Inception Mashup Theater: Christopher Nolan’s Dream Heist Merged With ‘50s Flicks, Fringe, And Serenity

By David Wharton | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

I remember in high school when a cinephile friend of mine spent days creating Star Trek and Babylon 5 music videos via linked VHS players. His results were damned impressive, but it’s a project that would have been so much easier these days. YouTube and ever-advancing home computer technology have created an explosion of so-called mashup videos, merging two unrelated movies or shows in a way that — hopefully — creates something uniquely cool in itself. We recently ran across the above video, created by YouTuber Krishna Shenoi, which reimagines Christopher Nolan’s Inception as a black-and-white ‘50s-style release, complete with over-enthusiastic text blurbs and a narrator that sounds like every bombastic trailer released prior to 1960. It’s a clever idea, but it’s also interesting to see modern, more naturalistic acting contrasted with the hyperbolic narration.

Next up, YouTuber BlackieBrens combines the Inception trailer audio and music with footage from Fox’s Fringe. Obviously the Fringe actors’ mouths aren’t perfectly synced with the Inception audio, but the guy’s choice of footage is very well done. Fringe is positively jam-packed with surreal, dreamlike imagery, and when you also factor in from the show’s parallel universe — complete with still-standing World Trade Center towers and blimps patrolling overhead — there’s no shortage of material that blends perfectly with the Inception audio. Special kudos for finding a perfect Fringe moment to accompany one of Inception best lines: “You mustn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling.”

Of course, one of the most memorable elements of the Inception trailer is the epic, propulsive musical track “Mind Heist,” composed by Zack Hemsey. It’s indelibly linked with the Inception trailer it was created to accompany, but it’s popped up all over the place in the years since. That’s understandable, because it’s an amazing track, and if you want a perfect example of how well it can be used with other material, check out this brilliantly edited trailer for Serenity. Honestly, if it weren’t for a few spoilerish moments, this could easily have been an official trailer for the big-screen Firefly tie-in. Nice work by YouTuber Mechanicalbiscuit.