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Local Authors => Brandon Sanderson => Topic started by: Tasslehoof on July 27, 2010, 06:50:24 AM

Title: [Super Spoiler Alert!] Mistborn compared to new Inception Movie!
Post by: Tasslehoof on July 27, 2010, 06:50:24 AM
Okay.. So I finally saw the new movie Inception that everyone has been talking about.  Just before we got to the theater, my friend was talking about the first Mistborn book (which I suggested he read), and how awesome it is blah, blah.  The usual stuff you hear from someone talking about Mistborn.

So going into Inception, all I could think about was Mistborn.  This lead to some extremely interesting ideas.  Every character that appeared seemed to fit the characters from Mistborn:

Vin - Similar to Ariadne.  Ariadne is extremely advanced at the architecture of dreams, much like Vin is extremely advanced with Allomancy.  Even at early stages, Cobb is shocked at how fast Ariadne picks up the techniques.  This is quite similar to the Vin and Kelsier connection.

Kelsier - Similar to Cobb.  Cobb is the "Master" of the dream world.  He even goes as far to say something like "I am the best there is."  Kelsier is often seen, at least from Vin's stand point, as the best Mistborn fighter.  Remember the scene where Kelsier fought the Steel Inquisitor, shortly before he died?  He shows his extreme expertise on multiple occasions.    Also like Kelsier, Cobb lost his wife, and he almost seems crazy at some points, although this may be because I recently saw Shutter Island :P.  Either way, Cobb and Kelsier share many similarities.  They both start a "thieving" crew (one is for thoughts).  They both lost the ones they loved, etc.

Elend - Similar to Fischer.  The biggest difference between these two is that they aren't romantically involved with the same character (Vin/Ariadne).  He reminds me of Elend because he is thrown into the middle of powerful forces, and really doesn't realize what is going on, or at what magnitude.  He also has a serious father issue. 

Sazed - Similar to Cobb's father.  He seemed to be the all knowing, helpful character, that often warned Cobb of the dangers that he was embarking on, but went with it anyway.

Yeden - Similar to Saito.  Saito is the funder of the endeavor, similar to Yeden.   

Even the plot itself is similar in a few ways.  The Kelsier figure creates a nearly impossible plan, and recruits the best crewmen around the world to work for him.  Cobb is an international criminal, similar to TLR's dislike of Kelsier.

Idk, just thought some of the similarities were crazy.  Obviously, there isn't allomancy, etc.  But it has its own form of "magic" in it.

What do y'all think?
Title: Re: [Super Spoiler Alert!] Mistborn compared to new Inception Movie!
Post by: little wilson on July 27, 2010, 07:41:45 PM
Funny you should mention this, because when I saw it, my friend kept saying she wanted to read the book. Obviously, it's not a book, and she knew that, but it was so awesome, that she wanted to read a book that was similarly awesome. And because I also saw some vague Mistborn similarities, I suggested Mistborn to her.

And when I say Mistborn similarities, I mean in part the specialties of each individual character. The Architect. The Chemist. The Forger. When they were going through those, all I could think about was the Smoker, the Thug, etc. Couple that with the seeming impossibility of the heist, and..yeah. I particularly saw the similarities in the scene where everyone was in the warehouse talking about how to go about getting Fischer and everything they'd have to do. Reminded me distinctly of the part in Mistborn, where they're all in the attic conversing on how to take down TLR. There are some other things I noticed in the movie, but those two--the characters, and the plot--are the ones that really stuck out to me.

So, yeah. You're not the only who saw similarities.
Title: Re: [Super Spoiler Alert!] Mistborn compared to new Inception Movie!
Post by: Peter Ahlstrom on July 27, 2010, 09:27:24 PM
I saw no similarities. I think this is a stretch and you're just seeing archetypes.
Title: Re: [Super Spoiler Alert!] Mistborn compared to new Inception Movie!
Post by: Tasslehoof on July 28, 2010, 12:02:26 AM
I saw no similarities. I think this is a stretch and you're just seeing archetypes.

:(

Obviously neither mirrors the other, but with Mistborn on my mind, I couldn't help seeing interesting similarities.
Title: Re: [Super Spoiler Alert!] Mistborn compared to new Inception Movie!
Post by: Chaos on July 28, 2010, 05:23:09 AM
It was only in retrospect when I realized some, but they weren't nearly as deep as yours. I felt the heist style, combined with "rules" of the dreams like Allomancy, and also realized that Mal is a similar name to Mare. I agree with Peter though, a lot of it was archetypes. The heist story is one of those typical structures. To be fair, I had thought "You know, it's really cool they are letting me know some of the logic of the dreams. This is like Sanderson's First Law, and by knowing these elements, they paid off Cobb's character."
Title: Re: [Super Spoiler Alert!] Mistborn compared to new Inception Movie!
Post by: Wolfstar on July 28, 2010, 05:07:11 PM
I think it's more likely that the script author/director combo and Brandon have a similar sense of what makes a good story.

Although, your analysis is interesting.  I don't think I could take it as far as you have, but some of the characters fit, in part.
Title: Re: [Super Spoiler Alert!] Mistborn compared to new Inception Movie!
Post by: Creative_Vortx on July 28, 2010, 10:08:06 PM
I saw no similarities. I think this is a stretch and you're just seeing archetypes.

I'm with Peter on this one guys. You can make this sorta statement about any similar group heist / hero / etc movie. (That's what inception is, a glorified heist movie. That's not an insult, I loved loved loved inception.)

Fun idea, not bashing the creative process of connection or anything. Just think it's a stretch.

Oh and yes did I mention that I loved inception enough that I've seen it three times so far. And (since the spoiler warning is in the title already and it's speculation) the top dropped. I'm convinced.
Title: Re: [Super Spoiler Alert!] Mistborn compared to new Inception Movie!
Post by: Wolfstar on July 29, 2010, 03:54:51 AM
And (since the spoiler warning is in the title already and it's speculation) the top dropped. I'm convinced.

I think so too.  That's my way of ignoring a few of the plot holes I found, haha.
Title: Re: [Super Spoiler Alert!] Mistborn compared to new Inception Movie!
Post by: Chaos on July 29, 2010, 05:23:27 AM
And (since the spoiler warning is in the title already and it's speculation) the top dropped. I'm convinced.

I think so too.  That's my way of ignoring a few of the plot holes I found, haha.

Pfft, the only plot hole I saw was that the gravity shift only went one level down. Which isn't a "plot" hole, per se. Other than that, solid.

I saw no similarities. I think this is a stretch and you're just seeing archetypes.

I'm with Peter on this one guys. You can make this sorta statement about any similar group heist / hero / etc movie. (That's what inception is, a glorified heist movie. That's not an insult, I loved loved loved inception.)

Fun idea, not bashing the creative process of connection or anything. Just think it's a stretch.

I agree, it is a big stretch.
Title: Re: [Super Spoiler Alert!] Mistborn compared to new Inception Movie!
Post by: Comatose on July 29, 2010, 08:13:33 AM
Top definately dropped. 

I noticed the similarities to mistborn as well, but the same way I might notice them in Ocean's eleven, so it's pretty much just archetypes.  Aslo, I read the title for this thread before seeing the movie, and Ellen Page is my pick for Vin in the mistborn movie.

It also really reminded me A LOT of Shutter Island (and not just because Leonardo Decaprio is the lead).  The characters he plays is also very similar.  Both lost their wife, both are to blame for her death, both are mentally unstable because of this.

PS: When he said he married her because of a dream, I totally thought she had performed inception to plant the idea in his head.  but I was wrong!
Title: Re: [Super Spoiler Alert!] Mistborn compared to new Inception Movie!
Post by: little wilson on July 29, 2010, 09:00:39 AM
I agree. The top dropped. Plus, the girl's outfit was slightly different at the end than it had been from the other times she was shown.

And yes. The similarities are definitely archetypal. No doubt about that. I just don't normally see it so strongly probably because movies are generally much weaker than this. Nolan knows how to make his films. And Sanderson knows how to write. Both know great story-telling.
Title: Re: [Super Spoiler Alert!] Mistborn compared to new Inception Movie!
Post by: Wolfstar on July 29, 2010, 12:19:15 PM
Oh, whoops, I got it backwards.  I think it didn't drop.  I forgot which was which.

Ok, the biggest plot-hole in my mind... he had been hunted by these corporations around the world, but now that Saito waves a magic wand to let him into the US, they're suddenly going to stop?  He had been hunted by these corporations around the world that knew enough about him to know that he couldn't come home and why, but they never thought to find out where he had lived and threaten his children for leverage?  I just... I don't see them being that kind.  That's partly why I think the whole movie was a dream.
Title: Re: [Super Spoiler Alert!] Mistborn compared to new Inception Movie!
Post by: Tasslehoof on July 30, 2010, 02:15:02 AM
I concur that the top dropped.  And I like stretching things, and I haven't seen a really good Mistborn discussion recently, so I attempted to spark something different :D

Also, this is the first "heist" type movie I've seen since I read Mistborn (I read them the first time a month or so ago).  So it really just kind of hit me, especially since my friend was talking about it a lot.  I can see how it works with a lot of movies, everything just seemed to really stick out for me in Inception.

I also noticed that the gravity didn't affect anything else, but the car in the first level falling off of the bridge initially affected the 3rd level.  I don't know, I guess they just didn't want to deal with no gravity in an open area like that.  Although for people who pay attention to details, it was annoying :P
Title: Re: [Super Spoiler Alert!] Mistborn compared to new Inception Movie!
Post by: Tasslehoof on July 30, 2010, 02:19:45 AM
Ok, the biggest plot-hole in my mind... he had been hunted by these corporations around the world, but now that Saito waves a magic wand to let him into the US, they're suddenly going to stop?  He had been hunted by these corporations around the world that knew enough about him to know that he couldn't come home and why, but they never thought to find out where he had lived and threaten his children for leverage?  I just... I don't see them being that kind.  That's partly why I think the whole movie was a dream.

The biggest reason that I don't think the entire movie was a dream, was because multiple times earlier in the movie, the top "stopped" spinning.  To me, it just didn't make sense that they would even bother with a totem if it only worked some of the time.  Or only in certain dreams, which just seems stupid.

The only way that the end could have been a dream was that they were somehow in ANOTHER layer, but the layer was just the plane where they thought they were supposed to wake up.  But that just seems to far fetched to me, so I'm just going with it wasn't a dream the whole time :)
Title: Re: [Super Spoiler Alert!] Mistborn compared to new Inception Movie!
Post by: Elusive Fehler on August 02, 2010, 02:49:12 PM
I saw no similarities. I think this is a stretch and you're just seeing archetypes.

I think Peter is right here.  When I saw the movie I was thinking some about Mistborn: Final Empire but what I was really seeing was the similarities that came about because of a shared genre, the heist film.  So it wasn't that Arthur(Inception) reminded me of Dox, it was really that both were based on the idea that an eclectic group of thieves would need someone responsible to handle things like renting a warehouse.  So we noticed the character archetypes that were present in both movies.

In reality Vin and Ariadne have very little in common other then they are a new comer to the group/lifestyle.  Also I think Ellen Page should play both, but I digress. 
Title: Re: [Super Spoiler Alert!] Mistborn compared to new Inception Movie!
Post by: Wolfstar on August 03, 2010, 12:35:35 AM

In reality Vin and Ariadne have very little in common other then they are a new comer to the group/lifestyle.  Also I think Ellen Page should play both, but I digress. 

Hottest.  Vin.  EVER!
Title: Re: [Super Spoiler Alert!] Mistborn compared to new Inception Movie!
Post by: Tegal Savian on August 11, 2010, 08:35:46 AM
I saw no similarities. I think this is a stretch and you're just seeing archetypes.
Yup!  I have to agree.  I saw no similarities whatsoever.
Title: Re: [Super Spoiler Alert!] Mistborn compared to new Inception Movie!
Post by: Fireborn on August 12, 2010, 08:40:58 PM
Just because they're archetypes doesn't make it not interesting to see how the details fit together.

From now on I'm going to recommend Mistborn as the Inception of fantasy books.  That'll get people's attention. ;D
Title: Re: [Super Spoiler Alert!] Mistborn compared to new Inception Movie!
Post by: IKilledAsmodean on August 19, 2010, 12:17:16 AM
When I saw Inception I thought Immediately about the Way of Kings. It practically acted out the lashing magic of Szeth. I think that was the only reason I liked the movie.
Title: Re: [Super Spoiler Alert!] Mistborn compared to new Inception Movie!
Post by: Inkthinker on August 19, 2010, 10:16:10 AM
The only connection that I can see between Mistborn and Inception is that Christopher Nolan would probably make an awesome MB movie.

 ;D

I think the best interpretation of Inception is that the whole film, from one end to the other, is a dream. The only "real" people are Cobb and Miles (his old teacher), and possibly Ariadne and Saito. The idea that's being incepted isn't the whole plot with the heir and the corporation, it's the idea that Cobb needs to accept his role in Mal's death, and then he needs to wake up and go home to his kids. It's only at the end that he finally abandons the dream, when he lets go of Mal's totem.

Remember, that top was never his totem, and he made it quite clear that A)a totem must never be handled by anyone else, and 2)a "tainted" totem can lie to you.

Hence, Mallory's spinning top has been lying to him the whole time, telling him he's awake when he's not. His guilt over her death has trapped him in a series of layered dreams where he can wallow in self-persecution. Miles provides him with Ariadne (named for the princess that helps lead Theseus out of the minotaur's labyrinth), who's particularly key to getting Cobb to recognize what he needs to in order to get himself out of his own personal hell.
Title: Re: [Super Spoiler Alert!] Mistborn compared to new Inception Movie!
Post by: Tasslehoof on August 19, 2010, 05:23:38 PM
The only connection that I can see between Mistborn and Inception is that Christopher Nolan would probably make an awesome MB movie.

 ;D

I think the best interpretation of Inception is that the whole film, from one end to the other, is a dream. The only "real" people are Cobb and Miles (his old teacher), and possibly Ariadne and Saito. The idea that's being incepted isn't the whole plot with the heir and the corporation, it's the idea that Cobb needs to accept his role in Mal's death, and then he needs to wake up and go home to his kids. It's only at the end that he finally abandons the dream, when he lets go of Mal's totem.

Remember, that top was never his totem, and he made it quite clear that A)a totem must never be handled by anyone else, and 2)a "tainted" totem can lie to you.

Hence, Mallory's spinning top has been lying to him the whole time, telling him he's awake when he's not. His guilt over her death has trapped him in a series of layered dreams where he can wallow in self-persecution. Miles provides him with Ariadne (named for the princess that helps lead Theseus out of the minotaur's labyrinth), who's particularly key to getting Cobb to recognize what he needs to in order to get himself out of his own personal hell.

I really like this.  Basically what you are saying is, it doesn't matter what the top did at the end of the movie, because it wasn't his totem to begin with.
Title: Re: [Super Spoiler Alert!] Mistborn compared to new Inception Movie!
Post by: Fireborn on August 19, 2010, 08:41:28 PM
Well, the thing is that that the only other person to touch the top is dead.
Title: Re: [Super Spoiler Alert!] Mistborn compared to new Inception Movie!
Post by: Inkthinker on August 19, 2010, 09:41:24 PM
It doesn't matter. The top is lying, because it's an illusion, part of Cobb's dream. It appears to be stuttering at the end, but what's really important is the understanding that Cobb has abandoned it, that what it tells us is no longer relevant.

I don't think we ever learn what Cobb's totem should properly be, but if we do see it in flashback or something, that would be an additional clue pointing to the fact that it should NOT be Mallory's spinning top.
Title: Re: [Super Spoiler Alert!] Mistborn compared to new Inception Movie!
Post by: Fireborn on August 19, 2010, 10:59:54 PM
Wait, my understanding of how the totem works is that you have an item that only you know the weight and feel of, that way when you go into someone else's dream, they don't know how that item is balanced so it can't be recreated.  It's  not that a totem becomes "tainted", the reason you're not supposed to let someone else touch the totem is so that they can't recreate it, allowing you to differentiate between reality and dream.  It's the totem, it's someone else using the totem against you.  Now letting someone you trust is still a bad idea because, if they know the item, they subconsciously make it accurate making it useless in that person's dream.
Title: Re: [Super Spoiler Alert!] Mistborn compared to new Inception Movie!
Post by: Creative_Vortx on August 19, 2010, 11:54:48 PM
Exactly but how does Cobb know that his wife's totem is that weight and not a different weight? It might be a recreation from the beginning. Only she'd know which is why we can (if you want to) assume that it is fake.