There’s a reason why that anti-gravity hallway effect in Inception looks so amazing.

It’s because that shit is real.

No CGI. It’s a giant rig that rotates 360 degrees and it must have cost a fortune. It’s another example of how and why Christopher Nolan is this generation’s James Cameron.

Like Cameron, Nolan insists on spending millions of the studio’s money on creating real, physical spectacles, sometimes for only a single shot.

This is why those aerial IMAX shots in The Dark Knight looked so amazing; those weren’t sets, they were real skyscrapers in Chicago and Hong Kong.

When we see Batman riding his batpod motorcycle…it’s real. They didn’t just hand off the scene to a bunch of animators.

A team of engineers spent months (and a batload of Warner Brothers’ cash) designing and building a new vehicle that a stuntman could actually drive.





Let’s be clear: they invented a vehicle. For..one scene? Yes, for one scene (okay, two and a half scenes, geeks).

That’s dedication. And vision. And obsession. And hubris.

The same qualities that the truly great filmmakers possess.

In a summer movie season filled with under-performing sequels, remakes and reboots, there’s a strong lesson here for the bean counters.

A dedication to excellence and veracity is the kind of thing that builds trust in an audience and, over time, will sustain the career of Christopher Nolan while the directors of the assembly lines that pump out the sequels and remakes and reboots fade into obscurity.

You will always know that when you go to a Christopher Nolan movie, you’re getting a big ride, unlike any other, made with tons of smarts and passion and no skimping on budget or scale. Just like James Cameron or Steven Spielberg, at their best.

That’s why the latest featurette (UPDATE: EMBED BELOW) on the making of Inception rocks my world.

Still, always dreaming,

Dan Calvisi

Get more info on the Inception Screenplay!