...
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1answer
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Was it impossible to go into same person's dream each level down, or did it serve a purpose?
Why did they have to choose a different person each time they went one level deeper in Inception?
Couldn't they have kept going into Yusuf's dream all the way down?
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Who was dreaming when and whose mind was being projected?
Can someone provide an exhaustive list of
who was dreaming
whose mind was the one that filled it with its subconscious
in each dream they shared in Inception?
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Why did Robert Fischer really accept the inception?
In Inception when every one wakes up in the airplane, Saito finally makes the call so I can understand he knows Cobb successfully planted the idea in Robert's mind. But I don't understand why Robert ...
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2answers
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Why did Yusuf need to go into the field?
When Cobb first meets Yusuf in Inception and tells him he is seeking for a chemist to formulate a compound for the Fischer job, he says that he would also need to "go into the field" with them to ...
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Why didn't Robert Fischer take his own car?
In the first level of dream, Robert Fischer took a taxi cab driven by Arthur. Robert Fischer is a billionaire. So why didn't he have his own limousine? And shouldn't there be private security for him?
