My thoughts on, "Interstellar"

Saw Interstellar last night in a 4k digital formatted theatre (basically a big projector TV). The presentation was okay, but the scenes where black was supposed to be pitch black, actually looked more "dark dark brown", if that makes any sense. I would recommend that you stick to real film if possible.

If you are familar with Christopher Nolan's other films (the "Dark Knight" Batman trilogy, "Memento", "Inception"), you know that he (mainly relying on musician Hans Zimmer in his big budget films) works hard to produce a specific "mood" or "tone" in his films. It is his fingerprint, and "Interstellar" fits right in as one of his. It also helps that Alfred and Cat Woman (Alfred and Anne Hathaway) from his Batman films are also in this one.

The story is... "dense", as I suppose any film that deals with space, time, black holes, worm holes, and relativity needs to be. I suspect it is too much for general audiences, even after supposedly well educated and highly trained characters dialogue, trying to explain in layman's terms how and why things are unfolding in order to keep the audience up to speed. I found it irritating. As a result, my mind wandered to one of my favorite past times: "Who is going to die?" Unfortunately, not a lot of surprises here, as the plot twists were not very well disguised. Boo.

The movie is long at 169 minutes, so go easy on the large soda, The sets and practical props are very well done, and it is an interesting vision of the near future. However, you must really strain to belive the story, as the motivation for some of the key characters to behave as they do is not clear, and key plot points revolve around them working out the problems caused by these, "out of character" actions.

There are robots!

To sum it up, if "2001: A Space Odessy" and "Inception" had a baby, they would name it "Interstellar".

I would give the movie a 7 out of 10

Loved Memento and Inception. 2001 one of my all time favorites.
After watching Memento, of course had to watch it backwards :-)
Been looking forward to this.
169 min, that is long. Should it have been edited down or do they need the whole 169 min to tell this story in your opinion.
Thanks for the review.

I heard in a radio review today that there are gaps in the story that had apparently been edited out, so the original was even longer. These gaps left the viewer scratching his head about the flow of the story.

I wanted to see it tomorrow, but 3 hours long? I don't have the patience.

Quote: Ayecarumba

I suspect it is too much for general audiences, even after supposedly well educated and highly trained characters dialogue, trying to explain in layman's terms how and why things are unfolding in order to keep the audience up to speed.

Prefer style of 2001, which doesn't really go out of the way to explain anything. If you don't understand, you figure it out after the film.

I´ll just wait for the book..

Quote: Ayecarumba

Saw Interstellar last night in a 4k digital formatted theatre (basically a big projector TV). The presentation was okay, but the scenes where black was supposed to be pitch black, actually looked more "dark dark brown", if that makes any sense. I would recommend that you stick to real film if possible.

So this movie is released in 6 different formats.

• IMAX 70MM FILM
• 70MM FILM
• 35MM FILM
• IMAX DIGITAL
• 4K DIGITAL
• 2K DIGITAL

The IMAX 70mm film at Brendan Theater is $17 a ticket. would you drive an hour to see this film in that format?

I assume the movie theater advertises 4K digital as opposed to 2K. But you say it still wasn't a big improvement?

70MM FILM
1. CA HOLLYWOOD ARCLIGHT HOLLYWOOD
2. CA OAKLAND RENAISSANCE GRAND LAKE THEATRE
3. GA ATLANTA CINEBISTRO AT TOWN BROOKHAVEN
4. MN PLYMOUTH WILLOW CREEK 12 THEATRE
5. NY NEW YORK BOW TIE ZIEGFELD THEATER
6. NY NEW YORK CITY CINEMA 1, 2 & IMAX 3
7. ON TORONTO CINEPLEX VARSITY TORONTO 12
8. TX ARLINGTON STUDIO MOVIE GRILL - ARLINGTON
9. TX AUSTIN ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE RITZ
10. TX DALLAS LOOK CINEMAS
11. TX DALLAS STUDIO MOVIE GRILL ROYAL IMAX 8

Quote: terapined

Loved Memento and Inception. 2001 one of my all time favorites.
After watching Memento, of course had to watch it backwards :-)
Been looking forward to this.
169 min, that is long. Should it have been edited down or do they need the whole 169 min to tell this story in your opinion.
Thanks for the review.

I think it could have been cut to 120. Of course an arc in the story would have to be cut, but the pace is very much like 2001, "Ponderous"

If you loved Memento and Inception, you will enjoy this movie. It shares many of the same elements.

Quote: zippyboy

I heard in a radio review today that there are gaps in the story that had apparently been edited out, so the original was even longer. These gaps left the viewer scratching his head about the flow of the story.

I wanted to see it tomorrow, but 3 hours long? I don't have the patience.

These are the decisions a director faces having to deliver a marketable product that will play in domestic and international markets. There are plenty of things to unpack, but this film is about time and space so you run into paradoxes. The movie tries to explain some, but totally ignores others. Maybe that was done purposely to leave room for the sequel.

Quote: rxwine

Prefer style of 2001, which doesn't really go out of the way to explain anything. If you don't understand, you figure it out after the film.

Including explanations is a very American way of telling a story on film. Other countries are much more comfortable with films that require you to think about the story and inject your own speculation regarding the things that are left unsaid.
If you liked 2001 I think you will enjoy this film. Many of the same elements are included, Robots!, Space travel technical details, Big Orchestral theme that starkly contrasts the silence in the vacuum of space...

Quote: Pacomartin

So this movie is released in 6 different formats.

• IMAX 70MM FILM
• 70MM FILM
• 35MM FILM
• IMAX DIGITAL
• 4K DIGITAL
• 2K DIGITAL

The IMAX 70mm film at Brendan Theater is $17 a ticket. would you drive an hour to see this film in that format?

I assume the movie theater advertises 4K digital as opposed to 2K. But you say it still wasn't a big improvement?

I wouldn't drive an hour to see any movie. This film contains scenes which seem to purposefully attempt to induce vertigo in the audience. It reminded me of "Gravity" in that aspect. It would definitely have made me sick in an IMAX format, since I had to look away during certain scenes on this traditionally sized screen.

The 4K was advertised like folks would want to see it, but it was either this or a "small" IMAX format which they charge extra for, and I don't care for. Now that I have seen their 4K offering, I will try to avoid it too.