I read other reviews of “Interstellar” before watching and, for the most part, they have been mixed. I went into this movie with an open mind to both the good and the bad and, needless to say, I was impressed with what I was given.
This is a very heavy movie, both in the sentimental bits and the science. There’s a lot this movie hands you and politely asks you to chew it over.
“Interstellar” is literally reaching for the stars in both the characters’ goals and the things the movie is trying to accomplish. But it achieves these goals and delivers a solid, investing adventure.
The cast is lead by Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway and Michael Caine as they try to save Earth from a Dust Bowl/Great Depression-esque calamity that has befallen the world. The Blight, as they call it, is killing off crops and people and there is a plan to find a new planet for humans to live on. Thus, ex-pilot Cooper (McConaughey) is recruited by Professor Brand (Caine) to lead a team with his daughter, Amelia (Hathaway) to seek out new worlds to inhabit. The science of the movie is both realistic and theorized. Theoretical physicist Kip Thorne was the main consultant over the science and reality of space travel, planet atmospheres, black holes and wormholes encountered in the movie.
Even though we ourselves have never been to another galaxy, the events that occurred in “Interstellar” are scientifically plausible. It may take a bit to wrap your head around all of the words that are spewed about: time differences, event horizons, wormholes and 5th dimensions, but this movie doesn’t bash you over the head with complicated material. It gives you the material for a bit, and then moves on to the next after a little time for explanation and contemplation.
But one thing is easy to understand. The movie’s visuals are a feast for the eyes. Sweeping scopes of the universe are magnificent to behold.
Very little CGI was used in this movie when handling the ships. They were all filmed as tiny models, hand crafted or 3D printed. It certainly adds a thick layer of realism to the overall experience.
Another amazing aspect of “Interstellar” is the sound production. Besides music, there were moments that took place outside of the ship, in the dead of space, and there was no sound. It provided an eerie, and real-life feel to the scenes in space. The soundtrack, composed by the amazingly talented Hanz Zimmer, added the right moods to the scenes, with music ranging from dramatic organs to dreamlike bells and synthesizers.
Christopher Nolan is known for his unique talent for making incredible movies, and “Interstellar” certainly continues that tradition of excellence and class. Expectations of a Nolan film aside, “Interstellar” is a perfect movie cinematically. You care about the characters and the events they are involved in, because there is such an honest, dramatic feeling of realism to it all, regardless of the fact that it talks of wormholes and 5th dimensions. There is a soul to this movie that makes it a believable and engaging encounter.
