Interstellar
K**N
Phenomenally deep movie. Some will hate it as it does not spoon feed the viewer.
I have seen numerous reviews for this movie. Some are blind praise as if anything Nolan does is from the hand of God, and others are mindless negative criticism from people who didn’t, or more likely couldn’t be bothered to try to, understand the concepts presented. On that basis, and as I have already responded to multiple reviews for this movie, I am writing a review for a movie that already has over one thousand reviews.IF YOU DO NOT LIKE FILMS WHICH LEAVE OPEN ITEMS FOR THE VIEWER TO DEDUCE THEN YOU WILL NOT LIKE THIS FILM. This does not mean the film is bad, it means it is not your type of film and giving a one star review with the only explanation being “This movie sucked” only exhibits ignorance. Giving it a low rating because you dislike films in this style and say so is entirely justified and a worthwhile observation for others who may also dislike such types of movies and not want to see them.First everyone needs to understand that this is a movie that is built around a framework and rule set grounded in astrophysics and relativity. Some of the latest theories present in that field are used as the ground work for this movie. Within that framework a story is built. Enough details as to the working of those rules are given to work out what is happening and additional research can only improve that but this is a film that does not lay out full explanations for everything happening as they happen. Some contributing factors are alluded to earlier or later in the film than the event being depicted. Some factors are left to the viewer to hypothesize themselves based on what is said. Just because you do not have a basic understanding of relativity and do not accept the entirely valid scientific explanations given in the film does not make this movie “stupid”. Worm holes and travel through them is an accepted theoretical possibility. The stretching and compression of time under the effects of speed relative to the speed of light and gravity fields is not only accepted but proven. One key item is nobody ever physically goes back in time. Time travel is a physical impossibility.Non-Story Items:Special Effects were excellent. The depictions of the worm hole and black hole were the most accurate ever shown in film to date and based directly on the models created by the physicist attached to the movie. Could they be wrong? Certainly they could but they are at least grounded in the currently widely accepted scientific theories related to such phenomena. The space craft and other hardware related to space exploration all had believable designs and concepts. I am not entirely on board with the design of the robots as the design to me looks fairly inefficient and impractical but not so much so that they detracted from the film.Visual/Cinematography were wonderfully handled. The film is a pleasure to watch with focus regularly where it needs to be and clear.Sound was less than optimal. Between hammering special effects, and a wonderful yet occasionally overpowering score there are incidents of quieter dialog being lost or noticeably hard to hear. Turn it way up to hear the dialog and you better be ready for the walls to rumble when the effects kick in. This is the one real issue I have with the film. It does not keep me from recommending this film to others but it is a valid criticism where post production really missed the mark.Casting and acting were both superb. I accepted every actor in their role and all did a great job.SPOILERS!!! From here on there are SPOILERS!!!Story:Earth is changing. Contrary to the mindless rants of many saying dust storms are destroying the planet that is not the case. Crops being eliminated by blights and the dust storms which ensue are symptoms of the rising nitrogen content in the atmosphere, this is explained and not conjecture. We do know that the human population is a small fraction of what it once was. Armies are gone and it sounds like most nations outside the USA are as well. What population is left that we see is heavily focused on growing as much food as possible. I hypothesize that with the collapse of food crops most of the planet’s human population has died off from starvation after fighting while they could and what remains is incapable of fighting. It is not unreasonable to see the United States, with its enormous farming capacity, the most advanced techniques and equipment to utilize that land, and a geographic location which protects it from direct invasion for that farmland, would fare well (better than others at least) in such a scenario. The government now decides what people will do for them. If the government wants you to be a farmer you become a farmer. “Luxuries” like smart phones, MRI machines, large scale professional sports, meat, and anything not tied to growing food are gone or shunned. As a part of keeping people focused on the “now” and not looking for “new and better” the history of the 20th century has been officially “rewritten” to demonize technological luxuries we can no longer afford. The rationale is obviously that people will not resent being denied something if they are taught that thing is intrinsically evil. A perfect example of this is the government revision of the Apollo program where now even the young teacher believes it was all a government propaganda piece to fool the Russians and make them waste money on the impossible. Another example is Cooper’s truck which is obviously kept running for decades rather than being replaced. People who disagree with this new groupthink are “unpopular” as exemplified by Cooper and his daughter Murph. His son, who wants nothing more than to farm, is a considered a model student.Do to localized fluctuations in gravity noted by Murph and later decoded as binary and Morse code messages Cooper eventually finds the remnants of NASA and learns of the mankind’s impending extinction on Earth. Many reviewers who hate this film take this point to state how much nonsense it was that Cooper was selected for the upcoming mission after surprisingly walking in there. While this is convenient, there is more at work. The upcoming mission involves going through a worm hole leading to promising systems which HAD to have been artificially created. Large, stable worm holes do not just appear naturally. This had to have been created and NASA learned of it through gravitational field manipulations which began appearing right when they really needed to start looking for an escape from Earth. Since NASA knows some entity created this worm hole and guided them to it through gravitational field manipulations when one of the only pilots with experience shows up on their doorstep after having been guided there by the same type of phenomena you are going to assume he was sent there for a reason. NASA is headed by a group of scientists including Professor Brand played by Michael Caine. Professor Brand knows Cooper and explains that there are two plans.Plan A involves solving the physics equations allowing for theoretical manipulation of gravity. This would allow the construction of large space going habitats on Earth’s surface into which the remaining population of Humans could be transported on to another habitable world.Plan B involves transporting an enormous amount of embryos in suspended state to a habitable world. After a couple generations of “hatching” and raising them, as well as those already raised raising more, a colony of viable genetic diversity would exist and humanity could begin anew on its new planet. All of humanity on Earth though would die.Missions, most likely one way missions, were sent through the worm hole years before to the worlds spotted. Those who went were to collect data, if it was promising set off their beacon and go into induced hibernation to wait for pick up. Any scientists sent to planets which were uninhabitable were most likely going to die there… Only three worlds in a single system out of the 10+ explored sent back promising signals. The mission Cooper, Brand (Ann Hathaway playing Brand’s daughter) two other scientists and two AI robots go on the mission on the Endurance to visit the three worlds, asses the conditions present, recover the scientists and return to Earth. By then it is hoped that Professor Brand on Earth will have solved the gravitational calculations and mankind will be preparing to leave for its new home.After making the two year hibernated journey to Saturn, around which the worm hole is orbiting, the crew heads through the worm hole. On the other side they will need to visit three planets, then return home. At this point it is revealed that messages sent from Earth are powerful enough to make it through the worm hole and be received but aside from the signal beacons themselves from the three planets no transmitters on this side of the worm hole have the power to send complete messages back. The crew of Endurance will be spectators to the events on Earth but cannot interact.This is the point where the first story item occurs with which I take minor umbrage with. There are three planets, the closest of which is Miller’s planet. Unfortunately that planet is far enough inside the gravity field of the black hole that one hour of time spent there equals seven years of time passage back on earth and on the Endurance. This was not clear until they came through the worm hole. The crew goes to Miller’s planet first because it is closest and has promising data. This makes no sense. Time is the enemy, not distance. They can hit the further worlds first then catch Miller’s on the way back if it looks promising. That would take 1 – 3 years. Instead they will waste a minimum of 7 years just checking Miller’s world where the astronaut who went there has only been for at most an hour relative time. The purpose of Miller’s planet though is to demonstrate relativity. Due to a mishap it is discovered the planet in uninhabitable and Miller has been dead for years Earth time, perhaps an hour Miller’s planet time. Cooper and Brand survive with the robot they took though the third astronaut dies. They make it back to Endurance, resting outside the gravity field to find twenty three years have passed. The astronaut left on Endurance did some long sleeps in hibernation but is now noticeably older. Keeping position for so many years also burned through too much fuel and resources so they can only reach one planet now and return, not two.Why go to Miller’s planet at this point when it made no sense? They went because it helped the story. Murph on earth aged twenty three more years. She is a grown woman and a gifted physicist working under a much older Professor Brand who took her under his win when Cooper left. She now plays a much bigger part in the story. We get to see the emotion of missing twenty three years of your kids’ lives in a couple of hours. We get to see what another couple of decades on Earth has revealed as conditions grow steadily worse. Choosing Miller’s planet to be first is a plot hole present only to assist the story. It is contradictory to what anyone in this situation would have done. This was a story telling decision to bring home emotional loss, the situation at earth, allow a character to mature, and lastly demonstrate the impact of relativity. I give the filmmakers a pass on this choice although I wish they had found a better way to make these points.There are now two planets left, Mann’s and Edmond’s. Edmond’s data is better although it has stopped transmitting. Mann is still transmitting. They only have fuel for one. Mann’s is chosen as he is still transmitting. For Brand this is heartbreaking as she is in love with Edmond and this is essentially a death sentence for him if he is still alive.Mann’s world is cold and bleak with an inhospitable atmosphere but after awakening Mann (Matt Damon) they learn that the planet is habitable at the lower atmospheres. His robot is in a disassembled pile. He explains it had deteriorated and he had to disassemble it for parts to keep the mission going. While on Mann’s world Professor Brand back on Earth dies of old age. On his death bed he confesses to Murph that there is no solution to the gravity equations. The information needed to resolve the equation is not known and the only place where such information exists is outside normal space time, within a black hole. He kept the fraud going for decades knowing the aforementioned Plan B was the only hope for mankind’s survival. Earth and all on it are doomed. Without the hope of salvation he knew there was no way he would have support for the mission of saving man as a species (Plan B). Murph is crushed and in only her second message to Endurance relays Professor Brand’s passing and then breaks down with the belief that her father went off into space knowingly leaving her there to die. Needless to say Cooper on Endurance is crushed by this news on several fronts. Brand (Hathaway) is shocked as the equation was her father’s life’s work. Mann confirms the truth, saving all of humanity was never considered an option by the inner circle.Cooper prepares to head back to Earth while Brand and the remaining Endurance astronaut remain to set up the “shake and bake” embryo colony with Mann. Cooper and Mann go out to scout on foot. While separated Cooper’s long range transmitter is sabotaged by Mann. Mann explains that this is a dead world. He knew that if he didn’t misrepresent it as hospitable he would die here and he was not ready for that. Obviously he disassembled the robot to keep his secret. He is going to need Endurance to survive and that means Cooper cannot take it back to Earth. In the struggle Cooper is left to die from the atmosphere with a damaged helmet while Mann heads back to base. During Mann’s trek back Cooper regains contact with Brand who takes the lander out to rescue him with one of the robots. They save him but at the same time, while trying to recover the data from Mann’s deactivated robot it explodes killing the astronaut. Mann takes the remaining craft back to Endurance while Brand and Cooper retrieve the remaining robot and race after him.Some people thought the idea of this betrayal and fight was stupid. I think it served a purpose and made sense. Mann was agreed by all to be the best of them. He lead the missions into the wormhole as man’s salvation despite the odds against his personal salvation. What we learned though was that facing the stark reality of death, alone on that dead world when all he had to do was hit that transmitter to tell Earth this planet was habitable for a chance at rescue was too terrifying a prospect. Mann, noblest of all the astronauts, betrayed his principals and that of the entire mission to save himself. He then went on to try to kill another to further his survival when confronted with losing Endurance. Man(n)’s survival instinct is paramount.Mann makes it to orbit but is unable to properly dock with Endurance. He ignores all instructions to the contrary and tries anyway resulting in his death and significant damage to Endurance. Cooper, Brand and the robots manage to dock then plan their next move.Cooper agrees to travel to Edmond’s planet as a last hope for humanity. He realizes Earth and everyone there is doomed. To get there after the additional damage they must slingshot around the black hole using it gravitational pull to accelerate them. They plan to use two of the landing craft as boosters to do so. The first will have the robot TARS in it controlling the burn. It will be dropped away to fall into the black hole once its fuel is exhausted to lighten the load and allow the Endurance to escape. Cooper is in the second craft as the burns must be controlled directly in the craft due to damage throughout Endurance. Cooper then reveals his plans to detach his craft in order for Brand to continue around the black hole and to Edmond’s planet. While in close proximity to the black hole’s gravitational pull 50+ Earth years race in minutes to Brand and Cooper. Right when this scene begins Murph is back on Earth looking around her old room and trying to get her brother’s family to leave.Cooper follows TARS into the black hole. Here is where some speculative science / science fiction happens that some take issue with. We understand now that the tidal forces of the black hole would stretch out and destroy anything dropped into it and surviving such an experience is impossible. Cooper survives entry into the black hole as does the robot TARS where they find themselves in a three dimensional structure apparently created for their benefit. This is called the Tesseract. Certainly this is a stretch but given the rules established in this movie I see it as believable. We already know some entity has significant enough control over the universe to create and maintain a worm hole. It is not a large leap to believe a species which has mastery over gravity would be able to isolate a survivable field of gravity for Cooper within the black hole.The Tesseract is a three dimensional representation of all the time in Murph’s bedroom back on Earth. Every point in time exists there simultaneously. The problem for these extra or fifth dimensional beings is identifying key points in time and conveying information. The Tesseract allows Cooper to “interact” with the past by manipulating gravity in that localized setting. Cooper manages to send Murph Morse code messages through books knocked out of her book case telling him to “Stay” when she was young and he was preparing to leave on the mission. He sends the coordinates that allowed him to find NASA in the dust falling in her room. Earlier in the movie when Cooper flips quarter into the area of the falling dust it does not obey a normal travel path dictated by Earth normal gravity, a clue something was amiss earlier in the film. Eventually he transmits via Morse code the solutions to the missing gravitational equation which could only be deduced by observing the phenomena inside a black hole. Those observations were made by TARS and relayed to Cooper who transmitted them to Murphy via manipulations in the gravitational pull on the automatic watch he Cooper had left for her.At this point many people mistakenly believe Cooper was in the past. Cooper was no more “in” the past than someone is “in” a house while standing outside and looking through the window. Just like standing outside the house Cooper is outside the three dimensional space in which Murph and everyone but TARS resides in. He is a spectator that can only interact using the one media which transcends space and time, GRAVITY. It is similar to being outside the house, trying to communicate through a closed one way window which cannot be opened. The occupant cannot see or touch you but they hear the banging. Cooper was “banging on the window” with gravity. Cooper is needed for this because he is the one who has a connection with Murph. He can find her and the moment in space time where, from the fifth dimension he is currently in, he can send her the information needed. It is during this scene that Cooper theorizes this whole event and place was crafted not by aliens but by humans, far advanced and evolved, who have mastered space, time and gravity to occupy dimensions outside those currently occupied by man.People also cry PARADOX at this point. Cooper should be able to send himself a message in the past to find NASA which is true for beings occupying three dimensional physical space and experiencing time linearly(fourth dimension). Beyond those four dimensions though time is not linear. It has all happened, past future and present. That doesn’t mean you can jump in and out of physical space at different times, it just means you can observe it all happening and something like a paradox doesn’t exist when there is no beginning or end. It sounds like fantasy but it is a viable theory in advanced physics.His work done the Tesseract collapses upon itself and Cooper is flung back into three dimensional space, through the worm hole, and out of it near Saturn. It is now 80 – 90 years after he left Earth. He awakens to find himself in a space station near the worm hole. Humanity has left Earth and is, thanks the mastery of gravity brought about by the now nearly worshipped Murphy Cooper, throughout the solar system. Cooper has a chance to meet his daughter, now an old woman who made the trip out to see him, on her death bed. She has a large family there as well, children and grandchildren. It is a touching scene. Murphy always knew it was her father who sent her the information even if nobody ever believed her. She tells him no parent should see their child die. It is her time to go and her children are there. He should go find Brand on Edmond’s world. Both Cooper and Brand are still in close sync for relative time passage. To Brand she is just getting started on her new world. Cooper takes the robot TARS, “borrows” one of the station’s craft and goes off to find Brand. The movie closes showing Brand burying Edmonds at her newly established base on the world bearing his name. She is breathing the atmosphere so it is obviously habitable.Brand’s experience at Edmond’s world is the other notable plot hole. Murph had the gravity equations 50+ years Earth time BEFORE Brand came out of the effects of the black hole’s gravity well. We know that at the end the station has many craft capable of such a trip. There is absolutely NO WAY that Brand would have arrived at Edmond’s world to not already find people from 20, 30, 40 or 50 years after she entered the time compression effect of the black hole’s gravity well. Humanity has had DECADES to catch up to Brand and her trip to Edmond’s world. It makes no sense that she is there alone. It does though provide a nice touching ending as Cooper races off to find her. This is not as forgivable a sin as the Miller’s world decision since it really wasn’t needed. They could just as easily told Cooper that Brand has arrived and been met at Edmond’s world by the settlers there. So I give this movie one minor mark against it for a corny ending that wasn’t needed, make it an overall score of 98/100 which is nothing to sneeze at.I think this is a fantastic movie. It has been compared to 2001 A Space Odyssey but I think it far surpasses that movie. People who hold up 2001 with its far more confusing an unscientifically supported ending while complaining about Interstellar’s ending do not make much sense in my opinion.Watch this movie and then watch it again. It is absolutely in my list of top ten films.
J**S
What humanity would do when facing civilizational extermination, panic, fight or change?
When my wife and I started to watch this 2014 movie full of acting stars we were not sure if we saw it before. We agreed that possibly some fragments, but we were thrilled and mesmerized for almost 3 hours. It has strong metaphysical aspects even almost all traveling was done in physical bodies. Even passing through a black hole was portrayed as physical. The bigger chance to get through black holes is by transforming into higher dimensional vehicles, perhaps traveling in loose or non-form shapes and then transforming back into the physical at a destination. Of course, we do not know yet how to do it, but we shall be able to do that in the future for sure. The multidimensional essence of our being was suggested very well later in the story. This wonderful movie is also putting into the discussion questions about our abilities and morals when facing civilizational extermination. As creators are showing in the movie, we can and will take our love for humanity but also selfishness with us throughout black holes and galaxies and wherever we would go.I am sometimes teasing and scaring my wife with talk about the possible collapse of our civilization when all A.I. taking now tremendous energy for running its computer networks become useless. Who is going to feed us when food is not going to be in stores anymore? The movie illustrates that by the scene in the school in the collapsing world, when Cooper's son is told by principal: "You are going to be a good farmer, we do not need anything else." Agriculture became only possible, yet pathetic field trying to save at least some people. The heroines and heroes in the movie are trying several approaches, one of them by colonization of planets in distant galaxies, but public cannot know and should not know about it for obvious reasons. I especially like how they designed robots for this movie. They are not human-like at all, not only because of their metal shapes, but also because of their behavioral programming. They are there to help people and that is their only mission. When one of them TARS is sent to obvious destruction, he calmly and without objections accepts it. I like that portrayal, because A.I. and robots will never have emotions, even if they might talk like they have. There are obvious metaphysical and spiritual reasons for that known to those who have ventured beyond our physical bodies into the higher dimensions of reality. If you did not see this movie yet, I highly recommend it to you. You might have almost 3 hours of the thrill, fun and thinking about what you would do if something like that happened to this planet. It might happen in the not-so-distant future.
R**N
Superbe
Interstellar est un film épique et ambitieux qui est à la fois stimulant sur le plan intellectuel et émouvant sur le plan émotionnel. Il est également magnifiquement filmé, et la sortie 4K UHD ne fait que renforcer cette beauté.L'image est d'une netteté et d'une précision incroyables, et les couleurs sont vives et éclatantes. Le son est également excellent, avec une bande son surround immersive qui vous enveloppera dans l'action. Si vous êtes un fan d'Interstellar ou de science-fiction en général, je vous recommande vivement d'acheter cette édition 4K UHD. Vous ne serez pas déçu.Voici quelques-uns des détails spécifiques de la sortie 4K UHD qui m'ont impressionné :♦ L'image est d'une netteté et d'une précision incroyables. Vous pouvez voir les moindres détails des vaisseaux spatiaux, des planètes et des étoiles.♦ Les couleurs sont vives et éclatantes. Les paysages extraterrestres sont à couper le souffle.♦ Le son est excellent, avec une bande son surround immersive qui vous enveloppera dans l'action.Si vous êtes un fan d'Interstellar ou de science-fiction en général, je vous recommande vivement d'acheter cette édition 4K UHD. Vous ne serez pas déçu.
S**R
Audio i video
Super obraz i audio, świetny film
W**T
Película absolutamente espectacular
Interestelar es una película de ciencia ficción dirigida por Christopher Nolan y estrenada en 2014. La trama sigue la historia de un grupo de astronautas que emprenden un viaje interestelar en busca de un nuevo hogar para la humanidad, debido a la crisis ambiental que ha amenazado la supervivencia de la Tierra.La película presenta una historia épica, llena de emociones y giros argumentales, que explora temas profundos como la exploración del espacio, la naturaleza de la humanidad, la vida y la muerte, y la búsqueda del sentido en un universo aparentemente indiferente.Uno de los aspectos más destacados de la película es su impresionante diseño visual. La representación del espacio, los planetas y las naves espaciales es excepcionalmente realista, y se ha logrado gracias al uso de efectos especiales avanzados y una cuidadosa atención al detalle. El director Nolan logra crear una atmósfera de tensión y emoción que se mantiene a lo largo de toda la película.El elenco de Interestelar también es notable. Matthew McConaughey ofrece una actuación impresionante como el astronauta Cooper, mientras que Anne Hathaway y Jessica Chastain también destacan en sus papeles como científicas que luchan por salvar a la humanidad.Sin embargo, lo que hace de Interestelar una película verdaderamente memorable es su mensaje profundamente humano. A medida que la trama avanza, la película explora temas como la importancia de la familia, el sacrificio personal por el bien común, y la lucha por encontrar significado en un universo cada vez más complejo y desafiante.Podemos concluir indicando que Interestelar es una película de ciencia ficción que no solo ofrece una historia emocionante y visualmente impresionante, sino que también invita a la reflexión sobre temas importantes y profundos. Es una obra maestra del género y una de las mejores películas de los últimos años.
J**I
Im Licht unserer neuen Sonne...
Interstellar ist ein absolut episches Werk. Musik, Bildkulisse und Leistung der Darsteller ist durchwegs großartig.Man muss sich auf das Thema einlassen können und sich auch ein wenig in die Charaktere versetzen um den Film vollends zu genießen.Ein Film der mich den Rest meines Lebens begleiten wird und wer weiß,was in wenigen Jahren schon Realität ist, was heute noch Hirngespinste sind.
F**N
All good except the audio
The audio in this movie in both discs (4K/UHD and HD Blu-ray) available ONLY in DTS Surround. Unlike many other movie releases there is no PCM audio. Two-channel PCM audio I understand is specified by BD standards as mandatory so that the millions of viewers who do not have a surround sound setup can enjoy the movie in standard stereo. This release without 2-channel has done a disservice to customers, and have non-compiled to standards.I use my BD player to down-mix the DTS surround to stereo. But it does such a poor job that dialog (mostly in the center channel) is very weak and there are all kinds of volume and image imbalances. A proper down-mix by the studio according to DTS specs, and encoded in a PCM track in the discs, should do a better job.The movie is a superb one as many other comments prove. Too bad the BD disc production has done a disservice, and even charge a high price for missing audio.
Trustpilot
3 weeks ago
2 weeks ago