Inception****

[bach_of_tetris]

question, does the top fall over at the end of the movie?

[Paradox]

Inception* Yes it falls. It loses balance meaning it will eventually fall if unhindered. I guess it wasn't reality though.

[coolmaninsano]

[caffeine]

In addition to correcting the spelling, you should put "SPOILERS" in the title.

I came up with two possible interpretations of the "spinning top cliffhanger." They are mutually exclusive to one another.

The "Was Mal right?" interpretation:
TL;DR - When Mal jumped out the hotel window, she didn't die. She woke up. Cobb is stuck in limbo, signified by the spinning top at the end.

• Suppose the top falls over at the end of the film.
  • Mal and Cobb fall into limbo for fifty years.
  • They "kick" out of limbo by committing suicide by train.
  • Mal incorrectly believes they are still dreaming and jumps off the hotel ledge to her death.
  • The plot pans out exactly as seen--a thought-provoking movie nonetheless.
• Suppose the top keeps spinning at the end of the film.
  • Mal and Cobb fall into limbo for fifty years.
  • They think they "kicked" out of limbo by committing suicide by train.
  • Mal correctly believes they are still dreaming and jumps off the hotel ledge and wakes up, leaving Cobb behind.
  • Everything we see in the movie is within Cobb's limbo dream. This explains the "only in dreams" logic we sometimes encounter:
    • Buildings impossibly squeezing in on Cobb, who Saito amazingly saves at the last moment.
    • Mal's impressively orchestrated suicide jump. Cobb finds her at the opposite window.

The "Did Cobb make it?" interpretation:
TL;DR - During Fischer's inception on the plane, everyone but Cobb (and maybe Taito) wake up. Cobb is stuck in limbo, signified by the spinning top at the end.

• Suppose the top falls over at the end of the film.
  • Cobb is awake before the plane ride.
  • During the inception, Cobb, Ariadne, Fischer, and Taito descend to the fourth level.
  • Four team members and Fischer kick back to wakefulness right away.
  • When Cobb washes ashore, Taito is an old man because he entered limbo sooner.
  • Taito and Cobb realize they're in limbo.
  • Taito shoots Cobb and then himself, kicking them back to wakefulness.
  • Cobb reconciles old demons, successfully plants the inception, and finally sees his kids.
• Suppose the top keeps spinning at the end of the film.
  • Cobb is awake before the plane ride.
  • During the inception, Cobb, Ariadne, Fischer, and Taito descend to the fourth level.
  • Ariadne had warned Cobb how he may become lost in his limbo state.
  • Everyone but Cobb and Taito kick back to wakefulness.
  • When Cobb washes ashore, Taito is an old man because he entered limbo sooner.
  • Cobb loses track of reality in limbo (as Mal once had done)
  • Cobb dreams he wakes up with the rest of the gang and sees his kids.

Yeah, so that was my take on the ending. There are much crazier theories out there, though.

[coolmaninsano]

[spoiler]Or do this.[/spoiler]

[Paradox]

One thing I don't get though is why the top won't fall if hes dreaming. It thought the point of their personalized items was so that if someone tried to deceive them in a dream then they could test the item to see if its accurate.

[Magnanimous]

One thing I don't get though is why the top won't fall if hes dreaming. It thought the point of their personalized items was so that if someone tried to deceive them in a dream then they could test the item to see if its accurate.

Cobb is in real life: It falls (obviously)
Cobb is in his own dream: It doesn't fall (the dream follows his own logic)
Cobb is in someone else's dream: It falls (the other person's subconscious sees "he has a top" instead of "he has a top that never falls")

That's the way I saw it, at least.

[Ravendarksky]

The answer:
[spoiler]It was all a dream... the whole movie. It was all dreamt up by Cobb.

Sources:
http://open.salon.com/blog/amys0482/2010/0...a_lucid_dreamer
[/spoiler]

I had a more reliable source, with some really clear and well thought out points, but I can't find it now

[mippo]

It's called an open ending,
you can think what you like.

[Ukrainian4Life]

It's called an open ending,
you can think what you like.

It's up to the viewer's interpretation, there are many opinions out there and no one should limit themselves to think what someone else has told them.  

[Paul676]

It's called an open ending,
you can think what you like.

yay someone understands literature/art/films.

gawd.

[BARNCHAK]

One reason that made me think the ending might be a dream is ... when Cobb comes back home he finds his children in exactly the same position and wearing exactly the same clothes as he'd left them

[Spirale]

way to overthink an average movie.

[Corrosive]

my girlfriend and me were so lost during that movie that we decided to turn it off.

some flaws: dream activity in the brain doesn't start until like the fourth stage of sleep (R.E.M. sleep) which takes some number of hours of being asleep to get into.

them being in the same dream doesn't make sense either but okay.

[Maii04]

I like to believe he's in a dream
Makes the ending more dramatic