Inception

(M) Warner DVD/BD

It is not often that a blockbuster film comes along that isn’t based on a comic book property, an ’80s TV show or is a sequel, but director Christopher Nolan has done something remarkable — he’s created a cerebral, thought-provoking, audacious and wholly original concept with his new film Inception.

Philosophically, Inception invites comparisons with films like The Matrix and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Themes of unreality versus reality, doubt and leaps of faith, guilt and forgiveness, truth and memory and the subconscious mind affecting the waking state are shot through the script.

Leonardo DiCaprio’s performance as Cobb is as multilayered as the script and will surely see him nominated for an Oscar.

Inception presents us with the fact that ideas can come to define us in our waking lives; that our subconscious memories of past transgressions can become realities for which we need to seek redemption and forgiveness.

Images and ideas from this film will not be easily shaken. Like a labyrinth, the film makes us question every decision, catch every detail and traverse every tunnel. Be warned, you will need to see this film more than once.

Extras across both formats are exhaustive, with Blu-Ray offering the most immersive experience with its “Extraction Mode” — a picture in picture experience that lets you infiltrate Inception’s dreamscape to learn how Christopher Nolan, DiCaprio and the rest of the cast achieved the movie’s signature moments.

Other features include a documentary called “Dreams: Cinema of the Subconscious”, which interviews top scientists on the latest dream research.

Adrian Drayton