Interstellar (2014)

[The Dark Rock]

Planning to catch this one again this weekend...haven't repeated any movie in last couple of years...yes liked it so much

[ChD]

I just remembered the scene when they found the NASA headquarters and TARS took Cooper down after which he went to the car and scared Murphy by telling her not to be scared.

 

Laughed way too hard at that one.

[Dementeleus]

you saw that coming? really? You just guessed it would be Cooper contacting his daughter through gravity from another dimension?? cough bullshit cough

 

No, I guessed it as well. I didn't know the specifics, obviously, but IMO it was clear from the first few minutes that the ghost was going to end up being Cooper, one way or another: Nolan is nothing if not emphatic about planting (and reinforcing) details early on to pay off later, so it was just a question of noticing the repeated emphasis on the ghost (honestly, after literally a couple of dozen lines into the movie the ghost had already been mentioned several times) and bridging that to what would be the most meaningful, emotional result that would pay that off. Clearly, that was Cooper.

 

The later scenes weren't impactful in terms of me making the realization, whatever impact they had was the characters realizing it for themselves.

[IndustriousAngel]

Ok, now that I've seen it a second time, I maintain that the movie is a mess, but on 2nd viewing, I concentrated on the strengths and I think act 1 and 3 work remarkably well, even on the emotional level (at least for a Nolan film). So, a beautiful and interesting mess. Meaning, Interstellar is a big step, maybe not for humanity but for Nolan. I expect some truly great films from him in the future. Now that he's begun to set his sights on the human drama, too, all that's missing is some more routine with those tearjerker scenes and some  brutality in the cutting room.

[Dementeleus]

Ok, now that I've seen it a second time, I maintain that the movie is a mess, but on 2nd viewing, I concentrated on the strengths and I think act 1 and 3 work remarkably well, even on the emotional level (at least for a Nolan film). So, a beautiful and interesting mess. Meaning, Interstellar is a big step, maybe not for humanity but for Nolan. I expect some truly great films from him in the future. Now that he's begun to set his sights on the human drama, too, all that's missing is some more routine with those tearjerker scenes and some  brutality in the cutting room.

 

Very much my overall reaction as well, especially on a second viewing.

[Blankments]

Meant to ask you. So that real IMAX road trip. Disaster? Was thinking it would be pretty damn funny if your friends ended up liking it more than you.

Honestly, I think this is what happened with me lol. Even though I like it notably more than Pink

[Deep Wang]

you saw that coming? really? You just guessed it would be Cooper contacting his daughter through gravity from another dimension?? cough bullshit cough

 

 

Yeah, I call bullshit on that one, as well. I knew they couldn't forget about the ghost, but I didn't see it coming either.

 

I don't know who said that Cooper's sacrifice was also obvious to happen. Once again, I have no idea how they got the idea that he would sacrifice himself, but I didn't see it coming.

 

 

Obviously I didn't know the specifics about how it would be him, I just knew it would be him.

 

My favorite sub-genre of science fiction is time travel.  I fucking love time travel(12 Monkeys, Looper, Terminator), time looping movies(Edge of Tomorrow, Groundhog Day), or time travelling/looping movies(Primer, Timecrimes), you name it and I've probable seen it.  

 

Now, I know this isn't a time travel movie, but the only things I knew about this movie were corn, space travel, wormholes, and black holes.  Being such a fan of time travel, I know that the main theory postulated by scientists in regards to time travel, is that it would be most likely to happen with wormholes.

 

So while watching the movie, they kept talking about it being a ghost, but it all just seemed random.  But the minute he saw that it was binary code and it gave him coordinates, I knew that was him from the future somehow.  

 

Call bullshit all you want, that's just the unfortunate side effect of being familiar with a certain genre and knowing what to recognize.

Edited November 12, 2014 by Boner Omega

[Dementeleus]

This brings up an interesting theory of mine. How many of you here read a lot of science fiction, and specifically hard SF? I think for anyone who's an avid SF reader, nothing in INTERSTELLAR would be particularly mindblowing -- these are all pretty traditional concepts, and even the twist of "love as the binding force" is actually (over)used to the point where it's considered a standard trope.

 

So I wonder if perhaps that's why for some the third act of IS is this mindblowing amazing thing, yet others have a more muted reaction.

[Deep Wang]

This brings up an interesting theory of mine. How many of you here read a lot of science fiction, and specifically hard SF? I think for anyone who's an avid SF reader, nothing in INTERSTELLAR would be particularly mindblowing -- these are all pretty traditional concepts, and even the twist of "love as the binding force" is actually (over)used to the point where it's considered a standard trope.

 

So I wonder if perhaps that's why for some the third act of IS is this mindblowing amazing thing, yet others have a more muted reaction.

 

Oh, without a doubt.  I haven't read/seen near as much as I should have over the years, so there are things that do blow me away or take me by surprise.  

[JohnnyGossamer]

Agree wholeheartedly with the last few posts. If you enjoy the genre and seek out science fiction literature, television and/or film, you seen iterations of a similar narrative. Nolan's an accomplished filmmaker... An accomplished genre filmmaker. He not pushing the medium as much as playing, on a uber-scale, within a popular genre.

So, given the story breaks no new ground, it boils down to well he tells his story and, of course, his style in executing it. For most, well, they love it. For others, well, they're confused by all the fuss because they're of the mind that other filmmakers are doing the same but doing a better job of it.

Edited November 12, 2014 by JohnnyGossamer

[The Panda]

Obviously I didn't know the specifics about how it would be him, I just knew it would be him.

 

My favorite sub-genre of science fiction is time travel.  I fucking love time travel(12 Monkeys, Looper, Terminator), time looping movies(Edge of Tomorrow, Groundhog Day), or time travelling/looping movies(Primer, Timecrimes), you name it and I've probable seen it.  

 

Now, I know this isn't a time travel movie, but the only things I knew about this movie were corn, space travel, wormholes, and black holes.  Being such a fan of time travel, I know that the main theory postulated by scientists in regards to time travel, is that it would be most likely to happen with wormholes.

 

So while watching the movie, they kept talking about it being a ghost, but it all just seemed random.  But the minute he saw that it was binary code and it gave him coordinates, I knew that was him from the future somehow.  

 

Call bullshit all you want, that's just the unfortunate side effect of being familiar with a certain genre and knowing what to recognize.

 

I don't think it was particularly hard to recognize, it was foreshadowed pretty hard.  When you first hear gravity you think it might be something weird, but I think it was around that same point as you where I was like, "This is going to tie into time travel somehow," and as soon as McConnoughey mentioned parents being ghosts I was like, "he's the ghost."  However, the journey was so captivating that the way the last act was pulled off was mindboggling.  I wasn't so amazed by what the actual content was, but at how well it was executed visually and it how it brought everything together.

 

My mind was certainly more blown than any of Nolan's other movies.

[Phil in the Blank]

I honestly cant decide if this is Nolan's best or worst film. Help!

[lab276]

I honestly cant decide if this is Nolan's best or worst film. Help!

Like space?

[Claire of Themyscira]

I honestly cant decide if this is Nolan's best or worst film. Help!

Let your heart decide, bb.

[Dark Jedi Master 007]

I honestly cant decide if this is Nolan's best or worst film. Help!

Twinsies.

Note: I'm pretty sure it's not his best, but I can't decide if this is a masterpiece or "meh."

 

[Dark Jedi Master 007]

This brings up an interesting theory of mine. How many of you here read a lot of science fiction, and specifically hard SF? I think for anyone who's an avid SF reader, nothing in INTERSTELLAR would be particularly mindblowing -- these are all pretty traditional concepts, and even the twist of "love as the binding force" is actually (over)used to the point where it's considered a standard trope.

 

So I wonder if perhaps that's why for some the third act of IS is this mindblowing amazing thing, yet others have a more muted reaction.

I haven't read hard Sci-Fi, so I was surprised. But I was more "shocked" than "mindblown," if that makes sense.

 

[Phil in the Blank]

Twinsies.

Note: I'm pretty sure it's not his best, but I can't decide if this is a masterpiece or "meh."

 

 

Well I was being a little bit facetious as The Prestige is my favourite movie of all time so to replace it as my favourite Nolan film it would have to become my favourite film which isn't going to happen.

 

Nolan is such an ambitious film maker howerver and regardless of my eventual feelings on this film, I would still much rather give him 200~ Million to make a movie than any other director in the world. He is never afraid to dream a little bit bigger darling, which in Hollywood is a very rare commodity indeed.

Edited November 12, 2014 by Spottswoode

[The Futurist]

Interstellar got me into thinking about more things than 2001.

Edited November 12, 2014 by The Futurist

[ACCA]

So many things going on with me personally, haven't had a chance to even watch it the second time. Can't wait to see it a few more times in 70mm IMAX. I need to relish this again.

 

This brings up an interesting theory of mine. How many of you here read a lot of science fiction, and specifically hard SF? I think for anyone who's an avid SF reader, nothing in INTERSTELLAR would be particularly mindblowing -- these are all pretty traditional concepts, and even the twist of "love as the binding force" is actually (over)used to the point where it's considered a standard trope.

 

So I wonder if perhaps that's why for some the third act of IS is this mindblowing amazing thing, yet others have a more muted reaction.

 

Interstellar is not pure hard sci-fi, not to me anyways.

 

Interstellar (to me) is more of a sci-fi adventure film with a significant drama element, but a Nolan sci-fi adventure film, which means the sci-fi is more grounded and most of it is theoretically plausible. You could even alternatively call it a sci-fi drama almost, but I think the generous amount of comedy doesn't make that entirely accurate.

Edited November 12, 2014 by ACCA

[Dark Jedi Master 007]

I will say this about the film, some of the reviews for it have really provoked thinking, which is a sign that even if it's bad, it did something right.

Two of the best ones are Matt Zoller Seitz's review (RogerEbert.com) and Todd Vanderwerff's (Vox.com).


With that being said, Richard Roeper's review is garbage.