Blade Runner or Inception: Which has the better ambigous ending?

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Both movies are films that force us to question the basics of reality and our perception of it. In Blade Runner, we are unsure if Deckard is a replicant or not. The whole unicorn thing suggests that he is, as Gaff (the Asian dude attached to him) could have access to his implanted memories. On the other hand, it could also be suggesting that both humans and replicants have more in common than it seems, as both can share the same or similar memories*. That would fall in line with Batty's sudden change of heart when he saves Deckard from falling off the building, says his deep thing about tears in the rain, and dies.

In Inception, we're made to question whether our perceived reality is real at all, of it is merely a dream. It can be extremely difficult in the Inception universe to discover you're in a dream. Mr. Saito doesn't figure it out in the beginning until he's lying face down on the floor, and then only incidentally. That's the whole purpose of the totems, so that you can tell if you're in a dream or not. At the end of the film, Cobb finally meets with his kids again, and as the screen fades out the top, which in a dream would spin forever, continues to spin. Maybe it just didn't have enough time to start wobbling? Him not wearing the ring suggests that it is the real world, but the top suggests it is not.

Which film, in your opinion, has the better ambiguous ending?

*Yes I am aware that all replicant memories came from Tyrell's niece. Not my point.

 

[aelf]

I think the top did wobble a little at the end, but without leaving us with any clue as to whether that means it would stop. Which just means Inception is a story that is willing to sacrifice consistency for a good twist, as the rest of the movie shows.

 

[Perfection]

Total Recall.

 

[CivCube]

Interesting that you pick those two as they sort of share the same theme. Ridley Scott wants the viewer to ponder on that issue of humanity and leave thoughtful. What is identity? Can one claim humanity as a right, regardless of origin? Is your consciousness truly yours to own? If nobody else cared, would it really matter? They're big questions, especially considering this recent article in the NY Times about conjoined twins who share the same neurological reactions:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/29/m...-twins-share-a-mind.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&hp

I chose Inception simply because it was more fun to think about at the moment, and it left every audience I saw it with the same reaction ("Aww! Man!"). Christopher Nolan is deliberately having fun with the audience. Cobb has already achieved satisfaction with his life, however real or unreal it is. It doesn't matter to him but the audience is still hanging on to that trivial detail of reality. With a film's structure as intentionally artificial as Inception, Nolan wants us to consider what's important for a character's true emotional growth. After two hours of bending conscious constructs for every person, the tattered remains of normalcy (Mal) fail to hold meaning.

 

[Rashiminos]

Word of God suggests Deckard is a replicant.

 

[aelf]

I chose Inception simply because it was more fun to think about at the moment, and it left every audience I saw it with the same reaction ("Aww! Man!"). Christopher Nolan is deliberately having fun with the audience. Cobb has already achieved satisfaction with his life, however real or unreal it is. It doesn't matter to him but the audience is still hanging on to that trivial detail of reality. With a film's structure as intentionally artificial as Inception, Nolan wants us to consider what's important for a character's true emotional growth. After two hours of bending conscious constructs for every person, the tattered remains of normalcy (Mal) fail to hold meaning.

Well, I'm not convinced that people get the point. I think most people are simply speculating about whether it was a dream or not, not whether it matters if it was a dream. I think the former is pointless speculation, as there is obviously no real answer and the film is not consistent or coherent enough to lead us to believe either way. The latter is a much more meaningful question, but after a whole movie leading the audience through a journey that seems to affirm the primacy of reality over the dream world (since, after all, they go out of their way to use the dream world to affect reality), it's unsurprising that people are not seeing this point. I don't think Inception is alone in this rather disappointing predisposition towards the familiar waking world, though - a few films I know that deal with the blurring of dream and reality also ultimately fail to question reality in a meaningful way.

So, at the end of the day, Inception is nothing but a good yarn. It doesn't break any new ground or even substantially improve on narratives that play with notions of dream and reality. I'd say this unsurprising coming from Nolan, who knows how to make people like what they see but is unable to come up with anything particularly thematically interesting.

 

[Ajidica]

Was it me, or did Inception feel like a montage of the 'Best of James Bond' at times?

 

[Rashiminos]

Was it me, or did Inception feel like a montage of the 'Best of James Bond' at times?

I'm not sure where this would come from except you. Cobb repeatedly blunders with only one lady (cannot get a dead girl, even), while Bond consistently hits the mark as often as his duties permit.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Personally I lean towards Blade Runner, for most of the reasons that Aelf noted. Blade Runner is a thinking man's movie, there's a lot of allegory and unsaid things, which leaves a lot open to interpretation. Inception is rather typical of movies of this generation in that it's rather explicitly stated "look, ambiguity!" as if the audience would never notice it if it were not blatant. And I remember in the thread specifically about Inception the numerous inconsistencies that were pointed out; I believe I did some of that myself, regarding the split between levels of the dream and what affects what.

 

[Earthling]

A cruel thread here to get me voting for Blade Runner, though say what one will, it does do very well on the point mentioned in the OP.

On the other hand the "ambiguous ending" of Inception is just nonsense to play with the audience. Also as I know has been discussed before here or elsewhere, the totem in context there doesn't even make sense. The whole point of the totems was to a security device so that someone else couldn't trap you in one of their dreams (because they wouldn't know your totem, like a password.) Whether he's still trapped in his OWN dream wouldn't even be proven. And I agree with the comments that for most audience/reviewers the point of him being happy and content with his life regardless is lost over the silly argument of "is it a dream?" So didn't vote Inception.

 

[Communisto]

Blade Runner. Zero contest.

 

[Thoughtful Thug]

I haven't watched Blade Runner since I was 14 or something. As my memory tells me, it is a movie that is entirely different than Inception since the former is more of a crime drama, dealing with a primary protagonist chasing a replicant while dealing with his own personal questions of his own humanity in the process. I don't see any similarities between both film, unless you can count at the end in Inception where the story unfolds that feeling of uncertainty when Leonardo once again is faced whether he is perceiving the real thing or another dream.

If any movie closely related to Inception, it's the Matrix.

Make me want to download the movie. Gotta be a Blue Ray re-release somewhere...

 

[gangleri2001]

Other: Total Recall.

 

[Knight-Dragon]

Moderator Action: Moved to A/E.

 

[Leoreth]

Although I really liked Inception and its ending, I still say Blade Runner. Even the people who created it disagreed on the ending!

 

[warpus]

In Inception, we're made to question whether our perceived reality is real at all, of it is merely a dream. It can be extremely difficult in the Inception universe to discover you're in a dream. Mr. Saito doesn't figure it out in the beginning until he's lying face down on the floor, and then only incidentally. That's the whole purpose of the totems, so that you can tell if you're in a dream or not. At the end of the film, Cobb finally meets with his kids again, and as the screen fades out the top, which in a dream would spin forever, continues to spin. Maybe it just didn't have enough time to start wobbling? Him not wearing the ring suggests that it is the real world, but the top suggests it is not.

That wasn't an ambiguous ending though. That wasn't his totem - it was his dead wife's. He was spinning it not to check if he's in a dream but because it reminded him of her. He couldn't have used it to check if he was in a dream or not because it was not his totem.

 

[Leoreth]

Wrong. He told Ariadne he had made it his totem after his wife's death.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Oh, hey A&E! I somehow forgot this forum existed. Thanks for moving it XIII.

 

[Flying Pig]

I think people miss the point of the ending of Inception. It doesn't matter whether the top falls over or not because Cobb doesn't care - he's with his children now and that's all that matters to him. All together now... aawww!

 

[Ajidica]

I think people miss the point of the ending of Inception. It doesn't matter whether the top falls over or not because Cobb doesn't care - he's with his children now and that's all that matters to him. All together now... aawww!

If it doesn't matter to him whether his 'current reality' is real, then why did he even bother spinning the top?