This is because the kicks need to be synchronized in each and prior levels. Arthur needed to set off the bomb as the van hits the barrier, that way the falling sensation from the 5th to 4th floor coincides with the falling sensation from the van in free fall. The tricky part is that he needed to time the explosion at a precise moment. Too soon (before the van hitting the barrier) will cause the team not feeling the kick from level one. If he sets off the bomb after the van hitting the barrier, the team will fail to fall because of the absence of gravity. But when the van hits the barrier, he was still fighting off the henchmen and missed the initial kick completely. But the van was still in free fall, so there was still time to execute another kick on level 2. The elevator was that improvisation and it was to coincides when the van hits the water.

Likewise, the collapsing of the fort was to coincide with the elevator plunging in level 2. The music was the timer. Both Arthur and Eames sets off their respective charges as the music ends. The defibrillator was the kick to pull Fischer from Limbo, but Ficher himself needed a kick in limbo for it to work. The lightning was the queue of the kick so Ariande pushes him off the ledge to coincides with it. When Eames sets off the bomb (the kick), it affected limbo and causes the buildings to collapse, Ariande took it as the queue and makes the jump - she gets back to level 3. At this point, Saito died and got lost in limbo and Cobb chose not to kick himself back to level 3. When Ariande awakes in level 3, the fort collapsing on her coincidentally with the the lift plunging pulls her, along with both Ficher and Eames, back to level 2. The water in level one and the moment of impact of the lift in level 2 brings all the surviving members back to level 1.

so, how did Cobb & Saito wake up in the end?.......... or they didn't...

I see people pointing our their perceptions and ideas, but never anyone proclaiming they are smart and king of the world. This is good.

Unlike some people exaggerate things (eg. Beandy and ate). If you can't appreciate the movie, leave its fan alone. No need to insult them and call them nerds. Hey when its your turn to appreciate a movie that others don't, shall we call you nerd (and geek?) too?

Ate actually appreciates the movie. Check back his few posts. he's just messing around.

Beandy on the hand, I don't know.

i guess the best way to get out of limbo is to realize that it is NOT reality and kill urself to go up 1 level?
that's my interpretation of it...
that includes that the sedative has stopped thus suicide works =p

Yup... but he was overwhelm by all the opinions in this thread

Heck, even I am overwhelmed in some ways. The theories gathered are just fun to read!

i think JELEZ is the best word

lol which is why it could go both ways:

sedatives wear off, they suicide, then wake up for real

sedatives still on, they suicide, plummet into another limbo?

Should give him chance to talk mah

What's the next limbo? Black world?

Don't know about you, but to me this looks like he doesn't appreciate it.

Movies that present reasonable ideas (inceptions? ) and are able to triggers discussions, plus being original work are rare and being able to appreciate it means you are open to ideas. Not being able to appreciate it doesn't mean you're stupid, it just isn't your taste.

I prefer this over Avatar or Transformers anyday. Good visuals no doubt those movies are, but at the end of the movie, all you CAN say is: hey it looks good oh-mi-gawd, that was awesome/cool, she is hot... that's all, fullstop.

seeing how old saito is, i think it should wear off LOL!
note: i use it as a comparison of cobb and mal's limbo (with the train suicide)

i think it will be a limbo state that you cannot escape.

I actually believe that hormonal raging nerds won't give this movie a shit if Nolan never made Dark Knight.

But suffice to say, its Matrix all over again.

The way I understand it, if you give someone a kick in level 1 while he is in level 2, it wakes him up in level 1. If you give someone a kick in level 1 while he's in level 3 or further down, he doesn't get up, because you first have to wake him up in level 2. Since Arthur was awake in level 2, the van's impact and plunge should have brought him up to level 1, no?

my take is experienced dreamer can resist the kick...Cobb did not wake up in the first heist sequence until after he submerged inside the water (he even have time to "enjoy" the gushing water in Saito's palace lol)

resistance to kick can be trained through experience, and the upper limit is death inside the dream

that's what i think la lol....

Now you're just making up your own rules

well rules are made to be broken

Since a person can literally stuck in Limbo forever, what happens if he/she dies of old age in there?
He just snap back into reality with his head went cuckoo?

Hmm, can a person die from his/her own disease like heart attack/stroke/cancer etc in his/her dream?
Something not shown in the movie, but i think its an interesting topic.