Eternalist wrote:
If Arthur's kick didn't work, dying in the arctic level would have brought them back to the hotel level. Destroying the fortress was a fail-safe measure.

But dying in the arctic level took Fischer to Limbo not to the hotel level. That doesn't seem all that safe.

Perhaps Fischer is different because he is the subject, I'm still not entirely sure how this all works, I need to see the movie again.

Eternalist wrote:Perhaps Fischer is different because he is the subject, I'm still not entirely sure how this all works, I need to see the movie again.

I've seen it three times now and this sequence still confuses me. But I feel like I have a very good handle on the rest of the film.

Perhaps the deep-sleep nature of the sedative has some kind of effect on the kicks, maybe explaining why simultaneous kicks may be needed.

I've only seen the movie once but maybe the blowing up of the fortress was meant to bring Ariadne back; when she jumps out of limbo maybe she's not in the fortress level, but stuck in between limbo and that level. The kick in the fortress level would successfully bring her and Fischer (the dreamer of the fortress) back for good. This is all just a theory. Let me know what you all think.

eberg151 wrote:I've only seen the movie once but maybe the blowing up of the fortress was meant to bring Ariadne back; when she jumps out of limbo maybe she's not in the fortress level, but stuck in between limbo and that level. The kick in the fortress level would successfully bring her and Fischer (the dreamer of the fortress) back for good. This is all just a theory. Let me know what you all think.

That's a good theory, it does seem to fit. Its the best theory I have heard about it. But Fischer isn't the dreamer of the fortress Eames is. Fischer is the subject that brings his subconsious.

I just realized that even though Fischer supposedly dies in this level, his subconscious is still there. I guess it would be since Fischer's actually body is still alive.

The destruction of the compound was the kick. By syncing them, they ride the kicks all the way up to Level 1. After that, the clock on the dream machine went to 0 and they all awoke on the plane.

Fischer and Ariadne fall to their deaths (in Limbo) that kick them back to Level 3. The destruction of the compound where Inception took place, kicked them to Level 2. The destruction of the elevator was the kick to get them to Level 1. Hitting the water awoke them to Level 1 completely.

Also remember the opening sequence. Cobb gets a kick by hitting the water in the tub, not so much the actual fall...but the fall is part of the kick. So, it makes sense that the van hitting the water is the ultimate kick in the dream world.

Now, on Level 1, instead of waiting for the dream machine timer to reach 0, they could've done a kick to get them completely out of the dream world. But because Inception had been performed, Fischer had no more projections...no danger.

Jumpman wrote:The destruction of the compound was the kick. By syncing them, they ride the kicks all the way up to Level 1. After that, the clock on the dream machine went to 0 and they all awoke on the plane.

Fischer and Ariadne fall to their deaths (in Limbo) that kick them back to Level 3. The destruction of the compound where Inception took place, kicked them to Level 2. The destruction of the elevator was the kick to get them to Level 1. Hitting the water awoke them to Level 1 completely.

Makes sense to me

Jumpman wrote: The destruction of the elevator was the kick to get them to Level 1. Hitting the water awoke them to Level 1 completely.

I don't quite get that... it doesn't seem like a bad theory, but if it were true, it would seem to me like a bad excuse in story telling for Nolan if I am understanding the needing two kicks to fully wake up in Level 1. Not adding up...

Jumpman wrote:But because Inception had been performed, Fischer had no more projections...no danger.

Fischer would still have projections, and any change in that level would warrant danger. For instance, On the beach, Eams revealing his true self would go against what Robert Fischer thinks he should be (think his name is Brody or Broden) which is messing with his reality of that dream and therefore it would, one, tell him it is a dream, and two stir up the militarized projections again.

As with the theory stated earlier on Killing yourself in Limbo allows you to be PULLed back from the falling fortress, I'm feeling it, but not completely satisfied. While I have seen the movie 3 times, I miss something I wish I hadn't every time.

Eams says something along the lines (in the tower before they go to limbo) that if the kick doesn't work, hes gone anyway. Similarly, he doesn't start setting up the charges until they go to limbo. His mission was to be a diverter for Fischers projections... so maybe the plan wasn't to blow up the fortress until they decided to go to limbo. When he says if it doesn't work, maybe that means that thye don't know that the kick won't pull them back from limbo but its worth the shot. In limbo, they see the warning (thunderstorm/resuscitation), which tells them the kick is about to come - that would be the fortress collapsing. When it does collapse, the buildings in limbo deteriorate and they aren't pulled out, so she "improvises" and jumps out the window.

This theory has it's own holes as before they knew whether the kick would work or not (in this theory), it doesn't make sense for Cobb to promise to stay in limbo to help find Saito (and how did he figure he died exactly?....) if he thought he would be pulled anyway...or was that his plan all along?

After seeing the film 3 times, the PUSH method seems to be expressed through the heist progression in my opinion even though I feel like it leaves its own holes and that the earlier kicks expressed a Pull method.

I don't know, any of this make sense to you?