What ending did you give Inception? (**SPOILERS**)

[spiderpig]

Allright hopefully by now those that didn't see this summer blockbuster at the movies have caught it on DVD (although Netflix doesn't have it avail until Jan 4th).

 

Since the ending was left open for interpretation, just wondering which ending any of you were assigning it.  Choose from any of the following or is there another "reading" not listed below that you think is the real ending?

1	Saito hired Cobb and co. to plant an idea in Fischer's mind. They succeed, and in the end Cobb really does go home to his kids.
2	Saito hired Cobb and co. to plant an idea in Fischer's mind, but the ending—everything from the moment Cobb "wakes up" on the plane until the credits roll—is just a dream.
3	Cobb is actually the subject of the inception. At least some—maybe all—of the "real world" scenes are actually dreams.
4	Everything we see is a product of Cobb's subconscious.
5	Inception is an elaborate metaphor for moviemaking.

Website from where I stole image below which has tons and tons of discussion on the ending:   http://www.inceptionending.com/

 

(click on image to make it bigger)

[Rafael Li]

Good point!. Well if I had to say what was really happening I would say Cobb was dreaming all the time, right from the beginning.

[Tabigarasu]

You're wasting too much thought on this film, alpha.

 

It was pretty, momentarily interesting, and briefly satisfying - so it's basically the equivalent of a cinematic handy-J.

[spiderpig]

I believe that throughout the movie that DiCaprio is stuck in a dream.

I agree he was dreaming most of the time, but he woke up at the end.

 

The top does not actually matter.  It was not his totem, it was Mol's.

Again, agreed.  I think Cobb's totem was his kids' faces.  He wouldn't be able to see them until he woke up from his dream.  Which he did, at the end of the movie.

[Tabigarasu]

"I believe that throughout the movie that DiCaprio is stuck in a dream.

I agree he was dreaming most of the time, but he woke up at the end."

 

Sure, on Shutter Island.

 

I don't understand why you're all trying to make sense out of a film that traipses through as many meta-realities as the writers felt they could comfortably deal with. I coulda wrote another couple levels down and gone into wabbit season.

 

[Tabigarasu]

After all the build-up, a lazy, pathetic, stock-horror ending. The evil is dead, roll credits. Oh, wait; nothing that evil could ever die, so surprise - yawn - the NedBeattyRaper lives and is ready for a sequel.

 

I do appreciate the graphic of where they were and when and how they got back.

[spiderpig]