The goal of /r/Movies is to provide an inclusive place for discussions and news about films with major releases. Submissions should be for the purpose of informing or initiating a discussion, not just to entertain readers. Read our extensive list of rules for more information on other types of posts like fan-art and self-promotion, or message the moderators if you have any questions.
I was pretty young when I saw this movie so understood none of it, and haven't seen it since it came out.
I know it's a remake of a Spanish movie, has anyone seen both and can give me their interpretation and impressions of the plot? It's really quite a mind whirl, and I was always confused by what was real or a dream state or whatever the heck was going on in that movie.
Sort by:
Best
Open comment sort options
Best
Top
New
Controversial
Old
Q&A
Dude was dying present day, had himself put in suspended animation, while suspended was living an artificial dream life that was awesome, dream went bad and turned to a nightmare, took him a while to figure out that his life wasn't reality but actually a dream and call for tech support, they work him up at the end over a century after he was frozen.
And the dream began when he wakes up in the street. Sophia, who had been avoiding David throughout the night, just randomly decides to come get him and they start a life together. Suddenly his face can be fixed as well.
It's one of my favorite movies. I've probably seen it at least 20 times.
Which scene in the street? Immediately after the accident?
Ha 5 years later, but it’s the scene where he wakes up in the street after the night at the nightclub. The sky is a vanilla sky
Thanks. So, all the stuff when he had the birthday party, the relationship with Julie, the crash, and after, with the disfigured face, then the club, happened in basic reality, more or less? I took the scene where he is running down the street and seeing Sophia and Brian kissing (in B&W) after the club was all in his mind (anxiety) before he blacked out and the splice happened.
Well, I saw it once around when it came out, and I have never seen the Spanish original. I got a little confused because I thought there was a "coma" section too, but apparently not from what I noticed in the rewatch. I sent a chat to you. I asked because you said you watched it like 20 times. 🤷♂️😄
That actually makes me want to see the movie!
Same here. In fact, this comment got me curious enough to look up the cast...
And now I really want to see this.
I love this movie. It's not particularly happy though, through most of it, just so you are in the right mood watching it.
It has a fantastic soundtrack too.
I didn’t realize how good the soundtrack was until I rewatched years later!
You had me at Tilda Swinton!
It's bizarre and visually a very good movie, but while I like all the actors involved (and Cameron Crowe) it isn't executed very well.
It is just bizarre most of the movie with exposition from tech support at the very end explaining the twist.
Yeah, other than the cool ending, it's not a particularly enjoyable film
Comment deleted by user
I hear a lot of people saying the Spanish version is better. Maybe I should hunt it down some day.
It can be weird/tripy at times. But once you fully understand what's going on, it's very rewarding.
Was he dying though? I thought he just had a really bad scar on his face and wasn't happy with life anymore.
Correct! He tried to commit suicide with sleeping pills after the night out with Sofia while wearing the mask, letting his vanity getting the better of him.
His face was disfigured.
that was in the dream.
It was about a guy (Tom Cruise) who suffers a terrible accident and is forever after incapable of looking at plot-summarizing Wikipedia articles.
OP IS REEL.
You ever taste the sky, brah? Well, then, let me tell you. It's vanilla.
My interpretation is that it was about denial. Throughout the movie he kept trying to invent alternatives for the things that had gone wrong in his life, but he knew they were just fantasies so they always went wrong themselves. Finally at the end of the movie he decides to face (hah!) reality even though it's not ideal.
It's a really good movie about the value of mortality - in my opinion. Love the sci-fi twist, though at the time I feel most people hated it. This is a movie that is definitely worth watching.
Agreed. Soooo good and I’m still floored it didn’t get the attention it deserved.
vanilla sky has a truly beautiful ending, its been etched into my memory for years now. Even without context and knowing nothing about the film you could still watch it and be mesmerized.
You should watch the spanish movie, I've seen both and the remake with Tom Cruise is pretty inferior in a lot of ways, it's also easier to understand by the end. And for some reason, you can feel passion oozing from it
oh man the original is amazing and a total mindfuck. i loved it so much and it took me down the deep road of spanish cinema. no regrets
It was an allegory for the fall of Margaret Thatcher.
Aw man, I thought it was dramatic re-imagining of the Nixon Kitchen Debate.
No it's about the first thanksgiving.
Masks made of skin.
The movie is another attempt to wake you from your warped personal dream reality you entered in after a horrible wreck that has left you in near death state of consciousness what seemed like many years ago.
Chances are your consciousness still hasn’t been able to begin to process what happened thus the seamless continuation in your awareness. But haven’t you been wondering why everything is so bizarre and why even the people who should be the wisest and most responsible are revealing pettiness and ineptitude? Or why by the day everything is growing more chaotic?
Well that is merely the temporary self constructed and projected dream reality slowly collapsing as your flame of life slowly fades. Luckily and well.. Sadly, vanilla sky revealed the necessary leap of faith to awaken back into life. Otherwise staying “alive” will surely lead to death.
I'd suggest you watch it again now that you're surely smart and old enough to understand it. It really isn't that much of a head scratcher. The end reveal is quite straightforward, and there aren't multiple interpretations about it. It clearly states at what moment in the film the dream actually started. The original Spanish film is the same in that regard.
jazz and rock and roll and love and the little things
The ending explains everything pretty clearly. If you want an even more detailed explanation, the alternate ending is pretty neat to watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dSVJRdu8N4
watch the original spanish movie open your eyes. i havent watched vanilla sky but i hear it sucks dirty balls compared to open your eyes. plus the ending is up to for interpretation
Maybe watch it again? This post is kind of odd... since you could have googled the answer. The real reward is watching that movie the 2nd time and absorbing every emotion.
I don't know, but my family never let me choose another movie after suggesting this one.
Comment deleted by user
Yes and no. Sometimes you have to know your audience and I don't think it was a good movie pick for that group.
It was about a top secret agency that handles the most difficult missions. The main character has to dangle from the ceiling in a secure room without making a sound or disturbing the floor in order to avoid detection. I don't remember anything else about the movie except for hyper realistic masks.
It was about a man trying to reunite his family in the midst of an alien global takeover.
Tom Cruise was a Nazi Colonel who was plotting to assassinate Adolf Hitler.
It was about an arrogant, disgruntled weatherman who gets stuck in a time loop and is forced to live the same mundane day over and over and over again. It's actually pretty funny.
This makes a lot of sense. When I saw this movie a long time ago, I thought that the beginning part was real, but after reading this analysis, I think he's right--that the whole movie is a dream (except for the last few seconds). Although, some of the things that happened were true, we're not seeing them as they happened. We only see the dream version.
https://filmcolossus.com/single-post/2017/06/01/Explaining-the-ending-of-VANILLA-SKY-why-its-all-a-dream-the-glitch-and-how-INCEPTION-helps