Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discussion

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by Aragorn, Jul 15, 2010.

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Grading

  1. Excellent

    71.0%
  2. Above average

    23.7%
  3. Average

    3.6%
  4. Below average

    1.8%
  5. Poor

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  1. JacksonArcher

    JacksonArcher Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss

    Salt was a generic, mindless action movie. It was marketing itself as Bourne or Mission: Impossible but with Angelina Jolie instead of Matt Damon or Tom Cruise. There's nothing inherently risky about that -- trying to mimic a common formula that's proven to be successful before.

    Also, there wasn't an entire thread devoted to DiCaprio's "bravery", in fact it was mentioned in the same thread as the general discussion for the movie. Just FYI.

    I'm not saying DiCaprio's leap of faith was an "amazing act of courage", I'm saying that to appear in a completely original summer blockbuster not based on an established property that's also highly cerebral and intellectual was very risky, especially since he took stock in the film's box office figures, which could have bode very badly for him had the film flopped.

    Had Inception been made for $60 million, then it wouldn't have been that risky since had the film didn't explode at the box office it wouldn't have been that bad for WB (however, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World was made for around that amount, and it tanked, so of course there would have been some risk even then). However, it was made for close to $160 million, classifying itself as a veritable summer blockbuster along the lines of any other big summer movie coming out this past summer. There was a lot of pressure for Inception to do well based on that risky gamble.

    The fact that DiCaprio took a chance on the film is commendable given that it is a highly cerebral and intelligent (and good) film being made in the summer of usual mindless crap. Hopefully we'll see more movies like it in future summers.

    Actually, DiCaprio chooses his movies very carefully. He's not one that usually appears in blockbuster movies. He even mentioned that he's very lucky to be able to choose the movies he does rather than having to take whichever film offer gets thrown his way. Besides Titanic, I can't remember the last summer blockbuster that DiCaprio had starred in. He usually stars in reasonably budgeted, but award-winning Martin Scorsese pictures or films like Revolutionary Road. He's made the conscious decision not to follow in the career path of Nicholas Cage or Tom Cruise or even Shia LaBeouf who normally chooses their movies based on how profitable or high-profile they are.

    So in a lot of ways Inception was a gamble not just financially but professionally as well. The success of the picture proves he rightfully had faith in the right filmmaker and picked the material wisely. Had Inception tanked, he might revert back to starring in character dramas or low-budget pictures. In fact, Inception is DiCaprio's highest grossing film to date besides Titanic. The success of Inception allows DiCaprio the flexibility to choose what movies he does even more and to obtain the studio confidence to invest or take stake or be a part of something potentially risky and unique like Inception.

    To me, there's something really fantastic about that.
     
  2. Level 2 Diagnostic

    Level 2 Diagnostic Captain Captain

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    Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss

    You do know he didn't invest his own money in the film, right? He took a percentage of the gross, so if the movie bombed it wouldn't have cost him jack.

    So, what you're saying is, if Inception bombed, DiCaprio might have gone back to doing the same thing he's been doing for the last ten years? Pretty ballsy move on his part.
     
  3. JacksonArcher

    JacksonArcher Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss

    No, but he wouldn't have made anything, or very little at all. I think the whole point is that verses walking away with a big payday, he had faith in the film and in Nolan and instead decided to take a percentage of the gross. That's the telling part which makes it cool in my opinion. It means he had faith in Nolan to deliver a good product and Nolan delivered.

    I'm saying, had Inception bombed, DiCaprio might not have the opportunity again to do big, smart movies like Inception or even Shutter Island, which was also a good success for both DiCaprio and Scorsese. Having DiCaprio in these decently budgeted, smart, high-caliber films bodes well for the industry in my opinion and I think if DiCaprio is a proven commodity in that regard, then it just instills faith in studios to do more movies like Inception and Shutter Island which as a movie fan is very encouraging in my opinion.
     
  4. CommanderRaytas

    CommanderRaytas DISCO QUEEEEEEN Rear Admiral

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    Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss


    And to think that they put his name on the District 9 poster because they weren't sure it would sell without an internationally famous name to back it- sure he was one of the producers, but the reason it's so awesome sure as hell wasn't him. :rolleyes:

    It's the same reason that they used The Dark Knight to promote Inception, only that made much more sense, given the fact that it was actually the same director, among other things (such as actors, score composer etc).
     
  5. Aragorn

    Aragorn Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss

    Found this on the Amazon UK site:

    [​IMG]
     
  6. Asbo Zaprudder

    Asbo Zaprudder Admiral Admiral

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    Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss

    I would have been more impressed if they'd taken the photo while the top was spinning. Will I buy this? Not for £30, twice the price of the discs n their own, I won't.
     
  7. JacksonArcher

    JacksonArcher Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss

    I hope the US gets that version. I would buy that just for the pewter spinning top and the PASIV manual.
     
  8. Admiral_Young

    Admiral_Young Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss

    My mom is getting me this for Christmas!! I don't have a blu-ray player yet but want it just for the PASIV device Manual!!!!
     
  9. JacksonArcher

    JacksonArcher Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss

    ^Fortunately for you the set also comes with a DVD version of the film as well as the digital copy for your computer.
     
  10. Admiral_Young

    Admiral_Young Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss

    ^ Yeah but I'm pretty sure the regular DVD is for Region two...
     
  11. Bob The Skutter

    Bob The Skutter Complete Arse Cleft In Memoriam

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    Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss

    The blu-ray may be Region B too, so see if there's a US release first or none of them may work.
     
  12. Admiral_Young

    Admiral_Young Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss

    I'll just be getting the regular North American release when it is announced...I'm getting the set for the spinning top and manual.
     
  13. The Nth Doctor

    The Nth Doctor Infinite Possibilities... Premium Member

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    Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss

    I just hope the DVD version is available on its own but with all of the special features and pewter top.
     
  14. Admiral_Young

    Admiral_Young Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss

    ^ I could see a Best Buy or Target doing an exclusive with the top or maybe another Totem included.
     
  15. Trekker4747

    Trekker4747 Boldly going... Premium Member

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    Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss

    PASIV Manual

    I, too, hope that the US/Region 1 gets a similar release.
     
  16. Rii

    Rii Rear Admiral

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    Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss

    Finally got around to seeing this a couple days back. Alas, my fears borne of the SFX-laden trailer proved well-founded, except where I was concerned that the film's evident blockbuster ambitions would come at the expense of its intelligence and nuance, those ambitions instead manifest as an artificial layering atop the film's solid conceptual and character-based core. That no ingredients are missing doesn't mean the end product works particularly well, however; what could've been a tight, gripping film with emotional resonance is reduced to an exhausting, blurred mess of (not particularly good) CGI punctuated at intervals by meaningful development. Inception manages to hold its head above water, but not by much.

    It's too early to say if stardom has fatally compromised Nolan as a filmmaker; but as his first post-Dark Knight production, Inception is hardly promising.

    Above average.
     
    Last edited: Sep 7, 2010
  17. JacksonArcher

    JacksonArcher Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss

    It's funny that you criticize the special effects of Inception when they are so sparse in the first place. Nolan has gone on record saying how he views animation as something that somewhat hinders the viewing experience because as an audience member you immediately know it is not real. As in all of Nolan's films, and particularly the case with his last two films, Nolan has made it his mission to use as many practical effects as possible while augmenting them with special effects verses merely using CGI to create complete scenarios, locations, and characters.

    For example, he went to great lengths to try and create or find as many practical sets and locations as possible. The anti-gravity hotel fight was done practically without any special effects at all-- a truly incredible feat especially after films like Avatar completely resort to special effects in order to create its story and stunt sequences. Even scenes that incorporated special effects were first done in either a real location, like when Cobb and Adriane walk out of the ocean in Tangier which was done for real and simply supplemented with special effects, or were done with miniatures first, like the exploding hospital fortress. Some visuals had to be created wholly digitally-- like the buildings in Paris folding in on each other-- but that's something that really requires special effects and wasn't something that could have been achieved convincingly with either practical effects or miniatures.

    I just fail to see how Nolan was or is becoming "fatally compromised" by mainstream success because he wishes to tell stories on a big canvas. He's maintained his artistic integrity by sticking to the type of cinematic credibility that he's obtained over the years and Inception really just re-enforced that. Out of all the films that came out this year, Inception is probably one of the most original which stays true to some old-fashioned filmmaking tricks.
     
  18. Rii

    Rii Rear Admiral

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    Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss

    ^ The folding city shot was one of the good ones.

    And yeah, I was being lazy by writing 'SFX' where I really meant 'action', where the two were often correlated. Funny you should mention the Hotel fight, as that setting (once the others have gone deeper) was probably the most egregious offender in the 'why am I watching this? Is it supposed to be interesting?' dept. Whats-his-face apparently has three minutes to complete his assignment; when the Blu-Ray comes out I'm tempted to get a stopwatch. I suspect it may well turn out that the camera was in a miniature time bubble of its own. :lol:
     
  19. JacksonArcher

    JacksonArcher Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss

    Oh, I thought the gravity-defying hotel fight was probably my favorite moment in the film. My jaw was agape throughout that entire sequence. At some point or another, you have to just suspend your disbelief and just the fact that I was seeing something done practically and not artificially fabricated by special effects was just visually spectacular in my opinion. It was one of those things where the story and the action and the effects all molded together seamlessly to create a stunning sequence but to each their own.
     
  20. Bob The Skutter

    Bob The Skutter Complete Arse Cleft In Memoriam

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    Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss

    The low/zero gravity fight had me absolutely convinced in parts. I actually said to my friend "I wonder if any of this was done on the vomit comet?" because I was convinced some of it was real microgravity.