Comments on: Arthur's Agony: How Inception's Arthur Could Have Resolved His Momentous Dilemma

By: Devon

Devon — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 07:30:56 +0000

Don’t make me destroy you

By: marce

marce — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 02:46:43 +0000

I think the solution he found was the only one possible for he needed a big shake way stronger that most of the ones mention above and he the characters needed to be kicked at the same time … but if he could have” waken them up” one by one ..

He should have projected a syringe and forcefully pour warm water into the ears of the other characters and his own as in the vestibular testing. this gives the patient the sensation of falling …
the other option is that he could have , again, projected a couple of magnets of about 3000 Gauss that place on each era causes the sensation of falling (this is use on patients to restore the equilibrium ), …

By: Eros

Eros — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 08:29:03 +0000

the important thing to remember is that this isn’t there first job. some other solutions seem plausible, but arthur might have used an elevator as a kick before. and explosives seems to be the kick of choice (in the 3rd level they blow up the fortress) also, the elevator ensured that all would get the kick at the same time, the other solutions have him giving the kick to everyone and then assuming he does it to himself. but it has to be synced perfectly. and that comment that the solution was too smart for arthur, he’s the best at what he does. it’s his job to think quickly and efficiently. i thought the solution was as perfect as everything else in the movie

By: Kendal Bond

Kendal Bond — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 00:01:47 +0000

A kick is *two* jolts, not one. It isn’t the falling or change in acceleration initially that causes the sleeper to wake – it’s clearly the impact at the end of the fall, much like many people have when they dream. (I believe this is called a myoclonic jerk.) That was made clear from the beginning scenes. Subjects did not wake when *falling* but when they would have *landed*. It’s why Cobb wakes *when he hits the water* – not before – and why Saito was so impressed that he was still dreaming while on the shag carpet, and why he didn’t wake until the train stopped (presumably – clearly he does wake!) and the start of the elevator fall didn’t wake anyone (it should have because they should have flown up into the ceiling!)
It’s also why many of the options given above are perfectly legit IF they have BOTH an initial AND a final jolt.

By: Brian Schmidt

Brian Schmidt — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 23:00:02 +0000

@sikander: Arthur can’t use the kick within his own dream; it has to come from a higher level. So he’s okay because he’ll get the kick at the crash, but he has to bring the other ones up a level by creating a kick for them.

I think.

By: Archwright

Archwright — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 22:19:47 +0000

The big problem is that they all had to get the kick at the same time (according to Cobb’s Hypothesis). Tying them all together ensured that whatever stimulus Arthur gave was felt simultaneously.

Launching them down a hallway would work, except that building in NYC are generally taller than they are wide, and may not really allow for good timing (trivial). The big issue is one of drift. By putting all the people in the elevator, he knew that they would not bounce off anything too soon and wake them up in the middle of a critical action.

My complaint is that the solution is just too clever for the character Arthur. But, I’m willing to consider that character growth.

By: Eric Wolff

Eric Wolff — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 21:21:14 +0000

@sikander I was thinking Arthur could wake himself by spinning on his own.

@Dan Brilliant!

@ Tree Lobsters Have you been weightless? I’m not sure what it feels like, so hard for me to say, but people who have been sky diving often describe it as *not* feeling like falling — like weightlessness. You make a valid point on the top level issue, but to my mind the problem is the time dilation – the falling van is falling so slowly for lower level sleepers that they don’t feel the falling at all, thus, the weightlessness. And I think they said something about the problem of kicking out of order, but I’ve forgotten what it was.

By: Tree Lobsters

Tree Lobsters — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 16:00:32 +0000

See, the problem I had with this is that being weightless feels exactly like falling. “Kicking” the sleepers on the top-most level should’ve provided a kick for all lower levels.

By: Dan

Dan — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 13:37:21 +0000

Allow them to free float, but kick them into one another. When they crash into each other, they should both wake up. Since 4 people were under, he would have needed only to do it twice.

By: mrsleepy

mrsleepy — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 13:23:10 +0000

ideas ? only when i’m not coked out and even then, ideas is not with me.