The "Christopher Nolan's Interstellar" Thread - Free Spoilers Included!

[adace]

This movie blew my mind. Just incredible. Amazing visuals, amazing story, and of course amazing science. Rarely does a movie this bold and adventurous come along.

I do wish the film explained how future humanity could have possibly created a tesseract within a black hole and why there was no direct communication between them and Cooper/Murph. Hell, with that technology they might have been able to prevent the Earth from dying in the first place. And why did they create a wormhole near Saturn of all places?

Also, is the future humanity that created the tesseract the one from the Saturn space station or the one spawned from what I assume will be the eventual colony on Edmunds' planet? Or are they one and the same?

Very interested to hear some theories about all that.

And yeah, if Cooper had known that the wormhole was gone then he must have been out of his mind to go search for Brand.

[Kotowboy]

I'm gonna go with - he knew how to create one using all the data from the black hole / tesseract.

That could be why he took TARS ? with him.

[adace]

I'm gonna go with - he knew how to create one using all the data from the black hole / tesseract.

That could be why he took TARS ? with him.

Makes sense, but that's assuming that the inside of a black hole/tesseract can even be measured or that information can leave intact (much less Cooper and the bot leaving intact). But I guess since they sent it through gravity waves it's possible?

Also, I found a very deep discussion of these issues and others in the movie: https://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=2040

Edit: Forgot to mention that the soundtrack was fantastic and very fitting.

[puppyonacid]

I just saw this on Saturday. This is probably going to be a bit controversial.

The movie was visually brilliant and I enjoyed the sound track. Aside from John Lithgow making what seemed to me like a very welcome return to the big screen (I'm sure he's been in other stuff but I haven't seen him in anything for ages), I thought most of the performances were pretty flat - and I really do like the actors in this film.

I really felt MM was wrong for the lead role. I didn't really like Matt Damons performance and I though Michael Caine was pretty limp as well.

I felt the plot holes in this film were too big to be be brushed aside. I accept that there is a lot of story to be told - but sacrificing some of the story telling for things like a 10 minute docking scene (first Damon then MM) is a bit of an oversight.

The way Nolan uses a  character to explain to another character, thereby explaining to the audience, how things work as a plot device is getting a bit old hat as well. An engineer and pilot of Coops ability would surely know how a wormhole works for example.

Maybe I was expecting something more from this film - I loved inception and really enjoyed the Batman movies. I admire Nolan for taking this one on but I think it was much more miss than hit.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

I just saw this on Saturday. This is probably going to be a bit controversial.

The movie was visually brilliant and I enjoyed the sound track. Aside from John Lithgow making what seemed to me like a very welcome return to the big screen (I'm sure he's been in other stuff but I haven't seen him in anything for ages), I thought most of the performances were pretty flat - and I really do like the actors in this film.

I really felt MM was wrong for the lead role. I didn't really like Matt Damons performance and I though Michael Caine was pretty limp as well.

I felt the plot holes in this film were too big to be be brushed aside. I accept that there is a lot of story to be told - but sacrificing some of the story telling for things like a 10 minute docking scene (first Damon then MM) is a bit of an oversight.

The way Nolan uses a  character to explain to another character, thereby explaining to the audience, how things work as a plot device is getting a bit old hat as well. An engineer and pilot of Coops ability would surely know how a wormhole works for example.

Maybe I was expecting something more from this film - I loved inception and really enjoyed the Batman movies. I admire Nolan for taking this one on but I think it was much more miss than hit.

I pretty much agree and yes that in bold text was something I mentioned to my friend immediately after the movie. It was pretty obvious they did that to help the viewers.

I also think that the time between MM character got invited to the mission and him actually piloting the shuttle felt very hasty.

[Mister Gold]

I just saw this on Saturday. This is probably going to be a bit controversial.

The movie was visually brilliant and I enjoyed the sound track. Aside from John Lithgow making what seemed to me like a very welcome return to the big screen (I'm sure he's been in other stuff but I haven't seen him in anything for ages), I thought most of the performances were pretty flat - and I really do like the actors in this film.

I really felt MM was wrong for the lead role. I didn't really like Matt Damons performance and I though Michael Caine was pretty limp as well.

I felt the plot holes in this film were too big to be be brushed aside. I accept that there is a lot of story to be told - but sacrificing some of the story telling for things like a 10 minute docking scene (first Damon then MM) is a bit of an oversight.

The way Nolan uses a  character to explain to another character, thereby explaining to the audience, how things work as a plot device is getting a bit old hat as well. An engineer and pilot of Coops ability would surely know how a wormhole works for example.

Maybe I was expecting something more from this film - I loved inception and really enjoyed the Batman movies. I admire Nolan for taking this one on but I think it was much more miss than hit.

I pretty much agree and yes that in bold text was something I mentioned to my friend immediately after the movie. It was pretty obvious they did that to help the viewers.

I also think that the time between MM character got invited to the mission and him actually piloting the shuttle felt very hasty.

I disagree to some extent, at least as far as the cast goes. MM was the perfect actor to play Cooper. That being said, I do agree that Michael Caine was a rather weak addition and was probably only featured because of his longtime association with Nolan.

[Zantera]

Caine's role in the movie was a smaller one though. You just need someone who can go in and do the job, nothing overly fancy, but nothing bad either. I thought he looked weird in beard though. 

[Kotowboy]

And dyed hair. Was that so he would have white hair later on and be 30 years older ? Hmmmm

[CrimsonSunrise]

I thought the movie was just spectacular.  The visuals were phenominal.  One question though, I get that Nolan said it in an interview, but did I miss something in the movie that stated or inferred that the worm hole was gone?  This movie will definitly take a couple views for me to wrap my noggin around it.  An instant Sci-Fi classic.

[Mister Gold]

I thought the movie was just spectacular.  The visuals were phenominal.  One question though, I get that Nolan said it in an interview, but did I miss something in the movie that stated or inferred that the worm hole was gone?  This movie will definitly take a couple views for me to wrap my noggin around it.  An instant Sci-Fi classic.

I saw it twice and neither time did I pick up on anything indicating that the wormhole was gone at the end. I've personally been ignoring the Nolans' intended ending and just figure that Cooper goes back through the wormhole to find Brand again.

[BlackInk]

I thought that the 'intended ending' made absolutely no sense at first. But after I remembered that they had that gravity-bending tech now, I can understand it more.

The way they set up the Cooper-looking-for-Brand thing seemed so large. Like he was going on a long journey, not just go back through the hole and find her immediately. That may be the intended hint that the wormhole is gone.

[Mister Gold]

I thought that the 'intended ending' made absolutely no sense at first. But after I remembered that they had that gravity-bending tech now, I can understand it more.

The way they set up the Cooper-looking-for-Brand thing seemed so large. Like he was going on a long journey, not just go back through the hole and find her immediately. That may be the intended hint that the wormhole is gone.

I figured that, but I took the ending to mean more about Cooper and Brand beginning the journey of pushing humanity further and further to other worlds and colonies. Less personal and more on a grand metaphorical level, which I also think resonates more with the themes of the film.

[MoraWintersoul]

Most of my friends have seen it and their impressions can be summed up as: I cried, Mathew McC cried, we all cried, it was beautiful

[BlackInk]

I cried, Mathew McC cried

Yeah, that pretty much sums up my experience. In reverse order though.

[CrimsonSunrise]

Most of my friends have seen it and their impressions can be summed up as: I cried, Mathew McC cried, we all cried, it was beautiful

   Yeah...that moment when before leaving the theater you give a lil sly wipe of the eyes....that...never .. **ahem**..  happened...

I figured that, but I took the ending to mean more about Cooper and Brand beginning the journey of pushing humanity further and further to other worlds and colonies. Less personal and more on a grand metaphorical level, which I also think resonates more with the themes of the film.

How mindbending is that?  Not only starting a new branch of the Human race, but doing it in a far away galaxy no less!!   

[lucky7]

I finally saw the film yesterday afternoon....would have liked to have gone to IMAX but figured better to just see it, and was lucky enough to have a whole theatre to myself, .....no noisy food wrappers..

Great to have a unique film, than a tired sequel or crappy storyline film..it was for me the film of 2014.. which isn't hard as it has been a pretty slow year for great films.

This movie although long went very fast, was visually stunning, performances were good, nothing academy award worthy but decent enough, story line okay, I was told to take tissues but apart from blinking back a few tears it wasn't that sad, The score from Hans Zimmer deserves an academy award.

Some things I wondered about after I get Matthew M was the lead, but why didn't they show Brand on her planet...before that quick clip at the end. Maybe budget or maybe Christopher Nolan didn't want any Anne Hathaway in anymore overacting scenes..not a huge fan of hers.
Trying to hear the last words from Michael Caine on his death bed were quite hard over the loud score.
I won't even touch the science side...I wouldn't understand it anyway..

Overall it was a great film...I can't remember feeling so ruined for other movies since maybe he first Matrix film. 

[BlackInk]

Some things I wondered about after I get Matthew M was the lead, but why didn't they show Brand on her planet...before that quick clip at the end.

Well, what would be the point? We were shown all we needed to know. I don't know what else they could have done with her that would be relevant to the plot at all.

[gmillerdrake]

Some things I wondered about after I get Matthew M was the lead, but why didn't they show Brand on her planet...before that quick clip at the end.

Well, what would be the point? We were shown all we needed to know. I don't know what else they could have done with her that would be relevant to the plot at all.

I'd like to have seen how the heck she landed that ship being that she wasn't a pilot?? I'm giving them the benifit of the doubt and assuming an auto pilot did it...or maybe the other robot??

[lucky7]

^^^Yes my thoughts exactly...I should have explained it better. Maybe that is why she seemed upset, on landing had wrecked the thing...And as someone pointed out the craft M.M. was in at the end looked like a single person craft, where did he expect to put her if he found her?! 

[BlackInk]

The soundtrack is out on Spotify, and it's wonderful.

[ReaperKK]

The soundtrack is out on Spotify, and it's wonderful.

Sweet, going to check it out now.

[Kotowboy]

The soundtrack is out on Spotify, and it's wonderful.

Ace ! Is there a track named Murphy's law?

[ReaperKK]

Doesn't look like it.

[Kotowboy]

Cons : This isn't Chris Nolan's best movie. I put it behind Inception, Prestige and Memento.

Pros : It's not Transformers !


However I do feel that he has it in him to make a truly remarkable movie and i'm sure he'll get an Academy Award for direction one day.

[Zantera]

After Interstellar, I would love to see him do something smaller and more "back to basics" movie-wise. I know it probably won't be the case, but considering his movies have been getting bigger and louder with each movie, it would be nice to see him return to a more simple story and maybe focus a bit more on the characters, hopefully nailing that little aspect, which some critics have criticized him for not being the best at.

[Kotowboy]

He can totally do characters. memento and prestige are proof of this.

[Kotowboy]

Just got back from seeing it again. Still fantastic.

Thoughts on the ending : In her final scene - Murph says Brand is about to go into cryo on " our new planet ".

Meaning the new space station is on it's way there. Meaning Cooper didn't have to leave at all. He could have just hitched a ride.

Or it means that everyone on that station would never make it and they were primarily to keep the human race going til they reached Edmund's planet.

[orcus116]

Finally got a chance to see this today. The movie seemed to be have three distinct parts and different directions in each but I found it to be very good, although I won't have a complete verdict until it sinks in. For some reason this movie seemed very narrow in terms of the background of the movie meaning that there was only a very tight focus on Cooper and you never really got to see what else was going on in the world. In a way that was good because you kind of had to figure out what was going on.

[gmillerdrake]

Finally got a chance to see this today. The movie seemed to be have three distinct parts and different directions in each but I found it to be very good, although I won't have a complete verdict until it sinks in. For some reason this movie seemed very narrow in terms of the background of the movie meaning that there was only a very tight focus on Cooper and you never really got to see what else was going on in the world. In a way that was good because you kind of had to figure out what was going on.

I liked that aspect of it....the subtle hints about climate and even when they spoke about his son saying the world didn't need engineers...it needed farmers. I think that the movie could have gotten bogged down big time had Nolan tried to 'show' what was going on. I like that he put 'deciding' what happened in the hands of the viewer.

[orcus116]

In a way it's good because it never got too preachy coughavatarcough.

[gmillerdrake]

In a way it's good because it never got too preachy coughavatarcough.

      I did enjoy the break from the environmental angle as far as 'getting preachy' about it. Doesn't take a scientist to figure out how the Earth may have ended up like that. I also enjoyed how Nolan carefully respected those in the Faith community by not pointing fingers and laughing at 'them' for the way they think throughout the film. A scientific, astronomically themed film as such could have easily taken some pot shots at religion and he didn't....in fact, there were many underlying strands of faith interwoven throughout although it may not have been specifically diety based.

[Kotowboy]

Yeah when I first heard about this movie I was a bit worried it would be just

"There's obviously no God" type film.

Thankfully it wasn't anything like that.

Not sure how many times I can watch this though as the ending is really depressing to me for whatever reason.

[The Letter M]

Saw this a few weeks ago, but I just wanted to come in here and say that TARS and CASE were the real stars of the film. Props to the Nolans for creating some of the best, most human-but-not-quite-human robots/machines in sci fi while not being full humanoid analogs. I quite enjoyed them!

-Marc.

[BlackInk]

And the fact that they never malfunctioned or turned "evil" was very refreshing. When they first began talking about the 'honesty setting' not being at 100%, I was sure that would come into play in a bad way later. I'm glad it didn't.

[Fiery Winds]

And the fact that they never malfunctioned or turned "evil" was very refreshing. When they first began talking about the 'honesty setting' not being at 100%, I was sure that would come into play in a bad way later. I'm glad it didn't.

It makes sense from a storytelling perspective as well.  One of the main points of the film is to inspire us to reach out to the stars again, and scaring people with malfunctioning tech isn't the way to do that.  Rather, they gave them endearing qualities and useful skills, and a personality that would be very much needed in the isolation of space.