whoopdido

Inception is about a guy trying to get back to see his kids again.

The average Joe can't get behind that concept?

I understand what you're saying but I've heard "cold" said about Inception more times than I can count and nothing you've said has convinced me that it's cold.

There are countless other movies out there that are much less "accessible" than Inception that don't get labelled as cold. Hell, The Prestige was mentioned recently and I would say that was much less accessible and I guess "colder" than Inception.

RichC2

$825m WW gross, it connected just fine.

The issue I had with it was Nolan doesn't develop the characters enough, while their goals are relatable, as people they're simply pieces in the overall puzzle. It takes away the thrill and sense of danger at times.

Solid Snake

It's not that I can't connect w/ Cobb. That's not the point. It's that the emotions that are brought up aren't effective to display what these characters feel. They feel stilted. I wouldn't say it's the acting but the script that failed to display the emotions better.

Troy Stiffler

I dunno. I well up during the "safe opening" and then the final shot. That's enough for me. Not every movie can be some agressively cathartic experience like Lord of the Rings.

I think that the movie had plenty to connect with. After all, I really liked it. I'm just explaining what people consider "cold" or "detached".

RocShemp

I found the characters and their emotions plenty relatable without needing to stop the film to express their feelings every five seconds. I guess people need a Lifetime Movie Network approach with melodramatic music and excesive closeups to punctuate every artificial emotion.

nando820

What this non-sense, trying to take points away of Inception. Its a masterpiece dammit!

Mabuse

Regarding "best of the decade" comment: What decade?

If you mean 2010-2019 then I think it's a little early to call.
If you mean 2001-2010 then Prestige and Dark Knight are better films and I still wouldn't put those two, let alone Inception, into the top 10.

kefrank

The "safe opening" is the most emotional moment in the movie for me too, which is pretty interesting, since I know for sure that it doesn't take place in reality.

I find Inception to be plenty engaging on an emotional level, so I've never understood the complaints that it's cold. When Cobb talks to his kids on the phone early on, I'm immediately connected with his emotional conflict and sense of motivation (and I don't even personally have kids). As the film develops, his guilt over Mal and obsessive love for her memory is palpable. Even Fischer's subconscious emotional journey as a jaded son is engaging and makes for a fitting juxtaposition against Cobb's desire to reconnect with his own children.

If the movie can be considered cold, it's only because it spends so much screen time delving into multi-layered dream mechanics that some viewers lose sight of the emotional undertones.

Supermallet

Yep, that's exactly what we've been saying.

RocShemp

It was just a joke.

Strevlac

Yeah, a masterpiece of shit.

PopcornTreeCt

I can't believe I voted this 4 stars. Egads.

fumanstan

Yeah, if only you waited until you knew it was going to be popular!

Solid Snake

The Room is shit. Even on a technical level Inception isn't close to shit. Is it a 100% flawless (if that's even possible) film? No. It's not shit though.

Supermallet

2001: A Space Odyssey is 100% flawless. Blue Velvet is a truly great film. Halloween II is shit. Inception is less than Blue Velvet, more than Halloween II.

But definitely one of Nolan's weaker films.

JumpCutz

Everyone knew it was going to be popular well before it was released. The fanboys had worked themselves into a frenzy and the studio knew this would make a shit ton of money even in middle America. A big budgeted event film by the maker of The Dark Knight? No mystery there.

The blow back was not because the movie was popular, it was because the film wasn't that great.

PopcornTreeCt

It was because I thought about it later on, read comments on it and talked to people about it. My immediate reaction was "wow" but then upon thinking about it later on it fell apart. Same thing happened for Donnie Darko.

AnonomusBob15

Donnie Darko does laps around Inception in regards to everything that makes great movies great. I still wouldn't put it in a top ten, but when I was 15, you couldn't convince me that there was a greater movie than Donnie Darko. It opened me up to a lot (that fucking soundtrack), and I remember having such heated discussions about it with my friends. Few films I can say that about. It has it's flaws, no doubt, and it became a phenomenon to a cult of emo crybabys, but it was a near perfect movie experience for a me at 15. I wont forget that.

But then again, I probably haven't watched it in 6-7 years.


edit: Inception was a complete fucking bore. The scene with the van going off the bridge in slo-mo perfectly describes my experience watching it. Probably the biggest summer disappointment in years.

Dr. DVD

I am curious as to what the poll of reviews would read if it were taken today.

fumanstan

I don't think it would be THAT much different. A lot of the folks here seem to have seen the Inception thread pop back up and are just quick to want to reiterate that they didn't care for the movie.

whoopdido

Well JumpCutz originally gave it a 4. What would you give it now? I'm not calling you out or anything. I just noticed that you just said that the film wasn't that great. Your opinion must have changed since you originally gave it a 4 out of 5.

JumpCutz

I've since seen the film two more times. I would give it 3 stars today. I own the movie and certainly don't hate it, but it's flaws became more evident on successive viewings.

musick

iggystar

All of this.

I've watched Inception a ridiculous amount of times since it's been on cable and I find the balance of emotion and concept to be just right for me. The catharsis taking place within a dream is spot on IMO, when I'm dreaming all of those pent up emotions, deficits from real life, all come crashing to the fore, hoping for resolutions not often found when I'm awake.

Inception is one of those movies where I will never be swayed from my sheer, unadulterated love. Call me a fangirl, call me whatever, I stand by adoration of it. As much as I love The Dark Knight, I didn't comb the internet about Inception, so I really had no expectation going in and I was more than pleasantly surprised.

Chaza

I watched Existenz a few days ago, and it was a much better film than Inception imo. Inception would have been a good 90-100 minute film, but it was really way too long.