From the opening scenes of sprawling cornfields accompanied by a reverie-like brass note, Interstellar Movie Review knows it’s a film of epic scope. And while the story is often confusing and the dialogue clunky, it offers plenty to ponder.
Doubling down on the Kubrick comparisons, Matthew McConaughey’s stoically smoldering Coop leads a team on a sweeping space odyssey. Starlight whirls, planets rock, and spacecraft cartwheel through nothingness, soundtracked by a reverential Hans Zimmer score.
Visually Stunning
With spectacular cinematography and groundbreaking special effects, Interstellar transports viewers into the vastness of space. Director Christopher Nolan, along with visual effects supervisor Paul Franklin and cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema, created a realistic depiction of outer space that’s both breathtaking and immersive. The flixtor film’s commitment to scientific accuracy has fueled renewed interest in space exploration and astronomy.
Whether you’re rooting for humanity to survive or not, it’s impossible not to be awed by this epic sci-fi drama. Matthew McConaughey and Jessica Chastain deliver powerful performances as a former pilot and her nervy redheaded daughter, respectively. Their bond is tighter than the insides of an atom, and their quest to save the world from impending disaster (in a near future that harkens back to the Dust Bowl but has laptops and drones) is an endlessly fascinating ride.
The film is beautifully shot, with lingering shots of the spinning white ship floating through the galaxy capturing the majesty of space. The film’s depiction of a wormhole is especially remarkable, as it creates an optical illusion of space folding and warping. In addition to the incredible visuals, Hans Zimmer’s evocative score adds to the experience. The pulsing organ chords and soaring strings heighten the tension and urgency of key scenes. The film’s score also serves to evoke a sense of awe and wonder, as the climactic sequence features a stunning depiction of a black hole.
Awe-inspiring Story
Director Christopher Nolan is known for movies that play with psychological themes (like time, space, memory). Interstellar continues this tradition, but also explores a different kind of intergalactic exploration. It is a story about love transcending the dimensions of space and time.
The film starts out with a farmer-turned-pilot, Cooper, and his family living on a dust-smothered farm. It is clear that humanity is facing a major crisis as crops fail and the world faces global starvation and asphyxiation. Interstellar tries to convey this crisis through pseudo-documentary interviews and the melodrama of hard-scrabble lives.
Eventually, Cooper gets the call to go into space in search of a way for humans to survive. The scientists find a water planet that could support life, but the trip is dangerous. During the voyage, a giant tidal wave wrecks their ship. It is then discovered that 23 years in Earth time have passed since they left.
The movie shows us a lot of science, but in an easy-to-follow way. It is a film about how people are willing to sacrifice themselves for the good of others. It also shows that the best of us may still be prone to selfishness and self-deception. This grasp on human nature is refreshing for a sci-fi romp, and it really tugs at your emotions. Some might say it is overly sentimental, but it is a story about love conquering all.
A Touch of Sentimentality
Interstellar may have wormholes and malfunctioning rocket ships, but its core is about people. While some have criticized it for being too emotionally manipulative, that sentimentality is what gives the movie its true heart and soul. It is a film about family, parent/child promises and missed expectations, and the power of love. It is the one human force that transcends space and time.
Matthew McConaughey portrays Cooper, a man who is driven to explore. His daughter, Murph, is heartbroken when he leaves for NASA to search for other habitable planets. This is what ultimately drives him to overcome his grief and solve the gravitational equation that saves humanity from destruction. It is a powerful scene that will have you in tears.
In modern movies, when a plot point becomes unnecessarily sentimental, it is often met with insecurity. The director is afraid that the audience will mock or lose interest in his story if it becomes too much of a love letter. However, Interstellar is able to pull off this feat with aplomb.
It is a rare movie that balances intelligence, emotional drama, sweeping science fiction and borderline corny twists. Its three-hour runtime never feels long, and the story never drags. The movie is a testament to Christopher Nolan’s ability to combine smarts and emotions. It is one of the most resonant films of 2016. It is a must-see!
A Lot of Science
In addition to the dazzling awe-inspiring visuals, Interstellar is also a deeply thoughtful movie with a lot of ideas and theories. This is especially true of the film’s exploration of physics and cosmology, particularly regarding wormholes and black holes. This is what has drawn the ire of some scientists, who say that Nolan and his team have misinterpreted or stretched the laws of physics to fit the story.
The story centers on Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), a NASA pilot who is trying to find another planet for humanity before the Earth is rendered uninhabitable by overpopulation and climate change. As the story opens, the world is a dust-smothered dystopia, with a silt-like haze permeating its landscape. An epidemic of crop blight has decimated the global food supply, and unless mankind finds another home soon, the starvation will lead to a second Dust Bowl.
Coop is dispatched to a tesseract by Dr. Brand (Michael Caine), who wants him to transmit quantum data back to Earth so that the planet can be rescued from its current precarious position. To do this, he must travel across the fabric of space and time, where the rules of relativity no longer apply. It’s a grand scientific adventure that finds the right balance between astronomical science and intimate human connection. It’s a search for meaning that echoes the lofty ambitions of Kubrick’s 2001 and other classic sci-fi epics.