Still an awesome movie though

In all of the dream sequences he is wearing his wedding ring. In all of the ‘awake’ scenes he is not. This is very specific and not at all accidental/unintentional. If you don’t like the ‘Total Recall’ ambiguity of the ending just look at his hand. This tells you what is really happening.

That said, he doesn’t care if he’s dreaming or not… he has accepted whatever is happening as reality, which is why he spins the top and walks away.

Plus, being able to control and live in a dream world where you can be the architect of your own space is a technical and creative paradise.

Cobb’s first act of Inception has repercussions in both Mal’s and his own mind, so much so that his subconscious actively works to trap instead of expel. The story is more about his personal manifestation of guilt than about layering dreams. The blurring of the line between dreams and reality is only presented at the end as a mind bender, not a central idea of the film.

Also, you could find any number of examples of things that happened in Inception that happened in other movies, such as your comparison between Sam Tyler and Mal Cobb. Individual scenes and events can be compared to an infinite number of like stories that have been told. What is important is under what context they are presented. The suicide of Mal is important not because she believes that she’s still dreaming, but because Cobb put the idea in her head that it was true. His entire character revolves around the idea that it was his fault.

You don’t have to worry, though, since no one with a brain really cares about this stupid movie or the reasons you think tech folks will like it.

Just because an idea has been explored doesn’t in itself any less appealing. How many ways have we seen a Shakespeare play reworked?

Solid film that did us all the favor of treating us like we had a brain to tell a fun story… really not much more too it than tat. I thoroughly enjoyed watching it.