Pretty sure they were heavily sedated, I think it was mentioned. Anyway, didn't they say they were going into multiple levels of dreams? That would necessitate the use of heavy sedatives. And I dont think... you answered my question.

Well if they did explore multiple levels, here's what I think. Many levels into the dream world, time became extremely slow. In the last dream level they dared to venture in, they basically spent 50 years there, aged, Mal went into a limbo state of mind, Cobb kept his sanity, decided it was enough, and killed themselves. Note that this particular suicide was not shown in the film. They then traversed across the preceding levels, killing themselves in each of them so they could go one level up. Cobb kept count of the number of levels they were in. The suicide on the tracks we see in the film happens when they reach the first level, thus explaining why they were still young when they lay on the tracks. They both wake up in the real world, but Mal, infected by Cobb's inception, refuses to believe this is reality, instead believing she will (always) need to go one more level up to reach reality.

Still, this does not answer the question of why Cobb didn't go into limbo while killing himself under sedatives.
Good to know I'm not the only one who has something less than positive to say about the film. Although I dont know anything about "dark knight directors".
Damn, four times already? Two's enough for me, until the DVD/bluray comes out.

The question remains, why squander a terrific, original idea it on some heist film (albeit a never-before-seen heist film) when it could have achieved a place in sci-fi pantheon. Maybe squander is too strong a word, because the current end result is still a perfectly good movie. Funny you should mention characters, because 80% of the film is completely focused on its plot.
Yeah I agree but I let that one slide. Plus you gotta ask why is it that the security at the hotel so lax compared to the other levels.
Haha yeah I've thought of that... and that would make his escape totally based on luck, which on second thought, isn't too far-fetched actually.

Cobb said he didn't know the time effect that occurs in dreams within dreams, so it's unlikely he could tell when the time was up. Let's just leave it to luck for now.

Yeah but the security in level 1 was far quicker in response and far more liberal in applying lethal force. But as I said I let it slide,.

Nice tidbit: The entire last 40 minutes or so, from the van crashing into the barrier of the bridge to it plunging into the water, lasts only half a second on the plane.

Questions
Cobb and Mal's stories seem to make the chronological plot of "Inception" go out of place imo.

1. Cobb and Mal enjoyed the dream world they had created, and grew old together (50years?).

Yet, when they chose to die in the railway track after Cobb convinced Mal the world they were in is not real (because both used 'memories' to create their dream world, a big no. Mal became attached to the dream world and convinced it was real...).

Bam. They are young again. How is this? Shouldn't they both be oldies on the railway track?

2. The use of heavy sedatives causes one not just to dream, but to get into a state called 'limbo' where a small time change in the real world causes a huge time change in the dream (e.g 5 minutes = 10 years).

Yet, in the movie, it does not ever show both Cobb and Mal using heavy sedatives. And how did they get into their dream world they lived for so long with no dreaming devices attached? Most importantly how did they have a "shared dream experience" ? Both of them were in the same dream with no... err... strings attached.

3. The totem that Mal used which later Cobb started using. Explain. I don't get this. You see, the totem is locked away in a safe by Mal. The spinning totem indicates (to Mal) whether the world she lived in was a dream or reality. She locked it away because she didn't want to know the truth. Cobb later finds it and... the totem is not his, right? So whether it stops spinning or continues infinitely, is never correct in the eyes of Cobb? Isn't it a 'small rule' to not use others' totem? Or is it the totem belonged to both of them?

4. Real world -> Dream -> Limbo. Mal experiences this. Cobb convinces her to die together. If die here, they will be stuck (whatever that is) or "burn out their minds". After they both die in the railway, do they end up in reality or limbo? Why does Mal keep showing up in Cobb's dreams? Also, I don't understand how is it that Cobb can "lock" Mal in her world and visit her anytime. Is Mal stuck for real?

5. Why Robert Fischer Jr. when he dies, ends up with Mal in the dream world? Cobb and Ariadne later goes in to seek him out to complete the mission.

6. What is the movie about (the mission that is)? The major plot point is Cobb and his team, performing "inception" on Robert Fischer Jr. to split his company from his father (Maurice Fischer), right? Just as Saito (who hires Cobb) wanted it to his advantage. Corporate espionage. OK, so what is the significance of the whole "secret" at the end of the movie with Robert opening the vault with his father (the secret) in it? What happened here? (Father: "I'm disappointed that you tried").

7. After mission completed, Cobb finds Saito to claim his reward to go back to 'reality' and see his children. How does he do this and most importantly, where is Saito's place? A dream world Saito constructed along with projections of the guards that finds Cobb on the beach?

Ok....

Hmmm... caused i was told the scene sequence was not correct.... and some of the scene is not shown..

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Added on July 18, 2010, 11:46 pmCheck this out, Inception The Cobol Job Comic

Alright thx... Looks like everyone has their own explanation!    This feels like "Lost". But in movie form.
4 times? The movie was released like 15/16 July and you have watched it 4 times! Madness! At the most it would be twice for me, then it is off to Blu-Ray, e.g "District 9", "Avatar" (3 times) and "Toy Story 3". I am so tempted to watch this again...
What do you mean? "As long as no one else knows the totem, it should be safe for Cobb to use the totem."
Holy crap!    100 minutes into the movie ? Madness! And the movie director was there! He must have really felt every breath of frustration from every audience member.

No, the dreamer is always the architect. Ariadne designed each level, then taught them to each of the dreamers - Yusuf (level 1, city streets), Arthur (level 2, hotel), and Eames (level 3, snow fortress). That's why at the snow fortress level, Cobb asked her, "Did Eames add anything to the design?"

Fischer asked the same question: "Why couldn't someone have dreamed a goddamn beach?!" 

Eames said it when Fischer was "dead".

because they are so deep inside the dream would think decades have pass before they get back, they would have been a old man in a young body, or got insane before they run down the clock.

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Added on July 19, 2010, 5:10 pm

Eames discover that Fischer was distance with his father and that he desperately want to have acceptance from his father, so he planted the story of the final will, and the idea grow inside Fischer and he dream of his father in the vault and the paper windmill to convince himself that his father was not disappointed at him and want him to live his own life.

And too give the other the kick as well, perhaps. It's another thing the movie fails to really explain, I think. If the dreamer can in fact go deeper into the dreams without the preceding dream collapsing, then I think my theory on Cobb and Mal is sound.
Really, the only thing they did was to plant the seed of doubt in Fischer's mind that his father might have actually really loved him and wanted him to become a man of his own. This was primarily done in level 1, when Eames was impersonating Browning. It was here also that Fischer, subsubconsiously, began to suspect Browning's involvement in the kidnapping. In level 2, the hotel, the Browning that enters the room and is apprehended by Cobb is entirely a projection of Fischer's mind. From then on, the team knows the very basic idea is in already planted, and they basically push him on, telling Fischer what he already suspects.
I already answered this. Padding! Time slows down even more in level 3, and to juxtapose this with the relatively faster time in level 2, they have to have the characters do something busy, like taking on entire teams of generic henchman, sniping, making their way through snow. The same can be said about the zero-gravity scenes in which we are shown nothing but Arthur moving the bodies from one location to the another. It's the only reason for all this bullshit action. Why couldn't they have just placed their point of entry right in the fortress?

The dreamer doesn't have to be the architect. E.g. Throughout all levels 1, 2, 3, Fisher is the Dreamer but Ariadne is the architect. (remember the self defense killers in all 3 levels)

The architect's role is to just design the layout. The Dreamer's role is to dream and fill the layout with his dreams.
Yeah. This is now what I believe.
Which kinda makes me think that Fisher was dreamer and Eames was architect. I really need to think this through I guess.
They just stay in limbo till the sedation wears off. The problem is, if they are in level 3, 5 mins in real world is like 50 years in level 3. Apparently in limbo, it's much worse. So now imagine staying in a dreamworld for that long. All alone.

Yes, Quickfire, also to provide the kick.
Remember the first mission against Saito?

Level 1 was the traitor's dream. Level 2 was Saito's dream.

Saito thought it was still his dream when they went into Level 1.

Therefore I disagree with you.
omg ... stop ... putting ... thoughts ... into my head ......

A world of Ellen Pages!!!!!! in bikinis!!!!! ...
At the beginning after the first failed mission.

No, level 2 was Arthur's dream, designed to seem familiar to Saito. Level 1 was Nash's dream, in which he was also the architect. So again, the dreamer is always the architect.

no offense can the mod or some1 jz give 'ate' a warning or something...
he seems to be really trolling hard...

oh ya about wut in the safe, i think it was placed there by fisher himself...
if i'm nt mistaken, the 3rd layer itself is fisher's dream (his goddad was his own projection)...

Yeah, Ariadne did make mention of a hospital. But is it just me or were the trained projection in level 2 tamer than those in level 1? In level 1 there converged upon the team in no time and were ruthless, never hesitating to use lethal force when the chance arose, even in broad daylight. In contrast, those in level 2 were happy to sit nearly while Cobb influenced their client.
What are you saying? I'm not saying the architect couldn't also be a dreamer. Nash (probably) designed both levels of the dream, and he was the dreamer for the first and Arthur for the second.
 

In other words, the rain can also horrifically become pee?

I'll say it's mainly Saito's fault ... fuuu ... who ask him come out a stupid idea want to corrupt Fischer's mind?

I like Ariadne the most, lucky she can escape at the end.

I know.

There's many way to compete, but using dirty trick like this is not good lor.

end up bringing trouble to everyone only.