Inception vs. Jacob's Ladder

This 2010 contemporary sci-fi actioner follows a subconscious security team around the globe and into the intimate and infinite world of dreams.
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Am I the only one who sees the glaring parallels between the two films? I saw Jacob's Ladder fairly recently, but after giving the movie some thought, it came to me that it reminds a lot of Inception -- or Inception reminds a lot of Jacob's Ladder. They not only share a similar plot structure, but similar themes as well. Jacob's Ladder is obviously a much more gritty and cerebral film, but see for yourself:

The protagonist is unsure if the world around him is real or not? Check.

The protagonist grieves for the loss of his loved one and blames himself for it? Check.

The plot of the film revolves around a conspiracy? Check.

The plot shifts between time periods and settings to confuse the audience on what is real and what is not real? Check.

The ending is about the protagonist coming back to his past and facing the truth to be reunited with someone he loves? Check.

And there are some more literal similarities. Such as the scene where the protagonist is thrown into the bath of water in order to come back from the dream.

Since Inception was originally meant to be a horror movie, I think Mr. Nolan could've used that movie as an inspiration for the original version of the movie, which he wrote back in the early 2000s. Which I buy more than that nonsense about Nolan "ripping off" Paprika.

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MATRIX/STRANGE DAYS/THE THIRTEENTH FLOOR/MOTHER/eXistenZ/Dark City /annihilation/ A LOT OF OTHER MOVIES

The protagonist is unsure if the world around him is real or not? Check.

The protagonist grieves for the loss of his loved one and blames himself for it? Check.

The plot of the film revolves around a conspiracy? Check.

The plot shifts between time periods and settings to confuse the audience on what is real and what is not real? Check.

The ending is about the protagonist coming back to his past and facing the truth to be reunited with someone he loves? Check.

thats how movies work dude.
although inception completely transcended all others, in his depth and the thought behind him.

Posts: 647
Joined: November 2019
Batman's Batman wrote:
November 21st, 2018, 3:03 am
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Am I the only one who sees the glaring parallels between the two films? I saw Jacob's Ladder fairly recently, but after giving the movie some thought, it came to me that it reminds a lot of Inception -- or Inception reminds a lot of Jacob's Ladder. They not only share a similar plot structure, but similar themes as well. Jacob's Ladder is obviously a much more gritty and cerebral film, but see for yourself:

The protagonist is unsure if the world around him is real or not? Check.

The protagonist grieves for the loss of his loved one and blames himself for it? Check.

The plot of the film revolves around a conspiracy? Check.

The plot shifts between time periods and settings to confuse the audience on what is real and what is not real? Check.

The ending is about the protagonist coming back to his past and facing the truth to be reunited with someone he loves? Check.

And there are some more literal similarities. Such as the scene where the protagonist is thrown into the bath of water in order to come back from the dream.

Since Inception was originally meant to be a horror movie, I think Mr. Nolan could've used that movie as an inspiration for the original version of the movie, which he wrote back in the early 2000s. Which I buy more than that nonsense about Nolan "ripping off" Paprika.
Read Dreams are Sacred 1948, The Dream Master 1966, Mindplayers 1987 and Queen of Angels 1990. Watch Dreamscape, The cell, matrix, existenz, open your eyes 1997, World on a Wire 1973, Nightmare on Elm Street Dream Warriors and Brainstorm. There are other things with some similar ideas. Originality is about how you transform an idea into something very different in its approach which inception does because at the end of the day, everything comes out of inspiration from other things and sometimes you also have a multiple discovery. I’ve had ideas but later found out they existed already in some form in a story although I didn’t know it.

When people come with the nonsensical remark of "inception ripped off paprika", it makes me think of how narrow minded they are. So I tell them to read all those novels (or to read what they are about) as well as to watch all those movies and then their only defense is to say the visuals are the same but they take those things amazingly way out of context too. The sad part is that instead of thinking "you know what? Maybe I’m living in a bubble for believing only this (that which they love) is unique", they get angry. When the point is to show them that other projects can be original in their own way and to open their minds.

I know this is an old thread but stumbled across it just now haha.

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