Interstellar (2014)

[Omario]

Saw this last night in BFI Imax and thought it was just downright brilliant. Very slow movie though (could have been 20-30mins shorter) and a story that has a lot of technical jargon thrown around. I don't consider that a negative for the movie as a whole but i can understand why some may find it to be so.

 

The acting was great from pretty much everyone. Young Murphy surprised me. Only gripe is that i struggled to understand Matthew Mcconaughey in alot of the scenes. He is not very loud or clear. It was like Ken Watanabe allover again lol.

 

The visuals were breathtaking in true Imax. Probably the best scenes ever filmed with an Imax camera for me. The first wormhole sequence was incredible as was the docking scene to stabilize the damaged station. That scene had me on the edge of the seat. The tidal wave though was probably the cream. Amazing all round. 

 

The music is the best from Hans Zimmer since Inception. I love the Dark Knight trilogy ost but its pretty similar to Gladiator, The Rock and POTC. Which were also great but it was nice to see something very different. Beautiful themes full of emotion and dread. Really captured the emptiness of space.

 

The last act at first depressed me because i thought oh shit its going into make belief territory now...but then it all made sense. Everything came full circle. Nolan put in all sorts of scientific theories in there and melded them together to create something fascinating. 

 

At no time did i feel like crying but i definitely felt sad in alot of parts. Obviously the father/daughter scenes, Cooper watching the recorded messages after 23 years( well...3 hours) and also Matt Damon waking up from cryo. I don't understand the hate for him as i thought him waking up and immediately crying was perfect. He went to sleep with no hope of ever seeing anyone ever again millions of light years away from earth. I also felt there was something not right when Tars asked if he could have a look at his robot and Damon goes nah leave it. Had a hunch there was something sinister afoot with his character from there. 

 

Editing was fine but sound was abit off in some places. I dont know if t was just in Imax but in the scenes with Murph and Cooper in her bedroom there was a loud humming sound in the background. Don't know if that was the Imax projector or what. But it was pretty distracting. Also the speech at times was not very clear. Too much background noise. 

 

Script was good except for 2 places where me and my mate said that is 'cheese' to each other. Hathaways love monologue and some of Damons dialogue. 

 

TARS was fucking brilliant. lol had the whole theatre laughing with his witty quips.

 

Finally i would like to say that i found some scientific explanations go over my head as they were spoken of too fast and not explained in detail BUT i would just wait for them to show me the practical side of it in the following scenes and i would get what they were talking about. I understood a lot of the theories as i'm a big sci fi fan but i still thought maybe they could have dropped the science jargon at times and used laymen terms instead. 

 

I have a few questions but im hoping to understand them when i watch it at home...with subtitles!

 

To sum it up an amazing piece of art from Nolan. This movie for me cements him as the BEST current director working in Hollywood today. What an imagination. 

 

 

A

Edited December 1, 2014 by Omario

[AniNate]

So I've now seen this a second time, and I still don't find anything wrong with Brand's love speech.

[Dark Jedi Master 007]

So I've now seen this a second time, and I still don't find anything wrong with Brand's love speech.

Neither do I. I choked up both times during that love speech (specifically, when she asks what's the social utility of loving dead people). Matt Zoller Seitz tweeted about that scene saying something along the lines of "if you think what she's saying is true, then you will love it." And I happen to think what she's saying is true (not the 5th dimensional stuff, but the discussion of how love has meaning beyond social use.)

[redfirebird2008]

Rewatched it, expected to find less... and now I think it'll end up on my top 10 of the year. It's such an astounding, meaningful experience that I can forgive the redundant/on-the-nose dialogue for being redundant/on-the-nose when it is.

Damon really shined on second viewing. He's sort of pinted as the anti-HAL, the guy who fucks over the entire mission and everyone involved (including humanity) to get rescued. Why does he do this? Because he can't stand to be alone again. This simple truth informs so many decisions in this film, and I totally buy it. The scene where he walks away from McConaughey suffer but cannot help but constantly turn back and watch is so damn effective. Damon is great casting too because he's such a quietly emotive actor. I kind of want to believe everything he says.

 

I'm with you on Damon. Thought he did a really good job and the character itself is dealing with a fundamental issue that humanity always struggles with. There is a lot of truth in his character's behavior. None of us know what we would do in that situation but I bet quite a few would make the same choice he did.

[AniNate]

Yeah, that's another thing. Even though I knew what would happen, I totally bought into Damon's delivery of all that false information. 

[Joel M]

I watched it a month ago when it opened and was very pleasantly surprised. I liked Nolan since forever but I never was a huge fan. I love to death 3 of his movies (Memento, Prestige, Dark Knight) but all the others for me range from OK-ish to just good. And I was starting to lose faith with his last two movies. I liked Inception very much but I always thought of it as just an impressive, enjoyable but completely hollow movie. And TDKR became a bigger dissapointment with every subsequent viewing. Interstellar restored my faith in him by being simultaneously an exciting departure and in some aspects right in his wheelhouse. I knew I liked it and I was happy Nolan went this way but I wasn't sure how much. And I never got the chance to see it again because in my local theatre movies never stay for more than 2 weeks.

 

But in the weeks that followed it just stuck with me. The movie got bigger inside my head and i think it's now one of my favorites of the year. 

Edited December 5, 2014 by Joel M

[peludo]

I have just seen it. I am really shocked. I have the feeling that I have seen something different, revolutionary. This is our 2001... I am not good describing. Maybe I will try later but my first impression is: "This is incredible". A+

[Blankments]

Yeah I rewatched and liked it more. Caught some deeper meanings and all that. Zimmer's score is great, but relistening makes me realize some cues are definitely listed from Glass. Still a good score for a great movie

[DeeCee]

I'm with you on Damon. Thought he did a really good job and the character itself is dealing with a fundamental issue that humanity always struggles with. There is a lot of truth in his character's behavior. None of us know what we would do in that situation but I bet quite a few would make the same choice he did.

And his constant monologue as he's still trying to convince himself that what he is doing is right for the overall mission.

[Dan9]

Finally got to see this for a second time, and it happened to be my first time at the IMAX in London (which is sort of crazy when you consider how close I am to it, meh).

I still believe the final 25 minutes of it don't really equate to the same quality as the preview 2 hours+ but by that point I'm still in such a state of awe and ecstasy that I really don't mind. The whole product is staggering. McConaughey, Chastain and Damon are absolutely brilliant but Mackenzie Foy as young Murph is probably one of my favourite performances of the year. She couldn't have nailed it any better than she did. The scene of Cooper watching back the videos from his kids after 23 years have passed makes me want to cry just thinking about it and the docking sequence following the Endurance explosion is one of the most breathtaking scenes of cinema I've ever seen. Sweat and goosebumps.

A

[Jessie]

Caught this again last night, I actually completely overlooked the fact that it had a happy ending. When  I first watched it I thought Nolan left it up to us to decide whether Cooper finds Brand but I clearly wasn't paying enough attention as the film clearly insinuates that she will be in cryosleep waiting for him to wake her up therefore making the time difference irrelevant, cant believe I missed that.

[4815162342]

Pink to Nolan:

 

[Squaremaster316]

Better than anything Michael Bay has ever had his name attached to six ways from Sunday/10.

[Ethan Hunt]

Better than anything Michael Bay has ever had his name attached to six ways from Sunday/10.

I disagree.

I love the hell out of this movie though A+, best of 2014

[Jessie]

Better than anything Michael Bay has ever had his name attached to six ways from Sunday/10.

What relevance does Michael Bay have?

[MrPink]

Pink to Nolan:

 

 

You son of a bitch....

[TheMovieman]

Liked it a heck of a lot more than I thought I would even though I've pretty much liked everything Nolan has done (even TDKR as flawed as it is). I also thought that unlike his other films, the emotional elements resonated much more thanks to McConaughey and Mackenzie Foy (younger Murph) and to some extent Jessica Chastain especially when her anger toward her father came through. Oh, and the scene as McConaughey watches video 23 years later was heartbreaking.

 

Not sure if this is Nolan's best, though I suspect it's his most complete film and seemed to tap into his inner Spielverg and Kubrick, though there was a fleeting moment of M. Night Shyamalan (not the Sixth Sense/Unbreakable Shyamalan either) with the "ghost" element earlier in the movie.

 

Having just watched it, will need to digest some more but right now, it's a finely acted (with an incredible cast) and fantastic visual effects aiding a well crafted story (which is thanks in large part to Jonathan Nolan).

 

****½/*****, (A, 9.0/10, 3.5/4)

[MrPink]

 

BTW, these shots aren't edited out of order. That's literally the look on Anne's face which cracked me up when I saw it recently.

[Lordmandeep]

Watched this film and all I can I give it A- for effort...

 

Amazing scenes and great shots of space however the films rather wacky ending took me out of the film. 

 

Add in that Hathaway was just terrible in this. 

 

 

A- 

[FilmBuff]

My question on repeat viewing. Was the wormhole still open for Cooper to go visit Brandt at the end? I'm assuming it closed. Where the humans on Earth planning to go to Edmunds planet?